Should I buy starcraft 2

Okay, . I just said screw it and installed SC2 even though my system is having performance issues. Note I'm running:

Asus G51VX-X3A
Win7 Home Prem 64-bit
Geforce 260M
4GBM 800Mhz RAM

I got in, menu seemed ok, went into first video, halfway through, my fps plummets to 20ish. I get in the game, same thing. A beautiful game my system should run flawlessly is unplayable. I could start screwing with the video settings and lower them, but I shouldn't have to!

I have my two guest passes also if anyone still wants one.

 

Try cleaning your fans. If that doesn't help, re-install GPU drivers. If all else fails, re-install Windows, but you shouldn't have to go that far.

Also, run a program like HWMonitor in the background to see how hot your internals are getting. You can also use CPU-Z or GPU-Z to see if your CPU or GPU are throttling.

 

I'll try checking those programs. I just reformatted and the problem occured before and after the reinstall. This leads to a most likely hardware issue. Cleaning the fans on a notebook? No idea how to go about that.

 

Well, you can get those air blower things (and you should get those) and just blow into the vents and hope for the best, but you'll probably need a real thorough cleaning. The G51Vx was known for running hot (the GTX260m was a hot card), so if the cooling is even a little bit compromised, it can seriously affect your performance.

The best thing you can do is take your laptop apart. I don't know how hard it is to do this on the G51, but you might check and see if there is a user manual that has instructions, or otherwise you can simply ask on the Asus forum. Once you got your laptop apart, clean your fans, make sure they're spinning right, and make sure that all the vents and the little nooks and crannies where dust can get to are clear.

You can also listen to how the fans sound when they're going (do they sound smooth, or rattly?). You shouldn't have to, but if the fans don't sound like they're going as fast and smooth as they should be, you can put some grease on the fans (graphite grease, silicone grease, or just petroleum jelly).

Also make sure that the laptop is running in a clear area that gets good ventilation.

Those are just a few things to try if heating is your problem. You can always go and buy a laptop cooling pad, but let's see if we can't help you save a few bucks before we get to that stage.

 

Oh I can attest to it running hot. Here's a snapshot of HWMonitor after a quick 10 minute game of MW2 at optimal settings:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/raz1337/hwmonitor1.jpg

I'll look into those cans of air tomorrow. I might have one around somewhere. I've built several of my own desktops, but I'm a little weary of breaking something taking apart a laptop. It doesn't mean I won't try it, though, heh. What did you mean about using CPU-Z/GPU-Z to monitor the throttling? How so?

 

Ouch!!

I've only managed to get my GPU core up to 86* in the heat of Arizona playing SC2. Clean and re-paste that thing.

 

Guess we've got a culprit then. I'm afraid of possible permanent GPU damage.

 

Whoah-ho-ho! 108 is hott! I know the G51 likes to regularly push 100, but right around 105 I think it starts throttling.

So there's (most likely) your problem. I know taking apart a laptop can be a bit intimidating, but hopefully you don't have to do anything insane like take off the keyboard/screen. Again, check for a user manual or ask someone how to do it before you try.

It's possible to re-apply thermal paste to the GPU, and it would certainly help your temperatures if you used some quality stuff like IC Diamond, but I don't know how easy it is to remove the GPU on the G51. I'd say stick to the basics for now, and if nothing's fixing it, by then you can judge whether that's something you want to try yourself or if you want to take the laptop in to a shop to have it done. But just a regular cleaning of the fans should do the trick.

 

Just took the back part of, sprayed the inside, fan and the duct from the fan with canned air. Went back and played MW2 for 5-10 mins then the first mission of SC2. HWMonitor shown here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v467/raz1337/hwm2.jpg

Looks like SC2 was playable again. What temps should I aim for? I mean, I'm not expecting this to be a cool machine. It's ran hot as hell since the day I got it. Everyone knows these run hotter than normal.

I'm thinking there's another fan underneath the keyboard, but I can't figure out how to get to that. I also have one long blue screw left that I can't figure out how to get back in the hole. I must've put a small one in the wrong hole, I'll have to figure that out later, haha.

 

Hey, hey! Looks like your problem's solved!

Temperatures will vary from machine to machine, but knowing that the G51Vx ordinarily runs hot, I'd say, see if you can't keep your GPU under 95 or 100. That's hot by the standards of other laptops, but folks have been running their G51Vx's at higher temperatures for long periods without any problems.

I think there's only one fan in the G51.

Also, a small warning: be careful when you're screwing in screws. A normal human being shouldn't have any trouble, but I knew a big, clumsy guy who screwed a big screw where a small one should go, and ended up punching a hole in the keyboard. He did this twice (to my knowledge).

 

my quadro fx 3800 maxxed out at 80c after 3 hours of gameplay....(precision in sig) FYI

 

Yep, everything's good, killing zerg and taking names. GPU is maxing out at 91C with settings maxed out in SC2 and everything smooth.

 

Sweet! Glad I could help

 

I'm getting 15-20 FPS at 1920x1200 with ultra settings. Yuck.

 

Doesn't need to be on Ultra....I can't even see a difference so left it on high

 

The game looks really good, but it doesn't look THAT good ingame. The real eye candy is in the cut scenes and hub area.

I wanted to beat the out of that convoy for leaving on its own, but after a restart, I understood the mission a lot more.

 

This is why I buy starcraft 2: When all else fails, zerg.