Video card?? geforce fx 5200 256mb

[robman817]

Hi people.
i recently just got a new motherboard, videocard, and 1 gig of ram which is listed in my signature. my problem is my games should run well on this computer because my brother has the same things as me. Im thinking the problem is my video card because he doesnt have the same one as me. i try to run a game called battlefield 2142 on medium graphics and it should run very well like it does on his computer, i turned it down to low and play and it runs fast but not to smooth and its still a little choppy in some places. I really dont understand what the problem could be because im pretty sure i have the latest drivers for it. the thing I may not be so sure on is drivers for my motherboard or processor, should that have a big impact on gameplay?
Thanks for the time anything will help me at the moment.

 

[Tedster]

your processor is a very low end processor in fact, at the very bottom of AMD mainboard processors except for the super-budget end.

next time post in the correct forum audio/video

 

[robman817]

Hmm. thats weird. it seems like it should still be a fast processor even if it was all on medium. any idea what type of processor i should get?

sorry i thought this was the right forum.

 

[beef_jerky4104]

If you have the money go for a Core 2 Duo or a Pentium E. But if you are on a super tight budget then AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPUs have better prices then ever before.

 

[robman817]

Awesome. thanks alot

 

[beef_jerky4104]

But you do know that any of those CPUs would be incompatible with your current PC right? Which means you would have to replace almost everything.

 

[robman817]

ahh thats not good lol. any good processors i can get for my current motherboard??

 

[robman817]

Well i talked to my brother, and he really thinks the reason my games run pretty slow even on medium-low is because of my video card.

 

[nickc]

that video card is on the on the bottom end for any game

 

[robman817]

how could it be my processor then? is it really that slow? my old one was 1.2ghz and ran battlefield 2, and battlefield 2142 ok but a little choppy on low.

 

[WedgeoZ]

The problem with the Sempron processors and games is the reduced L2 cache size. You can try overclocking to improve the performance (they tolerate it fairly well), but games are very hungry for L2 cache and even overclocked you'll see poor FPS rates.
Then again you said your brother was running the same system without any problems. I had no end of issues with 2 separate GeForce 5200 FX cards and would recommend people stay away from them. That is just my experience though and I'm sure other people will say different.

 

[kpo6969]

What drivers are you using? If your using 162.18 with only 1GB ram that's your issue. Rollback to 93.71 or whatever you want but the 5000 series with the new 162.18 driver have issues.

 

[robman817]

What drivers are you using? If your using 162.18 with only 1GB ram that's your issue. Rollback to 93.71 or whatever you want but the 5000 series with the new 162.18 driver have issues.

hmm ive tried that, right when i assembled my new stuff together i installed the 162.18 drivers and i realized it was slow then i downgraded to 93.71 and it was the same exact speed nothing was different at all.

 

[kpo6969]

hmm ive tried that, right when i assembled my new stuff together i installed the 162.18 drivers and i realized it was slow then i downgraded to 93.71 and it was the same exact speed nothing was different at all.

I guess you didn't read the release notes for 162.18 or you wouldn't have tried to install it with 1GB ram. Anyway, a better video card would be your best option. What's your psu, card interface, and budget?

 

[robman817]

well ive rolled back the driver could it have done something permanent to my computer? well i have another thread its called ATI RADEON 9600 in this thread that i just got from my brother and im also having problems with that lol.

 

[robman817]

The problem with the Sempron processors and games is the reduced L2 cache size. You can try overclocking to improve the performance (they tolerate it fairly well), but games are very hungry for L2 cache and even overclocked you'll see poor FPS rates.
Then again you said your brother was running the same system without any problems. I had no end of issues with 2 separate GeForce 5200 FX cards and would recommend people stay away from them. That is just my experience though and I'm sure other people will say different.

Oh i see. how can i over clock it?

 

[WedgeoZ]

Oh i see. how can i over clock it?

Different for different systems. Sorry, I don't recognise your mboard manufacturer from the product code given. Some manufacturers have fairly good and easy to use programmes for beginners just wanting to improve performance in a basic way (ASUS is a good example). Best bet is to search through the overclocking forums on this site or post a thread there and I'm sure plenty of people could fill you in. Standard disclaimer - remember that overclocking CPUs can be harmful to your system.