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laptop problem

Started by 31337noob May 2, 2006 at 12:21 PM 13 replies 1.4k views

Original Post

May 2, 2006 at 12:21 PM

ok, when i play a game for like 2-5 min, it will freeze until you restart your computer. at first i tought this was the SpeedStep screwing up my machine. so i turned off SpeedStep and i tried running a game again. It still froze my machine. what can be freezing my computer???? the games freeze when i am on AC and DC. if i am on AC, i can play a game for like 1-2 hours before it freezes. please help..i am getting mad....this problemm has been happing for at least a year..I even took it to a computer store to see if they can fix it, but they dont know whats wrong with it. thanks in advanced.

cloudscapes

May 2, 2006 at 12:28 PM

specs please

ram
cpu
chipset/graphics
sound
OS

have you tried closing absolutelly everything in the background? virus scanners? etc

choffstein

117

choffstein

May 2, 2006 at 12:29 PM

I used to have this wierd problem in my laptop where after about 20 minutes, it dropped from about 100fps (playing Counter-Strike 1.5) to 20fps. Turns out I had a huge dust bunny in my vents, preventing it from cooling both the cpu and the gpu.

I would check to see if things are overheating.

Just a possibility.

31337noob

Author

31337noob

May 2, 2006 at 12:32 PM

Quote:
Original post by visage
I used to have this wierd problem in my laptop where after about 20 minutes, it dropped from about 100fps (playing Counter-Strike 1.5) to 20fps. Turns out I had a huge dust bunny in my vents, preventing it from cooling both the cpu and the gpu.

I would check to see if things are overheating.

Just a possibility.

when i took my computer to get it fixed, they cleaned inside my computer.

31337noob

Author

31337noob

May 2, 2006 at 12:35 PM

Quote:
Original post by cloudscapes
specs please

ram
cpu
chipset/graphics
sound
OS

have you tried closing absolutelly everything in the background? virus scanners? etc

ram = 512
cpu = p4
graphicsCard = ati mobility 9200
sound = buit in sound
os = winXP home
i dont know my motherboard cause i never opened my machine and i plan not to. to many screws.

and yes i did try that

31337noob

Author

31337noob

May 2, 2006 at 12:38 PM

my laptop model is the hp pavilion zx5040US

cloudscapes

May 2, 2006 at 3:17 PM

would you say it's been doing that ever since you got it, or did you wake up one morning and all of a sudden games make it crash?

it might just be defective. simplest (and most painful) answer

Gaiiden

589

Gaiiden

May 2, 2006 at 7:33 PM

Quote:
Original post by 31337noob
Quote:
Original post by visage
I used to have this wierd problem in my laptop where after about 20 minutes, it dropped from about 100fps (playing Counter-Strike 1.5) to 20fps. Turns out I had a huge dust bunny in my vents, preventing it from cooling both the cpu and the gpu.

I would check to see if things are overheating.

Just a possibility.

when i took my computer to get it fixed, they cleaned inside my computer.

One or more of your fans may have stopped working properly. My laptop started to completely switch off after like an hour or so of Empire at War and I went out and bought a Targus Chillpad from Staples for $30 and the problem was solved. Kinda sucks for portability but I guess I can't complain cause the Chillpad is portable (USB-powered) and it keeps my lap from roasting

DerekSaw

May 3, 2006 at 6:22 AM

Stop buying P4 notebooks. It burns when turn on for 5min or so, and it throttles intermitenly and make gameplay not fun. A 30fps game could become 10fps, to 1fps, back up 15fps and stays averagely around 5 to 10fps for your entire gaming experience.

I'm a victim of this and has been playing sideslow games for about a year.

p/s: It is a company notebook and I can't afford a desktop for now.
spec: P4 3.2GHz HT, 1GB RAM, fx5200 go. Even playing Diablo2 in 2D mode suffer the same fate.

tldalton1622

May 3, 2006 at 1:00 PM

Try this: it might be that the cpu is overheating. Try taking two books and put them about 6 inches apart and put your laptop with the fan exhaust in the open space between them. I had a laptop that did the exact same thing. And when i did that it worked fine. might not be whats wrong with yours but always check the simplest thing first

31337noob

Author

31337noob

May 3, 2006 at 6:04 PM

Quote:
Original post by DerekSaw
Stop buying P4 notebooks. It burns when turn on for 5min or so, and it throttles intermitenly and make gameplay not fun. A 30fps game could become 10fps, to 1fps, back up 15fps and stays averagely around 5 to 10fps for your entire gaming experience.

I'm a victim of this and has been playing sideslow games for about a year.

p/s: It is a company notebook and I can't afford a desktop for now.
spec: P4 3.2GHz HT, 1GB RAM, fx5200 go. Even playing Diablo2 in 2D mode suffer the same fate.

hl2 runs fine on my laptop..fps around 50-80 ish.

no matter what game i play it freezes after a while.

if its on ac, 1-2 hours before freezing.
if its on dc, 1-5 min.

cloudscapes

May 3, 2006 at 6:35 PM

Quote:
Original post by 31337noob
if its on ac, 1-2 hours before freezing.
if its on dc, 1-5 min.

Either the battery generates a lot of heat when used (dc) or it'S defective and can't handle the voltage boosts needed for gaming.

I'm all outta ideas. :(

31337noob

Author

31337noob

May 4, 2006 at 11:12 AM

Quote:
Original post by cloudscapes
Quote:
Original post by 31337noob
if its on ac, 1-2 hours before freezing.
if its on dc, 1-5 min.

Either the battery generates a lot of heat when used (dc) or it'S defective and can't handle the voltage boosts needed for gaming.

I'm all outta ideas. :(

how can i check the voltage boosts.

Zealot

May 4, 2006 at 2:36 PM

I agree that it could either be heating or the battery.

I've read that the batteries in laptops can cause all sorts of grief and strife, so if you can find yourself another battery to test in it, that'd be great. The battery in mine is going bad I think, so it's probably a relatively common thing.

If it works fine in other games and intensive applications, then that's a bit more complicated.

Did this suddenly arise or has it been like this all along?

31337noob

Author

31337noob

May 22, 2006 at 12:34 AM

great news people, i solved this problem...it was not the cpu overheating and it was not the battery. the problem was in fact the speedstep techonolgy. i turned it off and poof it worked. thanks for all of your help...

i tought i had speedstep off but it wasnt. i must of hit cancel instead of apply. but now its off for good. and my laptop WORKS!!!!

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