I'm sorta new to the whole pc scene, and was hoping you could answer a few questions: OS: Windows XP Home edition (5,1 Build 2600) System manufacturer: Asus System model: a7v400-mx BIOS: Phoenix - Award bios v6.00pg Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2600+, MMX, 3d Now, ~2.1ghz Memory: 1024mb ram Direct x 9.0c 128mb ati radeon 9250 video card I wanted to know if this sytem is ok?, i'm wanting to play games like GTA: san andreas, doom 3 and quake 4. When playing GTA i have to have a lot of the display settings on low otherwise its too slow and jerky. Is this my video card or do i need a better cpu? I'm pretty clueless so real specific help would be good. thanks

The weak link in your system is the video card. For one thing, it doesn't support DX9...for another, it probably uses 64-bit memory. Whatever you get, make sure it uses a 128-bit memory interface...if it's not listed in the description, it's probably 64-bit. Do NOT buy a 64-bit card! Depending on how much you're willing to invest, I suggest the Radeon 9550, Radeon 9600XT, Geforce 6600, or Radeon X700. ASUS A7N8X-X Athlon XP 1800+ 8.5 x 200MHz 1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro SP2

Wow!, you guys reply really fast! Sweet, so just double checking, if i upgrade to a much better video card it should be all good to run the new games (quake 4 etc)? And will i be able to run gta:sa at a higher resolution than 800 by 600 and it be smooth? thanks for the help.

I run GTA:SanAn on a very similar system (Sempron 2800, 1 GB RAM, same video card) and it runs fine on 800x600 with settings at "medium" or "high", but if you want the most out of it, upgrade the card. Rather peculiar...Try 800x600, that should do it. Celeron Eater

C;eaning out all the garbage running in the background can speed up your system. Go to start/run and type in 'masconfig'. Scan through the Startup tab and deselect any programs that you don't need running 'all' the time.

ham30 is very good at advice.He is a asset to this forum.I think he mis-typed masconfig and meant msconfig in response 4. Next time instead of getting married,I'm just gonna find a woman I don't like and buy her a house.

I think the guys here are missing the point. Warren, your system looks fine to play san andreas, i think that the unnecessary processes are using up too much CPU. Check out your task manager, and if your CPU is using a high percentage when its stationary (should use no more than 5% when idle) then you have junk on your PC or programs that shouldnt be running. Check that out and get a clean up for God's sake. Use spybot or any other ad/spyware removal tool. and get regcleaner to clean up your registry. All can be found on google.