Whats wrong with my Laptop Specs?

I bought StarCraft 2

However I've been having issues with it since day one. My HP Laptop keeps overheating. From the moment I start the game up it takes no more than 30-40 minutes before the fans are blasting and the laptop is extremely hot. And then it automatically turns itself off.

I heard about the frame rate glitch and I entered in the "frameratecap" lines into the text file named "Variables". That did NOT improve performance.

Next I changed all the settings to LOW. Still didn't do anything.

Anyways here are my laptops specs. What can I do to get this game to run properly (preferably at medium or high settings) without it destroying my laptop and causing it heat up ridiculously? ASIDE from buying a laptop cooler that is?

Would improving the memory (RAM) help? I have 4GB right now which I thought would be plenty. And I thought I had a decent graphics card but now I'm not so sure.

• Model: HP HDX18t Premium Series Customizable Notebook PC
• Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium with SP 1 (64-Bit)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.8GHz)
• Display: 18.4" High Definition Ultra BrightView Infinity (1920x1080p)
• Memory: OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) 200-Pin DDR2 800MHz (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
• Hard Drive: 640GB 7200 RPM SATA (3.0Gb/s) Dual Hard Drive (2x320GB)
• Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
• Wireless Network Card: Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-Card with Bluetooth
• Optical Drive: Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
• Keyboard & Mouse: HP Color Matching Keyboard

 

Your Specs are probably not the one at fault here

Sc2 PC Minimum System Requirements*:

Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Updated with the latest Service Packs) with DirectX® 9.0c
2.6 GHz Pentium® IV or equivalent AMD Athlon® processor
128 MB PCIe NVIDIA® GeForce® 6600 GT or ATI Radeon® 9800 PRO video card or better
12 GB available HD space
1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users)
DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection
1024X720 minimum display resolution

Your pc should be more than enough for Sc2.

I would try this again, i can't think of anything else aside from driver errors.

 

Visit here for temporary patch for heating bug.

Overheating Bug, MUST READ, Keep bumped! - Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty Message Board for PC - GameFAQs

 

hp is known for their overheating laptops, it's probably just the design of the laptop

if your laptop is overheating, it is not because the specs are not enough to handle the game, it is because faster components generally run hotter

in fact, if you got lower specs, chances are it'll run cooler

the best option would be to get a notebook cooler, or to open the chassis to vent some air, or to put in some better thermal paste under the gpu

good luck!

 

Clean your laptop just in case the overheating is caused by dust etc. You shouldn't have problems running Star Craft 2.

 

Clean your fans!!

If that doesn't work, you can have IC Diamond 7 applied (do it yourself or have a repair technician do it for you; you may have to opt for the latter if there would be warranty issues).

Also, make sure the area you use your laptop is clear, has good ventilation and airflow (set a fan in your laptop's direction if you have to), isn't in a warm spot like direct sunlight.

If none of the above helps, then, well, you have to buy a laptop cooling pad. Sucks, I know, but HP loves selling to customers who don't realize the importance of cooling.

 

Are there any websites that you know which provide guides on how to do this? Like cleaning out the fans, etc and whatever else I could possibly do? I'd like to try that and then see if it makes a difference. Hopefully it will.

 

I'll say your best bet is to replace the thermal compound, I used AS5 and dropped mine 10c, and I never break 75 anymore on either CPU or GPU. Coolers don't work very well for me, and maybe only add another 2c drop to the CPU and GPU, but probably keep everything else cooler.

 

That's really impressive! I'll have to apply some on mine sometime in the immediate future.

 

This mine to is overheating you also need too enable Vsync and this won't solve the issue for good it just buys you more time untill you overheat so your best bet is wait for a patch

 

How do I go about doing that? Is it really intensive labor? I'm guessing you have to be very knowledge with the hardware aspect to navigate your computers internals right?

Where would I even buy that suff?

 

Get a Can of compressed air from your local electronics store and blow in thru the exhaust port. Also have you try elevating the rear of the laptop by a bit (maybe 1cm) using a couple CD case. I had a similar problem with playing games on my old M50sv-A1. If I let it sitting on a desk, it will overheating in heavy gaming. If I lift the rear about 1cm, then I don't.

It's seems that having it flat on a desktop restrict airflow to the intake port (yes there is a space between the bottom of the laptop and the tabletop but it's a fairly narrow gap). and by lifting the rear a bit you have increased airflow to the heatsinks.

If that still doesn't work. You might want to invest in a reasonably priced laptop cooler like this:

Amazon.com: Cooler Master Notepal U2 Notebook Cooler with Two Fans R9-NBC-8PBK-GP: Electronics

 

Okay, you need to track down a user manual for your laptop model. This should give you instructions on how to take the bottom of the case off (hopefully you don't have to do anything crazy like take the keyboard off - some models you might).

Then buy some of that air-in-a-can stuff. Blow into the fan, around the fan, in the exhaust vents, anywhere you see dust. Wipe the fans clean. Make sure they're spinning easily (listen to them while they're spinning).

If your fan isn't spinning like it should (if it's very noisy, or doesn't sound like it's going as fast as it should), you can take the fan off and add silicone grease or graphite powder to lubricate the fan.

If your fan is spinning alright, but your temperatures are still high, thermal paste would be the next thing I'd try. You can apply it yourself, there are guides around for applying it (you need 92% isopropanol to wipe off the existing paste, and a tube of new paste to replace it). You can also have a laptop repair technician apply it for you, if you aren't comfortable with removing the heat sink from your CPU and such. I would strongly recommend IC Diamond 7 over Arctic Silver 5. Arctic Silver is a little picky in that it likes to take a while to set, and its cooling effects wear off over time. I applied AS5 to my CPU 3 months ago, and while it helped my temperatures then, by now I'm back to what they were before I applied the paste. IC Diamond 7, from what I've heard from the Hardware forum, will last a lot longer, isn't as picky about setting, deals better with rapid heating and cooling, and might be slightly better for your temperatures.

 

As far as cracking open the HDX 18, I'd set aside at least 2 hours if you've never opened a laptop before, you'll need to take everything out to get to the heatsink. If you can make a good note on where each and every screw comes from its not really too hard to do, but time consuming, yes.