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Slowdown help - Page 2

post #21 of 35
10/8/05 at 7:50pm
Thread Starter 
Hey Booty (and anyone else that has RMA'd their system. How long does it usually take to get your laptop back? If I need to RMA, I think I'd ened to wait until Christmas break since my university requires all engineering students to bring their laptops to class to do work and to take quizzes and tests. =\
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post #22 of 35
10/8/05 at 7:59pm
hey gob, try unchecking all that stuff and give what ever you were trying another try. oh, leave the ones for ati checked.
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post #23 of 35
10/8/05 at 8:00pm
Thread Starter 
Additional Note: I ran dxdiag and under DirectX Files, there's a Note that says: "The file vfwwdm32.dll is incorrectly installed in the Windows folder and should be deleted." What should I do to fix that? I tried downloading DirectX 9.0c again from Microsoft and ran the install file, but it just said that I already had it installed. Is there a repair option for DirectX somewhere or maybe a complete reinstall option?

Edit: I'll try that denn.


Edit #2: Didn't work Denn =(
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post #24 of 35
10/8/05 at 9:38pm
Thread Starter 
I might be onto something. When I played Empire Earth 2, I had mobmeter up. WHenever it slowed down, I alt-tabbed out and checked my CPU Frequency and it was down to about 2.1-2.5 GHz. I waited until it went back up to 3.0 GHz and tabbed back in and the gameplay was normal. I'm not sure if this is the problem, but I'll keep testing it with other programs.

Let me know if you guys think this is a valid source of the problem.


Edit: As you can see in the following image, there were a lot of times when my clock speed went down a lot during gameplay. Some all the way down to 2.1 GHz and a majority of them down to 2.46 GHz. During normal gameplay, I also tabbed out to see if my CPU was running at 3.0 GHz and it was. Only during the slowdowns were the numbers below 3.0 GHz. Am I onto something here? If so, can I make it so the CPU doesn't alter its clock speed while my laptop is plugged in?


Mobmeter was started right as gameplay began and monitored the system for about 20 minutes.
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post #25 of 35
10/8/05 at 10:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gobstopper
Hey Booty (and anyone else that has RMA'd their system. How long does it usually take to get your laptop back? If I need to RMA, I think I'd ened to wait until Christmas break since my university requires all engineering students to bring their laptops to class to do work and to take quizzes and tests. =\
They have a 72 hour turnaround policy. So after they receive it, they have it fixed in three days and it's on it's way (via ground shipping) back to you. If they don't get it done within three days, then they second-day air it to you when it's fixed.

Mine got there last Tuesday and I still haven't heard anything. And the second-day air shipping doesn't really benefit me, as ground shipping gets here next day. Their HQ is about an hour away from me.
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post #26 of 35
10/8/05 at 10:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gobstopper
I might be onto something. When I played Empire Earth 2, I had mobmeter up. WHenever it slowed down, I alt-tabbed out and checked my CPU Frequency and it was down to about 2.1-2.5 GHz. I waited until it went back up to 3.0 GHz and tabbed back in and the gameplay was normal. I'm not sure if this is the problem, but I'll keep testing it with other programs.

Let me know if you guys think this is a valid source of the problem.
Gob, now that I'm reading this thread again, I'm wondering if it's a power issue? This laptop is known to go right into the crapper (performance wise) when it's not plugged into the wall. I can't test the theory since my machine isn't here, but has anyone tried unplugging their system to see if it causes the same effect?
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post #27 of 35
10/8/05 at 10:45pm
for sure the system will take a power dive unplugged. especially the 9860.
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post #28 of 35
10/8/05 at 10:51pm
Thread Starter 
My system's not unplugged. Does anyone know if my theory is valid? A friend of mine is asking if it's speedstep that's making my clock speed go down, but isn't speedstep only on Pentium M models? Also, I turned off Powerplay in my ATI Catalyst Control Center and that didn't help. How do I prevent my clock speed from going down during gameplay? I want to keep it at 3.0 GHz
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post #29 of 35
10/8/05 at 11:17pm
it very well could be speedstep.. if you have a 6xx series p4 (do you have 64bit?) or, what i suspect is a dying transformer... i don't remeber 100% of my electronics to bear with me, but if it's a slowly dying transformer, due to a pot, or resistor, from heat, (which would increase due to the extra draw on the transformer during gameplay) the voltage/amp would flux, causing the system to go into "speedstep mode" (L a new mode i just made up) in which the processor would decrease speed, BUT due to the decreased power draw of the decreased processor speed, the transformer then can handle the load, and revamps up the power, then processor speed back up... a cycle that is VERY BAD for some components... namly the transformer.
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post #30 of 35
10/9/05 at 3:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr_Drache
it very well could be speedstep.. if you have a 6xx series p4 (do you have 64bit?) or, what i suspect is a dying transformer... i don't remeber 100% of my electronics to bear with me, but if it's a slowly dying transformer, due to a pot, or resistor, from heat, (which would increase due to the extra draw on the transformer during gameplay) the voltage/amp would flux, causing the system to go into "speedstep mode" (L a new mode i just made up) in which the processor would decrease speed, BUT due to the decreased power draw of the decreased processor speed, the transformer then can handle the load, and revamps up the power, then processor speed back up... a cycle that is VERY BAD for some components... namly the transformer.
I thought only mobile processors have speedstep? How can I check if it's speedstep and how can I turn it off if it is? I change my power settings to "Always On" since I was told that that prevents speedstep from kicking in, but it didn't help. My processor has a Pentium IV and I'm pretty sure it's not an M so what should I do now? Contact Sager and RMA it when I get a chance to?
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post #31 of 35
10/9/05 at 11:26am
may i recommend the software called perfect disk. it is fool proof ultra defragging for any system. it can to a agressive defrag leaving no gaps on the drive. and it knows what files are more used then others and places them on the faster part of the drive. for more advanced users another software called disk keeper PRO is also good. but for the every day guy perfect disk is nothing short of awsome. however i dont think the slow downs are defrag related. i believe it somthing stealing away cpu cycles . so the idea of watching in the windows task manager is good. however if you are in a game and notice this slwo down and try and alt tab u may not get back to your desktop untill after the cycle theif has stopped. if i had to guess i would lay my money on some type of undetected spyware. the best solution for a pc that runs best is to simply back up and reformat . i think your problem will be solved then.
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post #32 of 35
10/9/05 at 2:37pm
Thread Starter 
If it is undetected spyware, how come the clock speed only drops during gameplay? Wouldn't it drop as well even if I'm just going on the internet or doing anything else on the computer? I'll do a test and continuously run mobmeter when I'm not playing a game to see if the cpu still slows down.

Edit: I really doubt it's undetected spyware since I ran mobmeter and had task manager up and didn't see a dip in the cpu or any processes that looked suspicious. So since the cpu slowdown only happens during gaming, I'm pretty sure it has to do with a fault in the hardware not being able to handle the load or maybe overheating like Dr. Drache said.
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post #33 of 35
10/9/05 at 9:22pm
well that is possible . however during gaming there arent alot of cpu cycles left over to do much else so somthing stealing away some would be more noticed then just watching at ur desktop. with a P4 with hyperthreading it has to be strained pretty hard before u notice somthing stealing away valuable cpu power.
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post #34 of 35
10/13/05 at 3:06pm
Thread Starter 
After doing some more observations and getting some people who know about computers to look at my laptop, most have come to the theory that it is a heating issue. I'm waiting for my compressed air to arrive from amazon now since there are no stores around my college that sell it. What I'm wondering is, if the fan/vent cleaning doesn't help with the heating issue, am I out of luck or would I be able to sent it to Sager and have them fix it? I'm not sure if a heating issue is something they would consider fixing, but I sure hope so since the laptop is not working as it should because of overheating.
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post #35 of 35
10/14/05 at 5:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gobstopper
After doing some more observations and getting some people who know about computers to look at my laptop, most have come to the theory that it is a heating issue. I'm waiting for my compressed air to arrive from amazon now since there are no stores around my college that sell it. What I'm wondering is, if the fan/vent cleaning doesn't help with the heating issue, am I out of luck or would I be able to sent it to Sager and have them fix it? I'm not sure if a heating issue is something they would consider fixing, but I sure hope so since the laptop is not working as it should because of overheating.
Going to bump this so maybe Luke or someone else from PCT can see it. I'm looking for an answer to my quoted question.

Also Luke, what's the word on my warranty from Warrantech?
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