How can we improve our computer for gaming?

Question

12/05 we bought a Compaq Presario Pentium 4, on a salesman's advice. This is no gaming computer: several Jedi Knight games won't run well, nor will Oblivion even load, and tonight, Ice Age 2 quickly reaches a level where the creature is supposed to be traveling through an area that shows only a grey screen. I updated ActiveX after googling for ideas about the specific Ice Age problem. This did not fix the problem (we already had ActiveX 90c .)

What is wrong with/missing from the computer that it won't play these games? Age of Empire/Civ III run just fine on the computer, but not Age of Mythology, although maybe it's an expansion of that game that doesn't work.

Can we buy something to add to the computer to make these games play or would that almost be as expensive as getting new computers? If getting another one is best, what computer specs would you recommend for being able to just load Oblivion/Ice Age 2 and go? Macs? Only PCs?

Thanks so much for your time.

oops - boughht it 12/04. has 512K.

Intel R Pentium 4 cpu 3.06GHz
1016 MB Ram
i can't find a tab for clicking on that says "Video"

Answer 1

More computer memory and fast video card with lots of memory. Next time get a Dell XPS

Answer 2

Um, just build one, if ur buying a gaming computer, it's not worth it.
BUT, the ONLY time you should really build a computer is IF you game.
My computer is special, not the best, but pretty close to it.
AMD FX-57 @ 3ghz
2gb OCZ Platinum Edition Enhanced Latency RAM
2 EVGA 7800GTs running on SLI
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card

and thats the major part
usually, to play games, you would need a fast processor
If you are using Intel, then 3ghz or above is recommended for lag-less gaming (even though at 3ghz and 512 mb you still lag a lot)
try using a lot more RAM
somewhere between 1gb and 2gbs
your videocard also helps take some stress off the CPU believe it or not
get something like the Geforce 6800 GT or better
as the numbers go up, they get better
i think.
well the main ones u should look at is the 6800 series
7800 series
7600 series
7900 series
don't bother with the 7950 GX2 or the 7900 GX2
those are 500 bucks or more
and half the power is wasted

RAM is the main thing though
it CAN be cheap
it CAN be expensive.
usually the expensive ones work better
obviously.
oh and for the video card, ignore the 2nd guy (sorry to be mean though, but he's very very wrong).
AGP is basically just hanging around today.
the main thing is PCI Express x16
the more powerful of the 4 different types of VGA slots
all the new video cards that are coming out are used only for PCI Express x16
like the 7950 GX2 as mentioned before
also, the 7900 GTX
one of the most powerful cards out.
there are only a few cards that are for the AGP slots
7900 GS
7800 GS
and 6800 GS
i maybe wrong, correct me if i am though.
but I am pretty sure that AGP is going to become useless one day

Answer 3

It depends on lots of things. Go to Start > Run > dxdiag > OK.

Tell what it says on the processor (may be CPU) line, RAM line, then click on video and tell what it says. If:

-CPU is less than 2.8 GHz (2800 MHz)
-Memory is less than 512MB @ DDR 400 or DDR2 533 or less
-Video is less than nVidia 6600 or ATi x600

then you should probably upgrade.

For Oblivion I would reccomend:

-CPU: 3.2GHz Intel or 3200 AMD
-Memory: DDR 400 or DDR2 667 (at least 1GB)
-Video: nVidia 7600GT or ATi X1600 series

or more. That should get you through Oblivion on medium-low and Ice Age on high.

You could buy a computer with that (or better) CPU and memory from an OEM like HP or Dell, but make sure it has a PCI Express x16 slot available for the graphics card. The cards I listed should run you about $200 on www.newegg.com and let you at least play without breaking the bank.

Answer 4

You nave not given your computer configuration.
Make sure you are using the following Hardware -

1. Processor - More than 1.6 GHz
2. RAM - minimum 512 MB (use 400 FSB RAM)
3. AGP Card with 128 or 256 MB memory

Software setup -
1. Remove not useful programs and unnecessary services from Start Up
2. Set Virtual memory to "System Managed"
3. Set Visual performance to "Adjust for Best Performance"