Modern machine can't run games from the 90's

[Paft]

Hey,

OK so I build this machine about this time last year and upgraded the CPU and bought a new monitor which I received today.

But the damn thing performs worse than a computer from the late 90's. Has done from day 1.
I try playing a game from the late 90's or any other games but they run so bad . Very choppy, sluggish and harsh on the eyes. Unplayable!. The computer seems OK outside of games, doing basic things in Windows (XP PRO) as far as I can tell.

Latest drives are installed etc.

I just can't work it out. I'm baffled!


Please help this unlucky guy!



Specifications
Fan/Heatsink: Cooler Master Centurion 5 Silver
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 7600GT 256MB PCI-E
Mobo: Asrock CONROEXFIRE eSATA2 775 Motherboard
RAM: OCZ 1GB PC2-5400 Gold GX Edition (2x512MB)
PSU: Hiper 580W Modular PSU BLACK
CPU: P4 2.8ghz

Upgardes
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 2.40GHz (Retail 775)
Monitor 22" LG L226WTQ Widescreen 2ms

[marsey99]

you want an old driver for the 76gt, i think it was 97.47 that i found to be the best for mine.

make sure the graphics card is in the 16x slot and not a 4x slot.


turn down the res?

edit

another thought, does windoze see the processor is the new dual core?

[Paft]

In 16X slot
It's not the res. The games run way too slow for it to be that. They're not playable.
There's a split graph in task manager>performance so yes.
I'll try the older drivers, doubt it'll be that though.

Ty for the response.

[mac124]

I'm running a similar setup in my media pc but i have no issues running oldish games, 70fps (ish) in css tress test running with full HDR and textures etc and 2xAA 4xAF and 1680x1050 res, have you checked task manager to see if something is hogging resources? Failing that it could be memory, or lack of to be precise, most games need more than 1gb these days.

[marsey99]

newwer games will want more ram but for older ones 1gb should be plenty.

yea yea i know but how old is your xp installation and when was the last time you ran a reg cleaner?

are all your settings set correctly in the bios? voltages mem timings and such?

[Paft]

The latest game I'd ever want to run would be Half-life 2 from 2004, but It can't, not any 3D FPS smoothly.
I've reset Bios to factory defaults before.
Tried it straight after a format and fresh installation on both XP Pro SP2 and Vista.

No success.

Edit: It's like playing at 5fps. Yet in the "later 90's game" (HL1) the fps shows as 59 or 60 but it flickers extremely fast between the two. And of course drops in certain areas when moving around. I can make a little recording if you wish.

[Lynx]

Have you installed the nvidia drivers?

[Paft]

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5657/driverswk0.jpg

I haven't tried your old driver suggestion yet because I just have a hunch that it isn't software related.

[wonderlust]

Try switching to opengl mode!

[Lynx]

Your not using onboard gfx if there is one instead of the one you added?

[Paft]

In Open GL Mode.
There is no on-board graphics.

What a chuffing nightmare!

Also I cannot test components in other machines etc and vice-versa because this is the only full tower machine I own.

[wonderlust]

ok, so how is d3d?

[Paft]

It runs just as poorly in all three modes.

Edit: I've noticed jumps very slightly every few video playback. Ugh, it could be any piece of faulty hardware, how could I tell which it could be?


newwer games will want more ram but for older ones 1gb should be plenty.

yea yea i know but how old is your xp installation and when was the last time you ran a reg cleaner?

are all your settings set correctly in the bios? voltages mem timings and such? No, I haven't ensured bios setting are correct because I'm not sure what would need altering. Isn't factory settings usually fine?

[wonderlust]

I suppose it could be a processor timing issue, Is your game upto date with all patches?

[Sl4x0r]

VSync on or off?