Laggy HD Movies

[nineine]

Hi,

I have a Compaq NX9420 laptop with a core duo t2400 1.83ghz cpu, 2gb of ram, & x1600 radeon video card. I have been trying to watch dark knight in 1080p on it and the video is verry choppy and laggy. I have come to the conclusion that I probably need to upgrade my hardware. Could anyone tell me what I should do and what upgrades I should get specifically? Thanks

 

[frozenlead]

Before we start, make sure your notebook is on 'high performance' mode. Don't be trying to do heavy tasking on power saver profiles.

 

[nineine]

Where do I check which power mode I am using? The laptop is also plugged in to the wall outlet so it isnt using battery power but Im not sure whether this matters.

 

[El_Wray]

There should be a battery icon on the traybar right next to the clock on the bottom-right side of the screen. if you click it a window with the battery options should appear. There you can choose Power saving ot high performance. BUT i belive that if the laptop is plugged in to the wall it's like automatic "high performance setting"
Still you should try the settings. Hope this helps

 

[nineine]

It isn't on any power saver mode. It is running on a normal mode and is plugged into the wall. HD movies are still very laggy.

 

[Upendra09]

You should try to acces graphic properties. right click on the desktop and you should find Graphics Properties. adjust the settings there.

 

[frozenlead]

The only reason I could think of is it being on a power saver mode. I'm pretty sure you've got the power to play the movie. Try playing it in fullscreen mode if you haven't already.

And get CPU-Z to check that your clockspeed is actually 1.8 and not something else.

 

[nineine]

Ive checked my graphics properties and adobe catalyst control panel. I dont see anything that needs to be adjusted. I dont think my computer is in any power saving mode. I have tried playing in full screen mode. Regualr videos play fine but when I try to watch HD it just lags and gets all choppy. Here are my cpu-z results: http/img11.imageshack.us/img11/3605/cpuz.jpg

 

[frozenlead]

As I suspected. Your core speed is not 1.8GHz, it's 1.3.

Did you take that screenshot while playing the movie? I suggest you do that to read the core speed under load.

 

[nineine]

Before playing the movie it was fluctuating from 997.6mhz to 1.8ghz every few seconds. Then I played the movie and under load it was the same as that screenshot. Now ive stoped the movie and it looks to be staying at around 997.6 and every once in a while it spikes up to 1828 for a little.

 

[frozenlead]

That's your problem then. Something is not enabling your processor to throttle all the way to it's full clockspeed. Run a different intensive application (like prime 95) and see if you can get the full clock of 1.8GHz to appear and stay there. I know you already said it before, but make sure you're on high performance/home/desk power profile.

 

[shiftstealth]

speedstep on laptops? =\

 

[nineine]

Can the gpu maybe be overclocked or something to its proper speed? Im not sure what I should do to fix this problem.

 

[nineine]

Im running prime 95 and cpu-z is showing it constantly at approx 1330mhz, fluctuatung only between approx 1330.0 - 1330.4. Somestimes it goes back down to 997mhz as well while prime 95 is running but most of the time its at 1330.

 

[frozenlead]

Some sort of speedstep has to be enabled. The T2400 definitly runs at 1.8GHz. Your multiplied should be 11 at full speed, but something is throttling it to only 8. Use Core temp to find your processor temperature. Let's see if it's overheating.

 

[nineine]

Ok ive posted the results in the image below. I ran prime 95 for about 20 mins and then i took these pictures showing the reults in cpu-z and coretemp. As you can see the temp fluctuates b/w 95C - 100C and the core speed stays at 1330mhz most of the time but sometimes goes back down to 997 for a second or two for some reason. Ive shown this all in the screenshot which I edited in paint.
http/img3.imageshack.us/img3/6927/cputemps.jpg

 

[frozenlead]

Okay, your CPU is way too hot. Take your notebook out to the garage and clean out your fans and heatsinks with the air compressor.

 

[nineine]

Im not really sure how to open this notebook up and take apart the fans and heatsinks. Ive never done it before so I dont really know what Im doing or where to even look for these parts.

 

[frozenlead]

You don't need to open it. Just take it to the garage and blast air through the vents on the bottom and the sides. You should know where the fans are - that's where all the hot air comes from.

 

[nineine]

I found out how to open the notebook and take out the fan. I've cleaned it and now the heat is not so high. When idle the cpu operates b/w 45C to 55C approx and it now can hit its proper clock speeds when it needs to. I played an hd movie again and while playing it the temp max out b/w78-80C with the clock speed hitting 1828mhz consistently. The movie plays much better than it did prior to cleaning the fan but it is still not very watchable. Its no longer choppy and super laggy but I still get a pretty poor framerate while watching it. In windows media player the sound plays smooth but fps is very low. In media player classic the fps is a bit better, but the sound becomes very choppy. Itll cut out the sound completely every few seconds and then cut back in for a few seconds repeatedly.
http/img523.imageshack.us/img523/4641/newtemp.jpg