Problems with frequent FPS drops in games

[babyshinsen]

Hi, I'm having problems with my FPS in games. This does not apply to only new, hardware demanding games, but to all games I play. Quake 3, Warcraft 3, World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike and the list goes on. I can start playing a game, any game, and after a while it starts... FPS starts dropping from, lets say 80-10 and goes back up to normal with about 5-10 seconds break. It gets more frequently the longer I play and after a while it's about 3-6 seconds break. I have already sent my computer to be overlooked by support and I've got it back with no change... It's really strange cause I don't have to play a new top GFX game to get these drops. I mean come on, Quake 3 ffs... Even with low settings, and my system is not that crappy afaik. Anyway I'm hoping someone can help me deal with this crap cause it's getting old after 2 support sendaways and by the way they did swap my Graphic card from RADEON 9800XT to RADEON x1650 Series so I even got a better one and still drops (maybe even more so now with the new one).

Please...Help...Someone!!!

OS: Windows XP Pro SP2
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz HT
DirectX 9.0c
GFX: Radeon X1650 Series 264MB (ATI 7.9 Driver Only)
Sound Card: SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio (5.1 Surround)
Memory: 1,5 GB RAM DDR (2x 512MB 400MHz + 2x 256MB 400MHz)
HD: 2x 250GB WDC WD2500PD-07FZB1
Motherboard: FUJITSU SIEMENS D1627-C

 

[Preacher]

happened to me once, it was my anti-virus or something.

 

[macdawg]

could be a million things.

check your startup items and disable unnessary items in your startup.

defragment

disable your anti-virus when you game

make sure drivers are up to date

check your temps with something like speedfan during gaming

 

[babyshinsen]

Checked the anti-virus. Turned it off and played. No difference.
I would like a bit more details regarding the startup and process programs as to what is normal and what to look for.
I have defraded both HDs and all my drivers bios etc are up to date. Even tried old ones before with no luck. Temperatures are fine, CPU 36C, GPU 72 and HDDs 50-60C. Any other ideas?

Thanks for the replies guys much appreciated.

 

[krazyq]

could be a million things.

check your startup items and disable unnessary items in your startup.

defragment

disable your anti-virus when you game

make sure drivers are up to date

check your temps with something like speedfan during gaming

do NOT use speedfan...its known to be the most inaccurate.

Use coretemp for cpu temps and ati tool for gpu.

If you want you could always re format pc.

 

[babyshinsen]

hehe already tried format the PC. This sure is strange...

 

[crippa83]

Hi! This is my first post on these forums. I am experiencing the stuff you talk about!

First of all, I want to say I dont know very much about computers >.<

When I play FFXI, I suddenly get a fps of 1/sec.. It stays like that for about 10 sec maby, then returns to normal (very smooth).

In Dota, the game all of a sudden drops to like 1 frame/5 sec.. totally unplayable. Then it goes back to normal..

When watching youtube clips in full screen mode I also experience these things..

This is very frustrating..
Im using an Acer Aspire 5112 Dual Core laptop.

I tried downloading Core Temp as suggested, and from the log file i see that both processors are experiencing a temp of ~90C when playing FFXI, and 60C when doing nothing.. Is this to high? Can it be the problem for me? And if thats the case, what can I do to lower the temp?

Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance!

/Christoffer

 

[Invisible]

omfg 90 C will severly damage your processor
downclock your processor using bios

 

[commandercup]

omfg 90 C will severly damage your processor
downclock your processor using bios

its a laptop... so temps are more tolerable for proccesors

anyways, make sure your not playing on a blanket or anything that will block the ventilation of the laptop

 

[babyshinsen]

Ok I got the new PSU (500W) and no change. Done a format and installed all drivers possible. Got kaspersky antivirus (tried with and without it), still fps drops on any game I play... Any other ideas?