How to improve gaming performance

Hi, I wanted to ask a question of people who know more about computers than I do. I have a Dell studio 1555 laptop with ATI Radeon HD 4500 series graphics card (integrated into motherboard), 4 gb of DDR2 PC2-6400 =2 slots total (NON-ECC DDR2-800 whatever that means), and intel 2.4Ghz duo P8600 processors. This may be premature, but I am a huge fan of Elder Scrolls…I played Oblivion on max settings (FPS was not perfect-but it was pretty playable). Skyrim is coming out in November, and I was hoping to play it with the highest graphics I can with my current computer (not expecting to play it on max settings of course). My question, what is the limiting factor on my computer for graphics? Would getting 8gb of the DDR2 help, or am I still limited by the graphics card or processors? Thanks!

 

Graphics card.

 

Thanks Lithus! I was 80% sure that my graphics was limiting. If getting a new graphics card isn't an option, would increased ram improve my performance, or is the best way to do it just to overclock?

 

I think youd better oc the card a little but beware as the hd4500 runs really hot at standard clocks, oced should bring you over 84c in gaming.

 

The 4 GB of RAM you have is more than enough - you will be limited by your GPU in most of the situations you run in in gaming (for your laptop). I personally would not spend the money to get 8 GB of RAM for your laptop. You can try overclocking, but read up on it first because it can cause problems. Be careful if you do try it.

 

Yeah, it already runs pretty hot. I read a little about OCing and doesn't seem like others have been too successful with what I have. Maybe not worth it for me...especially since I don't know what I am doing.

 

Frankly, you're just not going to get any significant gains out of that card. If you want top-notch performance for Skyrim, you're better off trading that in for a more gaming-oriented notebook, or building a desktop.

 

I think firstly you should upgrade your PC's RAM, Video Card, Processor,etc but you could also increase the FPS by disabling and programs running in the background such as an anti-virus or programs such as a Web Broweser, especally Firefox as that is a huge resource drainer....

 

thinking of updating your ram.first question is are you running 32bit or 64bit operating system. if its 32bit then you are only using roughly 3.1gb of ram and its totally pointless upgrading as your throwing money away.

tbh i think you need a dedicated graphics card for the newer games especially if you want high settings.
if you dont know what you are doing with overclocking then i wouldnt risk it.
so time to start saving for a new system.

 

He already have 4GB of Ram , and as we know it's more than enough for gaming. The GPU is the bottleneck here... You could do a http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/418851-diy-vidock-experiences.html or the next best thing is getting a new lappie.

 

yes he has 4gb ram and hes thinking of upgrading it which will be a waste of time if hes running 32bit.

 

Ignore this. Pay $0 towards any upgrades.

The only viable solution is to buy a more powerful notebook. Even just saving $100 a month will get you what you need, by November.

 

Its 64 bit. From previous posts, it didn't sound like more ram would help anyways...? When I bought the computer, I wasn't thinking about upgrades (didn't know as much as I do now) Crap!

From what I have gathered (even before starting thread) was that its best just to save for a new system. I have always wanted to build a desktop, this seems like a perfect opportunity, but with school loans, doubt the wife would let me. Lame!

 

Well somebody made oldblivion for oblivion so people with low end cards could play it... Maybe someone will make oldskyrim.

 

in the mean time you can try increasing performance on your current system with gamebooster v 2.2. It's free to download just google it, and it does a great job at disabling/reenabling unneeded programs and freeing up resources with just a click of the mouse. Also, here's the code to upgrade to the paid version for free, so you can try the locked features.

44814-D56A7-A585F-873B2

 

He is GPU limited, and gamebooster is going to do nothing at all to boost his GPU speed. I agree that useless background programs should be closed, but his CPU and RAM are fine, and I doubt that shutting down every single possible non-critical service is going to gain him over 1 FPS on a game with his graphics card, unless he's running a whole boatload of unnecessary stuff.

@vieka

You don't need GameBooster, it will not help you significantly. The last time Jacob posted a thread about this software the mods said:

 

Agree.

Save $100 a month for six months and you can build a good desktop. I just a built a 'budget' desktop for total 650$ USD. (Galaxy 460 GTX 1gb, AMD phenom x4 BE, 4GB 1333 RAM, 500GB HDD.)

The 460 GTX is overclocked to 470 speeds and is more than capable to max any game on the market without issue, most games with more than 4-8x AA.

If you have to have a mobile solution, I would check the 'For Sale' in the NBR market place for a well kept gaming laptop. In that case I might have a Sager NP8662 (in sig) for sale, if needed

 

You can also sell your current notebook to get money faster to buy a gaming laptop by November. Also by then, the older 1st-gen i7 laptops with a 460m/485m will probably be cheaper as the Sandy Bridge laptops will be the ones being pushed by retailers

 

Not everyone wants a desktop you know, e.g. me I'll never try to buy a desktop, since gaming for me is 80% LAN'ing with friends, and 20% at home, it just feels that much more settling to get something that does both well, while staying portable.

That said, OP could still buy a capable laptop this year if he saves $700 ~ $800, e.g. Acer's TimelineX series with ATI 5650 or 6550. Those are overclocking beasts (my 5650 can go up 200 MHz past its stock core clock and still be stable and relatively cool), and could probably run Skyrim @ Med/high settings @ 40 fps, or high settings @ 30 fps.