Clevo D900C Graphics help request

Hey all,

I am experiencing random framerate drops in different games (WoW, CoDmw2 etc). The game will play normally with high res, most options set to high, then all of a sudden the game will slow down to around 4 fps for about 30 seconds/ 1 minute. This can happen every ~15 minutes, then after the slowdown it'll speed right back up as if nothing happened. This happens whether the graphics in the games are set to high or low quality.

Can anyone advise what things I can try? It feels like either the graphics card is choking on something, or my processor decides to prioritize other background programs.

I have cleaned up my registry, scanned for malware, reduced start up programs etc to only necessary but still having the problem.

I am currently running a PCMW Blackhawk XR5 system: Clevo D900C, 4gb ram, 64 bit vista, 512 mb 8800m gtx, 2303mb total available graphics memory, 1791mb shared system memory. Intel quad Q6700 @ 2.66Ghz processor.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

Post back with your temperatures, no one can help you without more information . We need temperatures "while gaming" nvidia driver version ect.

 

Ok will check and let you know.

Thanks.

 

Ok, so followed up with your request Rorschach by downloading Rivatuner.

My Nvidia driver version is 195.62, operating system is Vista Business 64bit (Service Pack 2), directX 10.1.

Average temperature of the GPU was 63 deg with 5 apps open (chrome, office apps etc), no demanding graphics.

Now for the temp results playing Call of Duty Mod Warfare 2 on multiplayer;

At 1920x1200 res, starting the game the temp shot up from ~63 deg at 45 FPS to ~85 deg 25 FPS within about 3 minutes of playing. Then it slowly crept up to ~90 deg in another minute with almost linear decrease in FPS the hotter it got. Once the temp got past ~ 90 deg, the framerate started to drop dramatically. Finally at 95/96/97 deg after another minute at 19FPS, the framerate nosedived to 1.5 FPS. The temperature also dropped when this happened (I guess the video card has a safety temp and it reduces the power/ processing to prevent overheating). Once the temp reduced to around 86 deg after a minute, performance spiked back up to 30+ FPS, however the same issue was repeated in another 10 minutes or so.

With 1024x768 res, the above problem happened again, but it took about 50% more time to reach the critcal 96 deg point.

I reduced the resolution finally to 640x480, and the temp rise was very slow, maxing out around 87 deg with 88 FPS.

I also used the Notepal by Cooler Master (laptop base with 2 fans USB powered) for all tests.

I use this system primarily as a gaming platform - so how do I utilise the graphics at high res and keep it cool enough for sustained performance? Any other thoughts or advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

How old is this machine? If it's a few years old, it may be time to replace the thermal paste on the GPU. Also, if you don't do so regularly, you should probably blow out the vents (with a can of compressed air or something similar) to rid yourself of any insulating accumulated dust. This will help enable your cooling system to work at its best.

 

I've had the machine since January 2008, so almost 2 years old now.

I'll try the compressed air and look into the thermal paste.

Thanks.

 

Should have also posted your cpu temps, the gpu's can usually handle those temps, but thats really high for this laptop. The cpu on the other hand isn't supposed to get over 70c. Either way it sounds like a overheating issue.

 

If you've never cleaned out the vents in 2 years, it's probably going to be dust. Take off the backplate and blow compressed air in the vents (basically, you want to blow air in where it usually comes out when the notebook is running). You should probably put a finger on the fans to keep them from spinning, just to make sure they don't get damaged by possibly spinning the wrong way. Oh, and you should probably do this outside, or somewhere easy to clean. There's probably going to be a lot of dust flying out. The usual suggestion is to clean out your vents with compressed air every few months.

 

Ok - bought 2 cans of dust destroyer from Staples ($6 decompressed air pack).

Took off the back panel and jeez... The vents/ heat sinks / fan blades were clogged up and looked nasty. Two cans and lots of flying dust later, we're back in the game.

Re-ran a couple of games at max res / effects etc. GPU never got above 72 degrees, ran great, framerate was through the roof as well.

Thanks for the help Rorschach and Judicator, awesome!

Kam

 

Glad it was fixed, unlike a cheap dell laptop with a integrated gpu, these high end laptops need regular cleaning maintenance since they are often used to their full potential.

 

Yep, just remember to clean out those fans and vents every few months, and you should be fine.