Have you tried running the game on a desktop PC? I found that temperature is a big issue with laptops - especially cheaper ones - and can inhibit performance significantly, even for applications which should easily run. If not that it could be "standard" Win7 incompatibility with some old games, for which you can try one of the compatibility modes or searching online for fixes.

Also, it could be that the game is running on the Intel GPU instead of the AMD one. I would download GPU-Z or a similar utility and check if that's the case.

Well, I just installed it on E6300/HD5670/7x32 desktop system and it runs smooth, even when I turn on every possible graphic enhancement in Catalyst. But I still wish it could work on a laptop... 😀

By the way, how would GPU-Z help? I disable Intel GPU and enable ATi GPU through the context menu, even if the game was running on a different GPU, how would GPU-Z detect it?

Then it's most likely an issue with the temperature, especially if the fan is playing dustbuster when running the game. Easily verifiable with a tool such as AIDA64. I guess one possible fix is getting one of those weird laptop coolers?

I mentioned GPU-Z since it's an easy way to see the load/temperature numbers of the respective GPU. But since you said that you disable the Intel GPU, that's obviously not your issue.

HD5470

Low cost/performance video adapter. That's probably the reason. Since it's on a laptop, it's the mobility version, which is even slower than the desktop version.

HD5670

Much better, mid-range card.

So what? That lowly 5470 is eons better than everything that was available in 2000...

Low-end cards still won't handle some older games properly. Even dad's Geforce 8600M GS on his laptop can't run MTM2 or The Sims 2 at full speed.

It handles Diablo III at somewhat playable FPS (~20). I'm confused :\ The game was designed for Radeon 8500, 5470 can't be that bad... I used to have 8500, the two things are barely comparable 😀

Are you sure it's using the AMD card? because the auto detect feature tends to fail a lot (I speak from experience) .
Some games have problems with CPU throttling, you can disable this in the power options menu of the control panel. You may also want to do the same in the Intel and AMD driver programs.

EDIT: I forgot to say that you need to put the settings on "maximum performance" or something along those lines.

RacoonRider wrote:

It handles Diablo III at somewhat playable FPS (~20). I'm confused :\ The game was designed for Radeon 8500, 5470 can't be that bad... I used to have 8500, the two things are barely comparable 😀

I agree. My laptop has an HD3200 and handles CS Source, NFSHP2, Ghost Recon 1, Kill Switch, Serious Sam, Quake III Arena & Call of Duty 1, all at the highest settings achieving excellent FPS and gameplay. I haven't experienced a problem with temperature as d1stortion mentioned, even after hours of gameplay. The laptop does get hot but I make sure the vents are not blocked and air flows freely.

I doubt it's lack of GPU processing power and more likely some incompatibility or tweak needed to work. Maybe something ACT can fix, I don't have the game so I can't test for you.

Today's budget GPU is yesterday's high-end GPU.

I had GF8400 and installed steam and microvolts. latest nvidia drivers. microvolts froze/crash after 1-5 minutes of multiplayer. I started 1nsaneDemo and 25-50% of the screen was big black box fluttering hiding either the car or the landscape. This had never happened before so i started rolling back to older nvidia drivers but couldnt get 1nsane to play without insane graphic errors. I removed GF8400 and installed older GF5200 nvidia169.51 and 1nsaneDemo worked like normal. I started steam/microvolts and could play it as smooth as butter for however long i wanted no freeze/crash after 1-5 minutes. 1 week later microvolts wont start like it suddenly realized i changed to older card then required. I call bullshit on those requirements. They put a filter to force players to buy newer cards. Cant have no olde card moochers play4free all their lives. Bullshit. edit: i removed the msi gfx 5200 nd put the msi gf8400 gs back in but did not update the drivers to any forceware, driver is what win xp pro had on tap, 6.14.11.9107. and 1nsane demo works fine and so does microvolts, So lesson for me again: Do not update to latest forceware driver turd.

1) Don't run this game with cd autorun.
2) Try to run with nGlide and glide renderer.