Laptop running in slow motion

[kprime18]

Hi,

My laptop's been running in slow motion when I play games. It's been happening recently with D3 but I read that that's a known issue with that particular game, although I had no problems since launch. But now it's been happening with other games too i.e. tera online. And when I exit the games, my entire computer is a little slow. Maximizing and minimizing windows is noticeably slower. Does anyone have any idea what the problem could be or what I can do to fix it?

Thank you.

 

[jdog2pt0]

Sounds like something is taxing your CPU or RAM...or both. Have you checked task manager while the issue is occurring to see what's going on?

 

[kprime18]

Hi jdog,

I've only looked at the cpu usage once when the issue was occurring, and it was at about 50%. I didn't really have anything else running except for whatever runs at startup. Also a restart does temporarily fix the problem.

Thank you for any further assistance.

 

[jdog2pt0]

Well, your next step is to see if anything is using an excessive amount of RAM. It'll be in task manager next to CPU usage. Says Mem Usage or something similar. Use that to sort it and look for any high numbers. Anything 6 digits and up is worth considering a problem. Also make sure to click "show processes from all users".

Event Viewer is worth checking for errors and warnings too, and it's possible you could have an issue with your video drivers.

 

[Rockdpm]

Most likely shortage of ram

 

[kprime18]

Hi,

Thank you for the suggestion. So now the problem seems to be occurring randomly so I don't think it's an issue with any particular game. The main indication that my laptop is in slow motion (when I'm not playing a game) is that windows minimize and maximize very slowly, but I haven't noticed anything other than that. Of course if I play a game when my laptop is in this state, the game runs in slow motion. I've looked at my cpu usage and memory usage when the problem occurred. There are no processes with 6 digit memory usage other than firefox. Some processes with 5 digit memory usage include steam, desktop windows manager, and intel turbo boost. The cpu usage under the performance tab was 10% and memory usage 2.25 gb, I have about 4 gigs of ram. The physical memory info tells me the total is 3990 cached 1170 available 1701 and free 548. Also the temperatures seem to be fine and I wanted to add that this problem has only occurred recently.

Thank you.

 

[vrumor]

What are your temps? Use HWMonitor and check what they are under load, I bet your laptop is throttling down in order to cool itself off. It is summer and most of the US (if you are in the US) has massive heat waves. Ambient temps are higher, therefore PCs and laptops are running hotter.

 

[kprime18]

Hi vrumor,

The last time my laptop went into slow motion was when it was pretty much idle, I did check the temps that time and hwmonitor reported temps around 50 C. I don't remember the specific details because I often use speedfan instead, and that time speedfan reported 40 C for the gpu, 40 C for the hard drive, and 50 C for th core 0 core 1 temp 1 temp 2 readings.

I did not check the temps for the times when my laptop went into slow motion while playing a game, but the issue always occurred when I started the game so I believe the temps would have been near the idle temps. To clarify, it was never the case that I was playing a game for a while and then it started running in slow motion, it would be in slow motion as soon as I started the game.

I wanted to add that turning the computer on and off sometimes fixes the problem.

Also I have run my laptop pretty hot once or twice, not often, I was wondering if that could cause such permanent damage.

Thank you.

 

[lyn98]

hi kprime I think I have the same problem and I don't think its malware, hardware or RAM related as I can easily speed up any programs by 2 (using cheat engine) and they will act as normal. I believe the cause of the problem is somethinng related to source game admin slowhacking https/support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?p_faqid=170 do you have any source games or steam installed? I also found this thread and tried everything on it but nothing worked for me http/forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=635372
oh and here is a list of games that seem to be affected:
All Source games (including CS:GO)
COD BO 2 and 1
Game of Thrones (rpg and great game despite what everybody says :3)
BF:BC2
Chivalry: Medieval warfare
Dead Island
Far Cry 3
Metro 2033

Java and flash based programs do not seem to be affected.