Serious FPS issues...

[munch2477]

I really need any help i can get on improving fps with cs source. I heard clean install does wonders but i am not quite sure how to succesfully do one. Also my laptop gets really hot and it seems to slow down every so often when the fan kicks in. Would buying a cooling pad help at all?

 

[urbandragon]

Well lets have some specs on your laptop.

What settings do you have CS:S set to medium/high/low?

What kind of background processes do you have running.

hit ctrl+alt+del select taskmgr and post what you have listed.

Go to Start>run> type msconfig then hit enter
go to the "startup" tab
look though the list and any application that is loading that doesn't need to be loading remove the checkbox. ( Things you want to keep running are antivirus,firewall, possibly logitech mouse drivers if you are using a gaming mouse.)

Post your list of applications here and we can tell you which ones can go for sure.

Click apply>ok then restart your computer.
should give you a few extra FPS.

Another big improvement would be to disable windows perfomance enhancements.

Right click my computer>click properties>click advanced> under the section for performance click settings>click the tick mark for Adjust for best Performance>click apply>ok> your system will "freeze up for a few seconds while windows applys settings. then your screen should default back to the win2k type look.

Another thing I have found to help is remove that green start bar. Right click your desktop> click properties> you should be on the Themes tab.. > change theme from Windows XP to windows classic. hit apply>OK

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[munch2477]

Yeah hopefully it will help. Unfortunately I'm on my other laptop at work so I cant post all the apps and stuff. But here are my specs: inspiron 6000, 1.86ghz, 2gb ram, windows xp home, ati radeon mobility x300, 80 gb hard drive and 120 gb external hard drive. This is the cfg im using right now for source.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=453432

Seemed to inprove my fps a lot (from around 60 improved to around 120 in video stress test). I also tried most of these windows tweaks which seemed to cover everything.

http://www.techreviewer.com/viewpage.cfm/ui/040226130402

The one thing i didnt turn off luckily was the system restore (which i heard takes up a lot of space and i might want to think about it once i make sure i get everything correct). Once i did all this i restarted my computer and found that I could not connect to my wireless internet. It kept saying aquiring network address and never connected. So i used my system restore and went back a day. So all the settings returned to normal. If you read the windows tweak, which of the services should i not touch because obviously something i adjusted messed up my internet. Any help would be great

 

[urbandragon]

Do you use a belkin wireless network adapter?

I have one for my work laptop and if that belkin sofware is not started she will not work at all(network that is)

You probably disabled a service or unchecked your wireless adapter program from the MSConfig utility.

60-120 FPS is prob about the best you are going to do on that system
Which honestly isn't that bad.

 

[munch2477]

^
Thats a 1.86 ghz Intel Pentium M 750 processor i believe if that matters for anything

 

[munch2477]

Yeah I know it is pretty good for my system but the problem is when im in game i get a max of 45. The 60-120 is only video stress test. and it usually spikes hard to under 10 every so often when my fan kicks in. So i was wondering if heat is a big factor on performance and if a cooling pad would do anything?

And I think I might have touched something with the belkin. Ill have to double check in the windows tweak quide.

 

[urbandragon]

heat on a laptop is a very good possibility. I dont know how much the cooling pad actually works.. I have one for my laptop just because i had an old gateway way back in the day that had heat issues, I figure for 20 bucks it couldn't hurt. I am not much on laptop gaming, I prefer my trusty desktop for some cs:s goodness

If your FPS are dropping below 10 fps only when your fan kicks in, I would say your heat is a major contributing factor to your loss of fps at that instant. Another thing I wasn't thinking about but may apply, do you use your your ac power when gaming or do you just use battery power, the intensified graphic processing could be lowering due to higher power consumption.

Just a thought though

 

[munch2477]

Yeah I think im going to pick up a decent cooling pad. I have no ideas about which is a good one. Im guessing they are pretty much all the same except the higher end ones. But im not looking to spend over $40 on a cooling pad.

That second point seems counterintuitive to me. Are you saying I should try playing with just my battery instead of the ac power? Wouldn't you want as much power as possible supplied to the laptop? Then again i know nothing about most of this stuff. Im still learning. Thanks

 

[munch2477]

Well i confirmed for a fact that it is indeed a heat issue. I went home and i brought my laptop out of my room (which is like 75-80 degrees) and i have an air conditioning duct on my kitchen floor. I put the laptop right on top of the duct so the cold air was blowing underneath. I fired up source and used a custom config and sure enough i was playing at 100-120 fps. just to make sure it wasn't anything I did in the cfg, i moved the laptop off the vent and kept playing. about 5-10 mins later my fps dropped all the way down to 30-40 fps. So i moved it back onto the vent and my fps went way back up in a few mins to 100-120. I guess my next step is to get a cooling pad unless i wanna play on my kitchen floor. Thanks for your help guys

 

[urbandragon]

LOL

I was half asleep when i posted that.

You are 100% correct i posted that last response a bit backwards. I was trying to say if you were just using the battery power, try using the ac adapter because the game causing the video to consume more power may be draining your battery causing lower fps due to weak battery.


Sorry thats what i get for posting after a 23 hour work day