Help on Computer

[ROOKIE OF THE YEAR]

i just bought the game of the year half life 2 but once i opened it, framerate is download very very low, except for small dark areas. On tv, it was super smooth. Can anyone help me out? My computer is brand new and the most expensive hp. I got 1 gig of ram and there is no virus. But my game is super slow in fps, and im 100% it's not suppose to be like this. Help, especially who have half-life?

 

[OzyBoy]

i just bought the game of the year half life 2 but once i opened it, framerate is download very very low, except for small dark areas. On tv, it was super smooth. Can anyone help me out? My computer is brand new and the most expensive hp. I got 1 gig of ram and there is no virus. But my game is super slow in fps, and im 100% it's not suppose to be like this. Help, especially who have half-life?

it sounds like not enough video memory to me.

 

[Doctormad]

I agree with the above, its probably the video card. Do you know what type of graphics adapter came with your computer? Also how much video ram does it have? Because half life 2 is a fairly graphics and processor intensive game, I would say that you need at least 128 megs of video ram to play the game at its optimum level.

Speaking of video, what are your video and 3d settings like in the game? What resolution are you playing at? Do you have a lot of the graphic settings turned up, or are they about average?

Finally, you mentioned its an HP computer, correct? Since I used to do tech support for said computers, I know that they tend to have a lot of programs installed, and set on autorun. You might want to try this: Go to start, run, type in msconfig. Go to the startup tab and see what items are checked. With the exception of antivirus and a few important system startup services, most of them can be unchecked

 

[Skel]

Download the newest drivers for your video card(what video card do you have by the way)?

Turn off all programs running in the background that you can.

Turn down graphic options in the game including the resolution of the game.

Scan for spyware and viruses

 

[Docs]

All games require tweaking to bring it to optimal playability. Look on the internet for half-life 2 video tweaks, that's the first step. Follow the guide.

Next, you need to have a good video card. EVEN 64Mb is sufficient. I know this because my buddy had a full P4 system back in the day with a 16MB card, it rocked.

It sounds to me that you have a pre-setup computer full of garbage on it. You'll need to thoughly clean out the HDD of the pre-installed crap. Preferably I would wipe it and start out fresh, as a fresh Windows will provide the fastest possible speeds.

Next, wander into your BIOS settings. Take a gander of what they look like. If you see something that has the option of maximum performance, it's probably best to change it. If you're into OC, go nuts, however with a new computer, it should already be up there and more or less unnecessary.

So, assuming you did all that, you have a fresh windows, a good Video card, your game installed with the tweaking you did on it, it should be VERY FAST. Why do I say that? Because I can take a old P3 800Mhz and make Unreal Tournament 2003 go silky smooth doing just that.

That's all it sounds to me, garbage in the system and no tweaking done.

 

[Spookey]

do you have a "proper" video card or is it an onboard graphics card?

it may sound crazy but it could be your soundcard, if you have a low quality card it can affect the systems performance

 

[ROOKIE OF THE YEAR]

do i have to buy a video card. is there anyway i could get it for free?

 

[Skel]

what video card do you have?

 

[backbreaker]

dude, you need a new video card. It's not about the memory of the video card, it's the processing speed of the video card.

That's why I would neve recommend buying a HP/Dell/Gateway etc 'cookie cutter' gamign system, they put just enough in there to say they are gaming pc's but they don't really have what you really need.

If I am not mistaken HP uses ECS motherboards. I would never build a Gaming PC without an Abit or an Asus Motherboard, they are just made better

What is the model number? Specs? I don't play pc games, but the last time I did play one, was a rig I had setup in my office, I had Hitman 2 (when it just came out) and Uneal Tournment. To play these games, I had to go out and get, actually, just take out the inventory room , an ATI 9800 Pro, and this is about a year and a half, 2 years ago, when it was pretty freakin new. It would run on my older video card, an Nvidia 5200 but the video was choppy and not as clear.

Also, memory. Again, this is just ME, but if you are going to have a gaming PC, memory is extremely important. I would recommend Corsair, and not that value select **** either.

The amount of memory doesn't mean ****, or at least very much above ****, unless it's good memory.

512MB of Good Corsair memory can run any game on the market, but I wouldn't put less than a gig.

also, what type of monitor do you have?


Give me the specs of the pc, maybe I can help you out in more detail. If you can give me the model number, I can look up the motherboard.

 

[Sharkie]

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest

It's a simple online diagnosis tool. If ya don't know what computer specs mean this will tell you where you are at with your PC and all the top PC games inlcluding half life 2. It checks if you meet minimal specs as well as reccomended specs for that game.

 

[ROOKIE OF THE YEAR]

k just went on the website. My version is Video Card Driver Version (DirectX 9.0) Your driver version number is: 6.14.10.4299. I have Intel(R) 82945G Express Chipset Family (Intel(R) 82945G Express Chipset Family). Then it says i may need to update my video card. So I clicked on free drive updates. It led to this site, http://downloadfinder.intel.com.
This is where I got stuck can anyone give a little procedure from here?

 

[backbreaker]

just give me the model number of the HP PC i can figure the rest out assumign you haven't added anything else

 

[Silquee Smoove]

Not to hijack the thread but I want to gauge opinions of users who are in the field, i.e. Docs, backbreaker on the next-gen physics based API graphic cards that are coming out soon.

I, personally think it will be a good investment if you are into high tech game playing as game consoles are starting to catch up to desktop PC's in terms of performance and utilizing a new physics based API will give desktop PC's a much needed advantage.

AGEIA

Also if you need a list of services or startup programs that you can safely disable then I can post it for you, Rookie Of The Year.

Turning off programs that you find in MSConfig only remedies part of the problem, if you aren't on a server or workstation then Windows still loads a lot of services that aren't being used but also still take up resources and clock cycles.

Docs is also right about cutting down the loading of certain programs as all it does is take longer for Windows to load and after a while it becomes more laggy. When I first installed Window XP from the push of the power on button to the OS being ready to accept my input was 37 seconds, (yes, I counted), as time goes on and you add/remove programs that process inevitably grows longer and longer, so reinstallation is still a necessary part of owning a PC.

 

[ROOKIE OF THE YEAR]

m7167c

 

[Sharkie]

Info regarding your chipset/Half life 2 compatability (even google results look grim)

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/intel945g/sb/CS-021333.htm

Latest driver for your chipset is here (select your operating system and choose the top most link it gives you)

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df-external/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2102

Integrated graphics suck monkey nuts, if you want to enjoy any type of modern games you will need to invest in a real video card. And before you do that you will have to determine if you have an AGP or a PCI express slot on your motherboard.

 

[Docs]

Not to hijack the thread but I want to gauge opinions of users who are in the field, i.e. Docs, backbreaker on the next-gen physics based API graphic cards that are coming out soon.

I have not even looked at them, I'm not at all concerned, since I'm not a big gamer. I can assure you though that if you have a decent video card, it would be nearly pointless to upgrade. Unless you are on the cutting edge, and have the biggest rig around town, playing the biggest and newest games, it's not necessary to keep on upgrading your cards. I play fine with a Nvidea 5200 , and it's a 800Mhz on 512 ram. Oh, it sooo fast I know, but it plays UT03 decently. I'm happy.

Don't use your money unless you really really want to
- I Looked, It looks like good stuff, but I'm not a gamer. I'll leave the opinion to someone else.

 

[brucevangeorge]

do i have to buy a video card. is there anyway i could get it for free?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Yeah you could get it for free. Take out a piece of paper write videocard on it and cut it out in the same shape.

Don't forget to use crayons for extra "realism" though!

 

[brucevangeorge]

k just went on the website. My version is Video Card Driver Version (DirectX 9.0) Your driver version number is: 6.14.10.4299. I have Intel(R) 82945G Express Chipset Family (Intel(R) 82945G Express Chipset Family). Then it says i may need to update my video card. So I clicked on free drive updates. It led to this site, http://downloadfinder.intel.com.
This is where I got stuck can anyone give a little procedure from here?

The driver update won't make your videocard perform much faster.

You can't polish a turd.

You obviously know jack about your computer or computers in general. Get the Xbox version of the game or play it at a friend's house. Your computer is requiring upgrades too numerous to mention. It's a lost cause.

Get some more knowledge about computers or just use the damn thing as a word processor or the internet and get a console.

 

[Docs]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Yeah you could get it for free. Take out a piece of paper write videocard on it and cut it out in the same shape.

Don't forget to use crayons for extra "realism" though!

Oh, I'm so far ahead of you, I use pencil crayons for my DOS gamer . I draw out the system perfectly, it almost looks like it's real with 16 Bit games, only I have to keep redrawing for movement.

 

[brucevangeorge]

Oh, I'm so far ahead of you, I use pencil crayons for my DOS gamer . I draw out the system perfectly, it almost looks like it's real with 16 Bit games, only I have to keep redrawing for movement.

AHAHAHA

'props'