Problem: Performance dropping dramatically while gaming.

I purchase my first notebook 6 months ago (thanks to the advice i recieved in this forum - thanks for that ) and it has been working fine until a few weeks ago.

Here is the full configuration of my laptop: 1024 MB (DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM), Mobile DualCore Intel Core Duo, 1866 MHz (14 x 133), NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 (256 MB), 80 GB HDD. Check this link for information about the body and other parts. The notebook is the same as the one on the link, only the parts I listed are different.

The problem is huge performance drop while playing games (Warcraft III and World of Warcraft). I have been playing both games on the laptop ever since I bought it and there was no problem for the first 5.5 months. I tried lowering the detail level after the problem appeared (I was playing on High details in the beginning, now I'm playing almost at the lowest) still no difference.

The performance drop is not persistant, but rather it appears in certain moments and lasts for some period (becoming longer and more frequent as more time is spent and/or more programs are running at the background). When this happens the fan begins rotating with different speed (can't say if it's lower or higher, I only notice the sound change). Then after some time the speed (and sound) changes again and it's back to normal. The problem is the "slow" periods have become longer and more often in the last few days.

I tried all the software tricks I knew to give the PC extra memory and CPU power, I also scanned my whole system for viruses, spyware etc., which could've been slowing it down - nothing. I am almost 100% sure the problem is with the hardware.

Another thing which seems out of order (might, or might not be related with the performance drop) is that the notebook becomes very hot on the left, front side (dunno which part is located there, but the fan is on the left back side) while gaming intensivly. This has been happening ever since the purchase and for the first 5 months there was no problem, except that it was hot (by hot I mean sometimes a temperature over 45* C on the outside, where my left hand stands) and even a medium dark spot appeared above the hot spot.

Is it possible that the high temperature has melted something inside and is causing problems with the fan/cooling as a whole, or even damaged some part? If yes, why is the notebook even working though? And if no, what can the problem be.

I also want to know can the cooling really be such a problem. What I mean is, can a drop of some rpm of the fan cause such drop in performance? Also which is more likely to be causing the delay - the CPU or the video card?

Thanks in advance to everyone who bothers helping me to solve the mystery . The reason I haven't marched straight to where I bought the notebook from is that I am abroad atm and won't be coming back for 1 more month.

P.S. I am always removing my battery while gaming - in other worde, the battery has not been exposed to overheating.

 

What notebook do you have? 45c seems normal, some notebooks idles at 60C.

 

Check the link (in bold) for more detailed information on the notebook as a whole. As I said 45* C was the temperature on the outside (maybe even more sometimes). I cannot say how much the parts have been exposed to.

 

That's where the CPU is...according to your link, maybe some artic silver would help?
What kind of driver have you installed? or updated? Try to roll back to the previous one to see if there is a performance difference.

 

I haven't changed any software directly affecting CPU/Video/Ram/Mainboard since I first bought the PC. Therefore the problem cannot origin from drivers, because none have ever been changed. I would put arctic silver once I go back home and deliver the laptop to the technicians at the company I bought it from. If I attempt to do it now (while it's still in warranty) I might either damage the CPU or/and screw the warranty. I'd rather wait with the AC .

 

Suggestions about Arctic silver or anything else are good ideas of things to do just as a way of maximizing your cooling in the future and thereby increasing the life of your notebook and comfort while using. But they in no way address the current problem as a proper fix or explanation of why it is happening. I suspect as you suspect it is heat related. You describe doing nothing different than the 1st five months that you had with no problems.

I would therefor suspect dust or lint build up. Maybe blocking or not even that much just a very thin layer, but that does not have the heat dissipation properties you may need. I would take apart, blow out even carefully wipe down heat sink inside (dry cloth). See if that works, if it does sounds like problem identified and resolved. I would then do all the suggestions like Arctic silver.

If it is winter where you are take it outside and see if it works fine, if so is heat.

If heat could be fan if other stuff does not work.

Good luck.

 

I just finished cleaning the dust out of the cooler (this is all I dared to do on my own, without any good preperation). It wasnt much, mostly on the blades. I used damp cotton and also blew it up very well (a lot of dust came from the blowing). I then tried playing WoW for a couple of minutes. I think it was better - the fan is sounding differently. I will need to test it more tomorrow (stress test, several hours ), but there is some improvement.

Thanks for the tip about going outside, but although it is winter here, it's also raining a lot (I'm in The Netherlands atm) so I don't want to get the notebook wet.

In conclusion the problem might be solved. I will update the results tomorrow.