So when playing Crysis 2 MP on my laptop with a 9600GTM with the settings as low as they can get it runs at about 30FPS. But every so often the frames ramdomly drops to about 10 for maybe 10 seconds then goes back up to 30 or so. What could be causing the drops in framerate?

do you have 'shading' set too high?
When i set shading at Ultra it destroys the smoothness i got with the game using i5 760 @4.2, sounds like your CPU is downclocking cause it's getting too warm.
Have you got one of those laptop cooler thingys?

yeah the settings are all high at 800x600 resolution, its as low as can be. still looks decent though. not sure if its the cpu temperatures, sounds like it could be. no i don't have a cooler. my GPU runs at 90C. the frames don't drop in single player though.

I cant even imagine how you can even play a game like C2 with 30 fps...
I mean..i cant even aim if i have 30 fps in C2...
Also...since patch 1.9 when the game lags (server wise) there is also fps lag...
So check to see if you have fps lag when there is server lag...during an orbital strike lag for example...
If that is the problem...well i usually have 70-80+ fps and when there is orbital lag i drop to about 30-40 fps..

I have 100+ fps with gtx 580 full ULTRA but SDAO low. With Highres textures and dx11. Try to change SDAO to low. This is advanced set before SHADOWS.