(FIXED) Framerate drops after a few minutes of playing any game

[Magic Polygon]

Hello, I thought I'd post this here since I don't know where else to go, and I'm not that big of a tech person. This is a problem that I've been having for at least a year now and never found a solution no matter how much I searched. Honestly at this point it probably doesn't matter anymore because I'm getting a new computer soon anyway, but I really would like some closure on this.

So basically, I'd start up a game. The game would run perfectly fine at first, and then after a few minutes - it's inconsistent, sometimes it's half an hour, sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes even 5 - the framerate will drop to unacceptable levels. What's strange, though, is that I don't think it's because of overheating either. Some games like Warframe will get that fps drop, but then upon starting a new mission, it will be back up to normal again even if I never exited the game or minimized it.

Yesterday though, as I was fiddling with my graphics card drivers, the problem was different - the fps drop will happen as usual, but then it'll slowly go back up after a few minutes. That doesn't happen anymore. Now it'll stay down until I exit the game and retry.

This is my computer:
Intel Core i7 M620 @ 2.67 GHz
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730
6 GB RAM
Windows 7 64 Bit

And please, I know it's horribly outdated, but don't just tell me that it's entirely because of the low specs. A few years ago, this problem never happened. At all. I only first started noticing it after I tried downloading drivers for my graphics card. Some games would run fine, but eventually this started happening with EVERY single game I have. Even games that never did it before. And I'm almost certain that it has something to do with the drivers. Am I right or wrong?

[Marble]

When was the last time you opened it up to clean out the dust?

These symptoms would occur if it was overheating.

[Tidefighter]

Your notebook cooling is to weak. So chips get to hot and reduce clocks.

If this Problem occured at some point try fo open it and clean the fan. Otherwise it is broken by design

[Velmarshal]

Had a similar problem with my CPU, only to find out that the cooler was soo dusty, there was barely any air reaching the cpu. Just clean it up, should work like new.

[Magic Polygon]

I always figured that it was because of dust. Only problem is, as silly as this sounds, I'm kinda scared to open it up. I don't think I know how to do it and I don't want to risk breaking something. Is it simpler than it looks, or would you recommend I take it somewhere to fix it?

[Velmarshal]

Just take to some pc repair shop to clean it up, if you're not sure?

[bear]

Originally posted by Mr. Poly:

I always figured that it was because of dust. Only problem is, as silly as this sounds, I'm kinda scared to open it up. I don't think I know how to do it and I don't want to risk breaking something. Is it simpler than it looks, or would you recommend I take it somewhere to fix it?

Laptops can be a ♥♥♥♥♥. Id recommend searching on youtube for a teardown of that laptop. Youd be amazed how many teardown videos there are that show literally every last screw. If you still dont want to do it get can of compressed air and just blast it into the vent.

[Magic Polygon]

Well, I have managed to open the thing safely, and yep, it was a congregation of dust. I cleaned out as much as I could, and it now seems to be working perfectly. I always thought that this was some kind of "heavy duty" job that requires lots of hardware knowledge or something.