Video game recording lag and general lag.

spec are weak.

*If useful, you may wish to PRINT THIS for easy reference.

Any SOFTWARE based recording solution is going to cause a HUGE drop in performance.

The only real solution is to get an NVIDIA GTX600 or 700 series card which uses a hardware solution through the NVENC encoding chip. Not only will it prevent the massive DROP in performance, it's also a HUGE, HUGE upgrade if you're using the default Intel GPU. Performance drop will vary but may be 5% or less compared to at least 30% for software solutions.

*The NVIDIA solution is called "ShadowPlay" and is not out yet. Supposedly any week now.

You WILL have to get a better POWER SUPPLY.

I have no other recommendation. A PSU would cost between $40 and $80. I can recommend one if interested. Of hand the Antec VP450 is a good one.

I recommend a GTX 650 since you appear not to want to spend too much, and your computer is fairly low-spec so you'll get CPU bottlenecking issues anyway.

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=76425&vpn=GTX650-DC-1GD5&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1337

PSU: http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=62331&vpn=VP450&manufacture=Antec

TOTAL: about $200 with tax and shipping for the GTX650 and PSU.

Installing video card:
1. Download the latest NVIDIA drivers from NVidia (choose autodetect method if unsure)
2. Boot into BIOS and change the video order so PCIe comes before onboard GPU
3. Turn off PC, hook up video card and attach Monitor
4. Boot into Windows
5. Install the video drivers you downloaded
6. Get Shadowplay whenever it comes out.

**Always TWEAK game settings to achieve the best frame rate you can. I always run FRAPS while tweaking so I know what the frame rate is. With a low-end setup you may wish to run some games at 30FPS. You may wish to use the "Adaptive (Half Refresh)" setting in the NVidia Control Panel (Manage 3D settings, choose game, Vertical Sync->).

This is how I might tweak with that feature (same basic method as tweaking to 60FPS):
1. Start FRAPS
2. Start GAME with VSYNC OFF
3. TWEAK settings to achieve over 30FPS 90% of the time
4. Open NVIDIA Control Panel and enable the half refresh method above
5. Verify FRAPS is showing 30FPS

*If you JUST opened a game and closed it, then click "ADD" under "Manage 3D settings" that game will be at the top of the list so you don't have to browse for it manually.

Photonboy's answer is perfect; I agree with everything he says, especially buying a new PSU and graphics card. Make sure you can fit them in your case though - systems like that are often built to fit just the parts they come with.

I just want to offer a little more advice on the software side. Fraps uses an uncompressed video format, so it may still cause lag because it writes a lot of data to your hard drive. Bandicam has various codec options and also supports NVidia NVENC encoding; so once you've got the right card, Bandicam will perform better than Fraps on your system. Or of course use Shadowplay which is out now.

Ah... I missed the case. You either have to get compatible parts, or just buy an ATX case, transfer the parts and use an ATX power supply instead (maybe Antec VP-450 still) and a normal video card which I'd now recommend as the Asus GTX750Ti, however all three parts would add up to roughly $250 plus tax so might not be worth it to you. A PS4 might be a better gaming investment.

LOW PROFILE:
a) TFX power supply with sufficient Wattage for the video card
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/power-supply/#t=11

b) low-profile video card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600038363%20600038364&IsNodeId=1&name=Low%20Profile%20Ready

*The best VIDEO CARD would be a GTX750Ti since it's the new efficient Maxwell GPU and the most powerful card you can get that works with only a compatible 300W power supply. I don't recommend any AMD cards since the purpose was recording. BTW, NVidia Shadowplay now supports DESKTOP recording. I tested it. Works fine.

**Don't get more than 1GB if Windows is 32-bit, however it appears to be W7 64-bit.

***PARTS (Measure carefully, get 2nd opinion):
Power Supply: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/fsp-group-power-supply-fsp30060ght85

Video card: http://store.galaxytechus.com/GALAXY-GeForce-GTX-750-Ti-GC-Slim-2-GB-GDDR5-PCI-Express-30-DVIHDMIVGA-Graphics-CardbrbrBONUS-Low-profile-brackets-now-included-freebrbrFree-Gift-150-In-Game-for-Warface-Path-of-Exile-and-Heroes-of-Newerth_p_90.html

PRINT THIS IF UPGRADING.

(I took a long time to start compiling a list of fun games to run on a lower-end system. I had most of this already and copied it in.)

Recommended upgrade path: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9sVkjX
a) Silverstone micro-ATX case
b) 430W ATX power supply
c) GTX750

So I'm recommending to transfer everything over to the new case. Not too difficult, but don't work in a static environment and ground yourself if possible. The case price is further reduced if you consider the slim parts cost a bit more, and of the one card I did like (Galaxy 750Ti) the fan is smaller so would be noticeably NOISIER than the ones I recommend.

*Case has front USB3 (not USB2) ports but I'm pretty sure an adapter cable comes with the case to connect to your USB2 motherboard header.

Different video card: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-gtx750tioc2gd5
*The Asus GTX750Ti can overclock further (after NVidia drivers installed). By roughly 20% more. Will be faster than the GTX750 in some games and in others very similar due to a CPU bottleneck. I do recommend buying the card if possible.

GAMES LISTS:

*There are several GAMES that would run quite well on your system if upgraded to above. You would be affected by the CPU obviously however that VARIES between games on how significant.

STEAM has a number of great games you may like but do a little research. Some DEMOS you can try if you upgrade:
a) Call of Duty 2: http://www.fileplanet.com/157205/150000/fileinfo/Call-of-Duty-2-Demo-%5BSingle-Player%5D (I just tried it)
b) Torchlight 1 and 2
c) CIV5 (steam demo)
d) Titanquest (steam demo)
e) Magicka (steam demo)
f) Portal first slice (steam demo)
g) Half Life 2 (steam demo)
h) Half Life 1 (and add Black Mesa mod. both through Steam. Demo? Black Mesa big impact)
i) Red Alert 3 (steam demo)
j) company of heroes (steam demo)
k) Bioshock (Steam demo. *Not sure if too demanding but worth trying)
l) Grid 2 (Steam demo)
m) Supreme Commander 2 (Steam demo)
n) World In Conflict (Steam demo, and built-in Benchmark that is great)
o) Trine 1 and 2 (Steam demos; *Can be very demanding so tweak carefully)
p) Tomb Raider series (try whatever you can find)
q) Hitman series demos (try various)
r) Freedom Force 1 and versus 3rd reich (4x3 ratio)
s) LFD1 and 2
t) Rayman Legends
u) World of Goo
v) Deus Ex GOTY (#1)
w) Overlord II
x) CnC 3 (Command and Conquer 3. Great strategy game. Not sure if DEMO but should be same as RA3. Should work great.)

Not sure if demos at Steam or elsewhere, and some not sure of performance:
- Jedi Outcast
- Halo 1, 2
- vampire masquerade bloodlines (4x3; unofficial patch exists)
- Far Cry #1
- Prey #1
- Batman Arkham Asylum (not sure of performance. Don't use PhysX.)
- Prey
- Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare
- Burnout Paradise (fun car game)
- Morrowind
- Fable the Lost Chapters (looks/runs surprisingly good for the age)
- Hitman series
- *Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning (DEFINITELY worth trying. Demo exists and if it runs the combat is awesome however you really want an Xbox 360 controller. Not a perfect game, but the combat again is awesome. BAM!)

Older games I do NOT recommend due to low-performance issues:
- Fallout 3, NV, and
- possibly Oblivion, probably Skyrim
- Dragon Age,
- GTA4

SUMMARY:
So again, many of these probably will run fine. There are many more games out there, but also plenty of games that would run horribly. Any modern FPS game probably wouldn't be very great.

So if you install STEAM, then start downloading some of the DEMOS that appeal to you, you'll get a good idea of what you can handle. Many of these games are pretty cheap now and some occasionally are even cheaper on weekly/daily sales.

*So I think you would have a pretty nice gaming system if you spend roughly $200 and upgrade, then carefully choose games that are fun, inexpensive and run well.

Finally, some games work better with an XBOX 360 controller. You can get one for about $35/$40 (wired). If interested don't get a knock-off.

STEAM GAMES other:
You can play your games on a different family PC if you upgrade in the future according to the family rules. You don't even have to download them again. Basically you just reinstall Windows and Steam (preferably Steam to a 2nd HDD with Windows on an SSD). Once Steam is installed, sign in, COPY the entire Steamapps folder over to overwrite the new one and you should be good (may need to VALIDATE each game in Steam, and must copy over any Save game folders unless using same account and game save on the cloud.)

If you get an nvidia card you can use shadowplay which records gameplay without a big performance impact.

better off reinstall.

Agreed. You can still reuse your OS key an your hard drive, but a fresh install will keep things running like new with your new hardware.

No, he can't reuse the OS key if it's Windows 7 OEM or previous.

Windows 8, Yes. A FULL version that he's unlikely to have? Yes.

Otherwise, you can only reinstall Windows to a motherboard with the SAME SOCKET which is considered a repair build. So if he had LGA775 and went to 1150 he'd have to buy a new copy of Windows.

It never asked for it because it was already entered and registered when you bought it.

It will likely not let you reuse it though.

That's odd, because I have the same legitimate copy of windows XP running on both my laptop and my desktop. Haven't upgraded my desktop since I put 7 on as a dual boot, so I was just guessing that he could install it on his new system. Regardless, he should at least try to use his same copy of windows because it might work like my xp copy does.

Well.... It's not that there isn't a problem, it's that Microsoft can't tell there's a problem. Unless they decided to audit you, which they could.

Unless you have a volume license.