[lazar]

Hello all....first off..I am teh computer n00b...I really don't know much about this stuff...basically...when I am playing Halo...and things get hectic...everything gets really choppy...I'm thinking I need more memory... these are my current specs:

Compaq AMD Athlon(tm) XP2500+
1.86 GHz, 448 MB of RAM

so I was basically wondering what I should get from the local Fry's

help a newb out

[dreaming<>demon]

halo what? .... halo 2? halo combat evolved?

edit : also, what is your graphics card? ( if not sure what do this :
go to your desktop, right click on it, select "properties" ....
once the window opens, click the tab named "Settings" then you will see a button called "ADVANCED" click it. ) From here it should be obvious what your video card is .. please tell me .

[dreaming<>demon]

Double post sorry

1. Are you running the Halo game on its highest video settings?
if YES, try lowering them to improve performance

2. Have you got anti - spyware programs / anti virus / firewall??
if NO, please download hijack this 'do a system scan and save a logfile', copy the textfile contents and paste it in a reply at this location : http://www.tech-forums.net/forumdisp...s=&forumid=126

3. also have you defragged your computer lately?
if NO, please defrag it : START> All programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Defragmenter.
Click "ANALYSE" , then click "DEFRAGMENT" . that will take a while, but will improve your pc's performance.

4. Update your drivers for your video card.

[reggie_da_man]

New video card. Judging by that setup and his noob knowledge the video card isn't very strong.

[FunkMaster66]

You can also upgrade to 1GB of ram.

[FunkMaster66]

Do you know what mobo you have?

[slick_tech15]

I dont think halo is a very demanding game for the ram. It must be the video card - charlie

[lazar]

Awesome thanks for the feedback guys.

is a mobo a motherboard?...if so, no...I don't know what kind I have

D<>D it's a Radeon IGP 320M

it's Combat Evolved

Did #1 working on 2-4

Oh yeah...forgot to mention..when I start it up it says that my comp has insufficient memory to run Halo...(then asks if I would like to continue anyway)...that's why I figured that was the prob

[Apokalipse]

it's an onboard video card.

he has 512MB RAM, of which, 64MB is being used by his onboard video card.

check your motherboard and see if it has a brow slot offset from the white ones. the white ones are PCI, the brown one is AGP.

if you have got one, you will be able to get an AGP video card in your system

[dreaming<>demon]

as apokalipse said, it would be good if you have an AGP slot,
you could get a decent video card to whack in there for around $230 AU or $130 US depending on where you live.

Onboard video is quite often a problem with games these days, as it uses your memory up... so theoretically, you could increase your RAM, and it would make somewhat difference... However, if you have the extra $$$, you would be much better off purchasing a new video card.

If you have no AGP slot, then RAM is your only avenue, otherwise, you will need to buy a new motherboard that has at least AGP, but more importantly, you should aim for PCI - e in today's market.