Q: I've recently purchased a HP 8530W, an upgrade from my older 8510w. I've installed Windows 7 on the laptop and also a few games to kill them dull moments.

What I've discovered is that during 3D gaming, the laptop will freeze completely for around 7-10 seconds and continue working. This problem is repeated every couple of minutes and I am unable to find out why!

I've run programs that monitor GPU temperatures but the GPU is within accepted limits (around 70-76 degrees).

I also noticed the same behaviour when I was running VMware Workstation with 3 Windows servers loaded, so I'm suspecting this might a CPU issue rather than a GPU/driver problem;


The laptop model is 8530w FU463EA#B1A with a T9600 @ 2.8Ghz.

Any information or help is much appreciated.

A: This really sounds like a thermal condition. You said you've monitored the GPU temp, but how are the CPU temps during the same period? Intel CPUs have thermal throttling, so if the temp reaches a specified point, the CPU self-throttles until the temp drops to a safe level.

On a laptop, everything is tightly packed, so there's not much room for airflow. The CPU and GPU probably share the same heat sink or air duct, so one's temp will affect the other. When you notice the freezing (prob. more like "stuttering"), are the fans running full blast? If so, then you probably are tripping the CPU's thermal throttling, esp since the the loads you describe are pretty CPU or GPU intensive (or both). Once throttled, the CPU runs slower until a safe temp is reached before it resumes normal speeds.