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When I bought a new laptop, StarCraft 2 ran fine. It was a good day; playing StarCraft 2 with no lag after having to play with 5 or less FPS was amazing!
Time went on and I managed to Stream without lag, and it felt awesome.
As time went on, I ended up not being able to Stream, and as more time went on, I ended up not being able to play without lagging (large army fights).
Today I was fed up with it, so I reformatted my computer.
Unfortunately, I still couldn't play without lag. It lagged!  The computer overheated and then there were lag spikes.
Then I got curious...
+ Show Spoiler +Fuck making it sound story like.
Anyways, I tested running SC2 against the computer and getting 200/200 with hallu+storm and testing lag. I have 2 graphics cards, one integrated and one dedicated. The dedicated graphics card plays better (maintain good fps throughout) but when the computer overheats the dedicated graphics card plays shitty to ensure the computer doesn't overheat and there is a giant lag spike, lowering FPS to 5 even if I'm in the fog of war (and not looking at anything).
On the other hand, playing with the integrated graphics cards keeps a balanced 20 FPS in 200/200 battles and the moment you move the screen to a place with no battle, (blank fog of war) then it jumps back to the max FPS (60). Basically, it plays at a constant lower FPS instead of jumping from perfectly smooth to completely shitty back and forth.
I realize now 2 conclusions.
1) I should play on the Integrated graphics card, the shittier of the two.
2) My laptop probably accumulated dust and so now it overheats easier using the dedicated graphics card.
So if you guys are having lag spikes, perhaps try to use the integrated graphics card. You'd be surprised.
And yea, I'm sad
+ Show Spoiler +All tests done with lowest settings, approximate same build order and army composition.
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Oh yeah, I feel you man. In TvP if the toss throw in a bunch of storms he wins because I get a massive FPS drop, same as Zerg when I reach 120+ and a certain degree of creep spread.
Next time I'll buy a big ass computer, laptops are not for me.
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When I play with my dedicated graphics card, the moment I throw 1 storm, I drop HARD. That's why I'm going to play with integrated now =/
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I'm no expert, but have you checked your CPU temperatures etc.? It sounds to me like your laptop may be running hot.
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You know what they say:"You never regret building quality." Seeing as you can't build you own laptop (in practical terms), I think the implied meaning in the phrase is clear.
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just for the record, you CAN build your own laptop @ http://www.ibuypower.com
it's going to cost you... but if you want a laptop that actually stands a chance at longevity with gaming you need to buy a gaming laptop from a gaming computer company. (not an HP Pavillion w/ a Mobility series GPU - just an example)
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On April 26 2012 23:12 PR4Y wrote:just for the record, you CAN build your own laptop @ http://www.ibuypower.comit's going to cost you... but if you want a laptop that actually stands a chance at longevity with gaming you need to buy a gaming laptop from a gaming computer company. (not an HP Pavillion w/ a Mobility series GPU - just an example)
This is utterly and completely wrong. For starters, you really don't want to drop too much money on a laptop. No matter the build quality and how careful you are, after a few years of moving it around wear and tear takes it's course. Realistically, unless you're not using it like a laptop, 4 or 5 years is probably the absolute max you are going to get out of it. Plus, once a component dies, you really can't replace it easily, and buying a new one probably wouldn't be that much more expensive than getting the old one repaired. Future-proofing a laptop really is dumb.
Second, HPs are actually pretty good quality. They do offer custom builds, and the prices they charge for the hardware you are getting, and the solid build quality of their latest models actually make them pretty decent choices.
Anyways, I tested running SC2 against the computer and getting 200/200 with hallu+storm and testing lag. I have 2 graphics cards, one integrated and one dedicated. The dedicated graphics card plays better (maintain good fps throughout) but when the computer overheats the dedicated graphics card plays shitty to ensure the computer doesn't overheat and there is a giant lag spike, lowering FPS to 5 even if I'm in the fog of war (and not looking at anything).
Have you actually checked internal temps, or are you just guessing that this is the problem?
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Ive checked internal temps and it goes past 90.
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On April 27 2012 03:50 ReketSomething wrote:
Ive checked internal temps and it goes past 90.
90C or 90F?
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On April 26 2012 23:22 TheToast wrote:Show nested quote +On April 26 2012 23:12 PR4Y wrote:just for the record, you CAN build your own laptop @ http://www.ibuypower.comit's going to cost you... but if you want a laptop that actually stands a chance at longevity with gaming you need to buy a gaming laptop from a gaming computer company. (not an HP Pavillion w/ a Mobility series GPU - just an example) This is utterly and completely wrong. For starters, you really don't want to drop too much money on a laptop. No matter the build quality and how careful you are, after a few years of moving it around wear and tear takes it's course. Realistically, unless you're using it like a laptop, 4 or 5 years is probably the absolute max you are going to get out of it. Plus, once a component dies, you really can't replace it easily, and buying a new one probably wouldn't be that much more expensive than getting the old one repaird. Future-proofing a laptop really is dumb. Second, HPs are actually pretty good quality. They do offer custom builds, and the prices they charge for the hardware you are getting, and the solid build quality of their latest models actually make them pretty decent choices.
I second this. Opening a laptop to clean it is a pain, and should be done once a year. So you have the chance to break something once every year (and in my experience, you always damage at least something, even if it doesn't really matter).
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On April 27 2012 08:16 Kukaracha wrote:Show nested quote +On April 26 2012 23:22 TheToast wrote:On April 26 2012 23:12 PR4Y wrote:just for the record, you CAN build your own laptop @ http://www.ibuypower.comit's going to cost you... but if you want a laptop that actually stands a chance at longevity with gaming you need to buy a gaming laptop from a gaming computer company. (not an HP Pavillion w/ a Mobility series GPU - just an example) This is utterly and completely wrong. For starters, you really don't want to drop too much money on a laptop. No matter the build quality and how careful you are, after a few years of moving it around wear and tear takes it's course. Realistically, unless you're using it like a laptop, 4 or 5 years is probably the absolute max you are going to get out of it. Plus, once a component dies, you really can't replace it easily, and buying a new one probably wouldn't be that much more expensive than getting the old one repaird. Future-proofing a laptop really is dumb. Second, HPs are actually pretty good quality. They do offer custom builds, and the prices they charge for the hardware you are getting, and the solid build quality of their latest models actually make them pretty decent choices. I second this. Opening a laptop to clean it is a pain, and should be done once a year. So you have the chance to break something once every year (and in my experience, you always damage at least something, even if it doesn't really matter).
Yeah opening it to clean is actually a pretty bad idea. Many laptop manufactures use small delicate ribbon cable to connect some of the components, I know both Dell and HP do. If you unplug those, they can be almost impossible to get plugged back in without damaging the cables or stripping the connections.
Most laptops are also going to make use of heat conducting copper tubes to pull the heat away from the internal components. The fan then blows over a heatsink connected to those copper tubes; so really there's very little airflow through the laptop and as such dust and contaminants really don't get inside. So, basically don't open your laptop. If you really feel the need to "clean" it, pull out the optical drive and blast some compressed air in through that way. Just don't be surprised if it doesn't help with temps.
Also, in my earlier post I mean to say 'unless your *not* using it as a laptop'. So sorry if that confused anyone.
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My laptop has a "deduster" fan setting which alternates between max fan and no fan.
I don't think it works though lol.
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nevermind... why bother lol
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Maybe you can get one of those laptop cooler fans, would that help?
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EPT
