my old laptop has 1G, 1.5GHz single core and only 64M of grfx memory.. yet it can run 3 if i want (24fps... 2 is friendlier)

but that wasn't always the case. i had to remove unneeded crap and strip it down.. still, it wasn't enough. i had the latest drivers... as far as i could tell.. but they just dragged.

then i found this:
http://www.omegadrivers.net/ati.php

WARNING: only go down that link if you are aware of what you are doing. if you mess up... it's your problem

after installing that driver, my laptop was reborn. definitely works 100% better then before.

your mileage may vary. good luck