Alright I bought my system a few years ago, I've upgraded quite a bit since then and I still can't seem to get the performance I want out of it. Right now I have a Pentium 4 2.4GHZ processor, 768MB RDRAM and a 256MB Nvidia e-GeForce FX 5700LE graphics card. I thought this would be good to play the latest games since I was lead to believe I was getting the best video card available since 256MB is the highest as of now. Well the main goal I'm trying to achieve is good performance with Doom 3 on high mode. I thought I would have no problems now that I have the highest possible graphics card (what I was told) but the game is still very sketchy and laggy when in high mode. It's even somewhat sketchy in medium mode. I'm extremely upset because of this. Well my processor I thought would be ok because it still isn't considered outdated, I could use a better one though. My memory I thought would be fine since 512 is recommended and because my RAM type is high quality (and very expensive). My graphics card I didn't think I'd have any problems with. This also happens with most of my newer games too, I really have to turn the graphics down. I really want to be able to run Doom 3 as well as the rest of my newer games and a lot of the newer games to come. I really need some help here, can anyone give me some recommendations to some new hardware (or any ideas you may have) which will give me the best performance possible while still being pretty reasonable. Please be specific with what you recommend and please be sure of what you're recommending.

By the way, I have the latest drivers for everything and the latest DirectX. I ran all dxdiag and hardware tests. Says everything is running fine.

Oh and if anyone has any advice to help out with the graphics / performance in the mean time, please let me know.

Also, if anyone happens to have Doom 3, when I'm using the machine gun, the gun is very laggy and quiet (unlike the xbox version). It seems like its shooting in a bunch of weak bursts. Is there a way to fix this?

Thank you.

Sounds like a driver issue to me. The best thing I can suggest is that you trial different drivers from this list and see which ones give you the performance you are expecting..

Guru of 3d Forceware

I don't think that's it. It did this even when I installed the original drivers from the CD that came with the card.

Hya Rory , im sorry but i think it is youre vga card that is holding you back.
The GeForce FX series isn't that great and pretty old by now , and having 256 mb doesn't say much on its own.


To compare , youre card $89:

http://shopper.cnet.com/EVGA_e_GeFor...rderby=90&sort=

and a real state of the art card $500:

http://www.4launch.nl/4launch.php?li...oductid=013979

Do you think it would be a good idea to purchase the Nvidia GeForce 7200 GT or should I wait for a 512MB? Do you know when those are expected to be released?

And do you think it would be worth it to purchase a Pentium 4 3.2GHZ processor and 2GB of RAM?

Yes to both questions...if you have the cash, why not?

Here is a little bit of info on the elusive 7800Gt

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread....6&goto=newpost