Resource demanding games slow down my computer

I was wondering if someone could tell me what my problem is.
I'm using an off the shelf Dell Lattitude D600 with a
1.4 Ghz processor and
512mb of ram

I have had problems with two games. Warcraft III and Final Fantasy XI. My computer meets all requirements for both games but I can only play either one for about 20 to 30 minutes. Eventually the game will slow down and start skipping frames so that it's impossible to play. This happens all at once, there is no noticable decline in frame rate. Even the mouse will not move fluidly over the screen, it jumps around when I try and move it around.

The only solution I've found to the problem is to restart my computer. Once I hit this "wall" while playing the game, everything else I try to do is very slow. Can some one tell me what the root of the problem is and if it is fixable? One last observation is that it only started happening after I played FFXI. It was fine for the first month or so but the problem started occuring out of no where. Thx for any help.

 

i would run a bunch of antivirus and antispyware scans first. also, on most games the "sysem requiements" they give you, are meant to play on the lowest settings. you might want to try to trun the graphics down to see what happens then, but other than that i have no idear.

 

I agree with Earl...
There are Minimum System Requirements and Recommended System requirements. You did not mention what you have for a Video adapter or its settings, lowering those some usually helps (same with audio too).
And like he says... the number of background programs running at the same time as your gaming uses up resources too.

 

I have tried turning all video and sound options down to their bare minimums without any success, it doesn't even seem to increase the time I'm able to play. Also i'm almost certain that my machine meets reccomended requirements for both games, except for the graphics card which I am not sure how to check.

I don't know much about video cards or adapters. How can I check those things?

 

Download and run Everest via this Great Site...

http://majorgeeks.com/EVEREST_Home_Edition_d4181.html

 

I did some Googleing and found this...
Your Laptop was only configured with 32 MB of onbd video. http://reviews.cnet.com/Dell_Latitude_D600/4507-3121_7-20906166.html?tag=tab

FFXI
PC Requirements (Recommended for full enjoyment)
http://www.ffshrine.org/ffxi/ffxi_requirements.php
- Pentium 4+
- Windows 98 or higher
- DirectX 8.1 or higher
- 256 MB of RAM
- 6.5 GB of Hard Drive Space
- Broadband type connection
- Video card with 64MB of Video RAM
- A PS to PC Controller Converter to play with your PS Pad

Warcraft III requires a bit less. Either way your pushing your Laptop. I suspect it may be getting hot after 20 or 30 minutes of play.

 

also, if you dont want to download anything, just do this-

start>run>dxdiag

then click on the display tab.

tell us what it says.

 

yeppers. 9 times out of 10 if the game starts out fine but after a consistent period of time gets laggy, either the cpu or video card(in your case) is running pretty hot.
I don't know how to deal with that in a laptop though

 

If Your Running Windows Xp There Is A Free Program Called Freeram xp That Might Help.

 

the ram program wont help him. he needs a new videocard.

that is low low low.