Processors
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i5-7200U performance loss, fps drops while gaming

aa23
Beginner
4,591 Views

Hi, everybody!

Recently I'm experiencing a performance loss with my laptop and fps drops while gaming. E.g. I'm playing Quake 3, a 19 years old video game that should not give me any problem. This months I've been playing that game at 125 fps stable. It's a personal preference because I could play that game at 250 fps stable with non a single frame drop. But recently this game it's not working properly. It only works at 60-70 fps, freezing and not working fine. I tried playing the game with different video cards and the result is the same, so I would say it's a processor issue. Also I found fps drops and performance issues in other modern games, and I feel my computer it's working worse, but, according to Task Manager, the processor it's working fine (No GHz issue)

I have a laptop Acer E5-575G-58HM

i5-7200U 2.5 Ghz Turbo boost 3.1

GPU0 Intel HD 620 Graphics

GPU1 Nvidia Geforce GTX 950m

Windows 10 Home 64-bit

8 Gb RAM

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8 Replies
idata
Employee
2,805 Views

Hello punky,

 

 

I understand that you are having problems with the frame rate since it has been dropping while gaming, I apologize for any inconvenience.

 

 

Regarding this problem, we should start by running a test with our Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool which can tell whether the unit is working fine or not. Please download and install the software in the following link:

 

 

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/19792/Intel-Processor-Diagnostic-Tool

 

 

Once downloaded, please attempt to run the test and attach the results so I can check the information.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

David V

 

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aa23
Beginner
2,805 Views

Well, I found fps drops in another games. It seems with my laptop plugged fps seems normal. When I unplugged it, gamesare unplayable due fps drops. Here is the results from Diagnostic Tool, everything seems fine...

--- IPDT64 - Revision: 4.1.0.24

--- IPDT64 - Start Time: 28/01/2018 21:04:42

CPU1

Genuine Intel CPU Test

Module Version: 1.0.14.64b.W

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:42 2018

Test Result - PASS

Expected: GenuineIntel

Detected: GenuineIntel

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:42 2018

Total Time: seconds: 0

--------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU1

CPU Brand String Test

Module Version: 1.0.17.64b.W

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:42 2018

Test Result - PASS

Expected: Intel(R) Core(TM) CPU @

Detected: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7200U CPU @ 2.50GHz

Intel(R) Core(TM) processor detected..!!..

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:43 2018

Total Time: seconds: 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU1

Cache Test

Module Version: 1.0.14.64b.W

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:43 2018

Test Result - PASS

--- Reading Cache Size ---

- Detected L1 Data Cache Size --> 32

- Detected L1 Inst Cache Size --> 32

- Detected L2 Cache Size --> 256

- Detected L3 Cache Size --> 3072

Cache Size Test Passed!!!

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:43 2018

Total Time: seconds: 0

--------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU1

MMXSSE Test

Module Version: 1.0.19.64b.W

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:43 2018

Test Result - PASS

DetectUtils64 DLL Version - 1.1.2

--- Determining MMX - SSE capabilities ---

..MMX is supported on this CPU..

..SSE is supported on this CPU..

..SSE2 is supported on this CPU..

..SSE3 is supported on this CPU..

..SSSE3 is supported on this CPU..

..SSE4.1 is supported on this CPU..

..SSE4.2 is supported on this CPU..

MMX Test Result --- PASS

SSE Test Result --- PASS

SSE2 Test Result --- PASS

SSE3 Test Result --- PASS

SSSE3 Test Result --- PASS

SSE4.1 Test Result --- PASS

SSE4.2 Test Result --- PASS

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:43 2018

Total Time: seconds: 0

--------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU1

IMC Test

Module Version: 1.0.10.64b.W

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:43 2018

Test Result - PASS

--- Reading Memory Size ---

Detected Memory Size is --> 8.00GB

--- Subtest - Memory Size Test Passed!!! ---

--- Integrated Memory Controller Stress Test ---

Memory to be allocated = 1048576 byte

Memory Allocated.

Test 1 Ones and Zeros Moving Inversions write operations - Passed

Test 1 Ones and Zeros Moving Inversions verification operations - Passed

Test 2 32Bits Sliding Ones write operations - Passed

Test 2 32Bits Sliding Ones verification operations - Passed

Test 3 32Bits Sliding Zero write operations - Passed

Test 3 32Bits Sliding Zero verification operations - Passed

Memory Deallocated.

--- Subtest - Memory Stress Test Passed!!! ---

Integrated Memory Controller Stress Test Passed!!!

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:44 2018

Total Time: seconds: 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU1

Parallel_PrimeNum_i5-7 Test

Module Version: 1.0.0.8

Start Time: 28/01/2018 21:04:44

Test Result - PASS

Module Math_PrimeNum.exe Completed - Pass

Module VisCollisions.exe Completed - Pass

Module VisParticle.exe Completed - Pass

Prime Number Generation Test

Module Version: 1.0.17.64b.W

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:45 2018

DetectUtils64 DLL Version - 1.1.2

AVX is supported in your OS

Max AVX supported = AVX2

Test Result - PASS

Operation Per Second: 49028

Error: 0

--- Prime Number Generation Test Passed!!!---

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:05:05 2018

Total Time: seconds: 20

IPDT visCollisions Graphics Test

Module Version: 1.5.0.0

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:45 2018

Test Result - PASS

Successfully executed collision test for 20 seconds, at 550 x 550 window size, with an increment value of 10

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:05:05 2018

Total Time: seconds: 20

IPDT visParticle Graphics Test

Module Version: 1.5.0.0

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:04:45 2018

Test Result - PASS

Successfully executed particle test for 20 seconds

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:05:05 2018

Total Time: seconds: 20

Parallel_PrimeNum_i5-7

End Time: 28/01/2018 21:05:05

--------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU1

Parallel_FP_i5-7 Test

Module Version: 1.0.0.8

Start Time: 28/01/2018 21:05:05

Test Result - PASS

Module Math_FP.exe Completed - Pass

Module VisCollisions.exe Completed - Pass

Module VisParticle.exe Completed - Pass

Floating Point Test

Module Version: 1.0.16.64b.W

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:05:05 2018

DetectUtils64 DLL Version - 1.1.2

AVX is supported in your OS

Max AVX supported = AVX2

FMA3 supported

Test Result - PASS

Million Floating Points per Second, MFLOPS: 188.825

Error: 0

--- Floating Point Test Passed!!!---

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:05:25 2018

Total Time: seconds: 20

IPDT visCollisions Graphics Test

Module Version: 1.5.0.0

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:05:05 2018

Test Result - PASS

Successfully executed collision test for 20 seconds, at 550 x 550 window size, with an increment value of 10

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:05:26 2018

Total Time: seconds: 21

IPDT visParticle Graphics Test

Module Version: 1.5.0.0

Start Time: Sun Jan 28 21:05:05 2018

Test Result - PASS

Successfully executed particle test for 20 seconds

End Time: Sun Jan 28 21:05:26 2018<...

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idata
Employee
2,805 Views

Hello punky,

 

 

Thank you for your response,

 

 

Upon review of the test, everything seems to fine with the processor. Now that you mentioned the "plugged in" and "unplugged" situation it seems more related to a power option rather than a bad processor.

 

 

It is important to set the power options to "High Performance" even when only using the battery because by default it would normally try to save power so that the battery does not get drained fast. Please refer to the picture attached for more information on how the setting looks.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

David V
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idata
Employee
2,805 Views

Hello punky,

 

 

I am following-up with your case and I see that we have not heard from you.

 

 

Is there anything else I can help you with?

 

 

Do not hesitate to reply for further help.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

David V
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aa23
Beginner
2,805 Views

Hi!

First of all, the high performance option disappeared months ago as an option, so I can use only the balanced option. Second, I selected active refrigeration with battery instead pasive and that helped me with my fps drops while gaming. Now I can play at least at 125 fps with no problem, but I can't play at 250 stable fps as I could months ago, so problem is not 100% solved and there's an obvious performance loss. I will continue investigating...

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
2,805 Views

"Option disappeared"? So something that has changed is the version of the BIOS. We regularly see problem reports where the BIOS is responsible for limiting processor performance. Have you looked closely at what the BIOS is doing to you? [Try resetting the BIOS to its default configuration and see if this makes a difference] Have you tried downgrading to any of these previous BIOS releases to see if they make an appreciable difference in processor performance?

Food for thought,

...S

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aa23
Beginner
2,805 Views

No, I updated my BIOS (it's one that fixes some ME security issue) and everything seems the same.

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
2,805 Views

That's all it said had changed? I presume we are talking about the update to address the INTEL-SA-00086 and/or INTEL-SA-00075 vulnerabilities?

"Seems the same"? Not very scientific. As I said, try resetting the BIOS Configuration to defaults and (1) check if this is unexpectedly changing any settings related to processor performance and (2) see if this makes any difference in performance settings in Windows (and performance overall).

What has happened to your O/S in this time frame? Did the changes in performance happen to coincide with the upgrade to the Fall Creator's Update? Did the changes coincide with the release of the workarounds for the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities?

...S

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