I suggest if you got a smthing looks like a pad cooler something with a big fan you put the laptop on it it will help the overheating and keep in your mind if the processor temp increases its performance dirctly decreases automatically and the gpu too the same thing.
Try to increase your MHZ in your Graphics card i used this function in my amd 5450 ati 1gp .
But i dont know if other graphics card can give you access to your MHZ supported to your graphics card to work .
Also try a medium timecyc . (Medium in distance).
Some timecyc makes you cant see as you said before.
Btw i used to get 20 -30 fps while using Windows 7 .
But while using xp black edition i get 25-45 fps also with increasinf MHZ supported in your graphics card.
I hope it can help you.