my dell xps laptop absolutely sucks, need help

I'm REALLY getting tired of this computer. From when I got this piece of trash (and paid roughly $2,900 for) I've had problems.

ALL I want this computer to do without problems is play counter strike. I have a computer that is nearly 5 times older than this laptop and it runs counter strike (a 6-8 year old game) perfectly. When I first got this computer, I eventually got my computer up to 100fps in the game but only for a very short period of time.

So after dealing with it for about 6 months, I finally said screw it and reformatted. This is my first time I have ever reformatted any computer. I read directions online just to make sure I didn't screw anything up, the only thing I did not do according to the directions was I installed the system software drivers (or whatever) I after the chipset drivers. I *should* have all the drivers updated, I went to the dell website and downloaded the important ones.

Do every counter strike tweak I know (all of which have fixed my counter strike performance every time I use them) and sure enough, counter strike is running the same if not WORSE then it was before.

This was advertised as a gaming laptop. Why can't I play any f***ing games then? Not only does CS run awful, lots of things seem to be lagging. I did not install all of Dell's junkware, just a clean reformat and I downloaded AOL, counter strike and just avast! (antivirus) so far.

The latest video drivers from dell are like 6 months old... and as far as i know, drivers directly from ATI do not work on Dell laptops... My roommate has told me there are ways to get ATI drivers to work on Dell systems, but I want to see what you guys think is causing me so much stress.

Please, for the love of god, someone help me before I destroy this.

Dell XPS
Windows XP Home
pentium 4 3.4 Ghz
1 gig RAM
ATI mobility Radeon 9700
SP2


... let me know if you need any more information, please post any links that may be helpful to me or post any kind of advice, I am not the best with computers.

 

If you know any good place to find help, post those links as well....

 

Welcome to the forums,

I would check to make sure that all of your drivers are properly installed. Right click on "My Computer" select properties-->hardware tab-->device manager.

Do you have any devices that have a yellow question mark?

 

install Omega's version of ATI's drivers
they work great (i use them on my ati mobility, and they're perfect, and up to date!)
www.omegadrivers.net

that's likely the problem

 

Wait a min... you paid $2900 six months ago, for the Dell XPS?!!

WIth the ATI m9700gpu?!!!

Hold on... First of all, Dell XPS (the original), has the exclusive m9800 GPU, which is roughly 2-3 times faster than the m9700. As far as I know, no XPS ever came with the m9700.

2ndly... I didn't even know you can still order the XPS from Dell's website 6 months ago? It should at least be the XPS2 or something... Did you buy this from a different source? Cuz if you did... you got RIPPED OFF bigtime man!

The m9700 is uninspiring at best, and downright anemic when it comes to newer games.

cheers,

yass

 

Southern Girl
-------I would check to make sure that all of your drivers are properly installed------

All of my drivers were updated, only ones with a yellow question mark are for my printer and PCI modem (i am not connected to wireless right now), I hope they are all the most recent....




Syxbit
-------Wait a min... you paid $2900 six months ago, for the Dell XPS?!!------------

nah, I've been dealing with the lag problems for 6 months, I've had the computer for about a year and a half, maybe a little more. CS is an old game, I don't really play many newer games. I don't play counter strike source (the newer version of CS), I only play 1.6 which hasn't changed much in years.




Yassarian
-------install Omega's version of ATI's drivers------------

Let me check out those omega drivers, hope they work better. I think I may have tried them already, maybe thats what solved my problems when I first got the computer.

 

You're not exactly clear on what your problem is. What, is it running at 60fps rather than 100? Also, you mentioned that you've never reformatted your PC before. Are you sure you did it correctly and in the right order?

http://support.dell.com/support/top...alid=&treeid=FFA33DA99941FEDFE030030ABD62041A

Did you set the power levels to Full Performance?

There are many things you need to look at in the OS configs, take a deep breath and Google some more before venting.

 

Can you isolate the problem further? Do you experience lag when you are not online, or do you only experience lag with online play?

Just trying to narrow it down -- see if the connection (AOHELL) has anything to do w/ it...

cheers,

yass

 

HowDogg74
-------What, is it running at 60fps rather than 100?---------

No. More like 8-40 with occassional spikes to 60. Max_fps is set to 100 (CS 1.6 cannot go over 100fps)

------There are many things you need to look at in the OS configs, take a deep breath and Google some more before venting.--------

That's the thing.... I have absolutely no idea where to start and what to look for. I mean I have picked up some things, but I have done everything I've learned so far with no success...




Yassarian
----------Do you experience lag when you are not online, or do you only experience lag with online play?......---------

Most of the lag is just in video games. Something else I'd like to point out is my fans run VERY LOUD from basically maybe 2 minutes after windows loads until it is shut down. I have run diagnostics and didn't find any hardware errors.

I have a cable internet connection and I ping 20-60 on the servers I play, it's definately not the internet.

 

HowDogg74
--------Did you set the power levels to Full Performance?-------

How do I do that?

 

btw, I don't even know which model XPS this is... I believe it was the first one, so is it the Dell XPS M40? Where can I find out?

 

well... actually I do lag outside games. I haven't played around with the computer too much since I reformatted but my browser windows sometimes roll down in a slide show fashion slowly but steadily, haven't seen this before...

 

If any of you have some time and have AOL, PM me and I'll message you my screen name. I should be around all day going back and forth between homework and fixing this piece of garbage. Thank god you guys are nice enough to actually help people.

 

Start, Control Panel, Power Options. If there is no setting for Max Power, select Home & Home Office.

Also, make sure you are gaming with the power cord plugged in. You won't get max performance unless you are plugged in.

 

While I'm still sitting here, I guess I'll tell you what I've done since I reformatted.

I was following the reformat tutorial on this site (stickied at the top of this thread).

I did everything according to SouthernGirl's tutorial aside from making a partition (forgot to, meant to make one for media) and and installing the drivers in the right order (probably makes a difference, I'm willing to reformat again if it does make a difference). This is the order she said to do it in:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Install the drivers (see drivers for required drivers)
The first driver you should install is Notebook System Software, followed by the Chipset driver. After that install the remaining drivers.
If you only downloaded your networking driver, you'll need to install this first, followed by the Notebook System Software, Chipset, and then the remaining drivers
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I didn't see the notebook system software at first, so I think I did chipset, then audio, then maybe 1-2 others before I noticed notebook system software.

I didn't save my drivers since I figured that may be one of the problems. I was thinking I might as well take the extra time to make sure all the drivers are done right.

Uh. Oh yeah. I updated windows and all that cool stuff, think that's about all I've done since reformat other than installing 2-3 programs.

 

Always game with the power cord plugged in.

Um. Under power settings, theres Home/Office desk and Max Battery, you are talking about the first tab right?

 

yeah... my computer seems to be getting worse instead of better..

I installed the omega drivers, but it didn't ask me to restart like it usually does.. Is there some way I can check if I have the right drivers installed?

 

Start->settings->control panel-> system->hardware->device manager->display adapters-> drivers tab and driver details should tell you.

I am doing that from memory so might not be 100%.

 

CautionNYC can you do a screenshot of your System Information? Or just check it and post the info that is there.

Also, go into the Device Manager under the Control Panel --> Systems --> Hardware, and tell me what Display adapters it has listed.

Finally, can you go into Display Properties --> Settings --> Advanced --> Adapter and tell me what's in there?

sorry if this is asking a lot... lol

cheers,

yass

 

Thanks Yassarian...I am not on my lappy and couldn't remember for sure.

 

ATI Mobility Radeon 9700

ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 AGP (0x4E50)
Internal DAC (400MHz)
128 MB
111-A10812-106

 

I dunno if that was helpful or what you were looking for

 

Wheres system information heh

 

if the driver is the top one, it ends in ati2cqag.dll

version 6.14.10.0292

 

...

thanks guys...

 

sounds like it might be overheating. get a can of air and blow all of the dust out.