World of Warcraft and Vostrol 1500

My problem is the lack of fps i'm getting for the specs i have. I get a usual 25 fps when I first start up the game but sometimes out of nowhere, my fps would drop from maybe 25 to maybe 5-10 and it just gets ridiculously choppy for no apparent reason. My pc back in the day was no where close to these specs but it ran the game much better. The only time that I had huge fps loss on my pc is when dust gradually piled up inside my computer case and all i had to do was clean it out and i would sit at a good 45 fps. Was some good times. But with this new vostro 1500 I sometimes get 25, sometimes it jumps to 30, and sometimes randomly it will drop down to 5. Was wondering if the vostro 1500 with these specs is suppose to output these fps numbers or should it be more? If so how do i get this miraculous fps ? I want to play the game smooth and i think that i should be able to with these specs seeing how World of Warcraft doesn't require THAT crazy of a pc/laptop. Would i possibly need to overclock ? Or if there is a way to clean out dust in the laptop like I did with my PC ? Or maybe I'm all wrong and the Vostro 1500 just can't give me what i'm asking for?

Please Help.

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System Information
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Time of this report: 10/8/2008, 14:32:54
Machine name: ERIC
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp.050622-1524)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Vostro 1500
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A06
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7300 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 511MB used, 3427MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8600M GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0407&SUBSYS_02281028&REV_A1
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 800 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.7516 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 5/2/2008 06:46:00, 6108160 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: No
WHQL Date Stamp: None
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
Mini VDD Date: 5/2/2008 06:46:00, 6554496 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4747-11CF-C46E-232200C2CB35}

 

It's definitely not the hardware on the vostro that is slowing you down. I can play Call of Duty 4 (much more demanding) with the same specs (i have a bit more memory) and not go below 40fps.

What settings are enabled in the game?
Do you have a lot of processes running in the background?

Have you tried temperature monitoring? Maybe something is overheating?

 

try changing the driver, that's about all you can do.

 

The only programs running in my background at most is MSN, AIM, Ventrilo, and a music player. At most that's it. But still that should be not a huge problem. I'm also playing in the medium-> high setting in between it. But i'd assume with the specs it can handle it.

Any advice on a Temperature monitor program? or is it built in that i don't know of yet ?

And any advice on what is the best drivers for my card ?

 

Temp monitor tool http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php
Driver for xp http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=20457

 

Thank you thank you. Also do laptop collects dust inside that will cause overheatings to drop fps?? If so is it safe to open the laptop to clean the dust??

Also with the Temperature watcher, what am I looking for when using it? What is too high of a temperature??

 

I believe opening up the laptop to blow out the dust would void the warranty ... if you have one. Opening up the laptop to blow the dust out is a bit of a chore on the vostro 1500. Maybe try blowing some air by the fan first.

 

Also...
(along with driver update and checking heat)

-Make sure laptop is plugged in.
-Check power mode and make sure it is in "performance" mode.

Your hardware should crush WoW maxed out at 1280x800.

 

Yeah, i'm sure it's plugged in and on Max performance.

And yeah i know my specs should destroy WoW... main reason why i picked out these great specs. unfortunately nothing is working !

 

Er, I'm pretty sure just opening it won't void the warranty - anything that does would have a sticker on it, or it will be in the manual. At any rate, I recommend opening it up and blowing compressed air (or using a vacuum) on it. Don't blow air *into* the vent where vent comes out, and you should be ok. And yeah, dells often overheat and it's often due to dust, and laptops imo should be cleaned out every few months-6months at the least.

You should also check temperatures (download CPUID HW Monitor), and check to see what your video card isn't downclocking (check speed, check 3dsmark06, etc). That video card has a chance of going bad due to a manufacturing error (weak solder that cracks after too many heat/cool cycles - so systems that run hot are especially prone to this).

 

Well heres a picture of my fps while i was playing with the heat temperature monitor program.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/lil_ericw/fps_heat.jpg

How do i check if my video card is "downclocking" And if the video card is bad how do i get this fixed ? possibly replaced ? If there is constant overheating, how can i fix this ?

 

Well 73-79C on the GPU while playing on a 15" isn't really that hot.
I think we can rule out overheating.

14.2 FPS is abysmal for WoW... especially at 1280x800.

Which drivers are you using?

 

I am currently on v177.98 XP 32bit because someone posted a link to it in this thread to get it.

I definitely want to open up my laptop and spray out any dust that is inside... but i'm afraid of possibly breaking something =/

 

Those drivers should be fine, although trying the latest from Dell (would be slightly older than those) might not be such a bad idea for comparison.

Honestly, given your temps I really don't see opening it up as a real solution.
You could blow out the heatsink fan vent with some compressed air, but at 73C running and 79C max, this probably isn't what is causing low framerates.

The driver COULD be down-clocking the GPU... but given WoW's "toaster-could-almost-run-it" client, it would have to be pretty extreme.

You could pick up rivatuner and run the clock graph. (it will be a little off, but the difference between downclocked and "off-by-a-little" stock performance clocks should be pretty obvious.)

 

What is this Rivatuner?

I'm looking for the dell drivers right now. The drivers Dell have are for 8600M would this also go with my 8600M GT ?

 

My friend tells me that it could possibly be Xp Home Edition cause it sucks. Might be better if I got Xp Pro ?

 

couple of things...

1) how many UI are you using? i see that it's not default UI... and loading lots of UI can also hold you down a bit...

2) try running the game in full screen, not windowed mode... use Alt+Tab to reference the websites if you need to. my FPS improves tremendously...

3) check this thread i created in Allakhazam... some good pointers there...

my graphic card is not the top of line, and i'm running vista, but in full screen, i've been gaming at 50-60fps... not bad for a $1700 laptop...

 

If you gonna do serious BT raiding, most non-gaming laptops are not gonna cut it.

Your problem here is that you don't have enough memory. That picture up there is inside the Black Temple, (of course, that's MOM) and BT is a very memory intensive instance, well any big indoor raids are memory intensive. I had 8800GT with 2GB RAM on a 2.4GHZ desktop and it drop down to 20~25FPS on some bosses from 60~90fps where I average before boss encounters. Have you even go to the Illdari Council yet?

Heavy scene like General Gertogg, I've seen 17fps. Once I dropped in the extra 2GB to bump up my RAM to 4GB, system performance improved. Less disk thrashing and I even defrag the HDD to speed things up.

 

try non-windowed first...

you'll be amazed at what systems can run WoW... (as told to me by my tech guru buddy...)
most of my WoW friends raid BT and beyond dont have up to date systems... heck, some of them even do it with basic UI...

if the non-windowed mode dont work,
make a copy of the W TF and INTERFACE folder...
try a fresh install of your UI's and a clean W TF folder... yea, it hurts to re-do all your UI settings... especially Pitbull and the likes...

 

Thanks for that thread post, i've done all off bt... the issue is that.... it can start up at 25 fps - 40 fps on boss fights... or wherever in bt... and it randomly drops to real low then after half a minute or so go back to normal nice and smooth. It's weird, it's not like it's constantly at 10 fps or something. Just drops, and i want to fix this and have it at a steady high 40's like i get in shatt.

Also Kinghong were you able to get your laptop back from repair and go full screen mode?? and any difference?

 

Three, my Studio 17, a newer but less of a gaming system, runs warcrack smoothly, even in Shatt and AV...

some choppyness in Shatt and IF... but that's given... but gaming is ok.

my Voodoo is going through some more stress testing... iMaxx at voodoo told me he's being extra thorough this time off...

and yes, running in full screen is much better than windowed...

if you're raiding, go full screen, for dailys, run windowed... that's just how i'd do it... but these days, you dont need internet for researching quests and such...

ever try Carbonite? great map/quest addon...

 

Yeah i just run windowed mode just cause i hate minimizing large games like that..but i'll give it a shot when we raid again and see if it gets any better.

 

High frame rates anywhere outside of Black Temple means nothing. BT causes the most problems for people with weak system. I had folks in the guild constantly bombing out and freezing on trash pulls and Reliquary of Souls. Like I said, WOW likes memory, so add more and free up background stuff like optimizing your system settings before your run WOW and everything will be buttery smooth.

Running in Windows Mode isn't supposed to speed up WOW, will slow it down because your forcing Windows to process gaming and Windows GUI at the same time.