Hello I am having a real FPS problem with my pc.I have had this problem for along time now.I recently put a new video card in and it seems not to do the trick.I have been having real problems with FPS in Call Of Duty and Day of Defeat....

System specs are:
Windows XP Pro
20 Gig HD
512 RAM
GeForce FX 5200 128 mb AGP
Sound Blaster PCI512 Sound Card
Socket 370 Pent.3 650 MhZ
Tyan Trinity 400 Motherboard

All drivers are current,OS is up to date.


What are some other factors that could effect video besides the video card its self?PCI latency?IRQ's?Power Supply?Im clueless and any help is appreciated...thnks.

IRQ list looks ok

Two things come to mind. Graphics, CPU. 650MHz is acceptable for XP but low-end really, it doesn't run very good until you get around the 1GHz range. That doesn't mean run out and buy a new CPU, just tweak XP a bit to make it easier for your CPU to handle it.

Graphics is the main reason why. Default graphics in XP hog around 30MB memory. If you set it for classic desktop, get rid of all the animations possible, dump the wallpaper, backgrounds, screensavers and active desktop it should run a lot better. That will free up a lot of memory the system can use for other things. Even with 512MB RAM, XP wants all it can get...

Also check your BIOS, usually the AGP Aperture should be set at 64MB, that's optimum in most cases. I've seen a lot of machines changed to 128, it doesn't help performance and sometimes can cause it to get worse. You might also check and see if your BIOS has an option to set Performance or Optimum defaults, try that and it might run better.

I'm not sure what other BIOS settings would help, most of them make very little difference, it's the accumulation of tweaks that add up to noticable performance gains. Somebody around here also has a link to some XP tweaks that might help, I don't have it but maybe someone will pop in later and post it. (Need to remind myself to bookmark that one...)

You can also drop the sound settings in the games a notch and that might help, dropping the video settings might help too. If you back off from super max detail to high detail it can make a lot of difference and still leave the game playable...in other words drop the excess, but still leave it with good graphics and sound. I'm sure you don't want to pull everything back to minimum... :rolleyes:

How about video card settings..here are some pics of them...

pics are to big...boooo
..but thnks for taking the time to give such a lengthy reply...

Some of the video card settings might help too, I didn't think about that, and without knowing what they are I can't offer any suggestions. Maybe someone who has that card can be of more assistance in that respect.

With the games themselves, I think your CPU is the main bottleneck. However, as Pete said, don’t go out a buy a new CPU yet.

Make sure your card's drivers are set for maximum performance. Right-click anywhere on the desktop background and click Properties and then the Settings tab. Click Advanced, and then the tab identifying your video card. Depending on which driver version you have, you will find a place to change the Direct 3D and Open GL performance settings. Make sure both of these are configured for best performance.

In the game’s graphics settings try dropping the visual effects down to a moderate level if they are maxed out. Lower things like shadows, smoke/dust effects, and the sort. Things that will help if reduced but will really drop the quality of the graphics include game resolution, texture detail, viewable distance, etc. Lower these a little at a time. I don’t have either of the games you mentioned, so I can’t tell you exactly what to change. Play around with it until you find a graphics/performance ratio you can live with.

If the above doesn’t help, it may be time to swing over to buying and upgrading advice.

Good luck!

If the CPU is the bottleneck, lowering the graphical details will help, but in some cases not enough. CPU-limited means that the CPU is doing more work than it can handle, and the chores that the CPU is doing is some vertex and pre-transform work.

Here's something that might seem a little odd, but bear with me. Lower your resolution, lower two or three details settings, turn on antialiasing. This will shift the focus from your CPU to your video card, which is much more capable given your hardware.

I have a friend who is willing to sell me his old mobo and a few other parts..

The computer was a dell dimension 8100. The motherboard is Intel. The proccesor is a P4 1500 Ghz. It has 768 megs a ram RDRAM (Rambus) real fast. Has a brand new 310 watt power supply in it and the fan that blows on the chip is brand new.

He will sell this to me incrediblely cheap....My current system is a socket 370 cpu,which is probly why Im having such problems.So I think Ill just buy these parts from him and take it from there....

That would certainly give you a nice speed boost! :D But how cheap is "cheap"? ;) I'm not saying your friend is trying to cheat you or anything, but the mobo in question is from a Dell machine, so it's not standard. I'd value it all at about $175-225 (depending on brands and specs).

So he's just selling you the mobo, CPU (and heat sink I'm guessing), RAM, power supply, and CPU fan? So the Dell case is not included?

Are you planning on swapping your old parts out for the new ones or buying a new case and all?

Well guys he is throwing the case in too...the power supply is brand new.Ive known him along time,so im confedent it isnt a screw over.Im gettin it all for 75 bucks....I think he is being generous in his offer,cause he knows the problems I have with this POS.

Im just gonna throw this new card in it,with the HD,and Sound Card.

On another note...I seemd to improve the performance a bit with your tips.I turned down the refresh rate and VC settings...which seemed to help...Thnks alot...best support forums Ive seen around the web.

That is a good deal. Hope it all works out for ya.

Btw, Feel free to stick around the forums. ;)