why is steam so laggy?

[ealberto]

i have downloaded three games from steam ALL are laggy. the resolution is at the lowest setting and still very laggy. when i play other games like combat arms it runs smoothly. what could be the problem?

[Bearclaw]

your computer can't handle it. Need to upgrade.

[ealberto]

i doubt i need the upgrade. when i play other games even on the highest setting the game runs fine.

[Mastershroom]

What games are you playing and what are your specs? I've played a hundred Steam games in the last few years, and the only ones that have given me trouble were badly coded/ported or above my PC specs regardless of Steam.

[ealberto]

its got AMD phenom X4 9500 quad core processor 6gb system memory 640 gb hard drive nivida geforce 6150 se graphics. running on windows vista

games ive downloaded from steam tf2, insurgency, and alien swarm

[bchreng]

its got AMD phenom X4 9500 quad core processor 6gb system memory 640 gb hard drive nivida geforce 6150 se graphics. running on windows vista

games ive downloaded from steam tf2, insurgency, and alien swarm

Alien Swarm lags heavily on my system. You and I both need a more powerful GPU.

[ealberto]

thats unfortunate i dont have the money nor do i have the skills to install a gpu.

[Tree_Burner]

thats unfortunate i dont have the money nor do i have the skills to install a gpu.

for the time being, just get games that aren't graphically intensive. plenty of extremely fun games that aren't very graphically intensive.

[HTWingNut]

GPU's are typically not upgradeable. New laptop required. GeForce 6150 SE is like 2005 mid-range laptop card. I'd say Intel integrated graphics GMA 4500MHD is even more powerful. You're stuck with 2005 or earlier games for the most part. Even then you'll have to reduce game detail. That being said, a large majority of my favorite games are probably 2005 and earlier anyhow.

[tianxia]

if you have a pci e slot on your motherboard. just get a hd5670, should be fine for gaming in 1280*1024 resolution. it uses less than 75 watts so you don't need to change anything else. and it's cheap.