I feel like my DV6 isn't performing how it should, insight?

Hey everyone,

In February of 2012 or so I purchased a HP Pavilion notebook, a DV6-6144ca to be exact. I use it for University, but I also purchased it for a bit of gaming as well. My issue/question is that I feel as though the notebook isn't performing as well as it should be. I'm constantly having FPS issues in games I feel I should be running more smoothly. Just about every game I install that automatically sets graphics depending on system specs sets them in the high range, which ends up being too much for it. Also the site: "can I run it" suggests higher settings as well. I replaced my (probably 4-5 year old) Sony Vaio with this computer and graphics seem marginally worse, however that could be. My main question is, should I be expecting this? I felt as though my computer should be running these things much more smoothly and was quite disappointed in its performance. So what gives?

A couple game examples:
Starcraft 2, suggests for medium-high- I can barely run it at the lowest setting, also WORSE than my Sony Vaio. Can I run it also suggested the same thing. If the game gets too large on the lowest settings, I get unplayable FPS lag.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, suggested for high settings on install, and in game I'm getting very bad FPS lag.

I'll quickly lay down the specs...
Windows 7 64 Bit

AMD Quad Core A8-3500M VISION A8 Technology from AMD
• 2.4GHz/1.5GHz, 4 MB L2 cache

AMD Radeon HD 6755G2 Dual GPU (1 GB DDR5 dedicated, up to 4.98 GB total)

8GIG RAM

Appreciate any responses,
Joel

 

Also: Is it possible that because the dual cards aren't the same that the computer is choosing to run the one that isn't as powerful to run the games with?

The two cards specifically are:
AMD Radeon HD 6750M
AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6620G

Both cards drivers' are up to date as well.

 

Try to force the system to use only the 6750m.

 

You've got the newest drivers from AMD.com, NOT HP.com for your GPUs? Yeah, I'd try to see what happens if you just run on the 6750.

Don't know what GPU your Sony had, but this should run today's games just fine-not max settings, but fine.

I find that disabling anti-aliasing is an easy performance boost-often basically doubling performance for free as I don't notice aliasing issues particularly, and we're dealing in such high resolutions now I find it mostly pointless-I'd rather have more effects and higher resolution.

But anyway make sure you've got AMD's newest drivers, like Kirrr said try using just the dedicated GPU (although the A8's GPU is no joke). I'm curious what your Sony had though.

 

Before you update your video drivers, uninstall the current ones and then install the new ones. This can end up to be a hassle but if done right can fix many things.

 

Starcraft 2 and Skyrim is a DirectX 9 game. You need to disable Crossfire and set the game to use High Performance graphic in Control Center because Llano platform didn't support crossfire on DX9 games.

Also, try to overclock your CPU with K10Stat because both games love high cpu clock.

 

Hey everyone, sorry about neglecting this post, but I'm still having issues. I've tried disabling one of the cards and in both cases, games would not run. My drivers are all up to date as well. As for where I got them, I did it the easy way and had the control panel area seach automatically. Was that a bad thing? Would it definitely help if I were to completely uninstall the drivers and reinstall them? I'd like to note that this isn't an issue that has come at a specific time, but ever since buying the laptop.

As for anti-aliasing I'm not sure exactly what that is or how to go about doing that. Also I'm not sure how to disable crossfire and set game performance to high either. I can't seem to find that area in the Catylst Control Center (which I should mention sort of crashes every time it opens).

 

More info: Shouldn't my graphics cards be in my AMD Catalyst Control Center? Because I thought I remember seeing settings in there for them and they aren't there any more. It's like the CCC isn't picking up the cards any more. It's gives me and error message too when I first open it: No AMD graphics driver is installed, or the AMD driver is not functioning properly. Please install the AMD driver appropriate for your AMD hardware.

Note that this message wasn't always there, and I don't believe it is connected (at least not directly) with the performance issues. I've had these performance issues from day 1 and this message hasn't always been there.