DirectX errors, etc.

[Draco1962]

Depends on what he is wanting to run. If he is just looking for a MAME machine and running GameEx in Arcade or with limited features, he will probably be OK with upgrading the RAM and GPU. Likely his mobo will support a max 2GB RAM upgrade on further research based upon the CPU listed. He will see some benefit with the RAM upgrade and a decent GPU, however, he may be limited to an AGP video adapter.

Again, he will need to research his motherboard to know what it will handle. He will likely have to skip down "Legacy Lane" to dig up what he needs and that cost may be prohibitive when you can buy complete "starter" systems off the shelf with more CPU/GPU firepower in the $300-400 range.

[nullPointer]

Thoughts NullPointer and Draco?

I think your recommendations are pretty much spot on. I suppose it depends on which component of the system is actually responsible for the lag, but there's really no way of knowing that.

I would say with a processor of that vintage I'd probably just upgrade rather than replace it with a slightly better processor of the same vintage. My guess is that you're only ever going to get so far with that socket anyway. Upgrading the CPU would pretty much mean a complete system upgrade, but I still would rather do that than throw money down on a new CPU for an aging legacy socket. I realize that replacing the system is probably not an option (hey none of us are made of money ). But I've gone gone down the road of trying to keep an aging system afloat by replacing aging hardware, and to my mind you reach a certain point where it stops being cost effective.

So speaking personally I'd probably be down for replacing RAM and maybe GPU depending on price (I'm guessing this is an AGP slot at which point I'd have to give it the same sort of scrutiny as a replacement CPU - is it cost effective and/or worth it?)

This isn't to say I'm some sort of "you must have the newest and best gear" snob. I still have operational legacy systems in active duty, they're just more relegated to file storage and retrieval than they are for gaming and media.

[Draco1962]

I tend to hold onto my old gear and until it goes up in silicone smoke. Yesterday's gaming laptop may be only good for web browsing and checking email, but if it works for that, then no need to buy something else. A lot will depend on what he wants to do with it. He may be able to find some of the stuff on the shelf of a local PC repair shop and can, with a little pre-education about the parts he is looking for, haggle a good deal to upgrade it to the max it will support.

[nullPointer]

I tend to hold onto my old gear and until it goes up in silicone smoke. Yesterday's gaming laptop may be only good for web browsing and checking email, but if it works for that, then no need to buy something else.

Yeah I'm more or less the same way. And yet the wives never seem to understand that there's a perfectly logical answer to the question, "How many frickin' computers do you need?!"

[Draco1962]

How many do I have? Easy answer really. So does the question need to be asked?

[coinheaven]

ram is cheap, so ill try that first and report back. just plan on running mame, no other emulators so well see.

[Tempest]

You might want to consider running an older version of Mame.

[nullPointer]

You might want to consider running an older version of Mame.

Probably the best suggestion yet. It can be a pain to roll back MAME along with your entire ROM set, but in the end I imagine you'll have the most satisfactory results.

[coinheaven]

so i bumped it up to 2gb of ram (most it can handle) and still really slow. at this point i wish i had not uninstalled my previous version. anybody have previous version they can send me?

[Draco1962]

so i bumped it up to 2gb of ram (most it can handle) and still really slow. at this point i wish i had not uninstalled my previous version. anybody have previous version they can send me?

Not sure I follow...