X6000 Gaming Problems

I'm new to the board, however I've been reading all the posts about the X6000 ever since I found out I was getting the laptop for my birthday. To make a long story short, I got this system:

520 P4 processor (2.8GHz)
256MB Memory
40 GIG 4200 harddrive
256MB X600 Radeon
Wireless
DVD Burner

Anyway, this is my system, and I thought I'd be able to play HL2 without any problems, but that isn't the case. Whenever I play, the sound is really choppy, and it likes to lag when the action gets going (and not doing much at all). I understand that it is low memory, but that shouldn't stop it from playing at the LOWEST settings without any problems. The case is that it does!

I also installed and played Doom3 and it wasn't bad, however it was still at the lowest settings.

I installed the latest drivers for the Video Card and the Sound Card from HP, along with DirectX 9.0c, and that didn't really help out much.

I love this laptop, and I can't understand why I'm having such difficulty with these games that should be no sweat for the system. Anyone have any suggestions, I would appreciate the feedback! Again, thanks for reading

 

you really need to up the memory to 512MB and it'll do miracles, 256MB is just waaaaaaaaay to low. Because you have so little memory it's likely your machine has to hit the hard drive more often to obtain instructions for programs it is running and if your hard drive is slow (4200 RPM is slow) then the pain is increased. You really need to up the memory and see how things are then. The 2.8GHz processor would be better at 3.0GHz+, but it's not the bottleneck here I don't think.

DigitalCameraReview.com | BargainPDA.com | TabletPCReviewSpot.com

 

you really do need another 256mb...I agree, windows xp alone needs the 256, If your interested I have the orignal 256 that came with this system. Let me know, I also agree with the 4200rpm drive. If you've been reading the post then I think you already know that a 7200rpm drive alone will make your system 30% faster. The 2.8GHz proc is no joke, that is some computer power, I think your bottle necks are the ram and HDD


X6000 P-4 3.2GHz 2gigs PC2 4200(533MHz)Ram 7200RPM 60 gig HHD 8x DVD Burner and the Brightview!

 

Yeah, thats what I was thinking. I mean, I know it wasn't the best, but I know I could upgrade later. I just didn't know how many ports there were on the motherboard to support any more sticks of ram or etc.... Also, on the harddrive, is that upgradeable like the ram, or is there more to it? I was thinking doing an external hard drive but I'm not sure if that would really assit anything.

I've been looking at newegg for antyhing, but if anyone else knows of anywhere thats cheeper/ knows whats really good ram for this notebook, I'd love to know.

Tacjam - I would be interested, I just wonder how much you would ask for it.

Thanks guys! I appreciate it!

 

You can play fine on your 4200 RPM drive, your main problem is the system memory like everyone has been saying. As I played and beat HL2 with no problems on my laptop with your newer video card you should be fine, but you'll need more system memory first.

zx5000 :: 2.4M :: 512 DDR :: 40gb 4200 RPM HD :: 15.4" :: Radeon 9600 Mobilty M10 :: Aquamark3 22,856

 

Thanks everyone. I appreciate it! I'll try and find some more ram for it.

Tacjam - I'll probably e-mail just to see, but I think I might just find a gig stick or something online. Thanks!

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by kreed1228

 

if you get a gig...get two 512 sticks to keep your dual channel, 1 stick and your running single channel half the bandwidth =)

X6000 P-4 3.2GHz 2gigs PC2 4200(533MHz)Ram 7200RPM 60 gig HHD 8x DVD Burner and the Brightview!

 

I did have another question. What would you all recomend for Ram to upgrade. I've been prowling around HP and haven't really found anything that specifically tells me what would operate well with the rest of the system.

Thanks

 

In my system I used two 1 gig modules. It works flawlessly. The system comes with PC2 3200 which runs at 400MHz, Your system also supports PC2 4200 (533MHz) If your upgrading I would recommend PC2 4200. Here is a link for 512MB modules from Newegg. If you find any cheaper it will only be a couple of dollars. Not sure if a couple of dollars is worth the headache from online retailers you nothing about, but Newegg is one of the best. You can also find 256 and 1 gig modules here. HP sells 256MB PC2 3200 for $99. Newegg sells it for around $70. If you decide on another 256MB I will give it to you for $50, you pay the shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-144-182&depa=0

X6000 P-4 3.2GHz 2gigs PC2 4200(533MHz)Ram 7200RPM 60 gig HHD 8x DVD Burner and the Brightview!

 

Also the choppness of HL2 was almost everyones problem in the begining they have release new pathces for the game make sure you have them installed.