Maximizing performance

[Ticklebur]

I have a laptop that I use for multiboxing and playing in general.
It is a this Gateway.
Except mine has 1920x1200 resolution and Windows 7.
It basically has WIn 7, 4 GB RAM, 1GB 9800m GTS, 320 GB HDD 7200 RPM, and 2.3 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo.

I can hardly run 5 instances of WoW.

I can do moderately well with 4, but want to do 5.
I run 2 mb of addons on each slave and about 5 mb on master.
I have set all graphics to lowest possible and set resolution of each to 800x600.

I get about 10-12 fps on slaves and 20-30 on master.
I wouldn't expect it to be laggy at 20-30 but it's unplayable.

I'm always losing my followers cuz it lags out and they drop too far behind.

My ping is another factor.
It usually sits at 400~.
I don't think it's the issue because everything runs fine when I have 4 going and both my sisters each play one at a time.
But when I am doing 5 by myself it's just bad, so I don't think the ping is the issue.

Is there tips or tricks anyone can point me to that might help me eek out just enough more performance to pull off running 5?
Or am I simply crap out of luck?

This is weird...

My pc can run WoW x3 without lag and this is my system:

2.0 GHz intel p4 (single core)
512MB ram (rdram O.o)
512mb vidcard (ati radeon HD 2400 Pro, i think)
40GB HDD + 300GB HDD (last for games)
1024x768 resolution
Windows XP SP2

important to say: it's not modified.


So im a little confused here:

how come i can run WoW 3 times,
when your pc is way better,
but can't run it 5 times?


EDIT:
if anyone wants, i can post more detailed system info