Global Hardware Conspiracy

General Discussion
1

Do forgive the unconstructive nature of this message but I need opinion rather than solutions.
As it is, I received my nephew’s Alienware laptop second hand for a nominal fee and I envisioned a glorious moment of having an excellent platform to continue my clumsy Starcraft 2 career.

I’ve had 3 acer’s bought consecutively over the years since 2012, each with Nvidia mobile cards which have been adequate in their performance. But even they have suffered this unexplainable problem of suddenly performing terribly.
In particular, the second laptop which at some point with medium graphics could steadily run the game over 100 FPS, would - after helpfully updating to windows 8.1 over night while I snooze - be reduced to 20 - 40 fps.

This I eventually apportioned blame to some unchangeable incompetence privy to windows 8.1 as opposed to 8.0, which to this day has not been solved.

But back to the present. I was running windows 10 on the alienware, an official copy I purchased and I couldn’t help remark the lack of quality from these games… say Diablo 3 and SC II.

the specs for this machine are
Intel(R) core™ i7-4710Q CPU @ 2.50GHz 2.50GHz
RAM 8,00GB
Nvidia 860M GTX

it was assembled in 2014 October, 4 years after starcraft 2 was released in 2010.

I decided to take the computer to the local dealer, handing over an official copy of windows 8.0 and ask him to revert to this. As the laptop originally came with it. Not number 10… not this 8.1 diggery-do.
Just plain 8.

Believe me… it’s in my capacity to perform this admin but for some reason 10 had rendered the computer utterly unable to see the hard-drive when booting from the windows 8 disk.

ANYWAY! I got the thing back, the guy had loaded all the functional drivers, like ethernet card… suitable Nvidia drivers. It looked like a dream
Windows 8.0 booted up… so quick it was like I had an SSD.

And I copy over SC II, and thus let it install the battle.net agent…
and play a 4vs4 and it runs exceedingly good.
Starting off with a near hundred frames and maintaing a ±60 during late game.

Like the next day I return and discover that it’s capped once again at that sort of -40 FPS. And I try and reduce the graphics to super low and discover, that does nothing.

And it’s also not the Vsync issue

Now the frustrating thought that occurs to the mind…
what world are we living in that someone who has a powerful machine tries to play a game, and it doesn’t perform properly?

my first notion is that I have been carrying some malware virus that’s embedded itself into the blizzard agent, something that hi-jacks the CPU or graphics card and only activates itself after a computer restart.

There were also 6 audio processes running in the background when I pulled up task-mananger

Another thought is that there’s some spiteful hardware inhibition deliberately programmed into the game or operating system.

A sort of tantalizing imperfection to make sure happiness bees something unattainable in the computer world.

But I somehow suspect first hint. That the internet has become a hostile parasitic web of activity. With all these insalubrious unregenerate online criminals hi-jacking our interfaces. I swear the United Power League should deal with this cyber-pirates!!

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At first you were convinced that windows 8.1/10 were causing the issue.
Then it was… and…also cyber-pirates.
Don’t you see the real pattern here? Your method of drawing logic where there is none.

Instead of paying some IT-tech to reset your laptop to win 8.0 you should’ve issued some proper maintanence for a 5y+ old laptop.
First: heat issues with dried out thermal paste (TIM).
Two: With changing the TIM to a better quality product, you could also help the hardware to perform better inside it’s powerlimit. What is meant by that is that laptops usually (even high-end ones) restrict the CPU/GPU within a thermal/power limit management. This mostly becomes noticable after a certain period of time after the hardware heated up sufficiently (30-60min)
That might even explain your framedrops, whereas you just deduced them to another problem in terms of pseudo-correlation.

In the end it’s pretty easy to create false “accusations” if the an advanced understanding of -insert here- is lacking.
But this knowledge by itself is one everyone can remember to avoid paranoic derailments

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Aah yes an error of correlation or so? That phrase has surfaced more than once in this forums… I believe it a worthy memetic trend presently in circulation amongst the community.

During speculation and guesswork, I allow the mind the use of endless imagination, allowing creativity to take even a maniacal route, even if that be error and mistake… and too, blessed as I am with extra-ordinary intelligence my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger than most.

I do thank you…
I think you’re onto somethin’ bout the power supply lacking. But I don’t think it’s a physical hinderance, like dust. I can’t reconcile that dust suddenly (and permanently) affects performance at some fixed level.

But I still submit, I submit… that the online and computer world has become overly difficult and unfriendly. I recall booting up Win 95, and win 98, and loading mechwarrior 2, 31st century combat… MDK…
Starcraft 1 and these phantom problems would never arise.

Concerning my lack of logic… take care!! have a heart.
I read recently in this cruel book, on social psychology, by some author - whose name has slipped my mind for the present - that we are inherently irrational creatures only capable of rational thought.
Also… people usually conjure conspiracy theories to shield their inability to accept plain incompetence!

Finally… I have been famous for maintaining Windows. My friends have remarked when they click on the start button, it responds instantly.
Hence the the grudge and personal dent on my self-possession here felt, when I realize my computer is ill, and not performing properly!

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Hi, no, not an error but a correlation that that just appears as one while it actually isn’t.
And I’m using it in a methodical sense as I’ve learned it in my psychology major.
So you will surely be able to look it up yourself for further insight.

That maybe so, but then you are much more prone to other difficulties impeding your rational thinking as NPD, which is something I’d advise you to be screened for. Also hyperassociation corresponds with higher creativity, yes, but also more erratic decisionmaking if the pool of information and especially unknown variables gets too big. To make things worse, increased neuronal association is also a prime factor for conditions like ADHD, scizophrenia and autism. Everything has it’s drawbacks. You might want to consider that in relation to your self-image.
But although I let myself go on this topic myself, this is not the forum for such reflections.

Well not in that sense you are thinking. laptop manufacturers have to enter the power managements specifications into the mainboard/bios. Apart from different power levels if a PSU is attached it is quite common for a, lets say 45W CPU, to run at 25W. There is no way to override that being a enduser.
Also if a thermal thresh-hold is reached even that limit will be temporarily lowered. The reason is simple: Laptops, good cooling and size don’t go well with each other. The only option is to increase thermal-conduction efficiency as advised in my prior answer. (btw, I’m an IT-Tech as well).
So, since distant diagnosis is not the most reliable sort, I can’t say that the thermaldesign is the definitive culprit. But it shows there might be at least 1 topic you haven’t known about yet. So there might be (and are) countless other possibilities. The other reason is a simple one. If that was an systematic issue, alot more people than just you would have to deal with it.

Actually we “are” heuristical thinking beings, capable of rational thinking inside certain frames. One doesn’t exclude the other, as the results of neuronal networks or even every-day CPUs with their integrated error-correction or branch-prediction mechanisms prove to us.

Last but not least, I have noticed your intent to fill your writings with playful irony, sarcasm etc. But in the end what other purpose does this serve than to confirm your elevated self-projection to yourself?
It is probably the least advisable style for writing when asking for help, even if just to cover the perceived humiliation for asking for help, because either people… : won’t understand what your overboarding texts actually are trying to tell which denies you specific help or…people who do might just be annoyed by such feasible games and won’t reply as well.
In the end, the joke would be on you if your goal and means aren’t compatible with each other.
Keep it simple and short when asking for tech support, get a screen for NPD.
That’s all from my side

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[quote=“CyrionX-2476, post:2, topic:2799”]
nstead of paying some IT-tech to reset your laptop to win 8.0 you should’ve issued some proper maintanence for a 5y+ old laptop.
First: heat issues with dried out thermal paste (TIM).
Two: With changing the TIM to a better quality product, you could also help the hardware to perform better inside it’s powerlimit. What is meant by that is that laptops usually (even high-end ones) restrict the CPU/GPU within a thermal/power limit management. This mostly becomes noticable after a certain period of time after the hardware heated up sufficiently (30-60min)
[/quote]*

and while you are inside the machine take your time and check the fans and fins of the heat dissipation soulutions, if there is any dust bunnies gatherd, and gibe them a good cleaning

why not changing the hdd to an ssd? they aren’t that expensive anymore

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the problem is drivers. the old mobile nvidia gpus needed something called optimus to run. installing drivers not from windows update removes that and renders them completely useless. i managed to do that mistake twice myself. i had to roll back the drivers and install the updated drivers from windows update.

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@CoreDragon
It is still a bit costly with the currency mark-up… $ to ZAR. And I dunno if that addition would improve my computer interface & setup

@CyrionX

What is the purpose of any deed? You seem to think that all I produce is contrived in such a way, that I hope in my design to elicit a very fixed idea. That I hope to project something upon the audience where within they perceive a very screened, measured, semi-superficial idea emanating all within the feeble biological confines of my mind. And this is all courtesy of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Megalomania

Return briefly to my initial point - however wayward my delivery was - I submit that in this day and age of consumerism and online trend, it is better (and easier) to leave a product unfinished and mediocre, instead of perfect and catering to the needs of all people. It’d be better to allow inconsistencies and overlap and have corporations - temporarily - turn a blind eye towards abuse and digital sabotage.

Aah but yes you seek to isolate me with definition from a textbook and render me easy to interpret by branding me as something measurable, understandable… ultimately inorganic and artificial insofar as my mind and personality deigns and dares to try so hard to bulldoze forward with stroke of puffed-up vanity.

You have chosen the wrong person to practise contempt and flex your academic muscle upon. Not so much as wrong as there is dire reprisal… but wrong since you know nothing of my credentials, daily ongoings and nature… Yet there was something in my writing which urged you forward to come to the scene, appearing as an alleged saviour who saves the world from this insane person. Or on the other hand you did not like my tone for it suggested a certain disregard for life…

I do not find the act of asking for help humiliating, I capitalize for a short spell with the currency of triumph knowing that THAT at least was great error on yore part… hahaha

If anything I wished to spark topic, while at the same time sugar-coating my delivery as not to offend the ambiance of the Blizzard platform, whom I hold in high regard despite any misgivings anent. Yes… with honey and sugar lest my tone be found morbid and irresolute

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sadly you just misinterpreted my intentions in a way that pleases you and what a surprise you already got a lot of answers readied for it. It should’nt be your goal to confirm superiority over others but yourself. What failed narcissist is one who can’t force insight onto himself. Whatever you try to convince “anyone” of:
Been there, done that. You’re not as special as you might think.
Luckily I learned to see a forums post and just… go on. So without bad concscience:
Well, I’ve tried :slight_smile:
Glhf

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@andreasasp2
Really??
You know… with the old Acer laptops I noticed that reverting to the first nvidia driver, the downloaded from their website for the laptop specific model helped sometimes.
Maybe I’ll try that

And yeah… I’m aware of the sum total of voltage needed to be calculated for all the combined components running a computer. I recall something like that during the A+.

But this doesn’t explain why at least once, on these laptops the game was once running like gold.
It suggests to me that some piece of software (or driver) is over-ruling or interfering.
Now with my latest windows clean-install and loong awaited download.
I started it up and even the movie was stuttering… grud

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your intentions only make sense in todays world, where you have a textbook to retreat to, or centralize the directorate of your academic bludgeon. You attempt to bow out with a short response, acting as if this doesn’t gnaw at your comportment but it does… slightly.

And there was insight in some manner but I find zooming in and performing analysis… is a morbid over-examination of motive.

Your intention was to control, dominate and sort of reduce the perception of the audience, and equally your self to something where within you’re the hero with your textbook and clever condescending words.

And do not pretend to me this infringes the conduct of forum or the starcraft galaxy, almost half the traffic here is off-topic and thankfully, for we have chance to confront other issues which go beyond the trite and dull as hell

In essence, you think you’ve got me all figured out saying I’m a textbook narcissist

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having a ssd since 2012 i must say i won’t be able to use personal computers without them anytime since the bootup time and general access times etc are vastly improved compared to the old hdd so that expense is worth it anytime, you don’t have to go for terabyte models, 500 gig is sufficiant enough to have the OS installed and frequently used programs and stuff on them, while you have (in your case) an additional hdd for all the stored other content like pictures, music and other similar stuff

not sure it it would be worth to get ssd in used states but that might be a good place to get one, if you keep the production time of that piece in mind. no need to buy an ocz agility 3 unless you find one that is barely used f.e.

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2.5 ghz is way to low, starcraft 2 is single core game mostly, it can use multicore, but doesn’t take full advantage of them, most cores will be used minimally. I don’t know if you can overclock on this laptop, but 2.5 ghz is way to low, you should have a least 3.5ghz. Probably not much you can do here.

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Have you tried running CCleaner, Malwarebytes and/or Disk Cleanup? If you have a Hard Disk Drive, try running Disk Defragmenter. Another possibility is that if it’s a laptop made from 2014, it had five years to age and degrade.

Plus, StarCraft 2 was updated to include Extreme graphics settings and a few other details like 64-bit client by default and other knickknacks so it’s not the exact same as when it released in 2010.

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yeah… this is a clean new windows 8.0 installation. And every USB disk has been sterilized and formatted in Linux, just to be sure. so no virus(s).

Ok… but there is progress, I took that previous advice (thank you much!) of making sure I have ideal Nvidia drivers and optimus installed and the framerate has normalized, starting out at 80 FPS.

Though it did dwindle a bit for some reason.
Another thing I remarked is the game is heavily synchronized online.
(I ripped out the ethernet cable to see if it sped up, suspecting online traffic slowing things down)
Why the hell would it force me to surrender when I’m playing a harmless semi-offline custom game?

anyway… the crux of the matter is, I wouldn’t be persuing this if I hadn’t just the another day - due to something I haven’t figured out - I was playing the game 4v4 with reasonable shader settings and acceptable speed… great speed actually.

@FunkyMonk
I heard the opposite while researching, I don’t know what’s true… that the game was NOT coded to support multi-threading. But I hope it’s true.
Think it’s possible to create a game of that magnitude with only single-thread happening… ?

And yeah, the laptop was assembled in 2014 and has aged. but I forgot to mention that I’m just striving for a super smooth game with acceptable graphics… like a high shader setting, that’s all. no rag doll effects, reflective surfaces or detailed models.

Do laptops really degrade? To the circuit paths become slower… or does the dust embed itself upon the inner workings?

thank you gentlemen for the feedback;

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As all things I typically think it gets worn out and doesn’t do the job as well, but should still be able to last a long time just fine. It is a laptop and those usually are toned down because the cooling solutions aren’t fantastic for it’s limited space. If there’s dust in the machine, too much especially, it can cause it to heat up and then throttle to prevent burnout. Which is why it’s good to clean computers regularly, especially when you live somewhere dust gets in easily; Cans of compressed air are good for cleaning out the insides of electronics, just don’t leave them in direct sunlight.

Seems like you’ve mentioned playing 4v4, this is a known game mode to lag a lot because of how much is going on, especially by the late-game. Since StarCraft 2 is heavily reliant on single-core performance, too much going on can bottleneck the CPU and the more players with 200 supply armies there are, the bigger that workload is going to be. While doing maintenance routines like CCleaner, Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter may help, it won’t improve performance beyond the system’s ideal capability.

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starcraft 2 is also very harddrive heavy. it ran badly on my toshiba until i installed it on a faster harddrive. then it ran much better. it was only the harddrive i changed. i did not replace the system harddrive though.

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Believe I noticed better stability when I upgraded to Solid State. I don’t think it really improve much other than load times, but since StarCraft has a lot to load, it maintains better stability.

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that have to do with the harddrive speed. even a rotating harddrive would help if it is fast enough. that is because starcraft 2 loads data in 2 stages: preloading(the loading screen) and on the fly loading(during the game).

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Did you plug in the computer? And I heard turning it on and off(once you’ve plugged it in) helps a lot!

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