Can't run games like I used to

[@realSlyMarbo]

Not quite sure what's going on, but I can no longer run games at the same graphical setting levels that I used to. Whether it be Bioshock Infinite, Red Orchestra/Rising Storm, and a few others, I've noticed a significant drop in performance since I've last played them maybe 1 or 2 years back.

Turning down graphics to the absolute lowest, reducing resolution, and even playing in windowed mode doesn't help, the games are still choppy as hell.

My drivers are updated to the most recent version, and I was able to run these games fine in the past, I'm stumped about what it could be. Is it just that my laptop is nearing the end of its lifespan? I've had it for roughly 4 years now, and have gamed quite often with it.

Specs:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i3CPU M370 @2.40G 2.40Ghz
500GB HDD
4GB DDR3 Memory
Radeon HD 5650 Mobility 1GB

[Air]

Thermal throttling from dust accumulation is a possibility. You can also try to run a program such as Advanced Systemcare to see if that gets up to speed. Also try closing as many unneeded programs as possible to free up some RAM, seeing as you have a moderately low amount.

[FlamingDeath]

As said, check your temperatures to make sure your PC isn't overheating from dust or something.

Also, graphics drivers can be a cause of games running slow, try updating them or rolling back.

EDIT: I've just noticed you used the word "laptop"

It's probably on its way out due to heat exposure, in my experience, CPU's that are run hot, dont last nearly as long and perform as well as CPU's that are kept cooled properly. Laptops do not do this well and generally throttle back due to overheating at 100c

Ideally you may want to run some benchmarks on individual components to see if there is something not performing well.

But I would recommend building or buying an actual PC for your gaming needs, not a laptop

[Dïngus]

I was getting pretty upset that my laptop was doing the same as yours. I decided to upgrade my HDD to a SSD and wow, this thing is blazing fast. I no longer have stutters in games and load times are sometimes instant.

Your specs are close to mine, I have the same GPU, just has a Phenom II X4 n930 cpu and 6gb ram.

Spend the money and upgrade your drive to a SSD, I got a Kingston Hyper X 3K 120gb for $100 after price match from BestBuy.

BTW: to reduce heat use a cooler, and unplug the battery and just use the cable.

[Mindman]

Originally posted by GoneSolid:

I was getting pretty upset that my laptop was doing the same as yours. I decided to upgrade my HDD to a SSD and wow, this thing is blazing fast. I no longer have stutters in games and load times are sometimes instant.

Your specs are close to mine, I have the same GPU, just has a Phenom II X4 n930 cpu and 6gb ram.

Spend the money and upgrade your drive to a SSD, I got a Kingston Hyper X 3K 120gb for $100 after price match from BestBuy.

BTW: to reduce heat use a cooler, and unplug the battery and just use the cable.

an SSD wont help in this postion... thats just burning money.. his laptop is probably overheating as the last few posts said

[@realSlyMarbo]

Thanks to everyone for the help, for the time being I tried out the Advanced System Care and it did the trick, cleared up a ton of junk on my harddrive, now I can run the games as smooth as before :D

I'll also see what I can do to get a can of compressed air, been awhile since I've cleaned out the laptop.