Need some help with computer performance in a game

My laptop:

Dell Vostro 1500
Vista Business
Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800 FSB)
2GB Ram DDR
Nvidia Geforce 8600M GT 256

I've noticed that when I play Team Fortress 2, I get really crappy frame rates, when I mean crappy, I mean like 10fps when I'm in a crowded area. My old desktop which is about 6 years old, uses a PCI (not pci-e) card and is on xp and runs this game almost albeit faster.

There's definitely something wrong and I think I'm running out of options to try. I've tried tweaking the game, I've updated the drivers and I'm afraid all I'm left with trying is overclocking the card (probably not a good idea on a laptop) and/or attempting to dual OS my laptop to make it run XP (seeing as Vista is a system hog).

The thing that baffles me the most is that a friend of mine has the Inspiron 1520 which is identical to my system and it runs the game perfectly. What is going on? Any help appreciated. My laptop is still under warranty, I've had the laptop for almost a whole year now.

 

Sounds stupid, but make sure you are not on "Power Saver" or "Balanced" mode, make sure it is set to "High Performance".

Also, what are your GPU temps? Make sure you're not over-heating, causing the GPU to downclock.

 

It's always plugged in so, the power is not a option.

I don't think the temperature plays a factor. I could boot my system up and the first thing I launch is TF2 and I would still be getting crappy frame rates.

I've even turned everything to low and I've still had issues playing.

 

You're lost.


Power plugged in doesn't have a thing to do with it. Hover over the "Battery" icon, and make sure it says "High Performance". 90% of people who sign up to complain about bad performance have found this to be their problem. Aside from this, download RivaTuner (Google) or GPU-Z (Google) to check your clocks and make sure your GPU isn't downclocking.

If all else fails, return it.

 

Did you update the graphic card drivers with the ones from Dell or a third party site like Laptopvideo2go?. If you used Lv2go drivers, you might want to try different ones(sometimes the newest ones arent the best).


Since you had the laptop for almost a yeard, you want to make sure that your vents/fans are clear of dust ect(see NBR cooling central for more details)

 

I would try forceware 175.19. And maybe try TF2's tech support forums. Your problem sounds like bad software utilization to me.

How are you playing other games? If you're doing fine in them, than its not a hardware issue and so you can at least breathe easier.

And this is how you can tell if its a heat issue: good fps when starting the game, then horrible fps shortly after.

 

I downloaded Rivatune to try it out, not sure about how it works but I'll try!

I've done both with the dell driver and with the laptopvideo2go site as well. Neither seem to perform a big significance.

Other games don't seem to be that much of a toll, I've played Company of Heroes, Wow and even CSS quite fine actually.

 

ya its just TF2 then, I searched for some console commands that might help you.

//Dual Core Support
mat_queue_mode "2"
r_threaded_renderables "1"
r_threaded_particles "1"
r_threaded_client_shadow_manager "1"
cl_threaded_bone_setup "1"
cl_threaded_client_leaf_system "1"
fps_max 45 (default 60)

making max fps lower in turn help the game run smoother. You wont notice the big difference between very high fps when your alone and very low fps when your with your team.

mat_que_mode 2 improves performance but it also make the game crash sometimes.

If you're using rivatune, just start the problem select system settings under forceware settings in the main tab, and just move the sliders to the right in intervals of 10-15 and test. Make sure you're linking core and shader. With rivatuner, the overclocking only works when its open, so you want to save settings and start rivatune when your restart.
I got a guide up on OCing the m8600gt and theres additional guides to help you.