Why is my computer going so slow? (gaming question)?

Question

I'm playing right now Half-Life 2. it starts out fast but then all of the suddent it starts to slow down. Gun firing, screaming of the Crab people,people talking- that also goes so ssssllllooooowwww! it like echoes in slow motion! hehehe.
here is alittle bit of info about my computer:

0> microsoft Windows XP professional
Version 2002
Service pack 2

0> Manufactured by
Acer Incorporated
Intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
2.79GHz, 504 MB of RAM

0> Intel(r) 82865G Graphic Controller

0> ACPI Multiprocessor PC

Thanx for all your help!

oh yeah and can you also name what do i need plz and thanx!

oh and also i have DSL thing from SBC :P

total size 37.2 GB
used 15.7 (mostly Movies and the Half-life game. oh and Apps and blah blah)

Answer 1

Most games make huge demands on Memory, Hard Drive, and the Graphics Card.

For gaming, you are likely to achieve your PC's best performance immediately, and least costly, by increasing your RAM -- bump it up to at least 1 GB.
Although, if you do not have the slightest desire to add a graphic card, go for more if you can.

You're 2nd level of attack would be to add a good graphic card, with a nice amount of on-board memory.
Your current Graphic Controller doesn't have separate dedicated memory -- it shares memory with you PC.

3rd level of attack, add another Hard Drive -- if you have the drive space available. Although currently the current size and proportion of free space on your drive appears adequate.

Again, add memory -- that should help.
If still not suitable for you, then add a graphic card.

btw: Don't skip on your regular maintenance -- Scan for viruses and defragment your hard drive.
You might also go to download.com and download & install ccleaner -- to remove assorted junk from you pc which might affect it's effeciency.

Good luck

Answer 2

I believe you are using an on-board graphic controller. For gaming it would be better to get a separate graphic card with at least 256mb or higher. Also if you can afford it, up your RAM to at least 1GB since you are using WinXP SP2.

Another thing to check is how much disk space you have left on the C drive. For optimal performance, do have at least 35% of your C drive diskspace free ( assuming you have at least 40GB on your C drive ).

Answer 3

Two items: RAM and graphics chipset. Bump up your RAM to 1.5-2.0GB to not only get your memory up to where it should be but to help offset some of it being used by your onboard graphics.