Why my pretty fast laptop lags alot when playing games?

[Sapphire_1]

I got a Toshiba Satellite M840 laptop. It's a good laptop, and fast. Here is the specs:
-Intel Core i5 3230M 2.6GHz
-AMD Radeon HD 7670M (around 2GB VRAM)
-16 GB RAM (i upgraded it from 2GB)
-Windows 7

But when i played games, it lags a lot at medium-high settings. Games i tested is Grid 2 (ultra low is great, but come on, and it's not very smooth), GTA IV (medium lags very much, and low, it's still lags but not much. Low settings looks very bad), Trials Evolution (even low it still lags very VERY much). None of these games run smoothly, except MC Story Mode. Is it my DirectX? Anything? Please help. Thanks

 

[Gingerbread]

This is by no means a pretty fast laptop mate. The CPU is mediocre and old. The GPU is even worse.

 

[13thmonkey]

^ I wouldn't have been that harsh, but...
The CPU is OK, it's got a low stock speed compared to desktop equivalents, which would be more like 3.4Ghz on the same family of CPU's, so it's OK and no more.
The GPU is a mid range card from the previous generation and it's a mobile card. So not that great really.
16Gb if ram is handy, but above 8 you'll see little difference to be blunt.


You are also going to probably be hitting the simple fact of physics that this is a laptop, and all of that heat generated by the GPU + CPU will be going through the same tiny cooler, this limits performance from a design point of view and as things get dusty limits it further.

What are your CPU and GPU temps when lagging.

 

[MR B0CEPHUS]

What FPS do you get? Maybe like 20? Reduce resolution and make sure anti-aliasing is off. Maybe try updating drivers for the gpu. Even still. It will seem slow if you're used to fram rates above 30

 

[Sapphire_1]

@13thmonkey

OMG, i didn't mean to press that "picked as solution" button. Anyway, i didn't measure it. But it's just warm, not hot, just warm.

 

[13thmonkey]

Unselected, you need to measure it, gpu-z sensors tab and or speedfan will help

 

[br00n0]

Even on Asus ROG gaming laptops with great GPUs you sometimes need to make compromises. Either you reduce the amount of details in your games on reduce the screen resolution. No need to go full 1080 HD on your laptop, 1366x768 or 1600x900 could bring back smooth FPS. That's what my GF does and we don't see any differences and the games are more enjoyable.