Any way to speed up a system for better gaming results?
29 replies, posted
Hey, I'm planning on giving my little brother a fairly old laptop (Two or more years old) because I just don't use it anymore.
The problem is I can't improve the gameplay results.
I've tried: Closing all unnecessary background programs (I mean like everything), repairing registry, disk defragmenting, Turning settings to their lowest possible, freeing up space, yet all don't seem to have helped much.
I'm confident that the computer is capable of running the games (Saints Row 2, Tf2, CSS) because there a breaks within the massive lags where all is smooth.
Computer Specs:
Win Vista Home premium (64-bit)
Model: Hp Pavilion dv7 Notebook PC
AMD Turion(tm) X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Zm-82 2.20 GHz
Memory (Ram) 4.00 GB
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
Update drivers and make sure it's connected to a good power supply + set it to "high performance" mode.
Also the 3200 is awful.
I would say your best bet is to reformat, install Windows XP x86, and basically nothing else except games.
Upgrade your graphics cards, i'm running with Two Radeon HD 5850's. I have 12gb ram too, i can play nearly any game without fault.
[QUOTE=Takkuull;31465175]Upgrade your graphics cards, i'm running with Two Radeon HD 5850's. I have 12gb ram too, i can play nearly any game without fault.[/QUOTE]
Did you not get the part that the computer is a notebook? I'm sure he can fit two 5850s in his notebook, and magically shape some new memory slots on the motherboard. I also don't think the OP mentioned that he was prepared to spend money either.
Anyways OP, do some cleaning up with CCleaner, but dont expect much with that hardware anyways. It is outdated as you have said, and the "smooth breaks" you mention tend to be in moments where there may not be many models / particles on the screen. An example of this is looking at a battle in a Total War game, then shifting the camera away. Noticeable fps increase.
[QUOTE=ballads;31467646]Gamebooster works wonders[/QUOTE]
Gimmicky nonsense.
[QUOTE=Takkuull;31465175]Upgrade your graphics cards, i'm running with Two Radeon HD 5850's. I have 12gb ram too, i can play nearly any game without fault.[/QUOTE]
If you stick all that into an old HP without it overheating when you think of starting it, you deserve a winner rating.
If not, and you're not ever going to, you deserve a dumb.
[editline]1st August 2011[/editline]
A massive dumb, that is.
[QUOTE=Raunchy;31453648]Hey, I'm planning on giving my little brother a fairly old laptop[/QUOTE]
Thats your problem. Most laptops are a no-no for gaming.
That computer just isn't capable of running games smoothly. Even TF2 and CSS are too demanding for a craptop like that. Especially since the new source engine increased the requirements. You can try starting the games with '-dxlevel 81' but even that won't help you too much.
reformat
and dust out
OR
use ccleaner to clean all registry issues and check EVERYTHING
uninstall games you're not gonna use (or other software)
scan it for viruses
dust out
[QUOTE=Region;31567104]reformat
and dust out
OR
use ccleaner to clean all registry issues and check EVERYTHING
uninstall games you're not gonna use (or other software)
scan it for viruses
dust out[/QUOTE]
Cleaning the registry does fuck nothing. Stop suggesting it.
[QUOTE=jordguitar;31567437]Cleaning the registry does fuck nothing. Stop suggesting it.[/QUOTE]
Cleaning the registry will make your registry clean.
[QUOTE=BigOwl;31567674]Cleaning the registry will make your registry clean.[/QUOTE]
Not really. It's still a giant bloated mess.
[QUOTE=BigOwl;31567674]Cleaning the registry will make your registry clean.[/QUOTE]
deleting [B]ANY[/B] entries [B][U]DO NOTHING AT ALL TO MAKE THE COMPUTER PREFORM FASTER[/U][/B]
[QUOTE=TheGuru;31464620]I would say your best bet is to reformat, install Windows XP x86, and basically nothing else except games.[/QUOTE]
xp 4 lyfe! :downs:
MSConfig.exe may help a little
These settings may help (don't know if you tried this already):
Control Panel (Classic view) > System > Advance System Settings (left panel) > Performance - Settings > Visual Effects > (choose the option that turns of the visual effects it actually made my laptop work better)
Also I've tried Ccleaner and it did not help in anyway, deleted a bunch of files (something like 8.000 files the first time I used it) but the laptop was just the same, some of the stuff it deletes you can delete yourself like browser history, recycle bin content and so on.
I was going to try other registry cleaners but I was informed in the Microsoft forums that they are no use and sometimes even screw system important files....
Also you should visit the steam support forums for help you can find very useful advice regarding game related problems there.
It's a good PC already, but I was playing gmod on my 6 core. I used windows ready boost and got about 30 more Foster.
[editline]8th August 2011[/editline]
It's a good PC already, but I was playing gmod on my 6 core. I used windows ready boost and got about 30 more Fps.
[QUOTE=Takkuull;31465175]Upgrade your graphics cards, i'm running with Two Radeon HD 5850's. I have 12gb ram too, i can play nearly any game without fault.[/QUOTE]
[U]Laptop[/U].
[QUOTE=Raunchy;31453648]
Computer Specs:
Win Vista Home premium (64-bit)
Model: Hp Pavilion dv7 Notebook PC
AMD Turion(tm) X2 Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Zm-82 2.20 GHz
Memory (Ram) 4.00 GB
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics[/QUOTE]
The major pull back is that you are running all that spec on a notebook - There is a difference between a desktop version of that build.
I have ran CSS and TF2 on a Pentium 4 with 1GB ram with An ATI X300 Graphic Card. Without any Noticable lag.
You can try formatting your windows and install a new one.
It'll boost it a heck.
other than that try [URL="http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/"]CCleaner[/URL]
[QUOTE=Danny Phantom;31752684]The major pull back is that you are running all that spec on a notebook - There is a difference between a desktop version of that build.
I have ran CSS and TF2 on a Pentium 4 with 1GB ram with An ATI X300 Graphic Card. Without any Noticable lag.
You can try formatting your windows and install a new one.
It'll boost it a heck.
other than that try [URL="http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/"]CCleaner[/URL][/QUOTE]
CCleaner won't make your computer run faster since all it does is deleted unused items.
[QUOTE=Panda X;31752927]CCleaner won't make your computer run faster since all it does is deleted unused items.[/QUOTE]
I said just try it. I've seen many people recommend it. Not only here but at many places. So I just said to give it a try since he is already trying other ways.
I use Tune Up Utilities 2011. and it boosts my PC greatly. You can deactivate several programs and there is One-Click Maintenance of it that I like very much :D
[QUOTE=Danny Phantom;31753157]Tune Up Utilities 2011[/QUOTE]
Sounds like one of those fake antivirus programs
try advanced system care if does any good - go on deep care. Also try gamebooster - its for crappy pcs.
[QUOTE=Osku1234;31784093]Sounds like one of those fake antivirus programs[/QUOTE]
Tuneup is a legit program, and it actually does help.
[QUOTE=Wolfz;31786903]try advanced system care if does any good - go on deep care. Also try gamebooster - its for crappy pcs.[/QUOTE]
I tried Gamebooster once
It's terrible.
Make sure you're on a hard surface, keep your computer cool, and have a power supply plugged in. That's all I can think of.
Also, this thread wins the award for the only "how to speed my computer up" thread without delete system 32 in it. Good job, Facepunch.
[QUOTE=Quark:;31790030]I tried Gamebooster once
It's terrible.[/QUOTE] well better then nothing here is the link [url]http://www.iobit.com/download.html[/url] Advanced system care has all of them. It increases performance but very little. I''m just obsesed with this stuff, lol, dunno why.
What you want is a powerful earth magnet. Once acquired, face you HDD towards magnetic north, and run the magnet along it in that direction, don't swish up and back like you're painting, but lift off at the end and go up and back to avoid ionizing the atoms towards the south, after about 15 minutes of running the magnet towards the north, the majority of the atoms in the HDD will have alligned facing north. This uniform of orientation will increase access and write speeds on your HDD by up to 45%. I perform this procedure every 4 months or so as the ionization is wearing off and the atoms are resetting to their natural scattered and unorientated postions.
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