Laptop Issue with Games

Technology and Gaming Help and Support
#1

Hi :slight_smile:

First I know that most of the laptops are not appropriate for gaming or heavy video tasks but I’ve received this laptop (Acer Aspire 5738ZG) some time ago. And it did well in the games that I played (Orange Box games before the engine update for HL2).

But for quite some time it doesn’t play any game that well or at least for a good amount of time. The first time I noticed that issue was with TF2. I could play 5/10 minutes very well then had terrible FPS drops down to 9 and maintained at that value for 10 seconds then raised up again and down for 9 FPS making it unplayable.

It happens with other games too for example Minecraft. Started the game with high FPS and then the story repeats.

I have updated all the drivers, BIOS. I used Avast but switched for MSE for testing (and because it was giving away false positives for Steam).

My laptop is an Acer Aspire 5738ZG
CPU: Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4300, 2.10Ghz
RAM: 4GB DDR3
GPU: Nvidia G105M (Up to 1791 TurboCache - don’t know if I need to activate some kind of option or it is on by default)
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with Service Pack 1

The thing is I know that the laptop is capable of playing those games because for 5/10 minutes they run pretty well (not on max settings of course).

Also disabled the write caching in Disk to see if it was a disk problem and it wasn’t. Disabled all non-Windows services and restarted - same results; disabled all startup programs - same results.

Nvidia settings are set for performance.

Then I ran a test with SpeedFan to see the temperatures while idle and playing and I think it is not good (but maybe it was always like this):

Desktop + Web + Music:
GPU: 75ºC
HD : 55ºC
Core1: 70ºC
Core2: 71ºC (usually one degree higher)

Gaming:
GPU: 107ºC (ouch!)
HD : doesn’t change much
Core1 and Core2: 85ºC-90ºC

Consulted the manuals to open up to the Fan and it is really hard. I mean… I have to remove all the devices within the PC because there is no direct access to it.

Any suggestions here? Are those temperatures normal for a laptop gaming? Is that the cause for those FPS drops?

Also my brother has the same laptop and I tested with the same game and the temperature reading was only between 0ºC-5ºC difference from mine.

Thanks.

#2

How old is this laptop? It could just be age and the parts finally giving up. It happens. Laptops aren’t meant to last too long in the first place. I’d say about 2-3 years minimum, 4-5 tops. I know you probably don’t want to hear this but I would heavily consider buying a new PC. Or, even better, build one since you can save some money.

I know the CPU temp is fine for a desktop, but not sure about a laptop. I would assume so unless it’s like an ultra book or something. And yeah, I think your GPU is or may soon, or already be FUBAR.

#3

if it’s based on G8x or G9x chips you might have thermal related solder problems and the GPU could die soon

what happens when you jam the fan on max speed (with fan speed control software), let it cool down then run a game, does it take longer to start screwing up?

Maybe you just need to replace the shitty thermal paste with some good stuff and clean the dust out of the fan and heatsink? (always the bare minimum for gaming on an outdated laptop)

Your brother’s laptop also needs a clean up then, because 105C+ is really just a wall beyond which your CPU and GPU are underclocked until temperature is brought down by the cooling system.

#4

Hey man, I had the EXACT same issue with my laptop few months ago too, I couldn’t even play Minecraft on lowest settings it would block and the fps would go down drastically. I tolerated this for 6 months, and I told my dad to take the laptop to a Laptop Service thingy, and it cleaned my laptop and now it runs just as good as before! My laptop is 2 years now, and it’s still in perfect condition.

Also, if/after you clean it, I recommend you buying a cooling pad for a laptop, it isn’t expensive, I have one it costed me around 20-30$ or so.

Hope you get your laptop fixed man, for 6 months I was damn desperate to find a solution, until I thought it’s overheating, my laptop had 88C in idle, and over 100 in gaming too.

Best of luck to you, don’t wait like I did, cause if you let it like this for more than a year, the system can get damaged, even burn inside, literally.

#5

Clean the fan with compressed air (google how). I highly recommend you buy a laptop cooler (around 15$), it extends your laptops life, it also helps stabilize your frames.

#6

Yes maybe 3/4 years old. Yeah never liked laptops for these kind of tasks and I know that I have to replace it. Or at least buy a new PC as you suggested (no laptop). I’m currently on an Computer Science course and this is definitely a need. I’ve to make some money for a big PC asap.

Yes I’ll do that. I’m going to buy some thermal paste and a can of compressed air. The tech manual said that I had to remove a lot of stuff to reach the fans and by a lot of stuff I mean almost all of the components. There is direct access to the RAMS and to the Hard Disk but not for the fans.

What software do you recommend for controlling the speed of the fans?

Glad it works now :slight_smile: . Yes I’ve to clean it urgently before it gets burned and I’m left over with no laptop :stuck_out_tongue: At first thought that it might have been the antivirus scanning periodically for some game files slowing down the game performance but it wasn’t.

Do you know what are the regular temperatures in laptops for the CPU and GPU? Just to have some reference.

Yes. Going to do that. Will see if I’ve a laptop cooler around here to and try :slight_smile:

Thanks again for the answers :slight_smile:

#7

I’ve searched for your specific laptop model and Google says use SmartFan or this app. I don’t have an Acer laptop so I can’t confirm that it will work.

#8

Thank you :smiley: Will try and use it while I don’t have the thermal paste :wink:

#9

My laptop temperatures now, in summer, is around 40-48c idle. While gaming, it can go to a maximum of 65-70c but it doesnt slow my games, not even a bit :stuck_out_tongue:

#10

Those are temps you would expect from a new laptop with either low-end graphics or a VERY clean fan.

#11

I will try to reach those temperatures :stuck_out_tongue: If the hardware isn’t damaged at all. The hard thing here is reaching to the fan but now I have the technical manual :slight_smile:

#12

with Nvidia graphics I bet money that it would be above 80C when under load

#13

But not above 100ºC right? :stuck_out_tongue:

#14

Under full load maybe, I used to have a geforce 8400 laptop go up to 108C but it did not slow down the clock speed, if the CPU clock was higher than 1.5ghz it would have overheated and been under clocked.

#15

Ok :wink: I’m not sure about the regular temperatures for laptops because I was never into that . I just don’t understand why I can’t have direct access to the fans. I mean… if it is something that you need to take care off and clean you should be able to open it up.

The tech manual says this to reach the fan:

  1. See “Removing the Battery Pack” on page 46.
  2. See “Removing the SD Dummy Card” on page 47.
  3. See “Removing the DIMM Module” on page 48.
  4. See “Removing the Back Cover” on page 49.
  5. See “Removing the Hard Disk Drive Module” on page 50.
  6. See “Removing the WLAN Modules” on page 53.
  7. See “Removing the Optical Drive Module” on page 55.
  8. See “Removing the Middle Cover” on page 58.
  9. See “Removing the Keyboard” on page 60.
  10. See “Removing the LCD Module” on page 61.
  11. See “Separating the Upper Case from the Lower Case” on page 64.
  12. See “Removing the Left Speaker Module” on page 71.
  13. See “Removing the USB Board Module” on page 72.
  14. See “Removing the Modem Module” on page 75.
  15. See “Removing the Bluetooth Module” on page 76.
  16. See “Removing the Right Speaker Module” on page 78.
  17. See “Removing the Main Board” on page 80.

:fffuuu::fffuuu:

#16

the most important is knowing which screw goes where, I usually print a picture of the back of the laptop and place screws on the paper according to where they should go

then I go to get a snack and my little sister re arranges all the screws and mixes them with screws that aren’t even from the laptop :fffuuu:

#17

Next time, take your snack before opening one of your laptop or give it to your sister.

#18

I disassemble laptops like 3 times a week on average so anything can happen. :stuck_out_tongue:

#19

Ahah well hope it works well because I’ve never disassembled a laptop to the main board or CPU (only for the RAMs and Disk) :stuck_out_tongue:

#20

You’re a factory worker :slight_smile:

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