FPS Drop outs

[Digidy]

Hi,

First time poster, long time reader

I have been experiencing a problem with my laptop and World of Warcraft for a while now and the problem seems to be getting incrementally worse. It started around October of last year and while there are posts from players relating to some similar issues (but not all) on the WoW Tech Forums I wanted to ask a wider (and more informed communities advice. The game was working perfectly both before and after the MoP expansion, the problem really arose about 3 weeks after the expansion and has just gotten steadily worse since then.

Basically I can be running around with 30-100fps (depending on whatever settings I'm running) and suddenly my FPS drops by 50% for about 1-2 secs and then returns to its previous level causing the game to freeze entirely for 1-2secs. In the beginning it was not so bad but it seems to have gotten progressively worse to the point that it is a complete freezefest now and the game is unplayable. Another symptom (though possibly unrelated) is that the sound/music is constantly skipping both in the game and in the login menu.

Fixes applied so far in no particular order in some cases applied a number of times:
1. Switched from Dx11 to Dx9 and forced the 32bit client
2. Rolled back Nvidia drivers - Initially seemed to make some difference but after the problem resurfaced and fix 3 & 4 were implemented this fix no longer makes any difference.
3. Updated Nvidia drivers (at a later date) - note this seemed to make the problem worse.
4. Uninstalled the video driver and allowed it to reinstall using factory settings.
5. Deleted WTF/Cache/Interface, deleted Cache in the Battlenet folder.
6. Used repair tool in launcher.
7. Reduced all graphic and sound settings to low and in some cases disabled them altogether (e.g. SSOA).
8. Checked CPU and GPU temperatures and they are well within the norm.
9. Checked CPU activity to see if I could correlate the FPS drops withe CPU spikes - I could not.
10. Turned off "Max Foreground FPS" (and the other setting underneath it).
11. Updated Addons.
12. Removed Addons.
13. Flushed DNS.
14. In "Properties" for Wow.exe I have unchecked "Disable Desktop Composition"
15. In "Properties" for Wow.exe I have set the game to "Run in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3
16. Disassembled my laptop and cleaned out all dust - made zero difference at the end of the day and tbh there was only a tiny amount of dust in it.
17. Did a fresh install of windows and wow, updated all drivers using Driver Genius.

I can post a dxdiag if needed

Laptop is:
Dell XPS L501x
Intel Core i5-480M (2.66hz, 4Threads, 3MB cache)
Memory 4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM[2x2048]
Video Card 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 420M
Hard Drive 320GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
Win 7 Home Premium 64bit
Intel® Wireless LAN 6200

Could anyone out there point me in some direction as although my fellow wow players have tried to be helpful I have yet to come up with a fix =/

 

[Digidy]

Update:

First of all I set the Page Allocation setting back to automatic before testing the RAM modules. I also set the game to low graphics and returned any of the settings that might reduce game performance to its lowest setting. I then took out each RAM module and tested the game with one or the other stick in place but I still experienced FPS drop outs.

I did notice the following however:
With module A I had severe dropouts while flying high in the air in a MoP zone. The game was so choppy I just checked for dropouts and then moved on to module B.
With module B I only experienced dropouts when engaged in combat or looting (two of the most common causes of dropouts I experience). I replaced both modules and

As I just noted above the graphical freezes I experience in game are most commonly occur when looting, when engaged in combat and also when I target an NPC or player sorry it only occured to me to say this now. Other graphical anomalies I notice are:
1. White screen just before login screen (i.e between launcher and login).
2. Maps/Questlog/Bags are slow to load - for example with bags, over the space of 1-2 secs I will see in this order - black space where bags will be, the numbers of stacks of items I have and then the item icons appearing on top of the bagspace/numbers, for Maps its a black screen with icons denoting quest objectives and then the map appearing as if being discovered at sime insane speed (not sure if I'm doing the explaination justice here).

Lastly, after the last test I undertook I have noticed that while tabbed out and writing here, I am experiencing keyboard lag - e.g. I am writing but nothing appears for a few secs and then the last word I typed will appear or I am typing and nothing appears and then the whole sentence will appear. This has been something I had attributed to IE (as I normally use firefox) but its only been occuring recently (i.e. since frsh install) and it seems to be getting worse.

I hope I'm not giving you a headache with all the questions and random problems, I will endeavour to give you all the information in future. The only other thing of significance I can think of is that around the time this problem started I would get an occasional error from windows to tell me that Windows Aero was not suitable for this system I was given the choice of change to normal, ignore and something else I don't recall, after the first couple of times I know I turned it off but the problem persisted however this problem has not occured since fresh install.

Hoping that the above is a help rather than a hindrance.

 

[Digidy]

two further things that occur:

1. I have a device in my devce manager which has no driver and is an unknown device. I have tried updating it and also tried downloading all drivers from the Dell driver page to no avail. Would it be ok to reinstall Driver Genius to find out what driver is missing?
2. I would also like to reinstall some of my programs such as firefox, Codecs, VLC and IDM, any objections to this (as they are obviously not the cause) and or the game Portal 2 (to test to see if it has problems too?

 

[JefferyD90]

Go ahead and install Portal and check it out. Also, give me the details on the driver that is missing (go to the device manager) right click on device>properties>events (tab) then copy and paste everything in the "information" box. (usually this is something silly and stupid that dell leaves out of their driver list and does not affect performance, like a Bluetooth driver).

If it got worse with page filling turned off, that almost 99% clarifies that it is memory issues. I would suggest buying some good, high end RAM, ($30) and replacing it.

And never use a 3rd party program to find drivers... Its just bad practice all the way around.

And to make it 100% sure that it is memory related, is the "hanging" your seeing for a few brief seconds where practically NOTHING happens at all, and then for about 10 second or so it works flawlessly? If that is the case, it absolutely is RAM, but this would be system wide (for the most part depending on which one of the modules are bad)

 

[Digidy]

I can't see any "Event" tab... I went to device manager, right clicked on the "unknown device", went to properties...As Am I in the wrong place?

As regards the page filing, I am unsure as to whether there was an FPS issue as the game was hanging so much and crashed a couple of times it was hard to tell. I can test that again and just wait for it to settle.

With regard to the hanging I'm seeing it is really only in game and sometimes in IE. I can watch .avi's in WMP without any system hanging issues.

I will get around to Portal either later tonight or sometime over the weekend. Thanks again for the input, at least I feel like we are tracking down the culprit now. You say "high end", are you talking in terms of manufacturer or size?

 

[Digidy]

Like this?

http://www.dabs.ie/products/kingston-branded-4gb-1600mhz-module-for-lenovo-tp-8C9Q.html?refs=4294944914-4294943292&src=3

 

[JefferyD90]

This one is nice

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7487089&CatId=4153

Yours is too.

 

[Digidy]

Ok I have installed Portal 2 and it lags out almost worse than wow does.. So the verdict seems to be memory, thanks I wouldn't have gotten this far without your help!

I havelooked for a few different cards and I was hoping you'd direct me to good ones, I live in Europe so ordering from the States can be expensive! Here they are:

http://www.dabs.ie/products/corsair-4gb--1-x-8gb--ddr3-1600mhz-204-pin-sodimm-cl11-8F80.html?refs=43190000-418700000-468490000&src=3

http://www.dabs.ie/products/corsair-4gb--1x4gb--ddr3-1600mhz-cl9-vengeance-sodimm--performance-notebook-memory-module-82MT.html?refs=43190000-418700000-468490000&src=3

I will make an order in the next few days and if upon delivery my problems are sorted then I'll change the status to solved.

Thanks again for all your time and advice!

D

 

[JefferyD90]

Search for this item number on your countries Amazon website: CMSO8GX3M2A1600C11

That is the kit I totally recommend.

The right price for the kit is going to be around 35-40 euro, I can get it for $50 here in the states, so I definitely don't want you overpaying for it.

 

[Digidy]

Ok so I purchased the RAM recommended and it arrived today so I did as follows:

1. First I powered on my laptop to check if it was still having problems - problem still existed.
2. Removed old RAM and inserted new RAM and powered laptop - this led me to "Windows Error Recovery" screen with options to
a) Launch Startup Repair or;
b) Start Windows Normally

2a). Choosing the first option resulted in a new screen with a loading bar that when finished rebooted the system and returned me to point 2.
2b). Resulted in the computer rebooting and returning me to point 2.

These options/solutions just loop with no change.

So I took out the new RAM and inserted the old RAM, this resulted in the computer reaching option 2 above and upon choosing that option it went beyond the loading bar and started the Windows Recovery tool offering me the option of a restore point. After it had finished the laptop rebooted and windows loaded.

I have gone through step 1 and 2 twice now with the same result.

So next I removed the old RAM and inserted one stick of the new RAM, this resulted in this BSOD the first time

and this BSOD the second time.

Upon removing that stick and inserting the 2nd stick of new RAM I got the second BSOD again. Replacing the old RAM resulted in point 2 above and I was able to do a Repair and return to windows....

What am I missing? I checked out a vid (www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1oTz-F6xME) on on how to replace laptop memory before I started and as far as I can see I've followed all steps correctly =/

 

[Digidy]

I should probably also note that my BIOS registers that there is 8gb of RAM inserted when the two new sticks were inserted. Should I try a combination of new and old?

 

[JefferyD90]

No, do not try a combination of new and old RAM.

Go into your BIOS and select the "Defaults" option, then save and exit.

If you get the Windows boot menu, with this particular situation, always "start windows normally"

You didn't take the RAM out with it in Standby did you? You actually went to START > SHUT DOWN right? not just hitting the power button right?

 

[JefferyD90]

Im wondering if you may have not got the RAM completely pushed into the slot where it will make good contact.

 

[th3_ory]

On the bottom right of your posts is where you can edit what you said so you dont hvae to double posts....

Other than the software side of things, is your RAM working fine?

 

[JefferyD90]

Maybe I want to type 2 post? And he said he tried both sets of RAM, the one that we knew worked, but performs bad, and the one that is new, but doesn't seem to work.

It sounds like he pulled it with it in sleep mode, and/or the Intel chip isn't compatible with that set of RAMs timings... Which in todays age seems unlikely, but if it would never work, a Intel platform is where you would have the problem.

 

[JefferyD90]

And another point, does this notebook get extremely hot? If so, the memory controller could have gone bad.

I didn't even know that happened anymore, but I had a system that I worked on Thursday and the memory controller in it was bad. All the dump files related to memory issues, and I exchanged RAM that I knew was working and it still did it.

 

[Digidy]

Hey,

I have tried setting default configuration in BIOS but that makes no difference.

In relation to your question as to whether I had powered off the laptop before working on it I'm 95% sure I did (though it was a couple of weeks ago and I don't recall exactly my actions... also the laptop spends a lot of time in sleep mode so your question has me questioning myself). What (if anything) can be done if I did take the old RAM out and inserted the new RAM while the computer was in sleep mode? Wouldn't that have affected the old RAM also? I am considering bringing the new RAM to a laptop repair shop to have it tested, I may do this later today.

Lastly relation to your question regarding heat, the laptop has always had some heat, though nothing excessive (like my old Sony vaio)... Is there any way to test the memory controllers?

Before I rebooted windows I "think" my laptop was going OK in terms of normal functions such as internet etc but I am really noticing hangups in terms of clicks and typing these days.

I look forward to your reply,

D

 

[Digidy]

Update:

New RAM has been tested in 2 other laptops and works perfectly - mem tests performed and more importantly / they booted up.

Could my laptop just not like the new RAM or could the contiuously deteriorating hangups also account for the incompatibilitys between Laptop and RAM?

Also if its a memory controller and I'm outside of dell warranty is there any hope for my laptop at all or should I bite the bullet now and pick up a more reliable machine?

 

[JefferyD90]

Well, to be honest... I think its mem controller... that is either integrated in the CPU or on the MB so its a big money thing. I think that it is probably best to buy a new machine... to be honest, this machine is nothing special as it is, and for less than $600 I can find you a MUCH better machine. If you need help selecting a new notebook, Ill be more than happy to make a few suggestions.

 

[Digidy]

Hi,

First off thank you for a the time you've invested helping me and others like me out. It has been much appreciated!

While the solution isn't what I had hoped for its not the end of the world and I guess I'm in the market for a new mobile machine. I would like to be able to play games such as Crysis, Far Cry etc but I am also constrains financially. Add to that I live in Ireland and watch the prices soar! But I would appreciate any suggestions you may have as though I think I know a good bit, clearly you know a lot more

Thanks again for your time and look forward to hearing from you,

D

 

[JefferyD90]

This is the best gaming notebook you can buy. It will serve you right:
http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?cid=6&id=381

Now the best VALUE notebook you can get is:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-Pavilion/B8B23AV?HP-Pavilion-g7z-2200-Notebook-PC

Customize it with the A10-4600M APU and the 7670M GPU for a added boost in performance. But for $600 your not going to find a better machine. The A8 is as low as I would go to be serious with gaming. Even the A6's are probably better than what you had anyways.

You will need to go to your country/region's MSI and HP website to order it, as the ones I linked you are USA websites. But it lets you get the feel for what you want/need.

 

[Digidy]

Hey!

Thanks for the info on those, I haven't made a firm choice as yet but I will over the next while. Thanks again for all the input.

Regardsd

 

[JefferyD90]

Did you ever make a decision?