Dell XPS 420 slow performance

Thanks for the quick response beamermt25. And yes i know what you mean Graphics are major pains. However when i looked up the stats of the Nvidia GTS 250 it is the same version of the 9800 GTX only the GTS 250 has more memory and runs with using less power. So i believe it to be a medium to a high ranged card. I dont understand when i look up benchmarks for crysis. Computers that have slower parts and my same graphics card perform better than my computer.....? I dont understand it.

Graphics cards are a pain in the you know what IMHO.. I want to say however that the GTS is actually a low end midrange card, not a full midrange or high end card.. i'm not 100 percent since Nvidia went to the 3 digit numbering system.. but in the older system.. you had a 9500 and 9600 for example.. with GS and GT and GTX.. the GT and GTX being the more powerful cards and the GS being the slower dummied down card... and the 9500 being a low end mid range card and the 9600 being the mid range.. if any of that makes sence.  I belive the GT 260 or GTX 260 is the better card and the GTS is a lower end version of the 260..

hmmmmmm.. try going to nvidia and downloading the latest drivers for the card.. if you have already done that, go to the nvidia control panel in control panels and see if you can't tweak a few settings?  also since you have windows 7, you can try the performance diagnostics in the control panel as well.. also go to www.microsoft.com/directx and download the latest directx for your system and see if that helps.. make sure also you are downloading 64 bit drivers... and see if your computer has any driver updates by going to support.dell.com... crysis is a .. well i can't say it here.. but yea.. its the best benchmark but its a pain.. see if anything like that helps.. ...

OOO try also looking in your power control panel.. there may be something throtteling down your graphics card.. if the GTS 250 has better power management, sometimes that stuff can slow down the performace if the computer things you are trying to save power..

Hello!.. speed step allows the computer to lower the speed of your processor and other hardware settings when you dont need full power.  Oddly enough if you disable it it sets everything to low... As for setting your nvidia control and power controls to max.. it still didn't help??? thats odd :-( I can't think of anything else outside of a hardware problem, but you would know if you had one of those.. did you do the performace check in the windows 7 control panel?..

As for your processor.. the Q6600 is actually the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to quad core processors.. the 9000 series is the higher end.. (and now the i7 processors)... thats probably why you are getting a lower number.. that and they raised the limit on the windows experience index from 5.9 to 7.9 so everyone's score dropped if you upgraded from vista to 7

I have that intel speed step technology enabled because my computer told me that my processor was running at 1.2GHz~. I didnt know what the (~) meant so i enabled speed step and now it says 2.4GHz. Okay i set the nvidia control panel for all games to maximum performance. For my computers control panel i set it to preformance, (not power saver). My card clock speeds are 800Mhz for the Processor, 1942Mhz for the Shader Clock, and the memory clock is 2600MHz. I would think with these clocks i could achieve descent performance, but i guess i was wrong about that.....:( But good news is all i have to do is wait til MARCH 2, because that is when Fermi comes out or better known as Nvidia GTX 300 series and get one of those cards. Their performance kills the 200 series. Then i think i should be satisfied with my computer's graphics performance. Also i dont understand i have a Q6600 at 2.4GHz and i get a 4.9 in windows 7 rating.

Thanks,

Hunter

Yeah i dont understand the speed step thing. What i like is dell recommended an upgrade from vista because my computer was so screwed up from that. Now since i have windows 7 if anything dealing with software goes wrong i will have to pay for it to be fixed???? (Although they recommended it). Haha o well. After March second when i hope to have an Nvidia GTX 380 or Nvidia GTX 395. I will be a happy camper. I wanted to upgrade the processor, dell told me if it is a processor that has been tested and works with my system then i can upgrade so I think i am going to try to find a cheap Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX6850 on ebay. Because i do not feel like spending an outrageous $1000 for a processor. Do you know of anywhere that i could get a cheap QX6850 other than Ebay?

Thanks

Hunter

Besides ebay, maybe newegg.com?.. you can also check cnet.com as they do reviews and have seller options as well.