Memory (Presario 2500 (2505EA)

[syrdax]

Two weeks back I installed NFSU2, the game ran very slow so I decided to buy a 256 memory module to add; the game stayed the same, no improvement at all, even windows looked the same, so I downloaded some tools for benchmarking, did some tests, some results told me that memory runs slow (there are some discrepances between what BIOs says and what windows says); BIOS settings are to poor, it just has some very few options avaible and none of them are important so I can't, for example, enable audio device, select VGA source, etc.; my question is: what should I do? is there any way to get more BIOS settings (advanced settings)?
This are the specs:
Compaq Presario 2500 (2505EA)
Pentium 4 2.40GHz
448ram (64 to on board Radeon IGP 345M) (DDR)

This are the results from a memory test:
Memory Controller
Error Detecting Method None
Error Correcting Capability N/A
Enabled Error Correcting N/A
Supported Interleave One Way Interleave
Current Interleave One Way Interleave
Maximum Memory Size per Slot 512 MB
Supported Speed(s) 70 ns, 60 ns
Memory Module Voltage 3.3 Volts
Number of Memory Slots 2
Memory Module Config Handles $00, $01

Supported Memory Types
Supports Standard Type No
Supports Fast Page Mode Yes
Supports EDO Yes
Supports Parity No
Supports ECC No
Supports SIMM No
Supports DIMM Yes
Supports Burst EDO No
Supports SDRAM Yes

Memory Module
Socket Designation DIMM 1
Bank Connections RAS 0, RAS 1
Current Speed 60 ns
Current Memory Type DIMM, SDRAM
Installed Size 256 MB
Enabled Size 256 MB
Correctable Error Exists No
Uncorrectable Error Exists No

Memory Module
Socket Designation DIMM 2
Bank Connections RAS 0, RAS 35
Current Speed 60 ns
Current Memory Type DIMM, SDRAM
Installed Size Not Installed
Enabled Size Not Installed
Correctable Error Exists No
Uncorrectable Error Exists No

Physical Memory Array
Location Motherboard
Use System Memory
Memory Error Correction None
Maximum Capacity 1,073,741,824 Bytes (1,024.00 MB)
Number of Slots / Sockets 3
Memory Error Info Handle $FFFE

Memory Device
Memory Array Handle $1C
Memory Error Info Handle $FFFF
Total Width 64 Bits
Data Width 64 Bits
Memory Size 256 MB
Form Factor DIMM
Device Set 1
Device Locator J400
Bank Locator DIMM 1
Memory Type DRAM
Type Detail Synchronous
Memory Speed Unknown

Memory Device
Memory Array Handle $1C
Memory Error Info Handle $FFFF
Total Width 64 Bits
Data Width 64 Bits
Memory Size 256 MB
Form Factor DIMM
Device Set 1
Device Locator J401
Bank Locator DIMM 2
Memory Type DRAM
Type Detail Synchronous
Memory Speed Unknown

Memory Array Mapped Address
Starting Address $00000000
Ending Address $1FFFFC00
Memory Array Handle $1C
Partition Width 2

Memory Device Mapped Address
Starting Address $00000000
Ending Address $0FFFFC00
Memory Device Handle $1D
Memory Array Mapped Address Handle $1F
Partition Row Position 1
Interleave Position 0
Interleaved Data Depth 0

Thanks for any answer.
Best regards.

[Duke of Rezin]

Your laptop should take PC2100 memory which isn't the fastest out there but it's not out of line for a laptop. I think Need for Speed 2 may be a little too graphics intensive for the Radeon IGP. You can try downloading Clockgen http://www.cpuid.org/clockgen.php and at the least it will give you the correct frequency of the memory. You'll have to try the various Pentium 4 downloads to see which one actually works with your board. This program is designed for overclocking which I don't necessarily recommend you do as Pentium 4 DTR's tend to run hot at stock timings to begin with. You can also try using the latest Omega drivers http://www.omegadrivers.net/ which comes with Radlinker or you can skip the co-install and use ATI Tray Tools http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=733 (my favorite). Both Radlinker and ATI Tray tools are designed for overclocking the gpu (which I'm not necessarily suggesting you do). Just switching to the Omega drivers boosted my laptop Codecreatures score from 12.4f ps to 22.9 fps so maybe that's all you need to do. Also try various power options in the control panel.

[syrdax]

Thanks!
I already downloaded Omega drivers, and Ati tray tools, but when I press on the Mem button it says 'unsuported card' or something so it won't work.
Anyway, I'll try again Omega, hope it works.
Now that I went to cpuid site, I got another question: how do I know the kind of mother board this pc has? In every test I made always says is a Hewlett Packard but I can't find any drivers or program for it, it has a P4 but, in ClockGen, how do I know which mother is for this particular model?
Thanks!
Best regards.

[Duke of Rezin]

As far as clockgen goes, you just have to try the different versions until you find one that will allow full manipulation of your frequencies. It may be that none of them will work but the program executes (so keep all the files in the same forder) rather than installs so you can just delete it and reboot to get rid of it. Be careful using this program because overheating is a real issue. I have yet to find a program that accurately reports the make and model of a laptop's components. Another thing you can try for determining that information is a forum dedicated to Presario laptops (I hate to send you to another forum) as someone undoubtedly has taken one apart and may even have posted pics of the internals. Notebookforums http://notebookforums.com/ is a good place to look.

[slgrieb]

'Fraid the Duke hit the nail on the head when he said the bottleneck is your video chip. Sorry, but this chip is 3 years or so old, and was never meant to be a world beater in 3D performance anyway, so by current standards it just doesn't cut it for a lot of games. Publishers hardware requirements for games generally have to taken with a grain (more like a box) of salt. On systems that just meet the low end of the requirements, most games run like crap.

[syrdax]

Thank you guys. I guess I just have to buy a computer.