Optimization

Ok so.. I can't say I'm the biggest fan of all those crappy banners "optimize your software blah blah blah".

however, my comp is a year old.. after experimenting I found there were better ways to do things. (For example the built in disk defrag sucks along with other things of a more questionable nature like loading the game to your hd seems to keep the gpu running cooler).

I was wondering if perhaps anyone out there knew of any free programs that could actually help boost performance. My comp is still pretty good I think 2.16 dual core proccessor 100 gig hard drive. and 2 gigs of ram with an ati x1600 mobility gpu.
So I am wondering what all I can do to squeeze extra performance out of it.

 

Keeps GPU cooler or entire system? Software does not generate heat so I doubt other than reducing what is running (junk) not really a viable solution. Good luck!

 

1) Built in disk defrag does not suck. It optimizes your disk based on your software uses. Most third party disk defraggers--even commercial ones--does not usually support this. If it did, it have to constantly run in the background, which is actually detrimental to your performance.

2) Loading a game from you HDD has nothing to do with cooling down your GPU. What it is actually doing, probably, is that since you're not using the CD/DVD-ROM drive to read the disk, it's creating less heat, and thus your GPU is staying cooler because of that. This is ASSUMING your GPU is beside your CD/DVD drive, like my Vostro (both are on the right side).

3) I advise getting a Registry cleaner like RegScrub XP for Windows XP. I personally use this and can vouch for its capabilities.

4) ATF Cleaner will supposedly clean up your temporary files which could be hogging disk space and causing fragmentation. I don't use it, but might be worth a try for you.

5) Defragment and optimize your Page Files using a Microsoft tool known as "PageDefrag".

6) Turn down misc. graphcial effects.

7) Turn off useless services (There are guides in our "Guide and Tutorial" section of the forum).

8) Update your drivers, especially your GPU driver if you want better game performance.

9) Use a Microsoft utility known as "Bootvis" to improve your boot time (this app is no longer supported by Microsoft, but it can be downloaded from the internet easily).

10) Your computer isn't really showing its age yet... so quite honestly, it should be fine.