A not-so-bad laptop that struggles a bit with games (a Lenovo IdeaPad using an AMD chip and a GTX 1650 graphics card).
A not-so-bad laptop that struggles a bit with games (a Lenovo IdeaPad using an AMD chip and a GTX 1650 graphics card).
Hi there! First message here. I looked around this forum for help with my laptop. I read some interesting things but nothing that helps me right now. And well... I'm not very skilled at these types of things. So... my computer is supposed to be a good gaming machine: Lenovo Ideapad 3, Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650 Ti, 16Gb RAM, a 256 Gb SSD + a 1Gb HDD, and an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU. Problem: It's very slow when I game, even after Windows was reset, upgraded to version 11, and drivers were updated (with Windows, then Driver Booster, then another tool). I passed Lenovo diagnostics without any issues (memory, hard drive...) and chkdsk returns nothing abnormal either. The task manager stays very quiet, and the computer makes no noise when I type this message too. Note that I had blue screens on the first day. Since drivers are updated, I have had no more blue screens. Yet according to Userbenchmark test, "Overall this PC is performing way below expectations (1st percentile)." https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/61330078 Checking online, I found this page about underperforming computers: https://cpugpunerds.com/how-check-pc-underperforming The first section talks about the CPU. 1. High temperature: I checked temperatures with HWiNFO and they look good (around 45 C). 2. Outdated drivers: my CPU driver looks updated (Driver Microsoft 22621.1485, March 2023?). I tried to update it with the AMD software just in case, but it didn't change so I think I'm good. 3. Faulty Power Supply: well I don't know how to check that? I installed CPU-Z as proposed. In the CPU screen, "Core VID" is between 0.7 and 0.8 V, and the clocks Multiplier is x4 - so it looks more like their low performance example that the normal one, definitely, but it doesn't say why. The AC adapter is a standard 135W Lenovo adapter, that looks genuine. In the CPU-Z Bench screen, the "CPU Multi thread" value is around *520* when laptop is plugged in, when the reference given for a Ryzen 7 is *3900*. When laptop is unplugged, the value falls to about 100 (and the computer is barely usable). Would you have any idea or piece of advice? Could it be a simply faulty CPU? What would you recommend me to do? (thanks!)
Check if you updated your NVIDIA drivers, and make sure Windows isn't using the graphics card inside the computer rather than the dedicated one. You can find out what's happening by checking Task Manager.
Thanks! Yeah, I thought that too, but I'll check again. The Task Manager showed no activity for GPU0 (the Nvidia), only for GPU1 (the AMD Radeon Graphics - the iGPU). I opened the Nvidia Control Panel and changed the global settings so that "preferred graphics processor" is now Nvidia. That fixed it a lot better, and now according to userbenchmark I'm in the 4th percentile at https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/61356310
Ok so I confirm Nvidia driver is updated. I tried to disable second HDD and the integrated graphic card, but it only made things worse. Here are a few screenshots: The Nvidia Control Panel CPU-Z There is this curious thing that when I unplug then replug the laptop, it seems to go faster, even if the CPU is still far from working at normal pace... Here is my last UserBenchmark this morning. UserBenchmarks: Game 6%, Desk 24%, Work 6% CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H - 7.7% GPU: Nvidia GTX 1650-Ti (Mobile) - 33.8% SSD: Umis RPJTJ256MEE1OWX 256GB - 50.3% HDD: WD Blue 2.5" 1TB (2004) - 34.7% RAM: Kingston LV32D4S2S8HD-8 2x8GB - 25.2% MBD: Lenovo 82EY
Hey there, so first off, don't try to use third-party software for drivers. Get them directly from Lenovo or Nvidia (for your graphics card). Once you have confirmed that, maybe check what BIOS version you are running. If it's an old one, it might be time to update it; this could fix the problem. How old is your laptop? Probably over three years? Have you cleaned it thoroughly and removed dust and grime? What power plans are listed there, and which one do you actually choose? Is there a Ryzen Balanced option available? If so, pick that one because it will come with the latest driver from Lenovo.
Thanks Roland Of Gilead! It's been a while since you sent me your last message, so I'll keep you in the loop whenever I get something done. Thanks for telling me not to use a third-party driver updater; that was new info to me. Based on my understanding, it looks like removing all non-Microsoft devices and reinstalling is the right move? Then maybe just install Lenovo and Nvidia drivers. Or if we decide to reset Windows completely, will those drivers get wiped too?
So, yeah, it's actually getting better now. Instead of reinstalling every single driver one at a time, I just reset Windows 11 and went with those automatic updates. At first, it looked amazing on the screen: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/61456285 But there are still blue screens when I try to run it. When the computer isn't plugged in or doesn't know where it is connected, the CPU drops down really low, like it's dying, and then it makes no sound at all as if the fans stopped working. After about an hour or two, we've had several straight up blue screens and the CPU has stuck at 0.38 GHz again. Drivers are already updated, and the temperature is fine too. I tested different power settings, unplugging and plugging the computer back in, but that didn't help (it just goes back to 0.38 for a few seconds then stays there). Re-installing the AC adapter in Device Manager helped bring the CPU speed back to normal. It looks like either my computer is really slow at only 0.38 GHz, or I'm getting blue screens with errors like IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA. Finally, I ran the memory diagnostic tool and nothing came up when it checked.
Here is a quick update, and I hope you are glad too! It seems all the problems came from bad parts: The low CPU issue was actually caused by the battery. After a few times of blue screens and hard restarts, the battery stopped working and Vantage now shows it as dead. Great news is that since then the CPU has been running well at full speed. *The bluescreens were linked to a broken hard drive. Now that I have turned off both the battery and the second hard drive, my daughter has played with the computer for more than 15 hours without any new problems (I hope you do too). 256GB is enough for her. She just needs to remember not to unplug her computer while it's on.
That is actually a good news sign. Great job on figuring it out. If you hit any more bumps, just reach out here or send me a quick message anytime.