Improve performance

I have recently bought an Averatec 6240 notebook.

Specs are as follows:
AMD Athlon 64 2700+
15.4" widescreen XGA TFT
512 MB DDR 333/PC2700 RAM
128 MB Sis M760 Video Card
60 GB 5400rpm HDD

Whilst its performace is great for work related stuff, I really want the option of playing online games too. I only play one game, Command and Conquer Generals Zero Hour, but when I play it via this laptop, it lags which is really frustrating. I really did think the specs of this laptop would be good enough. I am connected to the net via a Linksys 2.4GHz wireless router.

I know you can't upgrade the video card or at least I don't think you can anyway so I'm stuck with what I have, but, is there anything I can do to improve the performance whilst gaming? That would make my laptop my new best friend!!!

Many thanks for any suggestions... oh please answer in little words, I can use computers but do not understand what goes on inside them!

Thank you

 

oh no... no replies

Should I post it in a different forum I wonder.... ??

 

I don't think your notebook is the problem, in fact I also play CnC generals zero hour on my notebook online wirelessly too without any problems. Anyway my notebook is an Hp pavillion zt3380us, Intel centrino 735 1.7 ghz, 64 mg VRAM (dedicated), 80 gig hardrive 4200 rpm, 512 mg ram. I know it's not fast but I can play CnC on medium level of detail and it's fine, it only slows down a bit when I'm playing solo against the maximum number of opponents. Looking at your specs you should be able to play the game at the highest level of detail playing solo or online. I suspect it's the players online that are slowing you down, remember your notebooks' performance is just as fast as the slowest pc. So if even if you have an athlon 64 but your opponent has a pentium 3 he's going to slow the game down because your notebook has to get it synch with the with his PC. To improve performance you can try closing or disabling programs in the background like an anti-virus software. Before playing I always disable my Norton antivirus and my Microsoft antispyware and it helps a lot. It could also be your connection it's probably not set up properly or what not, lagging is mostly caused by poor connection to the internet or software problems and not really by your hardware, just sometimes. You could also try connecting your notebook via a cable to your router not wirelessly. That's all I can think of so good luck!

 

hmm thanks, someone on zh said it was my graphics card but I don't think it is either, and some games I play run really fast.

I do tend to play big games, like 3v3 more than 1v1... Anyway thanks again, will just have to be more choosy who I play with then!

 

Hmm, I think I've found out the lag when playing online is definitely me, I have some mates who play fast together without me and slow with me [ ]

I would really love to know how to fix it as it can be quite depressing being the lagger [ ][ ][ ][ ]

I have broadband 1mb internet connection through my cable company going through a high speed linksys wireless router.

Many thanks

 

Well from what i have read on this thread, janell seems to have a pretty sound prognosis of the problem. in order to help you i would need to know, what is the ping of the server you connect to when you say you are lagging? Does it happen on all of the servers you connect to or is it just the one server?

~HP Pavilion ZV6000 series~
-AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz
-512MB RAM
-128MB ATI Mobility radeon X200m
-80GB 5400RPM HDD
-15.4" Widescreen w/ Brightview
-DVD±RW W/DL support
-XP Pro
-2X 12-Cell Batteries

 

k my ping is good, usually btwn 98 and 104... better than most others i see anyway...

I only play zero hour and it lags worse in the evening when its busy.

Is it my router do you think?

 

You can try to download this program it's called "CyberTweak 1.3" from Downloaad.com. It should help a bit if not a lot, I personally use this program myself and it's made a difference. Your ping is not that bad but it could be better. You also said that you have a
1mb internet connection and that's not the fastest nor the slowest so there's room for improvement. I've played with people connected via a 56k modem and that was slow. My ping online is constantly 36 wirelessly and 42 connected via a cable I'm not sure why, weird eh?!
Anyway I have a 3mb internet connection which is enough to play online games, I also play Socom2 US Navy Seals(PS2) with my my 3mb and its fine. Could it be your router? yes it could I'm not sure if you have an 802.11 G or B, G is faster than B and just make sure it's setup properly. For more info go here http://www.dslreports.com/ it has everything you need to trouble shooot and what not. And If everything fails just get a faster connection [ ]

 

If that doesn't work i would try and reset your router or to check any firewall software you may have that would impair your game's performance.

~HP Pavilion ZV6000 series~
-AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz
-512MB RAM
-128MB ATI Mobility radeon X200m
-80GB 5400RPM HDD
-15.4" Widescreen w/ Brightview
-DVD±RW W/DL support
-XP Pro
-2X 12-Cell Batteries