I've noticed recently that for some reason every game I play on my laptop is running at a max of 30 FPS, and sometimes will go to 31/32 but never anything over this. It's strange because it's games that I played 3-4 weeks ago and I remember them running at 40 FPS + on low settings.

For instance, Modern Warfare 2 I could easily get 60-70 FPS at lowest settings and now, no matter what I do, I can only manage 30 FPS at the most. I turn everything to lowest, I even put the resolution at the lowest possible setting and still nothing...won't budge over 30 FPS.

Same thing for every game I play. Skyrim, Mafia 2, Dishonored and NFS Most Wanted (The recent one). I tried finding other people with the same problem online but couldn't find anything.

I really don't understand what is going on. Anyone got any ideas? I might fall asleep soon so sorry if I don't respond.

Well... did u check your laptop's temperature while playing games? Usually that is the main issue on most slow down cases when it comes to games since Dust gathers overtime on the lovely ventilation

Also some specs and OS info would be nice

Intel Core i5-3230M @ 2.60 GHz

Nvidia GeForce GT 630M 1 GB GDDR5

6 GB RAM

The Laptop isn't old and I don't think overheating is the issue. I will check the temperature when playing games tomorrow. I'm very tired right now.

Well... here are a list of things to check:

a) Check the nvidia control center to make sure its not forcing AA or anything
b) Check your ram while playing games to make sure something else isn't running in the background or your ram isn't getting full
c) Windows Indexing Service can cause lag so see if that is off
d) Make sure you have Windows Defrag schedule off or else it will keep on trying to defrag ur hard drive
e) Run msconfig and go to startup tab and start disabling most of the services that you think are unnecessary (if you disable all it wont do anything bad to ur pc unless your disabling MS ones)

What OS do u have? Also make sure you have Direct X and Drivers up to date

Edit: Also see if you have vsync on... and turn that off to see if it helps

Windows 8. I have up to date drivers and Direct X. I just noticed something...My Nvidia graphics card would always be running something called Toaster.exe. I never knew what it was so I didn't pay attention to it. Now I just checked if it was running anything out of curiosity and it's not there anymore. I don't know if this is what's causing the problem. Not too sure as to what Toaster.exe is.

I was just on the Nvidia Control Panel and they have this graphics testing thing to check your FPS. It's basically a 3D model of the Nvidia Logo spinning. On the quality side (meaning maximum settings) I get 32 FPS and on the performance side (lowest) I still get 32 FPS...

Just looked up the Toaster.Exe thing...Yeah I don't think that was the problem.

Hmm... I suggest reinstalling the Nvidia Driver... Also did you check to make sure that on Nvidia Control Settings > Manage 3d Settings... All of the options say either off or Application-Controlled (or something similar)? Basically I just want to make sure Nvidia Control Panel isn't forcing like 8x Anti Alaising or Vsync or anything else...

Maybe even hit that "Restore" button to restore the settings to default

Also, I am just wondering... Does your laptop have a feature called "Nvidia Optimus"

Edit: Also check the power settings on the laptop (where the battery icon is) to make sure its on "Max/High Performance"

May be its related to Vsync which limits FPS to get stable experience with monitor refresh. Check whether vsync has been turned on in game or nvidia control panel.