Lagging as a rogue is not fun: Computer Hardware Question/Issue

[offcourse]

Hi wow_ladies! I have a computer question. Let me first say, my computer cost about $400 from Best Buy 2 years ago, so I'm aware it's far from being the best at gaming. It always worked fine enough for me (30-60 fps, no lag, settings on above average), until... my hard drive died. I got a new one (and I was told by my boyfriend and an employee that

Comments

[whiteravenca]

I would switch Vista to windows 7; windows 7 is far more stable than vista is, that's the only suggestion I would make but other than that, your computer's stats look pretty good . Windows itself is a HUGE memory hog,which I learned the hard way. You can even play WOW on Linux, which I found is a far cleaner OS with a smaller footprint than windows.. it can play alot of the games that windows can with a few exceptions.

[artistic_g4m3r]

I saw the Vista comment and cringed. Go back to Win 7. Vista was so horrible that I think Microsoft already dropped support for it. Also the fact that you have a 32 bit OS, but you have 4 gig's of RAM is a waste. I don't think a 32bit system can read more than 2gigs, so you have 2 gigs that are doing nothing for your system. Do you remember if your Win 7 was 64bit? Considering that your computer has 4gigs of RAM, I'm willing to bet it was.

Edit: Blah, this was supposed to be a new comment and not a reply. /tired

[offcourse]

You're probably right that it was 64 bit. I only put Vista on because I had the installation disc lying around, and didn't want to fork out $100 for Windows 7. Buuut I think I will now. Thanks. :)

[penguinsane]

SP1 updates support to read 4GB of memory on 32-bit Vista, so she's fine with 32-bit as long as she never plans to upgrade RAM in the future. I agree that Win7 is vastly better than Vista, though.

[arwydd]

Latency issues suggests a problem with your internet connection, not your hard drive or CPU or whathaveyou.

Also, echoing the "Wut! Downgraded from Win7 to Vista?! Switch back! D:"

[penguinsane]

I've noticed that hardware performance also has an effect on your latency, particularly heat and connections that aren't properly secured.

I remember one time, my SATA cable wasn't fully connected to my HD - it WORKED, but whoa wow there was some serious lag. Re-wired my case, made sure everything was plugged in, problem solved.

One summer without air conditioner, I had a huge problem with latency again. Moved computer to the floor where it was cooler, stuck a box-fan all up on it, and problem was (mostly) fixed except on the hottest of days.

[penguinsane]

What's the specs on your new HD? Size/RPM? 7200 RPM is standard for a disk drive, anything less and you'll probably notice performance issues because the computer takes longer to read the data.

Have you made sure to update all of your drivers since you reformatted?

[moonbeamdanser]

It could *possibly* be a driver issue with the LAN/wireless since it's a new OS install, though I doubt it. Aside from that, changing a harddrive out shouldn't have much to do with internet connectivity per se. Now, if something got damaged or knocked loose during the install of the new drive, then maybe.

Also on board the "OMG get thee back to 7" train here. D:

[seileurt]

http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html helps my laptop go from unplayable to good. It wouldn't take it to raidable or anything, but a little is sometimes all you need.

Check to see what your local is vs your world latency. If it's all local, then maybe see about driver updates. Nvidia has an update button in their control panel somewhere. If it's world, then it's internet related and not really your fault. Also, check your addons to make certain nothing's conflicting.

I agree that Win7 is better, but Vista shouldn't make that much of a difference. Drivers, on the other hand, would. Win7 is usually better on drivers unless... usually.

If windows update can't fix driver problems, grab belarc advisor to find what you have and let google take you to the proper pages to download your fix.