Gaming Speed

[bngboy21]

hi, can someone help me to make my comp. run faster and smother and better for gaming...i know i don't have much to work with but i'm sure there's something i can do...

Microsoft Windows XP: Professional
Version 2002 SP:2

Intel Celeron Processor
1.10 GHz 128 MBs of RAM

[GX1_Man]

There is nothing you can do with that setup to improve things. That will run XP only poorly and running a game will overtax it immediately. Sorry.

[Fed]

If you give us all your computer details we can help you further.

Download, unzip, install and run Everest Home Edition
Everest

Select Computer>Summary from the left hand screen.
Right click in the right hand screen & select Copy All
Paste the details in here.

There's not much point worrying about tweaking while you only have 128MBs of RAM.

[Serrik]

You could probrably boost your windows performance with more RAM.  I consider 512mb a minimum for running Windows XP.  I had a secondary system with the same speed of CPU but 640mb of RAM and it had zero trouble running Windows and I could play my 2nd Everquest account on it in medium/low detail.

You should really follow the advice above and post an everest report for us to see.

Also tell us what games you are hoping to play?

[bngboy21]

well right now i'm only trying to play Sim City 4 Deluxe Edition

  Motherboard:  
   CPU Type   Intel Celeron, 1100 MHz (11 x 100)  
   Motherboard Name   GVC MR825 (2 PCI, 1 AGP, 2 DIMM, Audio, Video)  
   Motherboard Chipset   Intel Solano i815E  
   System Memory   128 MB (PC133 SDRAM)  
   BIOS Type   AMI (06/11/01)  
   Communication Port   Communications Port (COM1)  
   Communication Port   ECP Printer Port (LPT1)  
  
  Display:  
   Video Adapter   Intel(R) 82815 Graphics Controller (32 MB)  
   3D Accelerator   Intel i752  
   Monitor   Compaq MV740 [17" CRT] (10181110455602)  
  
  Multimedia:  
   Audio Adapter   Intel 82801BA ICH2X - AC'97 Audio Controller [B-0]  
  
  Storage:  
   IDE Controller   Intel(r) 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller  
   Floppy Drive   Floppy disk drive  
   Disk Drive   ST320413A (20 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)  
   Optical Drive   COMPAQ CD-ROM LTN486S (48x CD-ROM)  
   SMART Hard Disks Status   OK  
  
  Partitions:  
   C: (NTFS)   19092 MB (9478 MB free)  

Operating System   Microsoft Windows XP Professional  
   OS Service Pack   Service Pack 2  
   DirectX   4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)  

how's that work for you? yeah i kinda figured i needed more RAM...you know where i could get some cheap?

[GX1_Man]

Oh, I thought you were going to persist in trying to game with THAT setup. That was a no win situation.

More RAM is your first step. Cheap RAM can be found anywhere. Good RAM is a little more involved.

Go to www.crucial.com and input it there and you can see EXACTLY what you need. Speed is not the only factor, especially on older machines.

They also have an online scanner if you do cannot find your MB. On obscure brands this is sometimes the case.  

System Requirements with problemareas highlighted:

Minimum System Requirements

Operating System: Windows XP/ME/2000/98 (Windows 95/NT not supported)
CPU: 500 MHz Intel Pentium III or AMD Athlon processor
RAM: 128 MB
CD/DVD-Rom Speed: 8X
Hard Drive Space: 1 gig plus space for saved games
Video: [highlight]16 MB video card[/highlight], DirectX 7 compatible
Sound: DirectX 7.0 compatible
Input: Keyboard, mouse

Recommended System Requirements

CPU: 1 GHz or faster
RAM: [highlight]256 MB or more [/highlight]
Video: [highlight]32 MB or greater supported Direct 3D video card [/highlight]

Your onboard graphics adapter is not good even for simple gaming.

[Neil]

How much are you willing to spend? I would consider a new computer.

[homer]

i would also recommend a new computer.

[ryuu-kage]

me 2...personally I went with getting an uber-fied XPS several months ago...nothing sweeter then dual core CPU, dual graphics, 4GB RAM, and a TB hard drive.

[Neil]

What a waste of money. A year from now it will probably be half the price.

[ryuu-kage]

What a waste of money. A year from now it will probably be half the price.

Probably. But a year from now the tech will have improved too, and I needed a new computer now, not in a year. Ah, the horrid truths of the computer industry...

[stones]

Here is absolutely everything there is to know about your GVC MR825 mobo
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/manuals/maintenance/Equium/8000S/ch1.html

All I got from it though was "OBSOLETE", well not really, that computer would be great for web surfing, office use, email, all the basic stuff but its just not cabable of handling todays games and the components are not upgradable to a point where you could.

For a cheap replacment computer try Tiger direct
Bare bones computer for 189.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2719473&Sku=B450-2206%20A
Note- Does not include hard drive, ram, operating system

Theres a bunch to choose from
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_tlcNEW.asp?CatId=6