low fps

hey, i've got a chronic problem with my computer. whenever i run a game, such as cs, quake 3, or cs:source (these are the only three that have given me any problem) it runs fine for a while, but then i will start getting bouts of very low framerate. it will last for like 5 seconds, and occur every minute or so, but the framerate will drop down to 5 fps or so. its just enough to make me very angry. anyway, i tried turning down all my video settings to the lowest possible, then i even reformatted, but the problem persists through a reformat. i think it might have something to do with my processor. anyone have any ideas? i would greatly appreciate it.

ps, in games such as age of empires II, i have no problems at all, so i dont know....

what are your system specs?

mobile intel pentium 4 processor at 2.80GHz
Nvidia Geforce FX Go5200
64 mb memory

in case you havent figured it out yet, its a laptop...

not the best in the world, but normally it can run games like quake and cs fine without any framerate issues. i think it might be an issue with the processor, but im not sure what to do about it

The processor is decent, I have a 2.6ghz clocked at 3.0ghz now, thats not a problem, it looks like its your graphics.

FX5200 is awful really, especially if its only got 64mb or RAM.

FX5200 was unfortunately one of the worst cards produced and is really a geforce 3 in terms of performance. I presume you have 64mb of grafics card memory. How much sytem memory do you have?

I would look replace the grafics card with something better and maybe increase system ram to 512mb.

I wouldn't say the processor is that great. In a laptop it's important what processor to choose. 64MB of main memory do you mean? I wouldn't surprised if it was something to do with the hardware. *points to iranu that it's spelt "graphics"* :p

Overheating and throttling sounds like a possible culprit, although it could just be that you basically have a geforce 3 with some bits tacked on.

yeah, ****ing graphics. i guess i should just send it back to dell and have them replace it for me. however, if thats the case, i think i might just stick to gaming on my xbox and keep my laptop for schoolwork and stuff. meh.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KeZZeR

*points to iranu that it's spelt "graphics"* :p

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I usually write gfx and nearly put "grafix" card before only correcting the "x".

I used to be fick, but I'm alright now.

processor heat i think as P4's throttle back when they get hot and when they cool they accelerate again. the 5200 isn't to bad especially in a lappy and shouldn't be having a problem running the games you suggest.

actually i've let it rest for a while, then i just played today and fps looks fine, so im thinking that it probably is a heat issue...

i think ill pick one up off of ebay