Sudden Problem with [3d?] Performance [Update! Nearly resolved]

[darkewaffle]

A day or two ago my laptop started displaying much poorer than usual performance when playing WoW, and sort of felt sluggish overall. I'm pretty certain there's a problem with 3d programs since my WoW performance has significantly dipped and even a game that I used to play with no problems whatsoever is now having graphical lag, NWN. WoW used to hover in the mid 20s FPS at least, but now will drop to single digits even in a town that isn't that crowded. NWN gave me graphical lag after no settings changes but it used to run flawlessly. Notably, it also feels like WoW's load times are worse.

I ran a full Spybot SD scan and a full antivirus scan but it didn't find anything more than a couple minor things, and I did a clean install of my video card drivers. I've found that even turning the settings in WoW all the way down doesn't really help in most situations. Everything has been done with the laptop plugged in. I have no reason to think that it's a hardware problem other than I haven't found any other reason; the laptop has been pretty well taken care of, no drops, no spills, no other problems.

Thanks in advance for any advice/ideas

Edit: Forgot to mention, ran HijackThis also, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Dell e1505 laptop
Windows XP Pro
ATI x1400
Intel T7200 C2D
2GB Mushkin ram

 

[darkewaffle]

Well, after pretty much running out of ideas I decided to try a fresh start. I formatted, and did a fresh windows install. Currently I have little more than drivers, a web browser, winrar, and WoW installed and I'm still experiencing the same performance issues. I'm going to try a bit of dusting, but I have to say I have low hopes.

Do you think its safe to assume that it is a hardware problem? What kind of tests could I run to narrow down the problem if it is?

 

[darkewaffle]

Well, I ran Stress Prime 2004 (prime95 w/ GUI update) orthos edition (for dual core), and got an error after almost 11 hours, which I don't think is too bad, and probably isn't my problem anyway; seeing as WoW/NWN really dont put that kind of stress on the CPU/RAM.

I also found that prior to the clean start, I scored a bit over 1400 on 3dMark05, and I got practically the same score after reinstalling windows, a 1477. These scores are also substantially lower than what a similarly equipped dell laptop should score, from others results that I've seen. I think I should be getting anywhere between 1900-2100.

Edit: 3dMark05 ORB Results

 

[darkewaffle]

Hate to have to bump this but after basically inexplicably disappearing shortly after Christmas, I'm now experiencing what seems to be the exact same problem. Very poor 3d performance and some general sluggishness. It's been running fine about New Years when it just started working ok again. I've run spybot sd, windows update, hijackthis, tried fresh installs of pertinent drivers, dusted, all to no avail. I really dont want to have to try to reformat seeing as I don't have a lot of the resources here at my dorm that I did at home. I ran 3dmark05 again and I still have the mid 1400s score which I'm pretty sure is substantially below what other similarly equipped [Dell] laptops get.

Any new suggestions?

 

[robisbell]

probably whatever internet connection you were on was bogged down from everyone being online during the holidays, since it's a game that is dependent on a solid steady internet connection. I'd run a speedtest on your connection the next time this happens.
also do a ping test of bbc.co.uk when you're getting this issue.

you can get "PC Wizard" to monitor temp and voltages when this happens as well.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Plenty of space on the hd?

Have a lot of processes running at startup?

Limewire or anything like that competing for your bandwidth?

 

[darkewaffle]

@robisbell - thanks for the input, but i know its not network lag. it's definitely graphical. getting an app to check voltages might be worth looking into, its something i've never checked before; but i also don't think its a problem with heat. it happens even when the laptop has been off for a few hours and i gave it a thorough dusting just a week or so ago as well.

I think the HD should be fine, its got about 23GB free presently, so like 30% free.

Nope, I check them now and again to disable unnecessary stuff (crap for itunes, quicktime, adobe, etc).

Nope, happens even when I have basically nothing else running.

Thanks all, keep it coming

 

[robisbell]

well, I'd still like you to do the test and post the result slike I asked, just to see what's going on connection wise when the issue kicks up.

 

[darkewaffle]

With no other programs running

Speed Test #45846584 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-02-13 17:02:21 EST
Download: 2593 (Kbps)
Upload: 446 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 316.5 down 54.4 up
Tested by server: 56 java
User: 2 @ dslreports.com

With WoW running in the background

Speed Test #45847012 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-02-13 17:08:32 EST
Download: 2349 (Kbps)
Upload: 436 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 286.8 down 53.3 up
Tested by server: 56 java
User: 2 @ dslreports.com

So, yea, nothing significant.

 

[robisbell]

no, I asked for you to run it when you start having the issues in your online game, not when the game is running.

 

[robisbell]

if you run a speed test again, when the issue pops up, go to this site.

http://www.speedtest.net/

I'd also like to see a ping test without the issue and one with the issue.

 

[darkewaffle]

There is never not an issue in the past two-three days. Every time I play either game there is severe graphical lag. I appreciate the help but I can assure you it has nothing to do with my connection.

 

[robisbell]

when that happens exit out of the game and immediately run the speedtest. then run the ping test.

 

[robisbell]

you can assure me, but till the tests are done, that's the prime issue, when you're playing a online game that has other users involved, the connection can influence all aspects of the game.

 

[darkewaffle]

Speedtest just after exiting game, consistent graphical lag

Ping just after exiting the game

Pinging bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.131] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=109ms TTL=115
Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=144ms TTL=115
Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=114ms TTL=115
Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=125ms TTL=115

Ping statistics for 212.58.224.131:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 109ms, Maximum = 144ms, Average = 123ms

Speedtest just after restart

Ping just after restart

Pinging bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.131] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=107ms TTL=115
Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=146ms TTL=115
Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=100ms TTL=115
Reply from 212.58.224.131: bytes=32 time=106ms TTL=115

Ping statistics for 212.58.224.131:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 100ms, Maximum = 146ms, Average = 114ms

 

[robisbell]

thank you, a few irregularities, but nothing major. how long have you had the laptop?

did you get "PC Wizard"? I'd like to see the temps and voltages right when the problems happen.

 

[darkewaffle]

I am so frickin excited.

I think I solved this.

For a while I had basically given up on my laptop, it would be forever crappier than it was supposed to be. I never made the connection between my battery's slow death and the worsening performance of my laptop. It wasn't until after the initial problem that the battery completely died so the timeline wasn't quite 'right on' but it makes much more sense now. Anyway, I was looking up replacing the battery earlier today and was doing some related searching on the internet and I decided to try shutting down the laptop and starting it up without the battery in it. Voila, everything is as it should be. WoW and NWN are smoother, my CPU usage spikes far less (and never during simple tasks like it used to), and everything feels less sluggish. Seeing this got me re-motivated so I decided to check on a few things and as far as I can tell, I'm in good shape except for this one thing that I'm not sure of.

Here is a copy and paste of some of my information from PC Wizard that appears whenever I select "Frequency" part of the "Processor" view.

General Information :
Real Frequency : 998.65 MHz
Multiplier : 6x
Low/High Multiplier : 6x / 12x
Multiplier Locked : Yes
Marketing Frequency : 2000.04 MHz

Front Side Bus Information :
Bus Speed : 166.4 MHz
FSB Frequency : 665.8 MHz (QDR)
LFM Frequency : No
C0 State : Yes

Initial Frequencies :
Frequency : 2000 MHz
Bus Speed : 166.67 MHz (QDR)
Multiplier : 12x

Frequency Control :
Core #1 : 998.86 MHz
Core #2 : 998.69 MHz

Control Clock Frequency :
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) : Yes - Enabled
C1E - Enhanced Halt Mode : No
Dynamic FSB : Yes - Disabled
Dynamic Acceleration (IDA) : No

Thermal Information :
Thermal Design Power : 34 W
Core Power : 16.98 W (estimated)
Thermal control TM1 : Yes - Enabled
Thermal control TM2 : Yes - Enabled
Thermal Control Circuit : Yes
Digital Thermal Sensor : Yes
Clock Modulation (ODCM) En... No

Processor Performance Information :
Throttle Mode AC : Adaptive
Throttle Mode DC : Adaptive
Current Configuration : Adaptive
Throttle : 998 MHz
CPU Shutdown Temperature : 126°C

Processor Power Management Information :
Processor Throttling : Yes
Throttle Range : 12% - 100%
Active Power Scheme : Portable/Laptop

The discrepancy between the "real frequency" and the 'marketing frequency' is what confused me. Is this just how dual core cpus are marketed? (2x 1000Mhz = 2000 Mhz!) Or are my cores still being throttled down in some way?

Also, this leaves me with an interesting problem. There's now a big 'hole' in the underside of my laptop. Seeing as a dead battery seems to create problems and a new battery is expensive, does anyone know of any plastic covers or placeholders I could get to put in its place?