Games seem unplayable after installing Windows 7

[iamsmooth]

So I have an ASUS gaming laptop that I decided to install Windows 7 on. The laptop was configured and everything to run games pretty decently. It's running a GeForce 9600M GS on a Core 2 Duo. I've run COD4, Crysis, Street Fighter IV, and other games on it at good qualities.

Now after I installed Windows 7, I reinstalled the driver from nVidea and managed to get some games to work. However, there seems to be a memory leak or something. When I try playing Borderlands, I can play for about 5 - 10 minutes before it becomes very choppy and unplayable. After about another 5 minutes, the choppiness disappears.

I also tried running Portal, which should be a pretty low demanding game in terms of system capabilities, and it was choppy there too. I'm not sure what's happening, but was wondering if anyone could help point me in the right direction to fix this.

I installed a clean Windows 7 on a Vista laptop, and installed nVidea drivers. That's about all I've done so far.

Thanks for the help!

Moved from PC Gaming

Anandtech PC Gaming Moderator
KeithTalent

 

[Modular]

So you haven't installed the chipset software, the drivers for your CPU, etc. yet?

That would be the problem for sure.

 

[iamsmooth]

Guess not lol. Where and how do I find such drivers? Do I search for Asus drivers? It's funny I've never done a clean install of windows before, so I'm not very good with computer hardware know-how. Ironic that I'm a computer science major

 

[Modular]

Search the website of the manufacturer of your PC (ASUS in your case). Search for the model of laptop that you have, then search for drivers for that laptop. You will need to install the appropriate chipset drivers for sure. You reinstalled security software hopefully, right?

 

[iamsmooth]

I installed NOD for security.

I found a lot of drivers for my specific laptop, and I'm not sure which else is necessary besides the chipset. How about audio drivers? Anything in particular that would be important?

Thanks!

 

[iamsmooth]

So I basically installed every driver available for my machine and it's still screwy and choppy for some reason. Any other ideas?

 

[Maximilian]

So I basically installed every driver available for my machine and it's still screwy and choppy for some reason. Any other ideas?

Maybe try a graphics card driver from here:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/

They always have the latest drivers for the 8xxx series cards and up.

 

[Raduque]

I'm 90% sure you don't need to install chipset drivers anymore with Windows 7.

Did you install a WHQL version of the nVidia drivers? Try rolling back to the default Windows 7 drivers (they work great on my ATI laptop) and see if you still have that weird stutter issue.

 

[corkyg]

Right click on one of the games, select Properties, and COmpatibility, and then XP. See if they run better that way.

 

[MStele]

I'm 90% sure you don't need to install chipset drivers anymore with Windows 7.

Did you install a WHQL version of the nVidia drivers? Try rolling back to the default Windows 7 drivers (they work great on my ATI laptop) and see if you still have that weird stutter issue.

It's a fallacy to assume that included chipset drivers are adequate. Even if Windows 7 detects and installs drivers for your chipset, ever effort should be made get the latest version supplied by the manufacturer if possible. All drivers should be considered suspect, especially when performance isn't what it should be. Microsoft only requires that drivers supplied on the Windows install disc work. More often than not they are not optimized and can cause performance problems.