Laptop has become really slow ?

[Shapeshifterz]

Hey guys.

I've got to the point with my laptop where i cannot help myself anymore. When it comes to PC's i can handle these things pretty well, but with lappys im a bit of a tool .

The thing is, some time ago it ran things just fine. I could play battlefield 3/4 with it and it ran it with ease. Not the highest settings ofcourse, well not even med, but low. It worked. But now it's really struggling.

I have formated the harddrive, cleaned the vents, took it apart checked everything inside but there was nothing wrong.

Main issue with the lappy is, that it starts to hang after some time of gaming, and im doing that on lowest settings. Sometimes it runs fine, sometimes its absolute nightmare.

Specs:
Asus U31SD
CPU: i3-2330 @ 2.2ghz
RAM: 4GB DDR3
GPU: Intel integrated & nVidia gt520m ( using 520m )

And before you start saying " blabla its not a gaming laptop " i know it is not. I have my main pc that i play games with. But it's just annoyingly slow now and ive run out of ideas.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[RCoon]

Thermal throttling would be my first guess I suppose, TIM on the GPU or CPU could be baked dry. Might be worth a repaste, had to do that on a Dell just a couple of weeks ago and all thermal issues were solved instantly.

 

[Shapeshifterz]

Thats actually one good idea, why i haven't thought about that myself .
Will definately try it out thanks

 

[RCoon]

Thats actually one good idea, why i haven't thought about that myself .
Will definately try it out thanks

Hopefully removing the copper heatpipe won't be too difficult, newer laptops seem to make it nice and easy, but older laptops are incredibly difficult to service when it comes to the cpu heat exchange. Best of luck.

And before you start saying " blabla its not a gaming laptop "

Check out the steam hardware survey, most people use Intel integrated for gaming for things like DOTA and LoL and other indie games these days, I'm sure your low end NVidia mobile GPU does just fine for what you need it to

 

[micropage7]

first i think it may relate to heat, have you checked your fan, the fan speed too

 

[ne6togadno]

you can also get coolermaster notepal u2+ or u3+ (depending on size of your laptop).
http://www.coolermaster.com/mobile/notepal-all-notepals/notepal-u3-plus/
http://www.coolermaster.com/mobile/notepal-all-notepals/notepal-u2-plus/

 

[Shapeshifterz]

first i think it may relate to heat, have you checked your fan, the fan speed too

At 13% of cpu usage ( couldn't go lower for some reason something was always working ) its hovering around 60 degrees celsius and in game i have seen it popping up to 80. Also when gaming i notice that the fan is quiet for some time, and at some point it starts spinning really fast for few minutes, and then slows down again.

 

[MustSeeMelons]

you can also get coolermaster notepal u2+ or u3+ (depending on size of your laptop).
http://www.coolermaster.com/mobile/notepal-all-notepals/notepal-u3-plus/
http://www.coolermaster.com/mobile/notepal-all-notepals/notepal-u2-plus/

Don't bother, it's a waste of money, the gain is VERY small. Reapply the thermal paste + when you are doing something intensive, tilt the laptop a bit, so that more air can get in. (I used a rubber hearth)

 

[pigulici]

You checked the hdd for problems(bad, ...)?

 

[RCoon]

You checked the hdd for problems(bad, ...)?

+1, good point, I hadn't thought of this. Could be worth checking the HDD for bad sectors or checking the smart data.

 

[ne6togadno]

Don't bother, it's a waste of money, the gain is VERY small.

i use u3 for 3 years but if you say so who am i to question

 

[Jetster]

Run a fan right into the vents. Or a can of air when you playing (have someone do it for you) to see if it helps

 

[Ja.KooLit]

At 13% of cpu usage ( couldn't go lower for some reason something was always working ) its hovering around 60 degrees celsius and in game i have seen it popping up to 80. Also when gaming i notice that the fan is quiet for some time, and at some point it starts spinning really fast for few minutes, and then slows down again.

this could be the reason. as mentioned by others, it must thermal throttling. it could be problem with the sensors in which at those temps, the fan should be spinning alot. there is software called speedfan, try to crank up the fan while gaming. so if it helps. one thing also you could do is buy a laptop cooler.

 

[95Viper]

If you are running a HDD... did you do some cleanup and defrag? Also, check for any errors... plus, SMART status. As,
pigulici pointed out.

Try checking to see what processes are using the 13% of cpu while idle.
Check what startup items you have and disable ones you do not need or use.(like auto updating programs, adobe junk, java junk,etc.)
Try disabling your A/V software or put it in gaming mode, if it has that option.

This article may be of assistance: Using Resource Monitor to Troubleshoot Windows Performance Issues

 

[Raw]

Hey guys.

I've got to the point with my laptop where i cannot help myself anymore. When it comes to PC's i can handle these things pretty well, but with lappys im a bit of a tool .

The thing is, some time ago it ran things just fine. I could play battlefield 3/4 with it and it ran it with ease. Not the highest settings ofcourse, well not even med, but low. It worked. But now it's really struggling.

I have formated the harddrive, cleaned the vents, took it apart checked everything inside but there was nothing wrong.

Main issue with the lappy is, that it starts to hang after some time of gaming, and im doing that on lowest settings. Sometimes it runs fine, sometimes its absolute nightmare.

Specs:
Asus U31SD
CPU: i3-2330 @ 2.2ghz
RAM: 4GB DDR3
GPU: Intel integrated & nVidia gt520m ( using 520m )

And before you start saying " blabla its not a gaming laptop " i know it is not. I have my main pc that i play games with. But it's just annoyingly slow now and ive run out of ideas.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks!

I saw on television PCMATIC does the trick every time. Works so good the cashier chickie gives the guy free flowers, too.

 

[Shapeshifterz]

this could be the reason. as mentioned by others, it must thermal throttling. it could be problem with the sensors in which at those temps, the fan should be spinning alot. there is software called speedfan, try to crank up the fan while gaming. so if it helps. one thing also you could do is buy a laptop cooler.

I am using speedfan although there is no such option to crank it up ? Ive looked for ways to improve the fan speed but so far haven't found anything

Thank you all for the answers. I will try the solutions and report back

If you are running a HDD... did you do some cleanup and defrag? Also, check for any errors... plus, SMART status. As,
pigulici pointed out.

Try checking to see what processes are using the 13% of cpu while idle.
Check what startup items you have and disable ones you do not need or use.(like auto updating programs, adobe junk, java junk,etc.)
Try disabling your A/V software or put it in gaming mode, if it has that option.

This article may be of assistance: Using Resource Monitor to Troubleshoot Windows Performance Issues

Okay the 13% usage comes from Elder Scroll Online launcher. Turning everything off will get it down to 0-4% and temps go to 45-48C
I will try the HDD scan.

PLEASE LEARN TO USE THE EDIT BUTTON AND NOT TRIPLE POST.

 

[ne6togadno]

what does launcher do? patching or only playing music?

edit: what is the size of the laptop ~15" or less

 

[Shapeshifterz]

what does launcher do? patching or only playing music?

Only downloadig update, nothing else.

Try to reinstall Windows
Windows 7 is much better than Windows 8 for gaming purpose

Now that im sorry, i don't agree. After installing Windows 8 on both machines, laptop and pc, i can say they performance gain has been visible.

 

[RCoon]

Try to reinstall Windows
Windows 7 is much better than Windows 8 for gaming purpose

Windows 8 has minutely better gaming performance. There has been reviews to prove this. It's only around 1% in all cases though.

 

[Shapeshifterz]

Also i noticed, for some reason the speedfan doesn't pick up any fans ? It used to display RPM but now its all empty

 

[rtwjunkie]

Also i noticed, for some reason the speedfan doesn't pick up any fans ? It used to display RPM but now its all empty

Doesn't speedfan use .NET? I've had other monitors stop reporting as well when all of a sudden .NET goes wonky. Can't say that it is responsible for your slowdown, but it indicates something else not right. Can you try reinstalling ,NET? I assume you've restarted it to check? sometimes this clears up the mysterious .NET.