Kaervek

Howdy! I just upgraded my kinda old dumpy Dell with a SAPPHIRE 100218L Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit and G-Skill 2 GB RAM. I play video games extremeley higher than I used to be able to, but I was wondering if there's a way to get faster gameplay without overclocking my card (AtiTool doesn't work, it just crashes when I open it). I'm willing to buy new parts, but not a new card or memory (that would be kinda wasteful ). Thanks for your time.

Zeroko

HI, im new here but i think i can help and give some advice, for starters,

Get a top of the range processor e.g dual core or quad core
Upgrade ram board to whatever your motherboard can handle
Install the lastest direct x and .net framework (DX10 and ,Net 3.5)
unless your using windows xp then it would be dx9.
Get latest drivers for your video card from your manufacturers website.
Upgrade motherboard bios via manufactuer website.

Then use a freeram program to free up ram before gameplay,
Disable and desktop composition, e.g special effects on start bars and etc.
Have as little programs running as possible.

Also install ccleaner, it will clean up registry files and etc safely

Without overclocking that about it, any question feel free to ask.

Zeroko

I forgot to mention some extras fans or cooling devices always help to keep your stuff working well and gives your parts a much longer life.

youwho22_b

Have you uninstalled and reinstalled Att Tools? Make sure when you uninstall it, it deletes its registry entries and then restart your computer, then reinstall it. Anyways, you can turn down some of the graphics in Catalyst like Antialiasing, Anisotropic, Mipmap -- or just right click on the Catalyst icon by your clock and set the thing to High Performance or even Optimanl Performance. Then your graphics will look and perform like an Nvidia card. Or you can keep the graphics higher and then lower your resolution. It's a small sacrifice in my opinion. Those are some of the things I do. I'd much rather have great performance but whatever floats your boat. Actually I keep mine on the Highest settings but we have completely different systems. Good Luck.

Kaervek

ATItool simply doesn't work. On my old card, a Radeon X350, it worked well, and I overclocked my card, but I've uninstalled/reinstalled numerous times and It doesn't work anymore.

Is there anything you see here that my computer could use in areas of improvement? Like my motherboard or processor or something? Also, I discovered I'm using a 300w power supply, don't know if it makes a difference or not.






Sorry for wall of images, but I figured it might mean something.

Zeroko

Kaervek, i would suggest a newer motherboard, a bit more ram and a 500w power supply.

Kaervek

Alright, so when I buy this new motherboard and powersupply can I just throw this stuff in my computer or do I need a new tower chassis too?

Also, a new motherboard means new processor, right? Like I don't need to upgrade to 3.8 ghz or whatever?

Sorry for being a noob.

Zukasa

Just make sure the motherboard is compatible with your Intel Pentium 4 cpu chip. It looks fine in terms of speed, especially if you're planning to overclock it.

Zeroko

by the way, if you put a new motherboard in you will have to reinstall windows.

Hope it works out for you.

Kaervek

I don't really want to have to reinstall windows; I don't have the time. Can I just buy a new processor chip? Would buying a stronger power supply make things faster?

emosun

Your intel pentium 4 chip is pretty slow nowadays, infact its the slowest part on your pc. And since your pc is a dell this means that if you were to get a new motherboard cpu combo that your dell opperating system would not work on the pc anymore. Not to mention that the dell case probly doesn't have a removable i/o shield so you can't put a new motherboard anyway.

If you really want more speed your going to need a new barebones for that pc, meaning a new mobo , cpu, psu, and maybe a case. Plus a regular version of windows xp or vista. Please post the actual make and model of the dell so I can see what we can do with it.

Kaervek

Yessir. Sorry but my paint crashes whenever I try to save something, so here it is in log form.

[ BIOS ]

BIOS Properties:
Vendor Dell Inc.
Version A06
Release Date 01/10/2005
Size 512 KB
Boot Devices Floppy Disk, Hard Disk, CD-ROM, LS-120
Capabilities Flash BIOS, Shadow BIOS, Selectable Boot, EDD, BBS
Supported Standards DMI, APM, ACPI, PnP
Expansion Capabilities PCI, USB

[ System ]

System Properties:
Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Product Dimension 4700
Serial Number 75B1Y61
Universal Unique ID 44454C4C-35001042-8031B7C0-4F593631
Wake-Up Type Power Switch

[ Motherboard ]

Motherboard Properties:
Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Product 0M3918
Serial Number ..CN7082151202Y2.

[ Chassis ]

Chassis Properties:
Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Serial Number 75B1Y61
Chassis Type Mini Tower

[ Processors / Processor #1 ]

Processor Properties:
Manufacturer Intel
External Clock 800 MHz
Maximum Clock 4000 MHz
Current Clock 2800 MHz
Type Central Processor
Voltage 1.8 V
Status Enabled
Upgrade ZIF
Socket Designation Microprocessor

Shall I post more or will this be enough?

Kaervek

Also, would buying a more powerful power supply make a difference?

emosun

Not really , replacing the barebones in it will really be then only way to make a large difference.

Kaervek

So I should just buy a new processor? I've heard of dual processors. Will I need a new mobo to get dual processors in my computer? Thanks for your time.

emosun

Your pc will need a new motherboard, cpu, heatsink, psu, and opperating system.

Kaervek

Wow. I can't just buy a new processor?

emosun

You could but I would imagine the board maxes out at 3.0ghz and 200 more mhz isnt going to make a difference. Which is why I recommend you invest in a new bare bone.

Kaervek

If I got a nice cooling system for my card, and overclocked it, would it make games a lot faster? Would it be worth it? Because it seems to be the only possibility aside from a total renovation of my computer.

emosun

No , cooling the card isn't going to make up for that slow cpu. The computer really does need a renovation. You should put money twords a new barebone or a whole new pc rather then try to upgrade the current setup.