Upgrading a Dell Studio 1737

[Ace2cool]

Ok, so I've been bitten by the emulator bug. Downloaded the ePSXe (Playstation 1) emulator. Sometimes, when I have only the emulator open, it bogs. Hardcore. Which sucks, because a big portion of the game I'm playing is timing. So anyways......

I've got a Dell Studio 1737. Model number PP31L. (I know, should've just gone with the XPS or something from Asus and called it a day...)

Processor specs: Intel Core2 Duo T6400
Graphics card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650
Memory: 4096 MB (2x 2048)

So, theoretically, I should be blowing the Playstation specs out of the water (PS1 had 1GB VRAM and 2GB RAM, and 512KB sound), even after running an OS in the background. Apparently the fact that my dedicated memory is only 256MB is a major bottleneck for the graphics processing portion.

Now, my question.... Can I upgrade to 8GB memory, since my graphics card is s***, and non-replaceable? I know there's a lot more stuff to take into consideration than what I've listed, like processor speed, so that's why I downloaded CPU-Z and am going to be sharing a screenshot showcasing each tab! Without further delay:


http://i.imgur.com/vyiYO.jpg

There's a lot of info out there saying that the max capacity is 4GB, but that's just from the Dell manual. Other people say they are running 6GB (2GB+4GB) without problems, and some are saying 8GB is fine, due to my chipset being the PM45 motherboard, which is capable of handling 800MHz (from what I've read, at least.)

Just seems like there's so much confusing information out there, with some people saying yes, and some people saying no. Guess I'm looking for a more definitive answer before I go and drop $150+ on something that isn't going to work. Also, will a 4GB -> 8GB make a big difference in gaming ability?

[RCA]

This is what you should do...

Play the emulator in windowed mode and see what kind of resources are at or near 100% when the emulator bogs down.
If your CPU is at 100% that you CPU is your bottle neck. Check your graphics card and ram as well.

For Graphics and CPU I use:
http://addgadget.com/all_cpu_meter/
http://addgadget.com/gpu_meter/

I kinda looks like this...


In my case my bottle neck is my processor. Ram is usually never the issue and because I don't have vertical sync on, my gpu will be constantly working near 100% in order to get the most FPS.
If my CPU was nearing 85% or so and my gpu was at 100% I would have a great balance. Any PC nuts, correct me if I am wrong.

EDIT:
From what I have been reading, it could be caused by the version your running, the plug-ins you're using and what resolution you're running. All of these play there part. The issues are most likely on software side.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Your system specs should be MORE than sufficient to run a ps1 emulator. Something else is going on.

[Ace2cool]

Hm, so RAM is at about a constant 60%-61%.

For some reason, the widget you gave me isn't tracking my graphics processor. Everything reads "0". It recognizes the type of GPU and model, but nothing else....

The CPU spikes to 100% only when I'm swapping over to a new window, like when I'm starting the PSX emulator at very first, then it chills down to about 20%, then during "high demand" areas of the game, spikes to a max of about 75%. Usually runs around 40%. I've seen 80%+ like once or twice on either core.

It may be the software, but everyone else says this graphics plugin works awesome for them. :

[Ace2cool]

Just did a little more research:

For most 3D PS1 games, you want to use ePSXe, with the newest Pete’s OpenGL2, and Eternal’s sound plugin. From there, study each setting to better understand which ones are appropriate for which games. ” He also noted that “OpenGL2 is aimed at very good video cards like Geforce 7 or Radeon X1K series and up… Those with weaker video cards should use Pete’s OpenGL plugin (not OpenGL2). Those with no video card should seek a software mode plugin.”

I'm running the GL2. I think I'm gonna try the OpenGL and see what happpens.

[Ace2cool]

Also updating my drivers. They were apparently outdated as fack.

[Ace2cool]

GOD D*MN IT! I updated my drivers and it's super facking slow now, and my processor is sh!tting its pants all the time and running slow as schite. How can I tell what processors are compatible with my computer?

EDIT: after a complete shutdown (not a restart), everything's running at half of what it was. Maybe the old software wasn't playing nice with the new software and needed a full reboot.

[RCA]

Soo is it working now?

As for the GPU widget...
My guess is your GPU isn't supported

[Ace2cool]

It's working better, but when there's a lot of graphics intensive stuff happening, it'll kinda get a little jumpy. Not really anywhere near as bad as before. No real spikes from the processor though, so idk. Maybe the emulator software is just weaksauce. I'm willing to accept those odds.

And as far as the GPU not being supported, it recognizes the GPU and type, so I'd think it would have diagnostic info as well?

Upgrades are getting put on hold ATM anyways, cause I got myself yet another speeding ticket. I need to drop one of my Z's for a hunda or something that I won't get in trouble with. If I ever do go through with upgrading this, I'll be sure to resurrect this thread.

Many thanks, guys.

[Towncivilian]

Could you provide a dxdiag report? Press the Windows key + R, type dxdiag, press Enter, click Save all information... and post the contents of the saved log here within Code tags. With a dxdiag report I'll be able to provide you with a list of drivers that are out of date (if any).