I have an older computer with a Anthlon XP 2600+ and a nvidia 5200 video card. Recently I have been getting new games and the computer has been sucking. I figured it was just that my computer was too old and I needed a new one (and this is still true!). However, I installed one of my games that ran slowly on a friends computer with a 4200 and it ran twice as good as it did on mine! I got curious and started looking around at some stuff on my computer and changed my FSB to 170mhz without a crash at 1.64V. I am running DDR400 ram that was at 170mhz but I bumped it up to 210mhz. Anything else I can try?

get a new graphics card. the FX series sucked really bad. upgrading would be highly recommended, but if you do not want/ are not ready to spend the money, i would look into this card

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100219L Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail

what power supply do you have, you might need to upgrade it.

I am not an ATI fan, never had much luck with them; love AMD hate ATI! I think I will just start woking on a new computer...that would be the smart thing to do. Any other temp fixes?

Lol. The new ATi cards are fantastic. the 2600XT is a great deal, and the HD 3850, and HD 3870 are EXCELLENT. the 3850 has double the performance of the 8600GTS at the same cost. there are not many other things you can do, unfortunately. I profess in building new pcs, and i can put a list of recommended components together if you wish.

Read for yourself =D
AnandTech: ATI Radeon HD 3870 & 3850: A Return to Competition

No thanks...on the build offer...actually....I am an A+ tech; I am just a bit out of practice from being in college for so long! Besides Nvidia just acquired Ageia....drooooooollll......No more need to tie up a PCI slot for a physics card!

Will be a moot point soon accoring to this :
Neowin.net - Analyst Expects Nvidia to Acquire AMD
AMD bought ATI-- now Nvidia wants both.