[CodyLuba]

Okay, so i bought an Alienware area-51 m700 laptop off of a friend.

great computer for the most part....

the problem is that i'm a huge gamer, which is why i bought the computer in the first place.

I've seen my computer run games at a 60FPS framerate, so i know it has potential to do so....

i'll be playing a game and it will run fine for the first five minutes or so, but then i'll hear a strange sound and the framerate dramatically decreases.....

i don't know whether this is a graphics card issue, or a driver issue or what.

PLEASE help......it seems as if my new computer is going to waste. :-/


i'll appreciate any help i can get. thx a lot guys.

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Sounds like a memory leak, or a hardware issue. Drivers all up to date? What games do this, every one you try?
Download and install SpeedFan and check your temperatures - something could be up with the processor.
If worst comes to worst, you might have to do a reformat. At least that way you can rule out software issues if the problem persists.

[JayJay]

Sounds like a memory leak, or a hardware issue. Drivers all up to date? What games do this, every one you try?
Download and install SpeedFan and check your temperatures - something could be up with the processor.
If worst comes to worst, you might have to do a reformat. At least that way you can rule out software issues if the problem persists.

[SRX660]

Video slowdowns should tell you that the video card is probably overheating. Try pulling the side cover off and put a floor fan right in front of it blowing air into the case. If that helps the problem it probably a heat issue. Strange sounds can come from a heatsink warping slightly and causing overheating.

SRX660

[CodyLuba]

okay this could be the problem. i don't know the basic temperature it should be. but mine's reading at 75C. i think that's a little high.

lemme know. and thanks for all the help

[SRX660]

Sorry for the first post about the fan. That is for a desktop computer. Do you have the 4 fans on the bottom of the laptop? If there are any fans do they seem to be running a bit slow? 167°F(75° c) is not too high but is a bit high. This is an alienware computer so it may run normally hot. Is the bottom of the laptop uncomfortable to set in your lap when running? If so it is probably heat causing the problem. Are your drivers up to date? I would check for updated drivers. Remember that if you have a Nvidia card it is better to remove the old drivers before installing new ones. This is a tough problem to handle in a laptop. Most of my gaming friends prefer desktop computers for gaming since they are easily upgraded. Laptops are not easily upgraded, so you may be stuck with what you have. Are the games you run meant to run on a faster computer than yours. Again, here, my gaming friends do not run a computer over a year old for on-line games. Even the best you can build they can find faults in.

SRX660

[CodyLuba]

yeah man, i've already made sure i've updated to the latest drivers. and I have cleaned out the fans. i'm not playing like new high tech games...i'm playing old games that ran on my crappy dell.....such as World of Warcraft, Warcraft3, GUnzonline, and call of duty 2.

and....they're just not working.

i don't understand it.

i think it has to be the heat that's causing the problem...because as i said before, the game always runs flawlessly for about 5 minutes or so.

and then it starts to heat up.

my fans adjust speed automatically, so i have no way of increasing fan speed.
>< ahhh!

[CodyLuba]

last night i reapplied thermal paste to my video card, cuz it seemed like all the old stuff had been gone for awile....

it's definately not a video card problem.

could either be a problem with my CPU or my router settings....

what would be the best setup for my router for gaming?

i've got verizon FiOS.

[CodyLuba]

Okay...i solved my own problem.... there was a filter placed directly next to my CPU to catch dust, but it was overheating the CPU.

i took it out...i win.