Upgrading Laptops.
Hi, I am looking for advice on the subject of upgrading my Gateway 9150 pii. It has a Pent2 366Mhz. Intel 440BX Chipset. 10GB disk and 128Mb RAM. ATI Rage LT Pro 2D-3D. 8mb SGRAM. Crystal fusion sound card.
Basically it performs well for the net and word/picture processing, but being a sad soul I also use it to play the odd flight sim game on. At present MS Combat flight sim, and a reduced version of 'Fly'. Both games show very slow graphics (12 to 15 fps)with lots of jerking and short freezes.
Both programs play, but with MSCFS I have to set the crystal fusion sound card accelerator to 'Basic acceleration' to prevent crashing to fatal exceptions within ten minutes of play. Both Gateway and MS have provided good support but both have thrown in the towel as defeated. Most fingers point at the drivers for graphics or sound, but using the device manager I have checked for the latest driver and both seem to be current. Having said that ATI show a driver for Win98, but with a warning that if your current one is OEM altered, which the Gateway one is, then problems may ensue.
I wonder if any minds immeasurably superior to mine may be able to help. I had thought of buying more memory or buying a more powerfull processor, but if I do that then where does one start looking, (Gateway don't offer upgrades) what is likely to be the cost, and where in the UK do you take your beloved toy to be altered.
Also, would I benefit from buying a joystick with USB connection, as at present I use a Saitek Cyborg 3D digital stick connected to the MIDI port.
Thanks for your help in anticipation..!