Gaming runs extremely slow

Hey!

I have a Dell inspiron 5150 system:
Windows XP- service packs, yada yada yada.
Pentium 4 3.2 Ghz
512 RAM
64 Nvidia FX 5200

My problem is upon running games like Diablo2, Max Payne, or Need for Speed, game play becomes very slow.
Graphics are not choppy, and the game doesn't freeze up. It seems that everything runs in "bullet time", Literally, game play is slowed down to such an extent that in max payne it is similar to keeping a perpetual bullet time.
This problem does not always necessarily occur when there is alot of action on the screen, it happens arbitrarily and will sometimes go away to let the game run for normal for an instant.
I did not have this problem when i first got the laptop with the factory installation. Games would run fine. I did however reformat and install windows, with the dell support, so everything is seemingly factory set.
I tried the games out with both the factory video driver and the new updated driver, but to of no avail.

Through XP's options, i tried toning down graphics for a perfomance based profile, that didn't work either.

Any ideas?
Thanx.

[Moderator]

What changes have you made to the system since it stopped working properly? Do you have virus and Spyware protection?

Flame

The only changes i can think of is installations of Service pack updates, as for antivirus i used to use avg before when the games worked properly, and now i'm using AntiVir. I use the default Windows firewall.

Umm, i can't think of any other changes.

[Moderator]

You now use what for antivirus protection? Who is the manufacturer of it? Have you tried running a Disk Defrag?

Flame

Slowdowns like these are attributed to one of these 3 common things..

High resolution, your GFX card can handle the graphics, but not the quantity, thus resulting in slowing down.
(This also relates to page file usage, so check that out too)


Something may be a memory hog, check your tasks before you launch the games to see.

(This is the most common here..)  Your cd drive READS TOO SLOWLY!  If you can, get a no cd fix for it, if you have the game and bought it legally, the no cd patches should work and its legal too.

Hope that helps!  

[Moderator]

You didn't mention ANYTHING about spyware/adware scanners. That malware can slow your machine to a crawl. Here is the full drill:

http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1134123580

and one last thing, i would recommend at least 768 or more MB of RAM. Just so things like spyware/malware hurt you.

Besides that just do what the other post said.

I don't even know what that means. RAM is no prevention of spyware or adware. Never has been, never will be. Bad information, "IT Technician". Sub-par.

[Moderator]

hhhmm... Yes yes... I don't see how that couold possibly help either... Expecially becuase most go for the processor as well as RAM... No matter how fast your computer is, Spyware will have the same effect on your computer as it would another.

Flame

[Moderator]

Sorry to hijack but I want to make this point: Although memory and processors have no direct impact on malware, that extra bit of processing speed may be just what you need to barely make a scan and delete the virus. That's not going to make me buy $1000-processors, but that's just a thought.

With that in mind, make sure to follow GX1_Man's instructions, to make sure you don't have malware. As you don't have any protection against them, you are probably heavily infected. No worry, though: We can usually crack viruses.

I alluded to spyware and such with the "memory hogs" part, although I guess that's pretty subtle hehe..
And yes, processing power and ram will affect spyware and such, take my computer for example, 3800+ X2 and a gig of PC4200, I can take on tons of spyware and not notice any slowdowns.  Now in contrast, a person with 256 ram, say a PIII processor would notice the slowdown very early on.

[Moderator]

and that could be a VERY good thing.