Computer set-up issues

[Kallos]

Hi, I recently updated my system in the hopes of being able to play Civ IV on larger maps (i was stuck on small and below). My current system specs are at:

3.2 ghz processor
Nvidia 6600 GT (128mb)
1gb Ram

This is updated from just 512mb ram and a radeon 9600 pro. However, i've detected no improvement in performance, if anything it seems slower. I seem to overheat continually, and civ still crawls a long as with everything else. Anyone able to help please?

Much appreciated.

 

[filcivfan]

3.2 pentium processor?

 

[Kallos]

Its a Pentium 4, 3.0 ghz not 3,2 sorry.

Problem is, i feel my computer should be running a lot faster than it is, especialy after this upgrade. I have no idea what to do now though.

 

[THARN]

youre comp specs are more than enough. do you have 2 hard drives?
if you do- uninstall and reinstall on your secondary hd- see if this helps/

 

[Kallos]

I only have one HD. Really am totally confused as to what is wrong. For some more performance examples, I cannot run BF2 smoothly on even the lowest setting. I think my card must be dodgy or something.

 

[Tae]

Are you sure your ram is recognized? Also did you completely clean out your ATI video drivers or do a new OS install?

 

[filcivfan]

yeah try completely uninstalling your ati drivers. as i remember there is a downloadable driver uninstaller that works with ati and nvidia driver. Try this link hopw it helps http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33738545&page=1 to completely remove the ati drivers.

in addition try removing the nvidia drivers too and then just do a fresh install of it.

 

[VimesUK]

Post a copy of your DX-Diag results, for us to check but....

An increase from 512mb to 1GB of RAM would have made more of an impact before the 1.52 patch. And the video card that you did have was more than capable of playing the game.

On one of my machines it makes ZERO difference going from an ATI 9800pro to an ATI 850XTPE.

Once you have got a 'good' video card and 'adequate' memory then it seems to be down to your CPU and how capable that is which can make a difference on the later levels of the game.

What made a BIG differnce for me was to go from a Socket A (AMD) rig to a AMD 64 bit CPU running at 2800mhz - it runs really well. My CPU is an AMS Opteron overclocked.

 

[lamaslany]

What is it that overheats? CPU, GPU, etc...

What happens when it overheats? Crashes, screen glitches, slow down, shutdown, etc...

How do you know it is overheating? From sensors, symptoms, etc...

 

[Kallos]

Thanks for the help so far. Its not jus civ 4 though, evertyhing runs slowly, farcry, battlefield 2 etc.

I've attatched my dxdiag to, hope that can help a bit. Have tried wiping both drivers too, didn't seem to help.

As for overheating, graphics card and processor seem very hot, even though I have a fan and heatsink above each.

Thanks again for help.