Laptop has decent (at least that's what they say) specs but won't run any game nicely?

[Zapgamer]

So I have this I think crappy, but people say it's good, laptop, and it won't run any game nicely. Even old ones.

Specs:

GPU: GeForce GT 630M
CPU: Intel Core i5-3210M 2.50GHz
RAM: 6bg (5.71 Usable)
I have absolutely no idea of any other specs.

No, I don't run checks on my Laptop's cooler and stuff, though maybe I sholu since it always heats up quiclkly and intensely. Sometimes it even shuts down as a failsafe for overheating. Prevents catching on fire or melting. But even so, I'm not sure if it's downclocking for heat.

If I have to buy anything new (is that even possible for a laptop?), tell me. I'm underbudgeted, but I can see to that.

That's pretty much all. Thanks in advance.

 

[Barty1884]

If your laptop is getting to the point it shuts down, it;'s long since passed any thermal throttling.

I'd suggest monitoring your CPU/GPU temps so we get an idea. HWMonitor can be utilized for this: https/www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Upgrading a laptop is not generally possible - outside of HDD/SSD and RAM.

An i5-3210M + GT630m should be capable of playing older titles for sure, and likely quite a few newer titles on very low settings presets and/or lower than native resolution.

 

[captaincharisma]

unless the people who told you this think laptop CPU's have the same power as desktop CPU's. its a decent laptop mainly because its not using intel graphics

 

[Zapgamer]

If your laptop is getting to the point it shuts down, it;'s long since passed any thermal throttling.

I'd suggest monitoring your CPU/GPU temps so we get an idea. HWMonitor can be utilized for this: https/www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Upgrading a laptop is not generally possible - outside of HDD/SSD and RAM.

An i5-3210M + GT630m should be capable of playing older titles for sure, and likely quite a few newer titles on very low settings presets and/or lower than native resolution.

Sure has been long since any thremal checking. I never did one

By "Older Titles" do you mean 5/6 year old titles? I mean, there's 1 game I can run pretty fine (Star Wars: Battlefront II, the one back from 2005) but the game I play the most (Star Wars: The Old Republic, 5/6 years old, also on the lowest settings) dosen't run well on my laptop.

I don't keep track of the heat and I don't plan to, to achieve max heat I need to play the game I mentioned before (Again, 5/6 years old), and when I play it, to minimize it takes lots of time. And to maximize again, lots of time, too. I don't keep track of the FPS of that game either, but I estimate 10 to 40 FPS. 50 in a good day.

Shutting down is VERY rare though. Only on certain games (The Sims for some reason, PAYDAY 2 for obvious reasons).

I found 1 more spec on my Laptop: 64-bit operating system. Windows 10.

 

[Zapgamer]

unless the people who told you this think laptop CPU's have the same power as desktop CPU's. its a decent laptop mainly because its not using intel graphics

"not using"

I just set the GeForce GPU to be the GPU when playing any game. If you know how to make it the deafult GPU, tell me.

I use Windows 10 by the way.

 

[carlbyronthompson]

No, not stellar specs but it can achieve some play-ability. After you get the overheating issue taken care of. Go into bios and see if you can dedicate more memory to your video. That will help.

 

[peterp01]

If your laptop is getting to the point it shuts down, it;'s long since passed any thermal throttling.

I'd suggest monitoring your CPU/GPU temps so we get an idea. HWMonitor can be utilized for this: https/www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Upgrading a laptop is not generally possible - outside of HDD/SSD and RAM.

An i5-3210M + GT630m should be capable of playing older titles for sure, and likely quite a few newer titles on very low settings presets and/or lower than native resolution.

Sure has been long since any thremal checking. I never did one

By "Older Titles" do you mean 5/6 year old titles? I mean, there's 1 game I can run pretty fine (Star Wars: Battlefront II, the one back from 2005) but the game I play the most (Star Wars: The Old Republic, 5/6 years old, also on the lowest settings) dosen't run well on my laptop.

I don't keep track of the heat and I don't plan to, to achieve max heat I need to play the game I mentioned before (Again, 5/6 years old), and when I play it, to minimize it takes lots of time. And to maximize again, lots of time, too. I don't keep track of the FPS of that game either, but I estimate 10 to 40 FPS. 50 in a good day.

Shutting down is VERY rare though. Only on certain games (The Sims for some reason, PAYDAY 2 for obvious reasons).

I found 1 more spec on my Laptop: 64-bit operating system. Windows 10.

Your video card is just too weak to run Star Wars: The Old Republic on it's lowest setting... Unfortunately there is nothing much you can do to upgrade your laptops video card.

Star Wars The Old Republic Benchmark:
http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/star-wars-gaming-tests-review,3087-4.html

GPU hierarchy:
http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

Your GPU is in the same general performance category as the desktop GT 430.. and here's how they compare to one another.

http/www.game-debate.com/gpu/index.php?gid=594&gid2=445&compare=Nvidia GeForce GT 630M-vs-Nvidia GeForce GT 430

 

[Barty1884]

Sure has been long since any thremal checking. I never did one

By "Older Titles" do you mean 5/6 year old titles? I mean, there's 1 game I can run pretty fine (Star Wars: Battlefront II, the one back from 2005) but the game I play the most (Star Wars: The Old Republic, 5/6 years old, also on the lowest settings) dosen't run well on my laptop.

I don't keep track of the heat and I don't plan to, to achieve max heat I need to play the game I mentioned before (Again, 5/6 years old), and when I play it, to minimize it takes lots of time. And to maximize again, lots of time, too. I don't keep track of the FPS of that game either, but I estimate 10 to 40 FPS. 50 in a good day.

Shutting down is VERY rare though. Only on certain games (The Sims for some reason, PAYDAY 2 for obvious reasons).

I found 1 more spec on my Laptop: 64-bit operating system. Windows 10.

So you claim you haven't thermal throttled, yet you're shutting down from heat..... and aren't monitoring heat? Yeah..... something doesn't make a whole lot of sense there.

For a CPU to get to a threshold where it simply *has* to shut down for self-preservation, it's past the point of thermal throttling (throttling is safety step #1, shutting down would be at least #2).

Temps don't require you to be gaming - although usually that will increase temps.
An old/failing cooler, dust build up or just a poor thermal design of the laptop can result in overheating.

By "older titles" I mean titles of the era of the CPU/GPU - Q2 2012. Not going to get stellar performance even compared to a desktop of the same era, but should be playable.

You meet the minimum requirements to play SWTOR, but that doesn't necessarily mean your experience will be "good". Should be remotely 'playable' though.
https/www.geforce.com/games-applications/pc-games/star-wars-the-old-republic/system-requirements

The GPU is quite simply dated at this point, and wasn't exactly a top tier GPU when new.


Does you laptop have a model number anywhere on it? Brand and model number should be pretty obvious, somewhere on the laptop. Underneath, or on the chassis underneath the removable battery would be common places.

If your laptop cannot run SWTOR at even very low, you could always drop the native resolution of your laptop a step.

 

[Zapgamer]

Sure has been long since any thremal checking. I never did one

By "Older Titles" do you mean 5/6 year old titles? I mean, there's 1 game I can run pretty fine (Star Wars: Battlefront II, the one back from 2005) but the game I play the most (Star Wars: The Old Republic, 5/6 years old, also on the lowest settings) dosen't run well on my laptop.

I don't keep track of the heat and I don't plan to, to achieve max heat I need to play the game I mentioned before (Again, 5/6 years old), and when I play it, to minimize it takes lots of time. And to maximize again, lots of time, too. I don't keep track of the FPS of that game either, but I estimate 10 to 40 FPS. 50 in a good day.

Shutting down is VERY rare though. Only on certain games (The Sims for some reason, PAYDAY 2 for obvious reasons).

I found 1 more spec on my Laptop: 64-bit operating system. Windows 10.

So you claim you haven't thermal throttled, yet you're shutting down from heat..... and aren't monitoring heat? Yeah..... something doesn't make a whole lot of sense there.

For a CPU to get to a threshold where it simply *has* to shut down for self-preservation, it's past the point of thermal throttling (throttling is safety step #1, shutting down would be at least #2).

Temps don't require you to be gaming - although usually that will increase temps.
An old/failing cooler, dust build up or just a poor thermal design of the laptop can result in overheating.

By "older titles" I mean titles of the era of the CPU/GPU - Q2 2012. Not going to get stellar performance even compared to a desktop of the same era, but should be playable.

You meet the minimum requirements to play SWTOR, but that doesn't necessarily mean your experience will be "good". Should be remotely 'playable' though.
https/www.geforce.com/games-applications/pc-games/star-wars-the-old-republic/system-requirements

The GPU is quite simply dated at this point, and wasn't exactly a top tier GPU when new.


Does you laptop have a model number anywhere on it? Brand and model number should be pretty obvious, somewhere on the laptop. Underneath, or on the chassis underneath the removable battery would be common places.

If your laptop cannot run SWTOR at even very low, you could always drop the native resolution of your laptop a step.

Bad news.

I meet SWTOR's minimum requirements. But "minimum" dosen't mean "playable". When I do anything besides Warzones (only the 7th most performance-requiring feature), BOOM, shutdown.

Upgrading a laptop is not possible in this case. Fourntunaly, there is another laptop https/www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/9S7-16J562-1673-MSI-GL62-7QF-1673UK_2066567.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwoNrMBRB4EiwA_ODYvzTa1Mn9OGKOU-wxbKVGe3a2xlKLs_zRQ9jHASomHWfZqFUwqueFAxoCnNoQAvD_BwE that meets my budget and sholud play SWTOR fine, along with other newer titles.

I'm buying it.

 

[Barty1884]

You have a bigger issue there, just because hardware can't play a title doesn't = shutdown.

Overheating does, among other issues.

A 960M isn't a great GPU (as it's still a "mobile" variant, with the 10 series moving to desktop-class GPUs in laptops), but should be a huge improvement over your old laptop.