Computer game choppy with good system. Why?

Tweaking 8100/8200-NVIDIA/Win9x/ME systems.

Check after doing each item below. It may not be necessary to do everything (hopefully). Some items may not apply, as this is also meant to be a general game/performance improvement guide.

For slowdowns, or stuttering that occurs after you start playing, check for possible heat problems. Remove the side cover. Aim a small house fan, in the general direction, of the open case. Play games. If the problem takes longer to happen, or goes away, you need additional cooling. If the video card has a cooling fan, make sure it is spinning smoothly/quickly.

Install the latest Dell BIOS. Last time I looked, it was A09 for 8100 systems. Get whatever is the latest revision for 8200 systems.

Check the games' websites, for any patches/updates. (Even for new games. If there isn't one now, there likely will be one later.) Also look for any FAQ or Troubleshooting pages.

Make sure that the Graphics Hardware Acceleration control hasn't been turned off (or too low) somehow. Try it all the way to the right. Then try it down one "notch". If necessary, try turning down the Audio Hardware Acceleration control, one or two notches.

In Device Manager, enable DMA and/or Sync data transfer, for your CD/DVD drives. Highlight the item, select Properties, and then go to Settings.

Disabling Sidebanding and/or Fast Writes may help with some games, such as Diablo 2. Download Powerstrip. You can use it to turn these features off/on. According to several gaming acticles I have read, Diablo 2 works at 800x600 resolutions, if you have the expansion game/add-on.

Turn off the many un-necessary programs that load on the 8100 systems. Go to Denny's Resource Management page, for info on the items that are loading. If some are not listed, or you are not sure, post a revised list of startup items. I will take a look. If you have Attune, uninstall it in Add/Remove Programs. If you have Resoution Assistant, uninstall it. You need to disable it's parts in msconfig first, reboot and then uninstall. (See Denny's page for parts). If you are running Microsoft Netmeeting, disable it immediately. Only turn it on, when you are using it. Turn it off, after. If not using it, uninstall it. In addition, when playing games, or running video benchmarks, turn off programs running in the background, like anti-virus, Norton System programs, etc.

You may have a "dirty" driver install problem. I have seen this on a few systems. Turn off programs running, especially anti-virus, for any software/driver installation.

First, go to 3D Chipset, and download the 12.90 drivers (or whatever 2x.xx driver you want to use). Create a folder (that will be easy to find later), and unzip the drivers into it.

Change the Graphics Adapter to the Standard Windows PCI VGA drivers. Reboot. If Windows tries to reload the drivers, press the Escape key several times. (If it loads anyway, change the adapter again, reboot into Windows Safe Mode and continue.)

Go to Add/Remove Programs and uninstall the NVIDIA drivers. Reboot, (same as above). Use the Search feature, and look for nv*.* files. Delete all. Then find and delete drvdata.bin and drvidx.bin files.

Go to Start, Run, type regedit, and OK. CAREFULLY, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software. Delete any NVIDIA (and card mfg. names, like Hercules, etc) Keys. Then go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Display. There will be one or more sub-keys named 0000, 0001, etc. Delete all. DON'T delete the Display Key.

Exit the program. Reboot. When Windows detects the card, point the installation program to the folder where you have the unzipped drivers. If Windows ME gives an error message about older or unsigned drivers, go to the Advanced tab, on the pop-up window. Select Warn, instead of Prevent. Finish.

Having non-Dell drivers (or tweak programs, like Powerstrip, NVMax, etc), will allow you to make sure that vsync is off. Also turn off FSAA (anti-alising). This will usually boost framerates.

If you have the original DX8, install the DirectX 8.0a update. As it is tough to know if you already have it, download and install anyway. (Microsoft didn't change the version name/number, which is stupid.) Even if you have it, reinstalling can help fix things. (DirectX 8.1 is very new. There is no reason to install it, unless a specific game/program calls for it.)

If you are still having game problems, or if the dxdiag features/tests are not showing as working, you could try reinstalling the motherboard chipset drivers. They are on the Dell discs. There are three parts for the 8100. Intel 850 (or 800 series) chipset, UltraATA (or UDMA). and Security "something". This is especially important, if you have reinstalled, or changed Windows versions.

Finally, check the GeForce FAQ page. Look at sections on stuttering, lockups, poor performance, and improving performance.

Good luck.

Awesome!!!