Windows 7 - Serious Laptop Performance Problems – RC vs. Beta

I started using the Windows 7 beta (x86) just after it became available at the beginning of the year and was quite impressed how my laptop seemed a lot more responsive (in comparison to Vista). I can’t say the same thing about the RC release though; I now have a really serious performance issue which I believe is related to chipset drivers.

Laptop Specs:
LG S1: Centrino (Napa) platform
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 (2Ghz, 4Mb L2 cache)
Chipset: Intel i945PM
RAM: 4Gb
Video: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600
HDD: 160Gb Seagate Momentus 7200.2

The Problem:
Basically any program seems to suffer from a random severe ‘lagginess/jerkiness’. For example, whilst typing this, text often pauses while I am still typing and then catches up with all the missing text popping in. It’s almost like trying to use a modern OS on a very old PC that cannot handle the input smoothly. I’ve even tried a game (Demigod) which suffers from the exact same thing (with all settings on their lowest), the game is jerky with many small pauses at random intervals, seemingly unrelated to the amount of objects on the screen at the time. This can even be seen when opening or sometimes minimising windows, with the windows actually pausing midway during a transition. If it was only in these instances I would accuse the graphics drivers, but since it is a system wide problem, this cannot be the case.
Oh and I’ve eliminated any apps as a cause for these performance issues, I’ve monitored processes using Task Manager with no luck.

The Process:
I can’t recall if I installed the latest Intel Chipset drivers (from the Intel website) in the Beta version I was using however I do know that I cannot install them now. I tried using ‘compatibility mode’ as well as ‘Run as Admin’ mode (together as well) with no luck. The installer extracts, and in place of the dialog detailing the install progress (it actually tells you what it is currently installing etc.) you simply get to the ‘Finished’ screen with no drivers having been installed. I can confirm this by looking at the chipset drivers which are the default Microsoft drivers from 2006.

I really do not want to have to go back to the Beta as I require an up to date working version of IE8 (the Beta comes with IE8 Beta1) + the RC has fixed a few other niggles I had with the Beta (app compatibility etc.). I really cannot continue like this as this is my work laptop (I’m a web developer and work for myself) and currently my productivity is suffering badly. It is immensely frustrating having these pauses in-between almost anything I do. Even scrolling a webpage can result in a similar thing, with the page scrolling in an extremely jerky fashion.

Summary
The default chipset drivers seem to be the issue. The lack of proper drivers seems to be causing severe stuttering of the OS in general in any app, even games.

I would really appreciate anyone’s feedback on this issue, especially those with a similar laptop (same chipset).

I've just noticed your post, I have very similar problems to what you've mentioned. Big performance difference between beta and RC

I also have an Intel Core 2 CPU (Although mine is the newer Quad core), no fixes yet though

Windows 7 default drivers work flawlessly on my HP workstation (dual-socket quad-core Xeon), and on my HP laptop (centrino duo)...

But not on my home PC which runs an AMD/ATI chipset with an X2 4800+. It's ... ok. Better than Vista x64 was, but still not as good as it should be with this hardware. It's DEFINITELY chipset drivers, but I am leery to install any at this point unless they're AMD/ATI certified.