Improve my rig-with rules.

[micky]

So heres my stuff. Not the best but it goes OK for what I use it for. Plus I don't tend to buy the most upto date games etc and so for now its how it will be. No new purchases.

AMD 64 2800 Newcastle
Geforce 4 4200Ti 64meg
256mb RAM (2100)
WIN XP
Mobo...can't remember.

It plays Half Life 2 ok, load times abit slow. Doom3 surprisingly well but I did mess around with some memory thing (can't remmebr for the life of me) allowing it to use more/less than standard.

So, how can I get the best out of this little lot? Where best to start?

Is there stuff in XP I can get rid of easily?
General tips on keeping things running as good as can be on this type of thing?

rules:
1) no slagging it off. It keeps me happy and out of trouble.
2) no money to be spent on it.
3) no clocking
4) must be easy to do or at least instructions.

 

[see colon]

sell doom3 on ebay and use the money for more ram. as much as you can get.

 

[Zaphod]

*BUY MORE RAM!*

There. Sorry about shouting, but you really should. I mean, you can get a stick of 256MB DDR for <$20.

As for spending no money: Make a separate login just for playing games. On this account stop all third party programs that are not needed, turn off all XP visual styles, and read up on Windows services do determine what you can disable and still have your games running. If you're not gaming online disable networking as well. This could get you about 100MB RAM free for games instead of dipping into virtual memory before Windows have even finished booting.

It won't do wonders, but it'll help.

 

[Tim Murray]

You're running XP with 256 megs of RAM. Nobody can help you.

Seriously, I stopped using 256 megs of RAM back in the Win98 days. With a not-ridiculous amount of applications open (Firefox, Acrobat, Trillian), I'm using 540 megs of RAM. So, no, there's nothing noticeable that you can do.

 

[digitalwanderer]

More ram, better viddy card. A GF4ti is getting a bit long of tooth.

Sorry my options are all "spend money" ones, but that's how it is sometimes unfortunately.

 

[poopypoo]

on tweaking winxp

cached version of blackviper's tweaking xp services page

good luck!

ps i do recommend buying more ram. your (comparatively) expensive CPU is going to waste! even just going to 512 mb will make a world of difference. right now the sweet spot for winxp gaming seems to be 768-1024 mb.

 

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

Yep, your video card and lack of RAM is what's really holding you back. There's nothing you can tweak that will make even a fraction of the difference increasing your RAM and getting a better graphics card will make. Even if you don't want to spend lots on the latest gear, doubling your ram to 512 meg and a last generation midrange card will not cost too much and will make a massive improvement in performance.

 

[EasyRaider]

I have a very similar system, main differences:
1 GiB RAM (ECC, I'm freaky about stability and data integrity, also have a UPS)
Ti4200-8x 128 MB Golden Sample @ 270/540

The most demanding game I have played is PoP Sands of Time. I tried Vampire Bloodlines, but just couldn't get it to run smooth. Dropping to a crappy res like 800x600 might have done the trick, but I'd rather wait.

I am currently trying to get hold of X800 GTO AGP, but no luck yet.

(edit)
Oh, and I'd recommend replacing that PC2100 RAM with 3200 rather than buying more. 512 MiB sticks are dirt cheap anyway.

 

[Cartoon Corpse]

go into task manager and kill every process that's killable.

EXCEPT the local svchost.exe processes. DO kill the NETWORK SERVICES one.

disconnect from internet BTW.


can gain you 18-20% cpu headroom for games (physics...etc)

 

[suryad]

nLite is your friend.

 

[oddfellow]

RAM!

OMG do you need more ram!

Your vid card is pretty old, but it should be okay in DX8 stuff, indeed as you say, HL2 runs okay.
The rest of the system is good, it's just the ram that's letting you down. I think you're gonna have to spend a some money.
If you get a bunch of pc2100 to go with your 256mb stick, it should be extremely cheap.