[Dekran1503]

Hello. I am becoming a little frustrated about my computer not being able to handle games all that well. My biggest complaint is with World of Warcraft. Before the expansion, the game ran fine and I could have max settings even in a 25 man raid. Now with the WOTLK expansion, I have all my settings down to the lowest and get about 20 fps during 25 man raids, which is very frustrating. I have also been playing Fallout 3 on medium settings, and recently bought Crysis which I also have to run on medium settings. Now I don't expect to be able to run the maximum graphics, but I feel that my PC should be able to handle at least high settings on these games (especially WoW). I have the latest drivers for my video card. I'm not really sure what I can do to check what might be causing the problem. Below is my PC info. One thing about it that confuses me is that I recently bought 2 gigs of RAM and installed them in addition to my original 2 gigs (for a total of 4), but it only lists 3 gigs worth of RAM. I bought them from Crucial and before buying them ran a program where they selected the ram most compatible with my system. I also tried removing the new RAM and running just on my original 2 gigs, and there really wasn't much of a difference. I feel my video card should be strong enough to handle these games. Let me know if you can think of anything that I could check out with this, any feedback would be appreciated. Also, let me know if more information is needed and I will try and get it for you. Thanks.

Windows: Windows XP5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3
Internet Explorer: 7.0.5730.11
Memory (RAM): 3071 MB
CPU Info: Intel® Pentium® D CPU 3.20GHz
CPU Speed: 3187.5 MHz
Sound card: SigmaTel Audio
Display Adapters: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT | NetMeeting driver | RDPDD Chained DD
Monitors: 1
Screen Resolution: 1280 X 1024 - 32 bit
Network: Network Present
Network Adapters: Linksys Wireless-G PCI Network Adapter with SpeedBooster - Packet Scheduler Miniport
CD / DVD Drives: D: Optiarc DVD+-RW ND-3570A
COM Ports: COM3
LPT Ports: NOT Present
Mouse: 8 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks: C: 293.3GB
Hard Disks - Free: C: 159.1GB
USB Controllers: 5 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): Not Detected
PCMCIA (Laptops): Not Installed
Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
Product Make: Dell DXP051
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info: AT/AT COMPATIBLE | 04/19/06 | DELL - 7
Time Zone: Pacific Standard Time
Battery: No Battery
Motherboard: Dell Inc. 0FJ030
Modem: Conexant D850 56K V.9x DFVc Modem :

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Hello Dekran1503, welcome to G2G!

I think one problem could be with your motherboard. Your motherboard can only support a maximum amount of RAM, and from the looks of it your limit is 3GB (guessing). Mine is 2GB, standard is usually 2-4 for modern, cheap PC's. Go here and choose WoW:

http://www.systemreq...referrer/srtest

If your PC passes the test, then it is not a hardware issue (which saves us a ton of time).

[xBPM07x]

Hello Dekran1503, welcome to G2G!

I think one problem could be with your motherboard. Your motherboard can only support a maximum amount of RAM, and from the looks of it your limit is 3GB (guessing). Mine is 2GB, standard is usually 2-4 for modern, cheap PC's. Go here and choose WoW:

http://www.systemreq...referrer/srtest

If your PC passes the test, then it is not a hardware issue (which saves us a ton of time).

[Dekran1503]

Ok, I ran the test and it said I passed on everything for the recommended level. So I guess that is good news. What's the next step?

Thanks for your help on this.

[xBPM07x]

Try updating DirectX here:

http://www.microsoft...;displaylang=en

NOTE: You must have a valid and genuine copy of Windows to download!

Also, what resolution are you playing these games at? Make sure it does not exceed your monitors max, and try to match the refresh rate. The resolution plays a huge role in performance, so try messing with it.

[Dekran1503]

I checked the resolution and refresh rate. The monitor max is 1280x1024 and the refresh is 60 Hz, which is what WoW has been set to in the past. I also tried running it on the lowest resolution, and I was still getting very low fps.

I tried updating directx, but during the installation I get an error message saying: "A cabinet file necessary for installation cannot be trusted. Please verify the Cryptographic Services are enabled and the cabinet file certifcate is valid." I then have to click ok, and it tells me the installation has failed and I can't do anything else.

Not really sure what this means. Windows came pre-loaded onto my computer when I bought it from Dell, so I am assuming it is a genuine copy of Windows.

Edited by Dekran1503, 11 February 2009 - 01:17 AM.

[xBPM07x]

Please ensure that the Cryptographic Service is enabled:

1. Click Start, Run, and type in "services.msc", minus the quotes. Then click OK.
2. Scroll down until you see the Cryptographic Service, and double click it.
3. Startup type should be "Automatic", and it should be "started", not "stopped".
4. Go to the "Log On" tab, and make sure at the bottom it is enabled.

[Dekran1503]

I checked all that and tried updating directx again, and got the same error message at the same time.