Problems running games on vista, please help! =D

This is my first time posting on these forums so if i do something nubby let me know.
I believe i'm quite experienced with computers but i may be wrong.

Anyways, my problem is that according to my specs i believe i should be able to run the following games quite well however they all have various problems that i will list:

World Of Warcraft: Basically im not getting a good enough FPS, it runs about the same on Ultra mode as it does on minimum settings, both are skippy, of course it is much less skippy on min. than ultra.

Source Games:
Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2, CS source, portal, Audio Surf: They all run slowly even when i went into properties and specifically allocated -heapsize 1024000 which is half of my total ram and more than enough for any of these games... at least that's what i thought?

These are my System Specs:

System Manufacturer/Model:
Alienware M17X
OS:
Vista Home Premium x64bit
CPU:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9000 @ 2.00GHz
Motherboard:
MB_SerialNumber- .1FQT4K1.
Memory:
2GB RAM (2048MB)
Graphics Card(s):
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G
Monitor(s) Displays:
17"
Screen Resolution:
1440x900 pixels (wide)
Hard Drives:
NVIDIA STRIPE 931.52G
Disk_Model- NVIDIA STRIPE 931.52G
Disk_Size- 1000GB
Disk_TotalHeads- 255
Disk_TotalCylinders- 121602
Disk_TotalTracks- 31008510
Disk_TracksPerCylinder- 255
Case:
Black
Keyboard:
**laptop**
Mouse:
Microsoft Sidewinder X8 mouse
Internet Speed:
130.0 mbps (wireless)

I think it may be due to vista gobbling my RAM but i'm not sure and i dont know which processes to end in order to stop it doing so.

Any help with this situation would be much appretiated,

Cheers,

Jias

I would say that your main problem is those 2GB of RAM, just to skimpy to be running Vista, let alone Vista x64.

After that, I would check to see if your PSU is capable of running your GTX260 + 9400M.

Running outdated drivers for your sound, video and monitor can slow down your pc a bit as well.

Good Luck

#1 how do i check if my PSU can run my graphics cards?
and #2 i cant improve my RAM on a laptop, can i? and if not what process can i stop that will free up some RAM?
and #3 how do i check if a driver is outdated without getting a program i have to pay for?

jias said:

#1 how do i check if my PSU can run my graphics cards?

Click to expand...

It's a laptop, so it's not an issue. The supplied PSU should be sufficient.

#2 i cant improve my RAM on a laptop, can i? and if not what process can i stop that will free up some RAM?

Click to expand...

You can add more RAM - Your laptop can handle 4GB. Basically you use 2x 2GB modules. You currently either have one single 2 GB module, or two single 1GB modules.

As for processes, if you have any anti virus installed, stop it - disable before you game. Dell have a habit of installing a lot of crapware that loads at start up. type MSCONFIG in the start menu and go to the start up tab. Untick any unessecary items from loading at start up.

and #3 how do i check if a driver is outdated without getting a program i have to pay for?

Click to expand...

The best way is to go straight to the component manufacturer's site. You should never have to pay for updating drivers.

Nvidia Video Driver:
GeForce/ION Driver Release 190