GPU getting slower and slower

arquliz · Nov 16, 2010, 04:21 PM

Hello, i have a 3 year old compal laptop with a nvidia 8600m GT and a 2.4 GHz core 2 duo intel CPU. The problem is that its performance in gpu based games has fallen a lot, now it lags in warcraft 3 at the lowest settings and even loweset resolution (about 10-25 fps).
I have checked the GPU temperature in furmark, it went to 95 degrees celsius rather quickly so i got afright and turned it off. The fans are very quiet but they arent filled with dust, i can't force the fan speed up.

Anyone got any suggestions on what to do?

TL;DR my 8600m GT is getting hot and performing very bad, what do?

mcdragon2 · Nov 16, 2010, 04:27 PM

well my first inclination might be that you need to take it apart and put on new thermal paste after 3 years it is probably a very good idea. the seems like they are set to quiet or something so maybe go into advanced power settings and make sure that cooling is set to active which will make the fans change speed instead of being constant

arquliz · Nov 16, 2010, 05:11 PM

The cooling policy is already set to active.

Judas · Nov 16, 2010, 05:27 PM

first..

if you can carefully.... take the necessary covers off to make sure it's clean... the fans might be relatively free of dust.. but the heatsinks can get plugged up damn good and due to the design of many laptops.. don't make it easy to make sure they are free.. let alone allow the chunks of debris to actually make it out of the computer...

I'd also suggest getting a laptop cooling pad appropriate for your latop...

arquliz · Nov 16, 2010, 06:09 PM

Sorry i might sound like a noob, but can the copper tubes also be filled with dust?

**kris23** · Nov 16, 2010, 06:11 PM

nope just actual heatsink fins...

the heatpipes (copper tubes) are sealed

arquliz · Nov 16, 2010, 06:42 PM

Ok, i have removed the dust even though there weren't much of it. Will check how it runs tomorrow. Thanks.

mcdragon2 · Nov 16, 2010, 09:38 PM

if you tell us what model your laptop is we might be able to help with finding instructions on how to take it apart to get to the gpu.
I know my HP compaq 8510p is a piece of cake to get to.

arquliz · Nov 18, 2010, 06:59 AM

well, it's a compal JFL92 but removing that little amount of dust did actually fix most of the problem, it doesn't lag that much in wc3 anymore. The weird thing is that i have had a lot more dust in it before without giving such bad performance, it just made the comp crash back then instead of slowing down.

blibbax · Nov 18, 2010, 09:48 AM

The thing is, a modern PC with integrated graphics shouldn't lag in maxed out warcraft 3... I used to play it on the intel integrated on my northwood PC maxed out with no issues at all.

This suggests to me that, while your GPU is undoubtedly getting too hot, there may be some other problem at work too - perhaps your CPU is also thermal throttling, or you have a huge number of background applications?

P.S. Remember that the primary cause of lag in online games is your internet - does it produce the sumptoms you describe in single player?

arquliz · Nov 22, 2010, 06:59 AM

The cpu shoulden't be getting that hot, i haven't got any applications that take a lot running in the background. i'm only using 1 out of my 3 gb ram.
The lag is the same both online and offline.

mcdragon2 · Nov 22, 2010, 05:07 PM

I still think you need to check the thermal paste and replace it

arquliz · Nov 22, 2010, 06:59 PM

What kind of thermal paste you recommend?
I just have to take of the cooler and replace it right?
BTW, i don't have performance problems with stuff nearly only use cpu like emulators. I can still achieve the same speeds old ps1 games (1000 fps) as i could when my laptop was new.

mcdragon2 · Nov 23, 2010, 02:09 AM

there area lot of good pastes out there. artic silver 5 is good and there are several new ones that have been reviewed on here.
yes just remove the cooler wipe off the old carefully with some isopropyl alcohol and then follow the instructions for the paste you got.

blibbax · Nov 23, 2010, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arquliz

What kind of thermal paste you recommend?
I just have to take of the cooler and replace it right?
BTW, i don't have performance problems with stuff nearly only use cpu like emulators. I can still achieve the same speeds old ps1 games (1000 fps) as i could when my laptop was new.

This may be the case, but your GPU and CPU most likely share a cooler.

iPlayer · Nov 23, 2010, 10:44 PM

Yep, it's likely you have a shared heatsink between the cpu and gpu, and you'll probably find a thermal pad or a thermal gum in place. If you really want to try replacing those:
The Arctic mx-4 is a good thermal compound, that should be easy to apply.

Are you certain there's no malware eating up your resources too?

Judas · Nov 24, 2010, 03:26 PM

personally i would recommend a eletrically non-conductive thermal paste for laptops....

but arctic silver or anything like that will usually produce better results then the typical adheaisive pads and crap..

but one thing i've been noticing is that the heatpipes and copper and overall size of these suckers seems to be getting smaller..... and less efficient appearing.

Nov 16, 2010, 04:21 PM	#1
arquliz HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 67 Rep Power: 21 System Specs	GPU getting slower and slower Hello, i have a 3 year old compal laptop with a nvidia 8600m GT and a 2.4 GHz core 2 duo intel CPU. The problem is that its performance in gpu based games has fallen a lot, now it lags in warcraft 3 at the lowest settings and even loweset resolution (about 10-25 fps). I have checked the GPU temperature in furmark, it went to 95 degrees celsius rather quickly so i got afright and turned it off. The fans are very quiet but they arent filled with dust, i can't force the fan speed up. Anyone got any suggestions on what to do? TL;DR my 8600m GT is getting hot and performing very bad, what do?

Nov 16, 2010, 04:27 PM	#2
mcdragon2 HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: West, OH Posts: 252 Rep Power: 17 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower well my first inclination might be that you need to take it apart and put on new thermal paste after 3 years it is probably a very good idea. the seems like they are set to quiet or something so maybe go into advanced power settings and make sure that cooling is set to active which will make the fans change speed instead of being constant

Nov 16, 2010, 05:11 PM	Thread Starter #3
arquliz HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 67 Rep Power: 21 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower The cooling policy is already set to active.

Nov 16, 2010, 06:09 PM	Thread Starter #5
arquliz HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 67 Rep Power: 21 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower Sorry i might sound like a noob, but can the copper tubes also be filled with dust?

Nov 16, 2010, 06:11 PM	#6
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,018 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower nope just actual heatsink fins... the heatpipes (copper tubes) are sealed __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Nov 16, 2010, 06:42 PM	Thread Starter #7
arquliz HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 67 Rep Power: 21 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower Ok, i have removed the dust even though there weren't much of it. Will check how it runs tomorrow. Thanks.

Nov 16, 2010, 09:38 PM	#8
mcdragon2 HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: West, OH Posts: 252 Rep Power: 17 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower if you tell us what model your laptop is we might be able to help with finding instructions on how to take it apart to get to the gpu. I know my HP compaq 8510p is a piece of cake to get to.

Nov 18, 2010, 06:59 AM	Thread Starter #9
arquliz HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 67 Rep Power: 21 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower well, it's a compal JFL92 but removing that little amount of dust did actually fix most of the problem, it doesn't lag that much in wc3 anymore. The weird thing is that i have had a lot more dust in it before without giving such bad performance, it just made the comp crash back then instead of slowing down.

Nov 18, 2010, 09:48 AM	#10
blibbax What does this do? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 4,231 Rep Power: 254 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower The thing is, a modern PC with integrated graphics shouldn't lag in maxed out warcraft 3... I used to play it on the intel integrated on my northwood PC maxed out with no issues at all. This suggests to me that, while your GPU is undoubtedly getting too hot, there may be some other problem at work too - perhaps your CPU is also thermal throttling, or you have a huge number of background applications? P.S. Remember that the primary cause of lag in online games is your internet - does it produce the sumptoms you describe in single player? __________________ Donate the spare computing power of your PC to help to cure Alzheimer's, ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease and cancer: Fold for HH!

Nov 22, 2010, 06:59 AM	Thread Starter #11
arquliz HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 67 Rep Power: 21 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower The cpu shoulden't be getting that hot, i haven't got any applications that take a lot running in the background. i'm only using 1 out of my 3 gb ram. The lag is the same both online and offline.

Nov 22, 2010, 05:07 PM	#12
mcdragon2 HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: West, OH Posts: 252 Rep Power: 17 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower I still think you need to check the thermal paste and replace it

Nov 22, 2010, 06:59 PM	Thread Starter #13
arquliz HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 67 Rep Power: 21 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower What kind of thermal paste you recommend? I just have to take of the cooler and replace it right? BTW, i don't have performance problems with stuff nearly only use cpu like emulators. I can still achieve the same speeds old ps1 games (1000 fps) as i could when my laptop was new. Last edited by arquliz; Nov 22, 2010 at 08:14 PM.

Nov 23, 2010, 02:09 AM	#14
mcdragon2 HardwareHeaven Addict Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: West, OH Posts: 252 Rep Power: 17 System Specs	Re: GPU getting slower and slower there area lot of good pastes out there. artic silver 5 is good and there are several new ones that have been reviewed on here. yes just remove the cooler wipe off the old carefully with some isopropyl alcohol and then follow the instructions for the paste you got.

Nov 23, 2010, 10:44 PM	#16
iPlayer Filled with noobsauce Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: between the buns Posts: 1,450 Rep Power: 59	Re: GPU getting slower and slower Yep, it's likely you have a shared heatsink between the cpu and gpu, and you'll probably find a thermal pad or a thermal gum in place. If you really want to try replacing those: The Arctic mx-4 is a good thermal compound, that should be easy to apply. Are you certain there's no malware eating up your resources too?