What needs to be upgraded?

[JigsawJesus]

So I bought this computer, because I wanted to play L4D and L4D2 on the pc finally, since I had just been playing CS before then.

It meets all the requirements and should run it perfectly, which it nearly does with L4D one, however it does lag a bit here and there and it seems to be related to when i shoot, or when i use my flashlight on something that casts dynamic shadows.

So I think it's an issue with lighting of some sort.
I definitely see it a lot more prominently, and the slowdown is starting to bug me.

What do I need to upgrade on this computer?

Here are my specs:

Windows 7 - home premium 64bit
AMD athon II X2 215 processor (2-cpus) ~2.7ghz
4096mb ram
geforce 9200--1902 mb (integrated)

im running on cable internet and have a 22" lcd pnp monitor




WHAT DO I NEED TO BUY AND UPGRADE?!

[caveman26]

gfx card would be a start igp's are a lot slower than the normal gfx cards anything over a ati 3850 will run both games fine

[HL2-4-Life]

22" WS LCD = 1680x1050 (sometimes up to 1920x1080)

For such a res, it's obvious that the 9200 IGP isn't quite up to scratch. I'd suggest you upgrade it to a HD4670/4770/4850/5750/5770 or higher, on the nV side, perhaps a GTS250 or higher. Your CPU and RAM are more than sufficient to ensure smooth FR, may not be as high as it would be with a fast Phenom II X4 CPU, but good enough to maintain smooth FR. What PSU do you have? More importantly, how much juice is there on the +12v rail(s)?

[Moose Muscles]

+1 on the 4670...I have mine from saphire and I love it

[pizzahut]

It's probably the best to get a gfx card from the latest generation, for ATI that's the Radeon HD 5000 series.

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-5000.aspx

NVidia is about to release their next generation, however they start with expensive high-end cards, so their GeForce 200 series should do.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_family.html

I agree with this:
I'd suggest you upgrade it to a HD [...] 5750/5770 or higher, on the nV side, perhaps a GTS250 or higher.