How can i get the most out of windows vista for gaming? (New Member)

Hi I've recently restored a used DELL Vostro-200 to working order and i've also installed a salvaged GPU from one of my friends and the GPU is a AMD HD5450. I've installed the latest drivers for it and i've done a Auto-Tune on it from the AMD Catalyst software and it increased some of the settings in the Over-Drive mode, which caused my PC to freak out so i lowered some of the settings till it stopped. when i finished installing the GPU i tested its performance by running the fully up to date version of Hale-Life 2, and i noticed that it was lacking in performance and was doing slightly worse than the Intel integrated graphics in the motherboard. I've followed the Vista Forums' guide to better Performance and i change some settings to where the OS runs fast, but it didn't speed up the GPU's performance. Hopefully someone here can maybe help me fix my problem since I'll be using this vista machine for a while till i get my windows 7 PC fix. Some more about my problem is that i have the game installed on a extra HDD but it loads fast but has poor performance in the simplistic spots of the game. i've done defrags on the HDD and reinstalled the game to see if it'll work after a clear of the games files. I'm gonna try the Half-Life Lost Coast Benchmark to see what the average frame rate is and if it'll run smoother when it changes the system settings after the results are viewed. Thanks to anyone that might be able to help and I'll try my best to respond if you think you might have a solution to my problem.
 
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My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Basic 32-Bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    DELL
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7200 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    G33m02
    Memory
    3.00 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 5450 (salvaged part)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Sound card
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    One 40GB HDD SATA
    Manufacturers N/A
    PSU
    N/A
    Case
    OEM DELL Vostro-200 Case
    Cooling
    OEM fans
    Keyboard
    DELL Keyboard
    Mouse
    DELL Mouse
    Internet Speed
    100 MB/s
    Other Info
    OS: Windows Vista Home Basic OEM 32-Bit
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 Home premium 64-Bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home made "Gaming" Pc
    CPU
    AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+ 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI
    Memory
    4 Gb
    Graphics card(s)
    Gt 1030 (Pny Model)
    Sound Card
    OEM/Built-in sound Chip
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell(TM) E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Three HHD's installed
    Manufacturers: N/A
    PSU
    PowerHouse 500Watt
    Case
    NZXT Case
    Cooling
    Stock AMD and case colling
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei [RAW] gaming mouse
    Keyboard
    Dell USB Smartcard Keyboard-Model:N/A
    Internet Speed
    100 MB/s
Unfortunately newer graphics cards or current games are going to have a newer version of directx than is compatible with Vista. You will have to look for cards and games compatible with version 11. Really Windows 7 is becoming outated for gaming because the newest version is only available for Windows 10. FYI when you look for compatible cards look for DiectX 11 compatibility. It can't say 11.1, 11.2, or 12. As for Half-Live 2 your CPU doesn't meet the recommended requirements. You can look for a faster one but look for one that says lga 775 socket.
DirectX - Wikipedia
LGA 775 - Wikipedia
Dell Vostro 200 Series Specs
https://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/half-life-2/10205
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
Vista Info.jpg
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Basic 32-Bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    DELL
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7200 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    G33m02
    Memory
    3.00 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 5450 (salvaged part)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Sound card
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    One 40GB HDD SATA
    Manufacturers N/A
    PSU
    N/A
    Case
    OEM DELL Vostro-200 Case
    Cooling
    OEM fans
    Keyboard
    DELL Keyboard
    Mouse
    DELL Mouse
    Internet Speed
    100 MB/s
    Other Info
    OS: Windows Vista Home Basic OEM 32-Bit
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 Home premium 64-Bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home made "Gaming" Pc
    CPU
    AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+ 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI
    Memory
    4 Gb
    Graphics card(s)
    Gt 1030 (Pny Model)
    Sound Card
    OEM/Built-in sound Chip
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell(TM) E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Three HHD's installed
    Manufacturers: N/A
    PSU
    PowerHouse 500Watt
    Case
    NZXT Case
    Cooling
    Stock AMD and case colling
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei [RAW] gaming mouse
    Keyboard
    Dell USB Smartcard Keyboard-Model:N/A
    Internet Speed
    100 MB/s
Since i didn't tell my specs, here they are. Not being mean and all but i was able to run Half-Life 2 fine on my old gaming PC that was build in late 2004, i know i need a better GPU but i don't have the case for it right now.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Basic 32-Bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    DELL
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7200 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    G33m02
    Memory
    3.00 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 5450 (salvaged part)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Sound card
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    One 40GB HDD SATA
    Manufacturers N/A
    PSU
    N/A
    Case
    OEM DELL Vostro-200 Case
    Cooling
    OEM fans
    Keyboard
    DELL Keyboard
    Mouse
    DELL Mouse
    Internet Speed
    100 MB/s
    Other Info
    OS: Windows Vista Home Basic OEM 32-Bit
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 Home premium 64-Bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home made "Gaming" Pc
    CPU
    AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+ 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI
    Memory
    4 Gb
    Graphics card(s)
    Gt 1030 (Pny Model)
    Sound Card
    OEM/Built-in sound Chip
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell(TM) E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Three HHD's installed
    Manufacturers: N/A
    PSU
    PowerHouse 500Watt
    Case
    NZXT Case
    Cooling
    Stock AMD and case colling
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei [RAW] gaming mouse
    Keyboard
    Dell USB Smartcard Keyboard-Model:N/A
    Internet Speed
    100 MB/s
I was going based upon the listed specs. It looks like you have gotten an upgrade. Really the only other thing that you can do is get a better graphics card or try to overclock your current one. That is very tricky to do safely and I don't know enough about that to help you. Maybe someone else will help.
 
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My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
I've used the AMD Over-Drive auto tune option which made my computer freak out a little. Anyways i might try and find a better GPU when i go to my local Micro-center store this Saturday with my friends. I have around $100 and a amazon $25 gift card from one of my friends. IDK if i should look there for one or on eBay? What do you people think i should look for, just remember I'm on a cheap GPU budget so a decent GPU for a decent price would be nice. Thank you. (Sorry i didn't post my specs in my original post.)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows Vista Home Basic 32-Bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    DELL
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7200 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    G33m02
    Memory
    3.00 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 5450 (salvaged part)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Sound card
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    One 40GB HDD SATA
    Manufacturers N/A
    PSU
    N/A
    Case
    OEM DELL Vostro-200 Case
    Cooling
    OEM fans
    Keyboard
    DELL Keyboard
    Mouse
    DELL Mouse
    Internet Speed
    100 MB/s
    Other Info
    OS: Windows Vista Home Basic OEM 32-Bit
  • Operating System
    Windows 7 Home premium 64-Bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home made "Gaming" Pc
    CPU
    AMD Athlon(TM) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4800+ 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI
    Memory
    4 Gb
    Graphics card(s)
    Gt 1030 (Pny Model)
    Sound Card
    OEM/Built-in sound Chip
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell(TM) E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Three HHD's installed
    Manufacturers: N/A
    PSU
    PowerHouse 500Watt
    Case
    NZXT Case
    Cooling
    Stock AMD and case colling
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei [RAW] gaming mouse
    Keyboard
    Dell USB Smartcard Keyboard-Model:N/A
    Internet Speed
    100 MB/s
I'm not up to date on the latest graphics however I'm not so sure that you can get a better one than what you have for only $100 and I've never bought a graphics card from Amazon. You might do better to save until you can afford a more substantial one but if you do get one make sure that it says DirectX 11. Also look for 7 drivers; those should work with Vista and the card won't do you much good without them. As for ebay I don't think I would buy one from there. It could come used and busted. The same thing goes for Amazon because there are private sellers on Amazon.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
If all you want to do is play HalfLife - any modern graphics card for that price will do - because they will still seriously outclass anything you have right now.

I built my rig when Vista was jsut transitioning to Windows 7, and I've stayed with it but upgraded lots of stuff piecemeal - currently I'm running an nVidia GTX 970 for graphics with an nVidia 560 Ti 448 core dedicated to PhysX.

For example: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=lp_284...=284822&ie=UTF8&qid=1515732517&rnid=386442011

These are all the video cards listed at price points between $50 and $100 USD. As you can see there the first one that comes up is an nVidia 1030-based card. For a comparison with your listed HD5450, see UserBenchmark: AMD Radeon HD 5450 vs Nvidia GT 1030

Obviously a heck of a lot more power, and that first card is not made for high-end gaming, but will handle Half-Life 2 relatively easily. And since you have the gift card for Amazon, I'd do some more research - the main things you're going to have to worry about are:

  1. Space - a full sized GA (Graphics Accelerator, which we now collectively call graphics cards) can be 14+ inches long, and may not fit in your case - so you have to be careful
  2. Power - some of the higher powered cards also require not one but 2 power plugs - if the PSU in that case is not modular, it may not have the required type of power plug required by modern GAs, or it may not have enough of the ones you need. Fortunately, though, most cards also come with adapters that can be plugged into a Molex connector (the power connector used on older non-SATA HDs), and older PSUs should have at least 1 spare Molex available
  3. The PCIe slot - an older machine like that may not have full PCIe 2.x or 3.x (whatever the card that you want to purchase requires).
The biggest issue here is that Dell is notorious for using very proprietary hardware, especially motherboards, PSUs and cases. So much so that it gets to be a major PITA to try to upgrade too many components in the machine, which is exactly what Dell wants - rather than making it easily upgradeable, they want you, the end user, to get frustrated and go out and buy a new machine.

Some pics of the inside of the case would be very beneficial in terms of figuring out these things, as well as a closeup of the motherboard part number, or else you could check the machines Service tag yourself and gte an accurate parts listing (as well as manuals and other things)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
This is a mini-tower so he won't have a lot of room.
Dimensions & Weight

  • Width 6.7 in
  • Depth 17.1 in
  • Height 14.3 in
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
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