http://www.poegasm.com/make-my-computer-better/
Anything I can do to make my computer better?
I bought a Dell XPS 410 about a year ago. I’m using Windows Vista Premium 32-bit and it has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1.8Ghz for each core. 2GB RAM, SoundBlaster Audigy 4 sound card, Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX graphics card, PCIe, with 768MB of memory. It’s hooked up to a Sanyo 26″ HDTV through a DVI to HDMI cable. Is there any way to improve its performance without changing the graphics card or tv?
Your machine could use another 2GB of RAM if you game under Vista, but its main weak point is its woefully slow CPU. It will bottleneck many titles beyond obvious suspects such as GTAIV, so if you can, upgrade. Try asking on forums to see what the newest chip series you can run is, as well as whether your mainboard has reasonable overclocking facilities. The 8800GTX is older, but should still run games pretty well on moderate settings.