[dearth]

Let me give you my systems specs first:

OS: WinXP SP3
RAM : 1.50 GB
Remaining HDD Space: 70GB
Processor: Dual Core 2.80Ghz
Vcard: Nvidia GeForce 9400 512mb

Problem:
When I play games like LEFT 4 DEAD (SPECS: http://www.bigfatcheats.com/index.ph...-PC-Specs.html) and PROTOTYPE (SPECS: http://www.actiontrip.com/rei/commen...ml?id=060109_5) my FPS rate is only at 5-7 (Checked it using FRAPS) so you can imagine how laggy/jumpy it is...

Things I tried doing so far:
- Reinstalled my OS
- Changed my screen refresh to 75Hz and turned on Vsync in Prototype (cant really notice the difference)
- Tried playing the game at its lowest possible settings (still very laggy)
- Updated the driver for the Vcard (there was a slight increase in FPS cause b4 I updated the driver FPS was at 2-3)
- Defragmented the HDD
- Closed prgrams and all background programs (like anti-virus) while playing the game (still didnt do much)

Additional Info:
I've seen and played Left 4 Dead in a slower PC (A PC in a net cafe) but it worked just fine...

Additional Question:

I also notice that when I play in some websites flash videos (animefreak.tv) and play some Facebook flash games its also lagging badly, could these problems be connected? If so, how do I fix this?

I really need help with this, Ive been trying to figure this out for almost 2 weeks now (yeah it took me 2 weeks cause im still a noob at this)..

[BG-0]

Do you have the latest drivers installed for your graphics card? http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
Your PC should be capable of running those games at moderate setting at a playable FPS...

[dearth]

Yes, I just updated the driver for the Graphics card since I heard that there would be a 35% increase in performance for prototype and I did see an increase, cause before the game only ran at about 2-3 FPS, now its at 5-7 FPS, still very laggy though...

[BG-0]

Ah, sorry. I was just thinking that that poor performance could only be caused by not having any kind of a driver installed...
You would probably now want to test whether it's the graphics card being faulty... Test it in another system, etc... Or it could be something else crapping out in your system... Motherboard, power supply...