FPS drops on my Sager

Here's my question,
I had recently opened my laptop up to clean out the fans and the hardware; everything went well and I put the case back together.

I do have one problem, when I am playing an online game (say Battlefield 3, Counter-Strike:Source, or Team Fortress) I will get fps drops that really hinder my performance. Here's something odd, when I play a single-player game I do not encounter these issues (S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Skyrim, or even Battlefield 3).

I was just wondering if anyone would have any incite on this issue.



UPDATE!: Everything is running perfect, actually it's running better than ever! Thank you to everyone, great advice!

 

It's probably lag/latency on the multiplayer servers. Check your internet connection and ping at Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test

 

But it happens on any multiplayer game I play, it's quite odd. I did the speed test and everything checks out 37ms. (Not great but not framerate drops bad.)

 

Fps drop has nothing to do with "latency" the lag is different in each case and 37ms is very good, mostly online games use more resources than single player.

did you have this issue before cleaning your laptop ?
what gpu/cpu do you have?
what settings are you running the game on ?

 

The issue I had was that the heat was getting ridiculous and it had been about a year since I purchased it so I decided to open it up and clean it up a bit. I own a cat so she would sometimes sleep behind my laptop when I was not in the room; clogging up the vents.

I have an intel i7-2630 QM and I have a Nvidia 470m. Now on battlefield I do see some lag, but I was running TF2 and Counter-Strike on Max settings with 100+ FPS with no stutter(That was the FPS I was getting before the cleaning).

I run most games on High-Max settings 1920x1080.

 

That should indicate to you that it is most likely an internet connection issue! Try using FRAPS to check whether it is your frame rate that is truly dropping.

 

My FPS is dropping and my latency is staying the same.

 

If you're sure, then it's definitely maintenance time for your machine! I'd suggest opening up that baby and givin' her a thorough cleaning! Dust (or a cat, in your case) can be a real b!tch...

 

Haha, I did just clean it and the problem started, but I will probably give it another good cleaning!

 

I guess I'll give up on multiplayer games. I'll just keep playing Stalker haha.

Also my GPU fan gets really loud while playing multiplayer games this is quiet odd.

 

Try it with a wired connection and on wireless see if it only happens when on either/or. If it only happens wireless maybe you knocked loose the antenna to the wireless card.

 

I'll try that

Update: it's still dropping frames when I play an online game.

Thanks for the advice though, I feel like I might have done something while I cleaned it.

 

Reapply thermal paste...

Good luck

 

That is exactly what I was thinking! I need to go pick some up.

 

Why has nobody asked what your temps are yet?

 

this exactly.
sounds like thermal throttling for either cpu or gpu. You said you just cleaned out your fans and the problem started, did you repaste your heatsinks afterwards? its possible that heatsinks had moved and your current paste has crumbled underneath, hence the overheating.

 

... which could have been done badly in the first place.

if it is a thermal paste problem, also the temps should be higher!

 

Yeah he should monitor his temps with CPUID HW monitor. I found also, my dealer had butchered the CPU and GPU with ic7 diamond paste. He had put way too much causing a part of the CPU and GPU to be missing thermal paste/pocket holes.

I did it myself and have never had a single problem since. But I always clean my fans too with compressed air every month or so. Important to do regular maintenance with these beasts

 

Thanks for the advice guys, I'm new to the whole laptop scene. I've mainly worked with desktops my whole life.

My temps do get higher, but only in a multiplayer game. I'll go pick up some thermal compound today.

I'll tell you how it works out!

 

I just read that haha, 3DS is pretty cool.

 

funny that people haven't mentioned this but antivirus software much? try disabling it while gaming, might fix it

 

I just applied some thermal compound, I hope it works.

You guys are amazing! Very helpful I'll give you all positive rep!

I don't have an antivirus running while I game; I use AVG though.

UPDATE!: Everything is running perfect, actually it's running better than ever! Thank you to everyone, great advice!

 

With it's game lineup? All I ever play on it are ambassador games, I'm really hoping that e3 tonight gives me something to wait for.

 

How clean is your OS? Have you ran a spyware/adware removal utility? What anti-malicious sw utility do you use to protect your system?