While playing any games, though this issue is more prevalent in Team Fortress 2 and World of Warcraft, my computer intermittently goes into some sort of CPU overload. Every 10 or so minutes, frame rates drop to near zero, the CPU usage jumps to 100%, and the games become unplayable. This lasts for about 5-10 seconds, whereupon everything resumes normally.
Specs are as follows:
-Intel Core2 T7200 @ 2.00 ghz (dual core)
-2048 Ram
-2x 120gb Hard Drives
-GeForce GO 7600
-64 Bit Operating System - Windows Vista Ultimate
Other programs in use while gaming:
Kaspersky Internet Security (Full version)
Speedfan
Winamp (Sometimes)
MSN (Sometimes)
I've owned this laptop for several months now, and this issue only started occuring a few weeks back. There have been no major patches, upgrades or changes made to the machine that would have triggered this issue (At least that I can think of). This is the thing that confuses me most. Why would my computer run perfectly fine for months, and then develop this bad habit?
Ive gone so far as running the game with task and process manager open, trying to see if any particular application or process is eating up CPU or RAM when this occurs, with no success. The programs on my computer are only ever using half my available RAM, so I doubt it's a memory issue (I've run Memtest as well, no errors).
I've posted about this issue in the past, though no solution offered has completely done away with this VERY annoying issue. I've tried everything from disabling indexing on Vista (this did boost overall performance), running in compatibility mode (also a slight improvement), defragmenting, running antivirus software (the computer is clean and well protected), turning OFF antivirus software (In case it is some sort of auto updater/scanner kicking into gear), cleaning out the laptop, cooling it, etc. Nothing has helped. Every 10 or so minutes the performance drops, then goes back to normal.
I've read posts regarding a similar problem in regard to other games. Suggestions ranging from driver updates to better cooling have been brought up, and I've tried them all. Short of a system reformat (Which I prefer to avoid) nothing has helped.
If you have had similar problems, post your story here as well. I'd like to see how it compares. Perhaps we all have some problem in common.
Specs are as follows:
-Intel Core2 T7200 @ 2.00 ghz (dual core)
-2048 Ram
-2x 120gb Hard Drives
-GeForce GO 7600
-64 Bit Operating System - Windows Vista Ultimate
Other programs in use while gaming:
Kaspersky Internet Security (Full version)
Speedfan
Winamp (Sometimes)
MSN (Sometimes)
I've owned this laptop for several months now, and this issue only started occuring a few weeks back. There have been no major patches, upgrades or changes made to the machine that would have triggered this issue (At least that I can think of). This is the thing that confuses me most. Why would my computer run perfectly fine for months, and then develop this bad habit?
Ive gone so far as running the game with task and process manager open, trying to see if any particular application or process is eating up CPU or RAM when this occurs, with no success. The programs on my computer are only ever using half my available RAM, so I doubt it's a memory issue (I've run Memtest as well, no errors).
I've posted about this issue in the past, though no solution offered has completely done away with this VERY annoying issue. I've tried everything from disabling indexing on Vista (this did boost overall performance), running in compatibility mode (also a slight improvement), defragmenting, running antivirus software (the computer is clean and well protected), turning OFF antivirus software (In case it is some sort of auto updater/scanner kicking into gear), cleaning out the laptop, cooling it, etc. Nothing has helped. Every 10 or so minutes the performance drops, then goes back to normal.
I've read posts regarding a similar problem in regard to other games. Suggestions ranging from driver updates to better cooling have been brought up, and I've tried them all. Short of a system reformat (Which I prefer to avoid) nothing has helped.
If you have had similar problems, post your story here as well. I'd like to see how it compares. Perhaps we all have some problem in common.