3dsmax 6 running slow

[yousrekh]

Hi everyone; just a general question here. I've been polygon modelling a character in 3dsmax 6 and I've come across a problem. I modelled the torso, head, arms etc, and all was well. However, as soon as I started to add detail like the nose and such, the program started to run incredibly slow. It's strange, however, for several reasons. Firstly, if I orbit the whole model, the framerate stays constant and high, but if I weld 2 vertices together, for example, it can take up to 3 minutes to complete the operation! This seems strange as before I started adding detail (namely the nose), everything was fine: rendering was almost instant, and tasks such as cutting polys or welding were working perfectly.
Another reason why this seems odd is that I have done a lot of modelling before, most of which were a lot more detailed that this one, and I've never had this sort of problem before. I've tried hiding parts of the model, and even moving some parts to other files, but with no luck.

I've also tried the obvious: virus checks, spyware, just in case something in the background was eating my resources. I thought it might be my graphics card, because it IS crap, but I've never experienced this sort of slowness. I also reset everything to default to make sure it wasn't some setting I had changed which drastically changed the program's performance.

Does anyone know of any reason that could cause such a problem? It could just be that the model is getting more complicated, but, as I mentioned above, I've already done numerous projects to such a level.

My processor is a 2.6ghz, which is what made me think it might be the graphics card playing up...maybe ill try reducing the resolution but I really have no idea! :)

Thanks for any help!
- Steve

[3dmax_great]

how much ram do you have ?

[yousrekh]

128mb.......:(

i understand that such a low amount is unspoken in the modelling industry, but it's all i have....and, as i said before, its never caused any problems like this before!

thanks!
-steve

[yousrekh]

Actually it's 256mb....which I guess is slightly better.

-steve

[bunglo]

well it sounds like either your ram has gone kapput or there is something (like a virus, or spyware) that is on your pc but your virus or spyware scanner cant detect. I (still) have a 2 virus that norton detects but can't get rid-of and it tells me to run (my other virus scanner) avg to remove the virus, but when i do it doesnt even detect it and because of this my ping is really high (for online games) so now i have to do a re-formating :( but it could just be your RAM o ya wut kinfd of graphics card do u have?

[yousrekh]

It's an absolute disgrace: Intel Extreme 82845GV (64mb)!

However, with the problem I'm experiencing, I didn't think it would be to do with that. That is, when the graphics card displays 2 vertices being welded together, surely it can't put THAT much strain on it! This is why I have decided it's probably more likely to be my RAM... I'm going to upgrade to 768mb DDR next week, which surely is enough to build a basic model in 3dsmax 6!

thanks,
steve