Laggin even on low settings?

[13CentKiller]

I would say your hard drive, motherboard and RAM are all working together, they sound like they are all on even par with "screwed"

If you can, replace the hard drive with a crap 10GB one, and see if this takes the problem away. If your software and programs are working glitch like, and your lagging graphically in the game, I would think it would be a join issue between your RAM and motherboard.

The RAM is probably faulty. I would say this was the most likely of them all. Because the problem can start from square one. Installing the OS. If you installed it with faulty RAM, flow of data could have varied beyond an acceptable level, corrupting data, and dropping packets of data during transfer, and encouraging bad sectors. This would also explain the glitching programs as well. Files would have been improperly written to the hard drive or when the program is stored in RAM, the data is acting all weird, because the device is faulty.

Motherboard could also be the problem. This is the mother of all your problems and probably the most expensive. (no pun intended)
The North or the South bridge could be faulty, and data could be all over the place. All I can tell you to do here, is listen for high pitched squealing noises, or check for inflated capacitors.

Is the processor new?

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RAM:If there are two sticks of RAM. Take one out, and format again (my way) and re-install windows (No there is no quick way to trouble shoot. (without buying new parts for the computer it will probably take a good part of the day to trouble shoot, and narrow the problem down to a specific part.)
If the same thing happens, insert that stick back in and take the other one out. Simple. (DO NOT put the sticks on the ground, near a magnet or something silly like that. you will charge it with static, ruining the RAM. before making ANY changes to the inside of your computer, have your feet firmly placed on the ground, and tap the power supply and the case a few times, to neutralize yourself with the components, to minimize the risk of static electricity.

Processor: If the CPU is making a high pitched squealing noise, its not a good thing. Often meaning its over heating. A healthy processor never exceeds 75 degrees C. I had mine up to 110dC and it squealing, so check for that. Also in the BIOS, you should come across something called PC health or PC status or hardware health check or something like that. Here you will find all the readings from your motherboard and CPU..ect...ect. If one of them looks a little high to you, or flashing RED, shut down!

Hard Drive: Not much I can tell you to do here either. Take it out give it a shake. if somthing is clanging or loose, its broken from physical damage. The heads on the arm could be miss-aligned, but with hard drives its not often a hardware problem. (I still have my 4.8GB BigFoot :lol:)
The chip might be damaged. Or passed its day. Your going to need a new one regardless, unless you have a steady hand and the chance the heads are miss-aligned, you can try and re-align them.

Also, have you got any other game to try? Any more graphically involved one? My cat could run Freelancer.

Try downloading 3DMark 06. This will benchmark the computer. If your getting lower then the average joe with your specs, then what ever scores the lowest out of all the components, you probably found the faulty one. Again these can vary. So do it maybe a good three times.

Hope this helps!

Cheers:cool:

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"Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do."