dell laptops (concerning their game perforamance)

I have the I6400 with the ATI 512 X1400. Along side with this I have 1gig memory. My concern is that most my games have superduper problems and my computer can't handle like google talk and 3 internet explorers at the same time. need not mention the terrible performance with CSS in dx9... (at times it goes down to like 7 fps and then it crashes...
Well I have Mcaffe and that picked up no viruses or trojans, as well as spy bot that cleared some stuff.
MY Question is: lets say i get the dell XPS M1210 the super small one, with the 256MB NVIDIA® GeForceTM Go 7400 TurboCache Graphics Card, and 1 or 2 gigs of memory, with this pwnnn my I6400?
Could my slowdowns be due to bad RAm? Can i upgarde to 2 gigs without paying a fortune?

also is the xps M1210 the one with no optical drive for Cd"s

 

Well your notebook is fast enough but what you are telling us is not normal. I think your Windows is buggy or something. I recommend a full format if you have time for it (not NTFS-fast) so it can check your HD for errors and damage. Install the newest drivers and install all the programs you want to use.

After that, do Defragmentation a couple times (4-5) and your notebook should work good.

It takes a lot of time, but fixes all the problems.

Charlie

 

the 1210 has a 24x CD burner or an 8x dvd + - RW burner good setup I have looked at it myself

 

First of try to disable McAfee I have seen it take upward of 50% cpu time while gaming. See if that helps. Aslo try updating your driver and remove all the crapware from dell. I have a friend with the exact same setup and he gets fluid gameplay in about every game out there (short of oblivion). If it is a core duo notebook try to follow the procedure that can be found ehre somewhere on how to make sure your copy of windows is using both cores.

Otto.

 

I would also recommend formatting that machine if you haven't already done so - do away with all the Dell signature bloatware. It sounds like there are more serious problems with your laptop than its poor gaming performance.

Open the Task Manager (Ctrl Alt Delete) and watch the Performance tab, see what your normal CPU usage is (%).

Otto's recommendation is pretty good, here's that thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60416

 

(long story coming up)

well, i may of found the fix. I looked at the process list, and notices around 60 processes. Then i looked at cpu usage and it was in the 20-10% range. So then i ordered the processes by memory usage and saw some scvhost.exe ( a few of them) I saw these processes before but they were not taking up as much memory as it was now, so i deleted all of them...Then....I got this alert that windows was gonna do a lockdown styled shutdown in 1 minute. I let this happen, and there were no problems after i turned it on. I then was messing around and made a new account. I logged onto it to try to play css, and right before my eyes, i see something that lookes like a star near the time on the bottom rihgt of the screen. Supposedly im not a genuine xp user(I love dell ) Now when i log on i see a weird square saying junk about genunine stuff, and i have to wait a few seconds to log on...Any way, admist all this nonscence i have to deal with now,MY CSS WORKS IN DX9 joy to the world!!!!!i really have no idea what i did, but (in my imagination) me fixing that qualifies me for the geek squad, because i have those skiilzzz


anyway, is the M1510 or whatever, a step up from my setup now?
I think this is a pretty cool laptop because of size and its ability to game.
on the review page it said that it is just a tad bit bigger than the macbook (thats pretty neat for gaming)
thanks

 

Probably equal, more or less, to what you have now; not an upgrade. A 12" screen is quite small for gaming in my opinion.

I think you should completely format your machine and reinstall Windows; check the Dell forum for the XP Reinstallation guide.

 

if i call dell, can i get my xp cd for 10$?
I didnt get it when i ordered my laptop

 

It will not be much of an upgrade. It is very similar to the Inspiron you currently have.

This is a very good idea. Sounds like your having more than just problems with the game.

This is worth doing after your reformat as well.

More reasons to reformat your HD.

Yes you can.

 

Call Dell and tell them you want all the software to restore your computer including the OS cd. They will send it to you for free. At least they did that for me. I told them not to send the OS cd because I did get that already and the tech was insistant on sending me out another one. Now I have 2, but I did pay the 10 for the first one. What 3dmark05 do you get with your computer?

 

Rule number 1 with the Inspiron 6400: Reformat on arrival. It'll be like a whole new machine.

 

i dont know where to get 3dmark, so i have no idea.
I am calling dell tonight, and purchasing a work no play desktop.
I will also ask for all the original programs and such just as you guys suggested, if they say no ill just buy the xp reinstall for 10$.
I realize that everything will be erased, does this mean that the intel wireless driver will be gone too and then i wont be able to connect online. (then ill have to use microsofts wireless tool, which i dont prefer.)
What do you guys suggest about the reformat, i looked a dell forums, but it seemed unorganised, so i couldent decide what to do.

should i purchase a external hard drivce as well, to back up all my programs?


***side note
i cant remember what thread i looked at, but it talked about all the free software out there and such,
but are there any free firewalls, because i managed to get around the mcaffe subscription, and when i reformat, the firewall will be gone, or do firewalls just slowdown a cp and can i rely on windows firewall/my router firelwall

i reallly appreachiate a alla yuor guys help
thanks

 

Did you look at Dell's forums our our Dell forums?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4
There's a guide in there that details reinstalling Windows XP on a Dell from top to bottom.

 

Format, format, format. My policy is: format every 6-12 months, defragment every month, and my crapy PC still does it.
That and use Nod32 antivirus, which takes a lot less from your system.

 

Just remember when you do the relaod to install WinXP, then the chipset drivers, then Notebook System Software, and then the rest of your drivers. You should be able to get the software for your wireless nic online if not from the system software cd they send you.

 

My advice is to reformat, if you don't know how read the guide at the dell forum of this site. You cna get all the information you need in there. From what you say i guess you had a virus or spyware problem. better to reformat because i have the same machine as you and i can run CSS really well.