Persistent CPU slowdowns during any gameplay

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I'll start with all my system specs:

Computer: IBM Thinkpad R32 Model No. 2658 AAU
OS: Windows XP Professional
CPU: Pentium 4 1.6 ghz
RAM: 384 mb
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 16 mb with latest driver 7.911

Whenever I'm playing any game, whether I'm at or above its recommended
system requirements, every 10 minutes or so, I have a periodic slowdown when
game performance is really choppy. It's funny because the first slowdown
usually happens right when the the CPU fan starts running. Each slowdown can
last quite a few minutes. It is extremely annoying.

I have tried closing all other programs including taskbar applications to no
avail.
I have tried defragmenting my hard drive to no avail.
I have tried disabling all screensavers to no avail.
I have no virus or spyware (having scanned with Bitdefender Antivirus and
Microsoft AntiSpyware).

One time a while ago, however, I reformatted and played a game (Empire
Earth) before installing anything else and it worked great. I kept trying it
after installing groups of Windows updates there came some rare minor
slowdowns. After installing Word and Access XP they became much more common.
This shows that this is not a hardware problem, thank God.

Now I am playing Project 64 v1.6 (a Nintendo 64 emulator), and during the
slowdowns I open Taskmanager to see the CPU usage of the processes and find
that System Idle Process is taking up roughly 70% of my CPU power (whereas it
should be about 90% for the game, right?).

Is there anyway to get rid of whatever system process that could be causing
these slowdowns?
Could it have anything to do with the Registry?
 
CORRECTION: When I checked the Taskmanager to see what was taking up the CPU
power I saw it was System Idle Process because the game window was not
highlighted and the game had paused. When I left taskmanager open while
playing the game, I saw that it was the game itself that was taking up most
of the cpu power. It is like this with all games: During the slowdown, it's
still the process of the game itself that is taking up the CPU power.
Therefore, I have no idea what could possibly be running in the background
that could be causing these slowdowns.
 
Hi,

| CORRECTION: When I checked the Taskmanager to see what was taking up the CPU
| power I saw it was System Idle Process because the game window was not
| highlighted and the game had paused. When I left taskmanager open while
| playing the game, I saw that it was the game itself that was taking up most
| of the cpu power. It is like this with all games: During the slowdown, it's
| still the process of the game itself that is taking up the CPU power.
| Therefore, I have no idea what could possibly be running in the background
| that could be causing these slowdowns.

The System Idle process reflects the unused CPU power, as such it's not
putting any strain on the CPU at all, it's simply showing how idle the CPU is.

It is not unusual for a game to take up 100% CPU power, especially if your
laptop is set to run the processor at lower CPU cycles when on battery or
when the CPU reaches a certain temperature.

The first thing I would do in your situation is visit the website
of the laptop's manufacturer, and update all system drivers,
in particular the drivers for Chipset, Sound, and Video.

Driver installation instructions should be provided at the web
site, or start from Step 2 of my desktop video driver install
instructions: http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/Video.html#drivers

Plug in your laptop for the best results when gaming.

OVERHEATING is the #1 cause of various laptop problems!
Be certain that you're not blocking the laptop's air vents,
and that they are free of dust. Look for signs of overheating
by running your hand along the sides and bottom of the laptop.

If you notice your laptop is running hot, and the fans are all
working properly, one trick that I've used with my old laptop
was to sit it on a clean flat box (similar to a medium pizza box),
in which I kept several cooler ice packs from the freezer. ;-)
Of course, you could order a professional cooling mat instead.

If you feel that your laptop is overheating way too much, you
should contact the manufacturer to see what they suggest. In
some cases they may need to replace the CPU heating fan, or
recommend the ideal Power Settings to use while gaming.

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call / Contact
MS Support at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
 
Computer: IBM Thinkpad R32 Model No. 2658 AAU
OS: Windows XP Professional
CPU: Pentium 4 1.6 ghz
RAM: 384 mb
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon 16 mb with latest driver 7.911

Whenever I'm playing any game, whether I'm at or above its recommended
system requirements, every 10 minutes or so, I have a periodic slowdown when
game performance is really choppy. It's funny because the first slowdown
usually happens right when the the CPU fan starts running. Each slowdown can
last quite a few minutes. It is extremely annoying.

I have tried closing all other programs including taskbar applications to no
avail.
I have tried defragmenting my hard drive to no avail.
I have tried disabling all screensavers to no avail.
I have no virus or spyware (having scanned with Bitdefender Antivirus and
Microsoft AntiSpyware).

One time a while ago, however, I reformatted and played a game (Empire
Earth) before installing anything else and it worked great. I kept trying it
after installing groups of Windows updates there came some rare minor
slowdowns. After installing Word and Access XP they became much more common.
This shows that this is not a hardware problem, thank God.

Now I am playing Project 64 v1.6 (a Nintendo 64 emulator), and during the
slowdowns I open Taskmanager to see the CPU usage of the processes and find
that System Idle Process is taking up roughly 70% of my CPU power (whereas it
should be about 90% for the game, right?).

Is there anyway to get rid of whatever system process that could be causing
these slowdowns?
Could it have anything to do with the Registry?
Click to expand...

Your laptop CPU overheating protection is kicking in and the
performance is automatically lowered to prevent damage, it is a
hardware problem and you need to find a way to cool your machine more
if you want to play games on it, no registry or software can help...

Make sure the built-in cooling is sufficient (no dust, fan working
fine etc...) Use a cooling mat is necessary.

===
All the best!
Katy Pluta
 
You know what, I would think it's an overheating problem. I've gotten a lot
of responses like that, and its logical. When I touch the bottom of my
computer the heat (in my estimation) is a little below the threshold of pain.
(Sometime I should try to get the exact temperature).

But here's why I don't think it's (just) the heat. A while ago, I
reformatted and tried the games with nothing else on my computer (except what
was preinstalled which excludes SP2 and Office), and there were no slowdowns
at all. So I'm wondering if there's a driver or some software that is making
my CPU work harder. . . But as I said, I have no spyware or viruses causing
it.
 
You know what, I would think it's an overheating problem. I've gotten a lot
of responses like that, and its logical. When I touch the bottom of my
computer the heat (in my estimation) is a little below the threshold of pain.
(Sometime I should try to get the exact temperature).

But here's why I don't think it's (just) the heat. A while ago, I
reformatted and tried the games with nothing else on my computer (except what
was preinstalled which excludes SP2 and Office), and there were no slowdowns
at all. So I'm wondering if there's a driver or some software that is making
my CPU work harder. . . But as I said, I have no spyware or viruses causing
it.
Click to expand...

Might be either a driver or BIOS setting which is different now, or a
failure of the hardware cooling... Either way it would be better to
have the machine checked before it fries due to repeated cooling
failures, laptop often come with an extended warranty.

===
All the best!
Katy Pluta
 
Hi Canarg,

Have you cleaned the fans since you reformatted a while ago?
If you want to investigate to see if it's a driver issue, the first
place to start would be with the video drivers. I'm certain that
you've had the opportunity to update them since the reformat.

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Visit my MSN Zone.com and Gaming Help Site: http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits
MS Games Help and Support Center: http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________

Canarg Wrote:
=================
| You know what, I would think it's an overheating problem. I've gotten a lot
| of responses like that, and its logical. When I touch the bottom of my
| computer the heat (in my estimation) is a little below the threshold of pain.
| (Sometime I should try to get the exact temperature).
|
| But here's why I don't think it's (just) the heat. A while ago, I
| reformatted and tried the games with nothing else on my computer (except what
| was preinstalled which excludes SP2 and Office), and there were no slowdowns
| at all. So I'm wondering if there's a driver or some software that is making
| my CPU work harder. . . But as I said, I have no spyware or viruses causing
| it.
 
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