maximum gaming performance out of pc

[1mp0551b13]

Hi, I am new to the forum and relatively new to PC gaming and I am looking to get the most out of my old system while gaming.

My pc is not exactly a gaming pc, it is used for everyday tasks such as web browsing, multimedia, office and occasionally gaming.

When gaming I keep all the graphic settings to low including the display to 640 x 480 to prevent lag

What can I do to improve the gaming performance without upgrading my components?
I was thinking something along these lines:

1 - disconnect the internet, antivirus, unnecessary windows services before gaming

2 - create a new user account to be used solely for gaming

3 - finding a software to maximize the graphics output while gaming

what would you suggest I should do? Any other options available?


Cheers
Chris

[Rasczak]

Welcome to the forum

Razor is the forum expert on this sort of thing but it would be helpful to know your PCs specifications. What processor, memory and graphics card do you have? What operating system are you running? What is your monitors resolution? This will help us direct advice to your system.

1 - disconnect the internet, antivirus, unnecessary windows services before gaming

I wouldn't worry about disconnecting from the internet - especially as it will probably cause you hastle if games look for it. Is certainly worth shutting down unnecessary programmes. Depending what operating system you are running there are also a myriad of tweaks you can apply:

Optimisation guide for Windows XP

Optimisation guide for Windows Vista

...hopefully those links providing a starting point. Google for further information/guides/tips.

2 - create a new user account to be used solely for gaming

Frankly I wouldn't bother with that.

3 - finding a software to maximize the graphics output while gaming

Keeping your graphics drivers upto date helps and there are other things you can do - overclocking for example. But post you'll need to post your system details before people can help you further on that.

[1mp0551b13]

thank you for the quick response

I have read the links on optimizing the performance, I will make good use of some of those tips, namely the pagingfile, i though it had to be the same as your RAM, but next time i defrag my system I will double it. thanks

My system is quite outdated:
Win XP sp3
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
1.81 GHz
2GB RAM
Nvidia 6200 512MB graphics card

My system is updated to the latest microsoft updates, directx 9, graphics/chipset drivers

I am not sure my system can overclock much, the CPU is single core, at the moment my CPU temp is 30-38c, system 40-45c, can it overclock? I have stock cooling

I have used several XP tweaking apps to optimize the system such as turning off messenger, unloading remote assistance, start up/shutdown times


thanks for your help

[Boon72]

if you have enough disk space(or 2nd drive) you could partition the drive and then install a win XP for gaming and have nothing but the essential software installed.

thats what ive done in the past

[GMC79]

Originally Posted by Boon72

if you have enough disk space(or 2nd drive) you could partition the drive and then install a win XP for gaming and have nothing but the essential software installed.

thats what ive done in the past

Ive always wondered how that works, partitioning and other installs, How'd u go about doing that? Can answer 2 in 1 if the OP wants to know aswell.

[conan]

Looking at your spec, there isn't a great deal you can do. The CPU and memory are OK, but your graphics card is the weakest point. If I remember correctly, the 512Mb version of the 6200 is actually 256Mb of card memory and 256Mb taken from your system memory. At least all the cards I saw were like that. Its a very weak graphics processor as far as gaming goes. If you want to play more games, I would recommend considering an upgrade, for just £30 or £40 you would see a huge improvement.

Its probably not worth spending more than that as you would then start to be limited by your cpu.

[1mp0551b13]

I added a second HDD 320GB for backup purposes, I did try to install a second XP for gaming a while back but I gave up on that idea as the system boots and reads the boot.ini file it wouldn't load up any of the OS installed, it would ask me to choose which OS I wanted.

As I am not the only user of the pc it would be highly annoying for the other users to be prompted with that screen everytime they started the pc.

Maybe I could modify the boot.ini file to hide the gaming XP OS and only load it when I instruct it to but I don't know how

Thanks for the help

[1mp0551b13]

Originally Posted by conan

your graphics card is the weakest point. If I remember correctly, the 512Mb version of the 6200 is actually 256Mb of card memory and 256Mb taken from your system memory.

very good memory there
you are absolutely right it's turbocache

I wasn't aware that graphics card was so weak

To complement my CPU and RAM for £30 or £40 what kind of graphics card could I get? Wouldn't mind a pre-owned GPU

EDIT
something like this card?

WORKING XPERTVISION 7600GS 256MB PCI-E GRAPHICS CARD on eBay (end time 31-Jul-09 10:20:04 BST)

Thanks for the help

[conan]

Something like this Play.com (UK) : Play Value X1650 Pro / 512MB / AGP 8x / Graphics Card : Computing - Free Delivery would be a huge upgrade.

I see you linked a PCI-Express card, I was assuming due to the age of the CPU you have an AGP slot (I know its wrong to assume)


/edit..... The card you linked is pretty good also, you would see a big difference with that. You could check here http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...Score,794.html to get a guide, Tom's Hardware isn't the best guide in the world, but its better than nothing.

[1mp0551b13]

WOW that is some card considering the rest of my set up

according to CPU-Z my graphic interface is
PCI-Express
Link Width x16
Max supported x16

i'm slightly confused now


Thanks for the help

[conan]

No worries, you have a PCI express slot You can get a PCI express version of the card also, they will probably be cheaper

[1mp0551b13]

Thank you

I do like that card and PLAY does free delivery which is great

I fear now I might get too excited with the upgrading and not stop at the GPU but there's not much else I can realistically upgrade as my system uses the outdated DDR as opposed to DDR2, any other upgrades would create bottlenecks I guess, better control myself

Thanks for the help


EDIT:
I must say I am very impressed with the feedback received and as of now the forum is on my permanent bookmarks

[CraigofScotland]

Hi buddy, glad u like the forum. its great place for any advice!!!

You should consider perhaps updating your RAM, its cheap to do after your GFX card. memorybits is where you wil get good and cheap ram, including gaming ram 2/3 gig of something with faster speed, you will notice a huuge difference. (prosuming i read you right and only have ddr)

Also, have a look in the classified section of the forums .. people always seeling parts from an old pc etc also make a wanted thread with what you need, how much you can pay etc and see if anyone can come up with the good. Very relaible place to use, as I do weekly now.

That GFX card should suit a higher res than the one you first stated, so you should enjoy it. Also consider ebuyers as a good place for computer parts/electronics on a budget.

Welcome to PC gaming.

[NISMO]

Originally Posted by 1mp0551b13

very good memory there
you are absolutely right it's turbocache

I wasn't aware that graphics card was so weak

To complement my CPU and RAM for £30 or £40 what kind of graphics card could I get? Wouldn't mind a pre-owned GPU

EDIT
something like this card?

WORKING XPERTVISION 7600GS 256MB PCI-E GRAPHICS CARD on eBay (end time 31-Jul-09 10:20:04 BST)

Thanks for the help

Stick a wanted ad up in the classafieds as you will probrably save yourself a fair amount and most likely a better card for that money.

[eiren]

Yeah I've got a 7600GS in my old computer... it doesn't do that well with modern games now. Try for something a bit newer.