GPU blackouts and CPU madness after reinstalling windows

[ricksis]

I have two problems.

I have reinstalled 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate about 5 days ago on my lenovo thinkpad Laptop and updated all the driver (and literally ALL the possible drivers). And now I have problems with games that ran perfectly fine in the past.

For example, while running Dota 2 Beta black portions of the screen go black in the main menu; as for the game, it is basically unplayable.
Furthermore, Starcraft II run perfectly before, but now, as soon as I enter the game, the CPU sky-rockets to 100% and it remains there, leaving me with 4 fps.

And I'm tired of battling with this by myself. Help please?

Spec:

Windows Windows 7 Ultimate Edition (64-bit) Service Pack 1 (Build 7601)
Memory (RAM) 3993 MB
CPU Info Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8700 @ 2.53GHz
CPU Speed 2302,8 MHz
Sound Card Speakers (Conexant 20561 SmartA | SPDIF Interface (Conexant 20561 |
Display Adapters Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family | Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 | RDPDD Chained DD | RDP Encoder Mirror Driver | RDP Reflector Display Driver
Monitors 1x; ThinkPad Display 1680x1050 |
Screen Resolution 1680 X 1050 - 32 bit
Network Network Present
Network Adapters Intel(R) WiFi Link 5300 AGN | Intel(R) 82567LF Gigabit Network Connection
CD / DVD Drives 2x (E: | F: | ) E: Optiarc DVD RW AD-7910S | F:
Ports COM Ports NOT Present. LPT Port NOT Present.
Mouse 5 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks C: 49,0GB | D: 98,6GB
Hard Disks - Free C: 10,3GB | D: 72,8GB
USB Controllers 8 host controllers.
Firewire (1394) Not Detected
Manufacturer * LENOVO
Product Make * 20828VG
AC Power Status OnLine
BIOS Info | |
Time Zone GTB Standard Time
Battery Status No Battery
Motherboard * LENOVO 20828VG
IP Address 192.168.1.100 |
MAC Address 00-24-7E-6D-F4-A7
SM BIOS 7VET94WW (3.24 )

 

[Buzz2112]

Did you install your motherboard drivers?

 

[Gornot]

More importantly, since this is 7 we're talking about, did you update DirectX as well? From the look of the screenshots I expected the fault to be the GPU drivers, but perhaps DirectX needs a full update from here:

Download: DirectX End-User Runtime - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

 

[ricksis]

Clicked on the link you gave me, began the installation, and then "DirectX setup hsa determined that a newer or equivalent version of DirectX has been installed already. No installation is required".

As for the motherboard drivers, we are talking here about the chipset, right? I downloaded some drivers off of lenovo's website, then a couple more from Windows Update. I went to Device Manager to and searched for newer versions (of anything) and everything is up to date

 

[Gornot]

Ah, but you shouldn't actually use any drivers from Windows Update if you have the "legit" drivers from your system manufacturer. The drivers offered through Windows Update are, for most hardware, just generic drivers that let you use the machine long enough to download the manufacturer's drivers.

For example, while installing Windows 7, the system automatically activates generic drivers for your graphics card so that you can run the out-of-box system at the native resolution of your display. The updates offered through Windows Update are just updated versions of those generic drivers, and you can't (as far as I know) play video games or heavy HD-content videos with them, because in the end you need your manufacturer's drivers.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, my mind is at ten different places today.

 

[ricksis]

Well then, ok, what should I do? The Windows drivers are installed. Should I roll back all drivers then pursue with installing only the ones provided by ATI/Lenovo?

 

[Gornot]

I'm not exactly sure if rolling back generic drivers would help, so I can't tell. But you definitely do need to update all the drivers from the manufacturer.

 

[ricksis]

I did, that's what I said. I updated everything. Even Steam downloaded me an update for AMD Graphics Card yesterday, installed it, restarted the computer, and it's still the same.
So you got no solution?

 

[Gornot]

I never used Steam to update anything other than games themselves, so I have no idea what that update was or did to the drivers already installed.

*sigh* At this point, in my experience, I would get so pi***d off I'd just wipe the drive and start all over again. It's only been 5 days since you installed Windows anyway.

Maybe someone can pick up this thread as well...

 

[ricksis]

It was under Steam>Update AMD Drivers. And it downloaded me a package from AMD.

And with the CPU issue. Same advice?...

 

[Gornot]

If it were an issue on an older Windows installation, I'd recommend using System Restore to try and roll back to a point before the problem started, but if you've been experiencing this problem from the beginning, I don't think system restore would help at all.

Perhaps a clean install would do you justice more.

 

[ricksis]

CPU issue? Is nobody trying?

 

[solarmystic]

Have you checked the temperatures of your CPU and its operating frequencies when you're running the aforementioned games?

The 100% CPU utilization for a game like SC2 sounds suspiciously like some classic downthrottling due to high temperatures... The game overheats your laptop, your CPU downclocks itself to cooldown but the game still pushes it so its stuck at 100% utilization at a lower frequency leading to extreme lag..

Try running the game in windowed mode, with an application like CPUz (www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html) to check CPU frequencies, and also Throttlestop (from Downloads | Tech|Inferno ) (very useful for monitoring CPU temperatures and undervolting it too!)

Hope that helps!

 

[ricksis]

Yeah, it's pretty hot outside and the laptop has a hard time cooling. The cooling pad isn't making any difference...

 

[Gornot]

When was the last time you had it cleaned?

 

[ricksis]

The heat sink? I can't really remember, really. The thing is that it used to work properly, and it didn't overheat like this before the windows reinstallation. Now, all of the sudden, it is full of dust? :S Do you mean that the CPU issues are caused by the poor cooling?
I will have it cleaned asap, btw.

 

[Gornot]

Taking care of hardware is just as important as taking care of software.
I'm not saying that it's suddenly full of dust, but if you didn't clean it in a while, it should be done nevertheless.