Extremely low frame rate - but only sometimes!

[Kaishen]

I play FFXIV on a fairly low-end laptop (though it does meet the minimum requirements to play), so I don't expect amazing performance. The problem I am having is that I get regular periods of extremely low framerate while playing (approx 1-2 fps), but it only happen intermittently. Each time I start playing, the game will run fine (on low settings) for several minutes. Then I will get a period of about 1-2 minutes of extremely low framerate that prevent me from doing basically anything (it makes me botch crafts, die in combat, etc). Then it will go back to running fine for about 3-4 minutes. Then horrible framerate again. This cycle continues for the entire time I play.

It doesn't seem to be fixable by changing my graphics settings. I have all special effects/etc turned off/lowest. I've tried changing the "Buffer" size from resolution to 3/4 to 2/3 to 1/2 and none of that has made the problem get any better.

Here are my specs:

Asus G50VT
Widows Vista Home Premium SP 2
Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 2.13 GHz
4 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS

Any thoughts on what I might be able to do to alleviate this problem?

[Ragns]

If it been happening since yesterday update you'll probably need to wait till SE fix their game since the game been totally fucked for a lot of people since that update.

[Kaishen]

Nah, it's been happening since the last couple days of beta, but I only just now got annoyed enough by it to ask for help lol

[Ragns]

http://images.bluegartr.com/bucket/gallery/01b549c3f79ebb609c18fe550597c24e.gif

[xopher]

Uh, you have a 9800M.

That's about the equivalent of a GeForce 7600GT as far as its clock speed goes.

FFXIV requires Geforce9 for minimum specs.

The reason it runs fine and then drops is probably because your laptop has some kind of limiter that underclocks the processor whenever it gets too hot.

[Sendordm]

Exact same laptop, exact same problem. Pretty sure Xopher is right on the money with the heating theory. Unfortunately this thing is just too out of date; minimum requirements are being met but it really is the bare minimum.

I'm just happy it runs at all until I can get a chance to buy a new desktop when the holiday sales come around, not really expecting much more :(.

[Kaishen]

Okay, so I decided to download SpeedFan and run it while playing FFXIV to test this theory. It turns out my GPU gets up to about 107 degrees celsius while playing >.>

I bought one of those cooling fan platforms to put my laptop on while I play, and that keeps the temperature down a bit (though only a bit) but I haven't had this problem once since getting it, so I think you are right!

[loyaltrekie]

Okay, so I decided to download SpeedFan and run it while playing FFXIV to test this theory. It turns out my GPU gets up to about 107 degrees celsius while playing >.>

WTF, are you sure that isn't in Farrenhite? 107 C is, well Isn't 107c something like 200 degrees F - that just can't be right. Your hardware would be melting at that point.

[Kaishen]

Speedfan says celsius, so either that's correct, or the program is measuring/displaying it incorrectly.

[Casteel]

How long has it been since you've opened it up and blown it out?

[Kaishen]

My laptop? Never. I'm not even sure how.