I need a second opinion, and I believe this board represents the mightiest source of relevant information despite being primarily about DVD stuff. I have a Dell Inspirion 600m laptop. It has a 1.5GHz pentium M, 512 MB RAM, and an ATI Radeon Mobility 9000 graphics card with 64 MB of memory. I don't know if anything else is pertinent. Basically, when I play games the hard drive goes berserk after about 45 minutes of smooth play time, for maybe 10 to 20 minutes, before returning to normal. By berserk, I mean that little activity light is flashing so fast it might as well be on constantly, and gameplay drags to a crawl. For like, 10 minutes straight. And I mean, its not like I'm trying to run Battle for Middle Earth 2 on the highest graphics setting. This happens when I'm playing Warcraft III, as well as Guild Wars. (both of whose manufacturers would have me believe I meet even the *reccomended* requirements, let alone the minimmum.) My theory is that I need more RAM, as the HD rampage indicates the page file is being used -- extensively. More RAM should mean less tax on the page file, less hard drive overdrive, and therefore less slowdown in my gaming. However, this is all arguing a proiri, which is why I wanted to ask some people who know things about this stuff and who might have some experience with it to help me figure out if more RAM will solve the problem, especially before I drop 100 bucks on it. Would going up to a gig of RAM do the trick, or is the problem a combination of shortcomings? Incidentally, do I need to upgrade in pairs? I have 2 256's in there now. Must I get 2 512's, or can I maybe just replace one of the 256's with a 1gb stick? Many thanks in advance.
Depending on the specs of the mobo, and the memory you're looking at getting, your system may perform better if you get 2x512 instead of a single 1g stick. Memory timings are usually faster on smaller modules. However, if you plan on going to a full 2g, you'll want to buy them in pairs as well...thus getting a single 1g first.
ddevil when next playing the game hit control alt & Delete and go into performacne, this will tell u whether its your cpu thats maxing and cheak your Physical Memory as this will tell you if u need more. REgards
the fact that you have onboard graphics doesnt really help to much either as your systems resources are being drained when your gaming, a memory upgrade may help a little but im not sure how much, for gaming you really need a laptop with a graphics card rather than shared graphics
Thanks everyone, for the insight. Sypher, I especially appreciate your comment because it reflects exactly the sort of thing I was going for: other possibilities I hadn't thought of. I talked to Dell and they assured me that the graphics card has dedicated, and not shared memory. (I won't go into the fact that took a half an hour to pry that information from the man.) That being the case, would you now say that a RAM upgrade will do the trick? Thanks again dd
Well, how much work is your CPU doing, and as Wdowsing said if you pres CTRL ALT DEL and look at CPU USAGE and MEM Usage and that will tell you your answer........IF it's like takin 95 to 100 Percent it's probubly your CPU if it is Taking up all of your memory thann you need more RAM
I don't mean to appear ungrateful; I'll check the system usage as soon as I can, and get back to you, since it requires reinstalling warcraft iii and playing it long enough to get the system to overload. However, I'm also concerned with ruling out other possibilities that I have not thought of, for example the effect of shared graphics memory. If its peaking at way more memory than I have, wouldn't the processor necessarily be maxing as well as it transfers between the page file and the ram?
to be honest its most likey to be ur gaphics card is shyte. a ATI 9000 is poor at the very least. Sorry to seem blunt but its the truth, im suprised u can even play a game on that. 512mb should be fine to run a game.
Yes, the graphics card sucks. But, its listed as meeting the reccommended standards for the games I'm trying to play, which makes me think something else is the problem. I did what you reccomended, and checked out the Windows Task Manager after playing Guild Wars until the game slowed down. No background programs running. The CPU was fluctuating between 80-100%, and the Commit Charge Total was just about 523000 k. It was a little lower than the peak charge. The page file usage was at about 400 mb. When I stopped playing, the processor dropped to 10% or so, and the page file went down to 240. THe total commit charge went down to 226000k. When I opened firefox to write this post, the processor went up to 100%, stayed there for a few minutes while I wrote. Now its fluctuating between 40 and 60%. According to the Processes tab, scardsvr.exe is alternating with the system idle process for about 50% and the taskmanager is taking up 15%. Can anyone translate that information into something I can use?
scardsvr.exe - Here is the scoop on SmartCard Server as it pertains to computer network security. The big question: what is scardsvr.exe and is it spyware, a trojan and if so, how do I get rid of SmartCard Server? scardsvr.exe (SmartCard Server) - Details The scardsvr.exe service is required by windows when working with Smart cards and Smart card readers. Smart cards contain microprocessors that contains encrypted information about their owner. If you have a smart card reader installed on your system, you should leave scardsvr.exe running, otherwise it can be terminated. scardsvr.exe is flagged as a system process and does not appear to be a security risk. However, removing SmartCard Server may adversly impact your system. The Spy Bot database currently registers scardsvr.exe to Microsoft. This is part of Microsoft Windows. Whenever you have a concern about a file like scardsvr.exe, feel free to visit our free spyware removal page to help verify your file is not a security risk. The Spy Bot database is updated often, but inaccuracies may still exist, often caused by viruses named after valid files such as SmartCard Server. Always verify your results just to play it safe. Sorce - http://www.auditmypc.com/process/scardsvr.asp
If i add more memory will it drain the battery faster? PS I did not brin this thread from the grave. I seen it on a first page in the topics.
