Whenever I watch movies, high quality internet clips, DVDs, and play games (as low as 2D graphics), my computer goes slow and hiccups. I know it probably has to do with the graphics card being so low, but it could also be other things that are were not built for movies and gaming. When I look for a new computer, which of these should I upgrade specifically for better graphics:

- Intel Celeron M Processor (1.70 Ghz)
- ATI Radeon Xpress 200M Sereis Graphics Card (64 MB) (strapped to motherboard)
- 1 GB RAM
- 80 GB Hard drive

Thanks

well, its not just that. it is also the processor. a 1.7ghz Celeron M is a very low power processor, which contributes to the problem, with the graphics card. when you buy a new computer, look for either a Intel Centrino Duo (Core2 duo) processor with either GMA950 (will do what you need to do, movies, lower level gaming) Nvidia Geforce go series, (6150 or higher is good) or, though i reccomend intel or nvidia, ATi Xpress 1100 or higher. Another good processor is the AMD Turion64 X2, but the Centrino will probably do what you want better

Ofcourse, the newer Core2 Duo or Turion X2 will blow the poor little celeron out of the water, but still, your CPU and RAM seem to be sufficient for playback of DVDs and most movies (except HD).

Have you checked for spyware and unwanted background processes that may be hogging cpu time / RAM?

Have you tried defragging the drive? If it is heavily fragmented, then movies and games run off the hard drive may stutter. You can defrag with a good defragmenter like Diskeeper (check out the free trial versions at their site) and then check again if that has improved system performance.

You won't be able to upgrade much except maybe RAM, but your computer might already be at its max allowance if you've upgraded before.

Edit: You can get a bigger HDD (Hard Drive) too, but aside from a larger paging file, there's not going to be a huge performance difference.