Ok so now what? help plz

Heres the story: I just bought an ATI AGP x1650pro (this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103018and i installed it in my comp. I was disappointed by the performance compared to my previous card (9600xt). I did not see any jump in performance in any of my games ( same crappy fps in Half-life 2).
So my question is should I return the card OR is it my computer holding the card back? I think it is my computer because I have an AGP 4X bus rather than an 8X bus. Or is it something else? My specs: AMD Athalon XP 2600+ CPU @ 2.133 GHz, 512 MB SDRAM. Please help . I have a feeling that I need to upgrade my motherboard.

 

did you upgrade your PSU if you needed to? the requirements say you need at least a 420W PSU (power supply unit)

 

Hey. I took your advice and I Ordered a 480watt psu. Still hasn't arrived yet. I just got impatient and installed it with my old 250 watt psu. So this is the problem eh? nothing else in my computer?... hmm. Thanks for the response. I'll just see what happens when my psu arrives and see if it fixes this issue.

 

yea, if its underpowered it wont/cant run at full speed. im surprised it would even boot with a 250W PSU. you shouldnt really notice a difference between running a card at 4x or 8x, at least as long as its not a high end card that can saturate the 4x bandwidth

 

The power supply is just the tip of the iceberg....
You should DEFINITELY upgrade your RAM to 1gb MINIMUM!
512mb these days is just not enough!
Upon looking at your specs a bit closer (I hate to say it), a complete overhaul may be a good idea. Your parts are kind of outdated (no offense intened- I ran a Duron 1.8ghz until about 3 months ago!)

hopperdave2000

 

You can get a MB/CPU combo with an Athlon64 3000+ and add another 512mb DDR for under $200-$225. Add your current video card and your current RAM, and you'll be a whole lot happier!

Edit: I just looked at your specs again. You're running SDRAM? Your RAM has two notches in the row of pins, not one? Wow, I hate to say it (again), but if you're gaming, you desperately need to rebuild: new MB, new CPU, new RAM. Like I said, you should still be able to do this for under $250, and even $250 may be high....

 

Ya i guess your right i need a completely new motherboard. I installed my 480 watt psu and it did Nothing! Alright since I know absolutely nothing about motherboards and the such, can anyone, hopperdave, post a link(s) ( prefferably from newegg.com ) of a motherboard, cpu, and RAM combo like hopper described above. I have a budget of around $250. I can go higher if really necessary. Responses are greatly appreciated.

 

WTH i game on a system close to that, and i am getting great fps on high settings in half life, i really don't think you need a new system. Sorry guys, but thats ridiculous. The fps issues is probably something else, Have you made sure the drivers on all your hardware is update? Defrag the hard drive? Check for spyware? Crap Cleaner to clear any temp files?

 

maybe you can just upgrade your CPU, it should be pretty dang cheap and will eliminate the possibility of a CPU bottleneck which im thinking of here. there isnt a reason to upgrade your mobo though

 

Tonight Im going to install the latest Ati drivers. I dont have an internet connection to my computer ( using my girlfriend's comp to post). I will try to take my comp to her house to update the various things in there (anyways what specific things do i need to up date and how?) . Also I just Downloaded a system info app ( pc wizard ) to find out once and for all the specific motherboard I have to give you guys some more info (should i just need to upgrade the CPU). As of now all I know about the thing is that it has a AGP 4X bus. I will post my results tommorow. Thanks for your continued help.

 

yeah you should definitely be getting decent gameplay with your system. you really ought to look into adding another 512mb of ram though, that will probably help alot. it's also important to make sure nothing else is running while you play the games. your computer is good enough to play on medium settings fairly well but it can't do that and anything else at the same time.

how often is your computer connected to the internet?

 

2 colemanguy: We're talking about "HALF-LIFE 2", not the first one.

2 maursvolta: You definitely need at least 1 Gb RAM. I wonder how you even start HL2 on 512 MB SDRAM. Also try "cleaning" the software part - try TuneUp 2007 or Advanced System Optimizer. Run the system optimizer ("1-Click Maintenance" on TuneUp). It boosts up the system quite good as it erases the unnecessary registries etc., which slows down the comp..

Good luck with the comp. + and with the "night of fixing the computer at galfriends".

 

I suggested a rebuild because Maursvolta is locked into older technology and is at a point of diminshing returns. Yes, he can upgrade the CPU to the max the MB can handle, and he can add another 512mb of RAM; but he's still stuck in an older 32bit platform. From the sound of it, he wants to get into some of the newer games, and he wants the games to run well, maybe not perfectly, but at least be acceptably playable. He may be able to achieve that with a new CPU and more RAM. But what about 6 months from now? A new game comes out and he'll need to upgrade again. I think the money would be better spent on a more current platform, that offers greater expansion possibilities for the future. Why spend $100 or $150 now just to be stuck in 6 months, and have to rebuild then? I think it would be a better idea to do it all at once..... just one man's humble opinion.... take it or leave it....

hopperdave2000

 

Well I updated Everything I could but no luck. In all actuality I dont want to play the "latest" games. I just want to play HL2/CS:source and the such. No other game will interest me. I thought this card would have boosted the games performance from my 9600XT. but oh well...
I found out about my motherboard and other things to give you guys a more detailed view of what I have:
Mainboard: MSI MS-6390
Chipset: VIA ProSavage DDR KM266
CPU: AMD Athalon XP 2600+ (Socket A) caches: L1=128kb L2= 256kb
Memory: 512 MB DDR SDRAM PC2300 (142 MHz)
Well I think the very last thing to try is to get a stick of 1GB Ram. I dont think they make anymore Socket A CPUs anymore. So if anyone can recommend (post link) of a stick of 1gb ram thats compatible with my comp, that would be great. thanks.