Dell M1330 Problems. Help ^^

Hi guys, with my first post Im going to humor you all with a number of my Dell M1330 problems ^^

1st: My specs are:

Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 2.00Ghz
2GB RAM
nVidia Geforce 8400M GS
160GB HD
Vista 32bit

2nd:

This machine is slower then I expected. I can barely play guildwars and Counter Strike:Source which was a suprise to me as on youtube all the m1330 videos can play F.E.A.R, Bioshock and World In Conflict with ease. I have the original Dell installment with Vista, is this the problem? Or is it the specs of the machine.

3rd:

Can I put more RAM in this machine, I brought it refurbished from ebay so I dont know If I can or not :/

4th:

I have Panda Antivirus and Spybot ^^

Thanks

 

thing is the max ram you can go to with 32bit is 3gb 4 if u move to 64

 

Why lie, I don't understand it.

My m1330 with 32bit Vista can utilise 3.6GB of my 4GB RAM.

 

I believe what therhino is suggesting is that it is not cost effective to have 4Gb in a 32bit OS.

Quit: check the BIOS to see whether the FSB/clock is correct - or donwload CPUZ and check the cpu details.

 

What version of the video drivers are you using?
If you're still using the ones that came on the laptop, that could be the problem.

 

The nVidia 8400 isn't really a great gaming card. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it can run Guild Wars at max settings which is probably what you're trying to do. Make sure Vista Aero is turned off, play it, turn down settings to medium or w/e to see if your FPS goes up.

 

I had not yet upgraded to 4GB nor Vista SP1, but, someone on forums (don't remember which one) upgraded both and fully utilized the 4GB RAM.

 

How much did you pay for it? Why not buy from Dell Outlet? Hundreds of them there and there must be tens that fit your price and spec!

 

*My drivers are up to date

*Im not sure what FSB/clock is

Thanks so far guys ^^

 

You can only use 3.x GB of RAM under Vista 32 (or any other 32bit OS). The OS might report the full 4GB, but that doesn't mean it can access all of it. Whether or not it's cost-effective to put 4GB in anyways is a bit subjective. If you are going to do it, use shared dual channel RAM for better performance.

Now, for the OP's question - I think your problem is more of a video card vs RAM or other computer component. If you wanted yer laptop for gaming, should've went for a better vid card (like 256MB 8600M)

 

If you are still using the Video drivers dell supplied, I recommend replacing them with the latest drivers from laptopvideo2go.com .

 

Are you sure this machine is max 4gb? If so wheres the best place to buy the correct RAM? What RAM am I looking for? Have I only got 2 slots and am I using both? Questions Questions!! I just dont see why others can play F.E.A.R etc with same specs??

 

It's possible w/ lowest settings.

 

yea i have to play with lowest but its still a horrible fps rate

 

Might I suggest a Clean Install and Tweaking through my links below? I am not a gamer and cannot respond to this but these two articles are the hottest on NBR and have been for some time. There are tons of very positive responses of success on these.

 

thanks, but still sucky sucky lappy

 

SP1 changed the way that windows reports RAM size. It now reports how much is physically installed, instead of how much it can use.

 

is my cpu ok? i attached an image halfway down on page 1

 

first, i would make sure i'm running CS:S at lowest settings first...... if u can get >100 fps on CS:S on all low, it means there shouldn't be a problem

secondly, i would reformat your computer.....

 

A Video Stress Test on CS:S showed my average fps was 60.23, its all on lowest settings

 

Is that rating bad?

 

bump bbump

 

I get 140fps on css stress test, 8400, T9300, 4GB

 

Again, which drivers are you using?

 

Again, there updated from dells site

 

Dell drivers aren't the best by a long shot.. Try using laptopvideo2go.com or XFastest.com drivers...

 

I can play GuildWars at max setting smoothly...