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Hi guys, I just got my new laptop, the Lenovo Y470, with these specs: -Intel i5-2410 -Geforce GT 550m -4GB RAM -500GB Hard Drive -Windows 7 Home Premium
From notebookcheck, I assumed that SC2 would run well on medium, and it does somewhat. The problem is that my computer will randomly stutter or lag during random points of the game, whether in battle or not. In fact, sometimes during battles its absolutely smooth for a couple seconds, and then starts stuttering for a bit, and then will either keep lagging for a couple more seconds or go back to smoothness. I can't tell if this is a GPU problem or something wrong with software/driver/sc2 install. Any ideas? really annoying to have upgraded to a better GPU computer and have stutter/lag on low... P.S. I tested on single player without internet connection to make sure internet was not a factor. Also, i would like to include that the intensity and length of stuttering seems to slightly increase as I increase graphics settings, but that might just be psychological.
Thanks!
I'd like to clarify that the problem mainly is FPS drops.
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Did you turn on your GPU and make sure it's running SC2 on the graphics card?
For like two weeks after I got my Y570, I didn't know that there was a manual button to turn on my 555m. And you should also make sure NVIDIA Optimus is set to run your games on the video card instead of integrated.
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I was just reading about this on Lenovo's forums, it seems to be a problem with the Lenovo energy settings, you can find more there, but I think the solution was uninstalling and reinstalling the energy manager. Also, I'm considering buying this one, what do you think of the build quality of the laptop?
And as the above said, be sure it is running the GT 550 rather than the other integrated GPU. Edit: It would be helpful if you could check whether the framrate goes down when it stutters, ctr-alt-F I think.
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Yes, I alt-tabbed out of sc2 and looked at the Nvidia icon on the bottom right and it says SC2 is being used with GPU. I will try the energy manager thing. Also, I tried a game, Trine, that didn't work on my Asus because the Asus' gpu was weak, on my Lenovo and the game runs extremely well (no lag/stutter).
On the build of the laptop, overall its very solid. I'm coming from a Asus UL50VT, and there is no flex on the Lenovo. However, Three things that do annoy me (besides this graphics problem) is 1. The edge of the laptop where you place your palms is pretty sharp, so I place a towel or something over it. 2. Screen isnt that great 3. There is hissing from the audio jack that is very audible if you don't have any kind of sound/music playing.
Overall I'm very happy with the laptop, I just really want to fix this GPU problem. Hopefully its not hardware based.
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You should also make sure that the drivers are updated for the video card, and you can also temporarily set power saving on vista's and lenovo's power settings to the least efficient setting, to test if it is a problem with them.
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ive been using the latest graphics drivers, and trying the power management fix (posted on lenovo forums for the y570) didnt work. Neither did reinstalling the power management program. I tried to see how much of the cpu that sc2 was using and I noticed that generally, when it lagged, the cpu usage was higher than when it didnt lag... maybe thats normal, but I don't understand why it keeps randomly going up and down. I tried running higher settings again, and it is smooth besides screen scrolling with the mouse/keyboard andd the stuttering lag, so im thinking that its not a gpu problem.
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Did you make sure your GPU was actually on? Not trying to question your intelligence, I just didn't see anywhere you said you did that.
There's a switch to turn it on/off on the bottom right hand side of your laptop, as shown in this pic. + Show Spoiler +
Even if it's off, Optimus could be set to play SC2 on the GPU, but it won't do it unless it's on.
If you've done this, I'm sorry. I guess you've been hit with the mysterious 500 series Optimus bug. It's kind of quirky still and a lot of people are complaining about it. I don't know what else it could be, but good luck finding out. And if you do find out, please be sure to update this thread so others can maybe find their answer to their problem following this thread.
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yes ive said repeatedly that it showed that sc2 was being used by the gpu. Anyone who knows about processors think that it might be a processor problem?
I'm actually getting more pissed as I think about it lol... dont want to send it back and wait for a new one :/
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Like I also said, Optimus could be showing that it's using the GPU for SC2, but if the GPU isn't on, it's not actually running on it on the GPU.
Anyways, I guess you did do that, you just didn't clarify that you actually had manually turned it on.
Good luck.
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The more and more I play, the more I think that its a CPU problem. does anyone know a method of testing for problems with the CPU?
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OK maybe you're right Jacosajh, because I tried turning off optimus and then playing sc2, remembering the fps avg (~25 all medium settings) and then tried turning on optimus while, which resulted in about ~30 fps. (optimus said that sc2 was being used by gpu after I used the switch). So maybe GPU actually isn't turning on? But how would I fix this..
I'd like to clarify that the problem mainly is FPS drops.
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There are normally only two things that can cause performance problems with the CPU - thermal throttling or something else using it. Temperature is easy to check with HWMonitor or similar programs - load temps near 80C are likely to cause throttling. Otherwise check the process list in task manager for anything else using a lot of CPU.
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I'm using 1280x 720 btw.
Oh and I think i found the problem.
If what jaj22 said is true, then I am definitely having some problems because of "throttling". I used HWmonitor and tried playing sc2 on backwater Gulch, all medium settings and windowed (so I could simultaneously play and see temperatures) and lo and behold: generally, around when it lagged, there were high temperatures. The max I got was ~81C, but it hovered in the mid 70s most of the time.
But the only true way to know if this is the problem is to fix it and see what the results are. So, does anyone know how to fix heating problems without getting extra stuff (i.e cooling mat)?
Anyways, the only real way to
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If you want to check for heat issues, a better way to tell would be to use prime95, HWMonitor, and CPU-Z.
prime95 makes your work at full load, thus giving you an accurate reading of your CPU status/heat while it's working at its hardest.
SC2 won't make your CPU work at its hardest all the time.
But I think 70C is about average for a 2410m on near max load?
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Lol ok ill try using CPU-Z and I'll run prime95 overnight (it takes a while right?). I tried using Furmark but I cant get it to use the 550m instead of the darn intel GPU (it goes 80C+ btw).
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Yeah, I just confirmed on my 2410m it was at about 80C with prime95 for about 10 minutes, so if that's what you get, it's about normal and you're not getting throttled by your CPU.
Running prime95 won't take overnight if you're just stress testing for heat. I usually run it for about 15 minutes max to find out what my max heat should be, which should be better than almost all real-life situations.
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Ok I'm trying out "blend" on prime95... I'll leave it on for 10 mintues as well.
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That is fine. The differences in the options is what combination of CPU/RAM you are testing. Blend just does CPU/RAM balance mix.
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Maybe I'm not using the right version because it doesnt display temperature... just that I got 0 errors
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On August 16 2011 12:39 jacosajh wrote: Yeah, I just confirmed on my 2410m it was at about 80C with prime95 for about 10 minutes, so if that's what you get, it's about normal and you're not getting throttled by your CPU.
And what makes you think that yours isn't throttling too? In my experience 80C is a common throttle temp for Intel CPUs, and it's quite normal for modern laptops to hit it during Prime95 runs. You could be just under the throttle temp but it's certainly close.
Throttlestop should be able to tell in theory (there should be some change in the FID, CMod% or Chip% columns). General caveat: It's not just a monitoring utility, which makes it somewhat dangerous. Don't change anything unless you know what you're doing.
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Because my CPU is playing SC2 fine?
High temps after 10 mins =/= playing SC2 where it might hit full load for a fraction of that time
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On August 16 2011 13:45 jacosajh wrote: Because my CPU is playing SC2 fine?
High temps after 10 mins =/= playing SC2 where it might hit full load for a fraction of that time Well, SC2 never gets anywhere near full load on an i5. However, the original poster said he hit 81C when running SC2. My suggestion is that you're throttling on Prime95 (normal, for a laptop) and he's throttling on SC2 (bad).
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Based on what I read, throttling on an i5 2410m happens nearer the 90C mark.
Hitting full load on an i5 2410m in big battles is pretty realistic in SC2 since it's not anything like it's i5 desktop counterpart.
To get back on topic: prime95 doesn't display your temperature. It just makes it work at full load. HWMonitor displays your temp/voltage/etc. CPU-Z tells you other info like freq, etc.
You need to run HWMonitor / CPU-Z / prime95 at the same time.
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You might even have a faulty video card/cpu or computer. Did you check that your power setting is set to High Performance? If you have warranty, I would just call Lenovo, they might just replace your computer. I have an older y560 that has an i7-720qm and a radeon hd 5730m and I can play comfortably on medium 40-60 fps @ 1920x1080. Your specs look better than mine, could be faulty hardware.
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5930 Posts
Prime95 is always a worst case scenario. If your laptop hits that mark during gaming either you've been treating your laptop badly, its old, and/or the cooling design of the laptop is extremely inadequate or just plain bad.
I personally wouldn't be too surprised that a cheap consumer laptop suffers from inadequate cooling - how much profit they actually get with each laptop sold? With the Intel chipset, Intel processor, GPU, and distribution costs to take into account, there isn't much money to be put into the remaining parts, R&D, and aftermarket support. With these big electronic companies, what seems to be the easiest way to cut costs is minimize the amount of metal you use for the heatsink - that's the whole reason why direct heat touch CPU heatsinks are so cheap compared to the solid base variants put out by Noctua and Thermalright.
Even if they bulk buy, its obviously not cheap since ultrabook manufacturers are bitching about Intel processor/chipset prices. They simply cannot undercut the Macbook Air despite Apple being known for being overpriced.
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I think I got unlucky and got a bad unit. either that or my computer fried on delivery in the Texas 100+ degree heat (especially inside a box lol)... sigh.
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I don't know if there is anything besides plastic (which would be visible) that can melt in the 100+F. That's less than 50C which should be about the average operating temp of the GPU/CPU. Even if the box gets upwards of 150F inside, I think the plastic would be first to go before the parts that matter?
But I don't think so, because I often leave my Y570 inside my car in 100+F as well.
What temps did you get on prime95 after 10 mins? Can you post a screenshot with prime95 (on blend), HWMonitor, and CPU-Z after 10 mins?
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Can you give me a link to where you got your prime95? I just got it from somewhere but it says nothing abouth temperature. BTW I just called for a replacement... hopefully won't happen again
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http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=205
You probably got the right thing.
Like I was saying, prime95 doesn't display temperature. It just makes your CPU work at full load. HWMonitor displays temperature. CPU-Z displays CPU specs at any given point in time.
You need to run ALL THREE AT THE SAME TIME.
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