How can I run higher-end games better?

is it a laptop as thats an energy efficient processor?
If it is then there's not a lot you can do.

If its a desktop then you could buy a graphics card.
can you run speccy or cpu-z and tell us what you've got. What resolution you play at, and how much money youcan afford to spend/would like to spend.

^+1
If you want to get better preformance for gaming you have to do a few things that you don't want to do and that is spend money.
1. up grade your CPU You need at least 2 to 4 core CPU not a single core.
2. up grade your GPU It is a Nvidia right? and What is it? Example: 8800gt, 7700gs. etc.
3. up grade your RAM to 4 GB
4. up grade your PSU most likely you will need a bigger PSU but we don't know because you did not list it.
I know this is what you did not want to hear. But there is not really anything you can do to have better preformance with the games of today unless you up grade your whole rig.

No matter which way you look at it, it is going to cost money. I do wish you the best of luck on this and I know just how you feel wanting to have the way to play and not being able. It is like you just lost your best friend. Been there done that.

everything mentioned above is the only real option... forget playing new games on that system and invest in a gaming desktop... entry level can be had for 500 or less mid level 700-800 and high end 1000 or more...

the cpu you have isnt gaming grade by any streatch of the imagination it would bottleneck any gfx card over a 78gt which is a 7 year old card... its not even a match for an amd athlon 4000x2 which is just minimum spec for gaming on most new games... so b4 you even install the games your gonna run into problems...
you really do need to upgrade your whole system. not just the cpu and gfx...
sorry...

The problem is the Athlon LE-1640 is a single core CPU. Modern games require a dual core CPU to play games.

You didn't not say what type of video card you have so I assume it is some type of integrated graphics core that is part of the motherboard. Integrated graphics are slow.

It is easy enough to install a graphics card, unless you have a weak power supply which means you also need to buy a replacement power supply that can handle the graphics card. However, that still leaves you with a weak CPU which also needs to be replaced.

Blacklight Retribution requires a dual core CPU. It also requires a modest graphics card, but integrated graphics is generally considered to have extremely low performance *
http://blacklight.perfectworld.com/blog/?p=342321

The same can be said for Tribes Ascension.
http://hi-rez.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/269/...


* Integrated graphics have improved recently, but are still considered low end. Intel's Sandy Bridge Core i3/i5/i7 has either the Intel HD 2000 or HD 3000 graphics core inside the CPU. The Intel HD 3000 is basically equal to the Radeon HD 5450 (a low end video card), but much more powerful than their old GMA 4500 graphics core.

AMD also released a CPU that has both CPU and integrated graphics call Llano. AMD refers to Llano as an APU instead of a CPU. There are basically 3 Llano APU models the A4, A6 and A8. The higher the model, the better the graphics core. The A4's integrated graphics core is about equal to a Radeon HD 5550, and the A8's integrated graphics core is about equal to the Radeon HD 5570. The A6 is somewhere in between. The Radeon HD 5550 and HD 5570 are not exactly powerful gaming cards, but that level of performance for integrated graphics is pretty good.

Based on what I can see about your specs, the first thing I would do is at least double my ram. 2gb of Ram is barely acceptable. Also, they are absolutely right when they point out to you that you are not meeting the mimimum requirements for hardwrae. They call for a minimum of a dual core cpu, etc. There are dual core CPUs out there now that sell for less than a hundred bucks. See if your mobd will accept one. If not...I'd start shopping some place like...geeks.com. u can get some really good deals on mbod there. Plan on having at least a dual core cpu, and at least 4gb of ram. Lastly, when you look at the minimum requirememnts for the games that you are playing, they will also mention the recommended graphics card. Make sure you at least have the minimum there as well. Good luck!

Mmmmm, it's harder to run modern games on a single-core than it is with 2GB RAM... I assume that's an AM2+ desktop from HP or Dell?

Either way, you'll need more than a $250 Dell to run PC games - believe me. You should be able to drop-in a quad-core CPU, at least 2 more GB RAM, and a Radeon HD 7750. For $250 more, you'll have a great entry-level gaming PC.

If it's a laptop, let us know, because there's nothing you can do about upgrading those for gaming...

I just have lots of lag when playing Blacklight Retribution and Tribes acend. But i play those games on steam and i play on a laptop with 4 GB of RAM, Dual Core, and i have a 64 bit operting system... anyhting i could do? i really enjoy both the games so anyone with helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.

They... already gave you suggestions on what you could do.

Upgrade. That is your only option.

There is nothing you can do except to upgrade the entire machine.

There comes a time when you simply can't upgrade an existing machine to the level needed, and the whole thing just has to be retired from gaming. You have reached this point. Give the computer to someone else so it can totter the internet watching funny cat videos on YouTube- it can do that for years yet.

If you want a gaming-suitable laptop you will need to invest $$$. And upgrades are difficult if not impossible. You trade portability for performance. If you seriously want to game you seriously cannot use a laptop (unless you have unlimited funds and can/will spend $2,000+ on a new laptop every 12 months or so)

A desktop PC will give you more options for upgrading and being able to keep it going longer.