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Computer Video Card and Processor Questions

3kids4me

3kids4me

TUG Lifetime Member
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I have a Dell Inspiron E1505. I would like to use it for some gaming, but the game is running very slowly and the graphics are jerky.

Upon review of the system requirements for the game, it says: "A slower processor (under 2GHz), older video card (any nVidia Geforce older than a FX 5200, or ATI Radeon older than a 9700), or low memory (less than 512MB if you're not running other programs) can contribute to low framerates."

Looking in my Device Manager, I see that I have the following video card:

ATI Mobility Radeon X1300. I'm assuming that this ATI card is older than the 9700 as indicated above? If so, how do I determine what type of video card would be compatible with my computer, and how can I go about purchasing the appropriate video card and installing it?

Also, I notice that my processor is only 1.6 GHz instead of 2. So this may be a problem as well. Does this mean that my computer in general just won't be any good for this game?

Thanks for any help!

Sharon
 
too little

3kids4me said:
Also, I notice that my processor is only 1.6 GHz instead of 2. So this may be a problem as well. Does this mean that my computer in general just won't be any good for this game?

Thanks for any help!

Sharon
Click to expand...

Yes. The requirements on the box are the absolute bare minimum - even that won't be a great gaming experience. Less than that you are almost guaranteed disappointment.
 
It's a laptop, Sharon. Unless you spend upwards of 2.5k, a laptop won't be a good gaming machine.

The x1300 is probably newer than the 9700, but it's not as capable for 3d graphics. The x1300 is a low-end entry level graphics card that uses shared memory. It's better than onboard graphics, but not by much.

I would have configured the e1505 with the 2.0Ghz core 2 duo processor, but that would have bumped the price by another $250 or so.

Buying a laptop means you have to deal with tradeoffs. The e1505 is a fine machine, just not for 3D graphics intensive gaming.

-David
 
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Thank you both.

David, this is still the "old" laptop...I haven't bought a new one yet. I have heard that the Macbook Pro is better for gaming although expensive. Would it be better to get one of those if affordable, or configure a new Inspiron to have a better graphics card and processor (if possible).

The graphics don't need to be great...but right now games aren't playable anymore because the graphics stop and start....

Thanks!

Sharon
 
The macbook pro comes with a better graphics card, an x1600. But it's more expensive. You can configure notebooks from other vendors with better graphics cards than the x1600, but it will be even more expensive.

What do you mean by "anymore"? Same games as before, but now they stop and start? Or new games? Which games? Many games are configurable, so you can turn off certain features and they will play better on slower hardware.

-David
 
Thanks again.

The two games they are using right now are Sims and Second Life. Sims can be played on our desktop but Second Life could only be played on the laptop for some reason...desktop doesn't have the graphics card perhaps. (You can't even start the game.) Second Life just updated their software (and it had to be automatically downloaded) and now the graphics are choppy and the game is no longer playable...so they obviously changed something on their end. I did work extensively with tech support folks to "turn off" everything extraneous in the game, but they are stumped too. I see that our desktop has a 3.0 Ghz processor so I guess theoretically if I got a new video card for it, the game may work there...but it's sort of an unknown.

Since my daughter can play Sims on the other computer, she doesn't much use this one for it, so I haven't checked to see if it still runs, but I assume it does. However, we just got her another add-on (Pets or University or something) for Hanukkah...so I'm wondering if I will be overloading the computer!

I suppose I just have to make sure that whatever I buy has a fast processor as well as an appropriate graphics card...I just don't know that the folks in the computer stores are as adept as this as you are David!
 
The desktop machine probably has a 3Ghz Pentium 4 processor.

Your laptop has a different type of processor that's rated lower in raw clock speed, but can do more per cycle. The speeds aren't really comparable.

Do you have enough memory on the notebook?

-David
 
I Gigabyte of RAM, and what are you doing up in the middle of your night? :)
 
Have you checked to make sure 1G is enough? It depends on how many services and startup programs are running. start/run type in taskmgr. The click on the performance pane. Look at the figures under "physical memory".

I was doing my usual late night thing. :)

-David
 
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For some reason I can't find the info on physical memory (must be looking in the wrong place). There's isn't much installed on the laptop, so I'm thinking that there is probably still a lot of space?

I did finally reach customer service, who said that people have reported problems with my particular graphics card and their new game update.

So...I guess it's either a new graphics card in this computer (which is expensive and not guaranteed to work given my "slowish" processor) or a new laptop which I guess will be even more expensive!

Sharon
 
Well, depending on some other factors, e.g., if your motherboard and processor will allow it, you could possibly add a PCI or AGP card to your desktop. It is strange that your desktop won't play it and your laptop will. My husband built gaming machines for our sons but you can buy barebones machines for less than $400, add a good graphics card ($100) and software ($100) almost as cheap as if you would build it yourself.:doh:
 
Well I got the games to work on the desktop by simply updating the Graphics Driver. So at least we have one gaming computer available! That graphics card is an NVidia. The graphics card on the laptop has the most updated drivers already.

Nightnurse...sounds like good suggestions...but I would have no clue as to whether my computer would allow that stuff. You make it sound so simple though...lol!!
 
You've confused me. I thought this was about your Inspiron E1505 notebook computer. What's the make and model of the desktop computer?

The only thing you can do for the notebook is add more memory. For the desktop, you may be able to upgrade the CPU and the graphics and add more memory.

-David
 
Hi David,

Sorry to confuse you. Yes, the questions were about the laptop. Initially, the desktop was also not working, but since it was so old I didn't give it a second thought. But...once my daughter could no longer play on the laptop, I started looking for other solutions while at the same time trying to figure out if the laptop was "upgradable". So...I searched for new drivers for the graphics card on the desktop and was surprised that, after locating and installing them, that the desktop was then able to run the games. So this is good...she has a place to play.

However, I'm still looking for a solution to having the laptop work as it's better to be portable if possible. If this laptop is not not equipped to run some games due to it's 1.6 GHz processor then I guess I'm out of luck (right? You can't change a processor, right?) but if it's the fact that the graphics card on the laptop isn't make by NVidia...then perhaps I could get the same graphics card that I have on my desktop, for the laptop. (That's really the question...is that even possible or reasonable in terms of expense?)

Sharon
 
For the laptop, you're pretty much stuck with the configuration it came with, except you can add memory and you might be able to replace your hard drive. You can add USB devices or pc-card devices. That's it. You can't upgrade the processor or the graphics.

I don't think the processor is the problem. It's a 1.6Ghz what? (Pentium M, Core 2 Duo?) I thought you said that the game support folks told you it was a problem with their game and the graphics card. The only you can do is look for an ATI graphics driver update (they update them every month or two).

-David
 
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Thanks David,

The woman I reached in customer service said that had "had a lot of compaints" from people using my graphics card. So, it seemed possible that changing that might help. However, she also said that I was already operating on the bare minimum requirements for usage, and so it was possible that the latest game update just put me over the edge. (All in all though, she wasn't all that technical so the most valuable piece of information I got from her was the part about the graphic card complaints...keeping in mind that the site still says that graphics card is okay...so that's why I thought it best to seek help elsewhere!)

When new ATI drivers are availalble, I'll give it a try...

Thank you!

Sharon

P.S. The processor in an Intel T2050 1.6GHz
 
The T2050 is a 1.6Ghz Core Duo Processor. There's nothing wrong with that and it's more equivalent to a Pentium IV running much faster than that, plus it has 2 processors, not one. Not sure what the specs for the game says, but I would think your processor is ok.

-David
 
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