Noob FPS question

Okay i'm new to the forum so this could be someplace else..but i'm wondering why i'm getting such low FPS in relatively low requirement games.. case in point WoW.. my average FPS is 10-15 out of citys/towns and 5-10 in towns. now my computer is a decent computer here are the basic specs.

The basic computer was a Dell Demension 2400 and i've upgraded it since then

P4 2.4Ghz
1Gb DDR Ram
256MB ATi Radeon X1300
300 GB HardDrive

My moniter is a Dell 17" Flat Screen

Thanks for any help

I think his bigger problem is the P4 2.4. RPG's tend to be CPU intensive and don't require a whole heck of a lot of graphical horsepower. Upgrade the RAM like Steel said and if you can, upgrade the CPU.

@Steel: That isn't entirely true. One of my desktops came with an X300 (worse than the 1300) and it could play COD2 some. Not well but playable in most cases.

1 g of ram is fine for wow, dont listen to these tools. If you do have ram problems in wow, it will only occur after hours and hours of play. what you need is possibly more memory bandwidth.

My friend has an xp1800 system with a fx5700le and it by all rights is lesser than yours, yet it delivers solid framerates. Maybe you've got.. other problems. You'll need to do a number of tests to determine what is slowing you down.

I'm using ZoneAlarm..
The thing is i used to have a ATI 9250 (256MB) the rest of thoughs stats were the same and i could run, HalfLife 2, and CoD2 just fine..

@Shadow: You're doing a good job of making an impression. SO you were right that he should be ok with the RAM, no need to call people names. State your opinion and be done with it. I'm just used to people with Vista and 1gb of RAM wondering why it's running slow.

@jcoash: like mike said check for spyware and also check for viruses. You could also try defragging your hard drive. If all else fails, a re-install of windows can work wonders for older machines. Also, turn off any un-needed programs and processes.