Slow down online games on a laptop. What to do if browser games on a laptop slow down? Temperature monitoring of the frequencies of the video card and processor under load
Many gamers sometimes encounter slowdowns in games on a laptop or even a computer, sudden movements of characters, and the inability to continue the game at the appropriate level.
Braking games on laptops: possible causes and their elimination.
This may arise because:
1. The laptop does not have sufficient performance to play the game normally at the selected settings. The main feature of this type of braking is that they are permanent and appear immediately after the launch of the games. They can also appear in the process during the passage of scenes that are complex in terms of dynamics, requiring significant reserves of computing power.
In order to eliminate the above inhibitions, it is necessary either to lower the quality settings, resolution, or upgrade the laptop by installing a stronger processor, adding more memory and, if possible, changing the video card. The upgrade procedure can be carried out by our specialists at the 911-computer ambulance service center.
2. Failure of the drivers, their incorrect installation. First of all, this applies to video drivers. Also, cases are suitable here when switching video cards does not work correctly (this issue is discussed in the article “switching video cards”). Braking occurs as a result of the fact that the system does not use a sufficiently efficient video driver or uses an integrated video card instead of a discrete one (applies only to laptops). As a result, from the very start of the game, the car starts to slow down. Driver errors lead to the following problem: video and sound braking. This is due to the increase in procedure call latency.
3. Failure of the energy-saving functions of the hard disk. It turns out that the hard drive is also related to the braking of games on laptops. Most of them in the process have the need to read certain data. Some read them constantly in small fragments, some less often download larger blocks. Here lies the rub. Hard drives at certain settings after a period of inactivity go into power saving mode, as a result, the platters speed down or turn off. When the game needs to receive a certain array of data, it has to wait for the hard drive to turn on. As a result, the gamer is faced with the slowdown of games with a two-minute interval. In practice, this happens like this: the game works in normal mode, then it slows down for one to three seconds, and then it works fine again.
Solving this problem is not difficult. It is necessary to disable the energy-saving functions of the hard disk using utilities such as quietHDD, you must raise the value of the APM parameters to 254.
4. Reset the frequencies of the video card and processor. The most common problem causing games and applications to freeze. It can find its manifestation in another. The user launched the game, the game process proceeds well and smoothly, but after a certain period the game slows down a lot. That is, slowdowns do not appear at first, but after a certain interval. Most often, the frequencies are reset due to overheating when the throttling mechanism is turned on, which forcibly lowers the frequency in order to avoid chip failure.
The first options are diagnosed quite easily, but with resetting the frequency it is more and more difficult. It is not always clear that the game slows down due to insufficient laptop power, or when resetting the frequency as a result
Instruction
The first mandatory step towards finding out why games slow down is to check the installed versions for legitimacy. It's no secret that today's gaming market is saturated. large quantity pirated copies. Taking into account that licensed software is usually installed on laptops, it is quite logical to assume a conflict between a pirated copy of the game and a legal version of the operating system and drivers of your computer. You can check this by installing a licensed game.
In the event that the braking effect does not depend on whether a legal copy of the game is running or not, you need to make sure that your laptop is powerful enough to run these games. As a rule, it is quite easy to determine this. The slowdowns caused by the low performance of the laptop are characterized by their constant nature, they occur immediately after the game is launched. They appear during complex, dynamic scenes when a large amount of computer resources are needed. Incredible graphics, a super-powerful game engine, fantastic detail and a large number of objects make the computer's insides work at maximum power. To solve this kind of problem, you usually have to either sacrifice quality settings (lower resolution, turn off anti-aliasing) or change the video card. If this does not help, you will have to look for a new, more powerful laptop.
In addition to the listed and most common reasons for the braking of games on laptops, one should not forget about checking the energy saving of the hard drive. A large number of modern gaming programs from time to time turn to the hard drive to read the necessary data. However, the hard drive's energy-saving systems are designed in such a way that after a specified period of inactivity, they reduce the speed of the hard drive or turn it off completely. Thus, the game program finds itself in a situation where data reading is not available until the hard drive is turned on again. As a result, it is displayed as a lag in the game for a few seconds. To solve this problem, simply turn off the power saving of the hard drive.
Incorrect installation of drivers often leads to problems with video and sound. To resolve this issue, reinstall the drivers. It's easy to do. Specify which video card you have installed (usually such information is printed on the laptop case and in the configuration specification on the package) and download the installation package from the manufacturer's website.
No less often there is also a situation in which the game starts successfully, without comment. However, after a certain time, it starts to seriously slow down. In such cases, the cause is usually overheating of the device. Due to the lack of free space and very dense circuitry, any laptop loses in power to a desktop computer with the same components. Naturally, the cooling of laptop components is very difficult. In the event of overheating, the safety mechanism forcibly limits system performance to protect the processor from a crash. Solving the problem will require the intervention of a specialist or scrupulous study of instructions for changing settings in industry forums.
Every second PC owner has played computer games at least once. This way to distract and relax is becoming more and more popular, especially among young people. Whether this is good or bad is another question. And in this article we will deal with a question that is increasingly arising in video game lovers - why games slow down and what to do if games start to slow down.
Why do computer games slow down?
The braking of computer games is most often associated with weak hardware. Perhaps your computer is not powerful enough for a particular game. Before you buy or download the game you like, look at its minimum system requirements and compare with your PC configuration. Usually they are indicated on discs and gaming sites. Pay attention to the requirements for, volume random access memory. We also have an article about . If not too old, you can upgrade by installing an additional RAM bar or a new video card.
What if the game starts to slow down? If braking was not observed before, and after a while lags appeared, then two options are possible:
- The game has been updated, some changes have been made and now it requires more resources than previously stated. Developers sometimes make major updates to improve graphics. This applies to such popular games as WoT, Dota 2, GTA 5, CS:GO, Rust, etc.
- There are problems with the software or hardware. More often problems arise with operating system, drivers or installed programs.
Analyze hard drives and, if necessary, run defragmentation. This can be done by right-clicking on the disk in Explorer -> Properties -> Tools. Do not defragment if you are using . Also check the hard drive for bad sectors using special programs.
You can try if they support this feature. Overclocking is highly discouraged for beginners, as you can burn some PC components. Make sure the cooling system is working properly. All overclocking actions are carried out at your own peril and risk.
Reducing the load on the system
There are times when games slow down even on powerful computers. System requirements are fully met, but the game still lags. This is indicative of software problems, which we will discuss next.
Most users, when starting the game, do not pay attention to other running applications. Each program takes away some of the precious computer resources needed for the game. Many running programs load the system, so there are lags in games.
Before launching your favorite game, close unnecessary resource-intensive applications. For example, a browser, photo and video editors, Skype, torrent clients, players. This will free up several hundred megabytes of RAM, offload the processor and video card.
Many programs can automatically start with Windows. Remove them from startup using , 8. Hold Alt + Ctrl + Delete, go to the “Startup” tab and uncheck the boxes for unused applications. After that, restart your PC.
If you are using Windows 7, then you will not find the “Startup” section in the Task Manager. To manage startup applications in Windows 7, press Win + R and type msconfig. In the window that opens, go to autoload and do the same - uncheck unnecessary checkboxes and reboot.
There are special programs designed to speed up video games, such as Razer Game Booster. Their main feature is automatic shutdown. background applications to free up resources. These actions can be carried out manually, as described above, because there is no great benefit from such applications.
Viruses that load the OS also affect the performance of games. We have written several useful articles about virus removal:
You should also clean, remove unnecessary temporary files and put your computer in order. He copes with this task perfectly. Don't forget for the video card. Old drivers can cause problems with games. Read a detailed article about how, and Next, I will describe the steps to reduce lag in games, relying on the fact that your PC is stable, it is free of viruses and other rubbish.
Changing game settings
Often remove lag in games you can change their settings. Enter the game, go to the settings section and select video or image settings. Remove high detail, effects, shadows, reduce resolution. As a last resort, set everything to a minimum. This will reduce the load on the video card. Restart the game and check for lags.
Of course, the picture quality will drop significantly, the graphics will become simpler and “wretched”, but you will win in performance. In some games, there is not much difference between medium and minimum settings. Therefore, find the golden mean between graphics quality and performance.
Video card setup
If your PC or laptop has two graphics cards - integrated and discrete, then slowdown in games can be caused by incorrect settings of video adapters. A discrete (removable) video card is much more powerful than an integrated (built-in) one. It is larger, consumes more power and is noisy. The integrated video card is weaker, it is built into the processor or motherboard, consumes little power and makes no sound.
For resource-intensive graphical applications and games, a discrete graphics card should be used. Normally the switchover is automatic, but it may not be.
On the desktop, call the context menu (RMB) and video card settings, for example, Nvidia. Go to "Manage 3D settings", "Program settings" find or add the desired game and select a discrete graphics card for it. After reboot, try to play.
Why do laptop games slow down?
It's worth noting that most mid-range and low-end laptops aren't designed for gaming. They are able to perform simple tasks, such as surfing the Internet, editing text or photos, simple applications. There are also gaming laptops, but their price is much higher and they are less common.
Overheating is the main cause of gaming slowdowns on laptops. During the game, the laptop gets very hot, which leads to lags. I recommend using special stands, do not place the laptop on soft surfaces, and clean the laptop from dust from time to time.
Outcome
Now you know why games can slow down on a computer or laptop. Keep your PC clean and tidy, update drivers on time, close other programs before starting the game, adjust settings. And if it doesn’t help, perhaps you should think about purchasing a new device? Or at least modernizing the old one. Good luck.
Heading:Very often, users are faced with a problem when games slow down on a laptop. This trouble can occur both on a laptop of the latest model, and on a 5-year-old model. It can slow down the graphics or just freeze the game for a certain time. This process can occur when you start flash games, online games or downloaded new products.
In many cases, determining the true cause on your own is quite problematic. First of all, you need to match the requirements of the game with the capabilities of your laptop. For example, if the requirements for the game indicate a processor frequency of 2.4 GHz, and the laptop is equipped with a central processor with a frequency of 1.7 GHz, then it immediately becomes clear that even if the game starts, it will freeze and slow down. A lot depends on the model of the video card. It is she who works with graphics and some games are simply incompatible with a particular type of video card. If desired, it is possible to replace the video card, overclock the processor, add RAM, but these types of solutions are the most expensive. Upgrading a laptop costs more than upgrading a regular PC, and it is not always possible to replace what is needed.
Let us dwell in more detail on the methods used to eliminate the causes of freezing and braking games on a laptop.
- Modernization of the system by installing newer equipment or improving the original installed. We have already discussed this above.
- Checking and installing new drivers. Drivers are constantly updated, and new games often need to be updated to work effectively.
- Installing the required software. For example, the DirectX update, which is a set of special protocol APIs, can solve the problem of slow games.
- Setting up the system itself. Very often, for the quality work of new games, additional configuration of various parameters of the installed system is necessary.
Many of the works described above can be done independently. It is worth remembering that when games on a laptop slow down, the most important thing is to determine the cause of this problem. This is what can be the most difficult, after numerous attempts of their own, many users come to us. At the Nobo service center, specialists will diagnose your equipment and installed system as soon as possible and eliminate all existing problems.
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All fans of games (and not fans, I think too) were faced with the fact that the running game began to slow down: the picture changed jerkily on the screen, twitched, sometimes it seems that the computer freezes (for half a second or a second). This can happen for various reasons, and it is not always so easy to establish the "culprit" of such lags ( lag - translated from English: lag, delay).
As part of this article, I want to focus on the most common reasons why games start to jerk and slow down. And so, let's start to figure it out in order ...
1. Required system characteristics of the game
The first thing I want to immediately pay attention to is the system requirements of the game and the characteristics of the computer on which it is launched. The fact is that many users (based on my experience) confuse the minimum requirements with the recommended ones. An example of minimum system requirements is usually always indicated on the package with the game (see example in Fig. 1).
Rice. 1. Minimum system requirements "Gothic 3"
The recommended system requirements, most often, are either not indicated at all on the game disc, or they can be viewed during installation (in some file readme.txt). In general, today, when most computers are connected to the Internet, finding out such information is not long and not difficult 🙂
If the lags in the game are associated with old hardware, then, as a rule, to achieve comfortable game without updating the components, it is quite difficult (but in some cases it is possible to partially correct the situation, about them below in the article).
By the way, I don’t open America, but replacing an old video card with a new one can significantly increase PC performance and remove brakes and freezes in games. A rather good assortment of video cards is presented in the price.ua catalog - you can find the most productive video cards in Kyiv (you can sort by 10 parameters using filters in the sidebar of the site. I also recommend that you look at the tests before buying. The question was partially raised about them in this article:).
2. Drivers for the video card (choosing the “necessary” ones and fine-tuning them)
Probably, I will not exaggerate much, saying that the work of the video card is of great importance for performance in games. And the operation of the video card depends heavily on the installed drivers.
The fact is that different versions of drivers can behave completely differently: sometimes the older version works better than the newer one (sometimes, vice versa). In my opinion, the best way is to test it experimentally by downloading several versions from the manufacturer's official website.
Regarding driver updates, I already had several articles, I recommend reading:
- best programs for auto-updating drivers:
- update drivers for Nvidia, AMD Radeon video cards:
- quick driver search:
Equally important are not only the drivers themselves, but also their configuration. The fact is that from the graphics settings you can achieve a significant increase in the speed of the video card. Since the topic of “fine” tuning of a video card is quite extensive so as not to be repeated, below I will provide links to a couple of my articles, which describe in detail how to do this.
3. What is the processor loaded with? (delete unnecessary applications)
Often the brakes in games appear not due to the low performance of the PC, but due to the fact that the computer processor is loaded not with the game, but with extraneous tasks. The easiest way to find out which programs “eat up” how many resources is to open the task manager (combination of buttons Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
Before starting games, it is highly desirable to close all programs that you will not need during the game: browsers, video editors, etc. In this way, all PC resources will be used by the game - as a result, fewer lags and a more comfortable game process.
By the way, one more important point: the processor can be loaded and not by specific programs that can be closed. In any case, with brakes in games - I recommend that you take a closer look at the processor load, and if it is sometimes "incomprehensible" in nature - I recommend that you read the article:
4. Windows OS optimization
You can slightly increase the performance of the game by optimizing and cleaning Windows (by the way, not only the game itself, but the system as a whole will work faster). But I want to warn you right away that the performance of this operation will increase quite a bit (at least in most cases).
I have a whole section on my blog dedicated to optimizing and tweaking Windows:
Programs for cleaning PC from "garbage":
5. Checking and configuring the hard drive
Often, brakes in games also appear due to the operation of the hard drive. The behavior is usually the following:
- the game is on normal, but at a certain moment it “freezes” (as if paused) for 0.5-1 seconds, at this moment you can hear the hard drive starting to make noise (especially noticeable, for example, on laptops where the hard drive is located under the keyboard) and after that the game runs normally without lags ...
This happens due to the fact that when idle (for example, when the game does not load anything from the disk), the hard drive stops, and then when the game starts accessing data from the disk, it takes time to start. Actually, because of this, such a characteristic “failure” most often occurs.
In Windows 7, 8, 10, to change the power settings, you need to go to the control panel at:
Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options
Then, in the advanced options, pay attention to how long the idle time of the hard drive will be stopped. Try changing this value to more long time(say, from 10 minutes to 2-3 hours).
6. Antivirus, firewall…
The reasons for the brakes in games can also be programs to protect your information (for example, an antivirus or a firewall). For example, an antivirus can start checking files on a computer’s hard drive during a game, which immediately “eats” a fairly large percentage of PC resources…
In my opinion, the easiest way to find out if this is true is to disable (or better yet, remove) the antivirus from the computer (temporarily!) And then try the game without it. If the brakes disappear - then the cause is found!
If nothing helps
1st tip: if you haven’t cleaned your computer from dust for a long time, be sure to do it. The fact is that dust clogs the ventilation openings, thereby preventing hot air from escaping from the device case - because of this, the temperature begins to rise, and because of it, lags with brakes may well appear (and not only in games ...) .
2nd tip: it may seem strange to someone, but try installing the same game, but a different version (for example, I myself encountered the fact that the Russian version of the game slowed down, and the English version worked quite normally. Apparently, it was at a publisher that hasn't optimized their "translation").
3rd tip: It is possible that the game itself is not optimized. For example, this was observed with Civilization V - the first versions of the game slowed down even on relatively powerful PCs. In this case, there is nothing left but to wait until the manufacturers optimize the game.
4th tip: some games behave differently in different versions of Windows (for example, they can work fine in Windows XP, but slow down in Windows 8). This is usually due to the fact that game manufacturers cannot anticipate all the “features” of new versions of Windows in advance.
That's all for me, I will be grateful for constructive additions 🙂 Good luck!