another upgrade suggestion thread...

[thujone]

so it's tax time and i've got a rebate coming. still running an old AGP system as money's been tight the past year or 2. 9800 pro, 2600+, etc.

looking to upgrade and haven't kept too up to date on current hardware.

that being said... the only game i play is WoW. so i don't think i need a super 1337 machine.

was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for what direction i should go to get something on the cheap that'll give me decent framerates in a raid situation in WoW. not looking to get much else out of this machine. would like to stick with AMD/ATI... but i'm open to suggestions. just looking for info on mobo/cpu combos. i think i can probably figure out the rest on my own.

 

[f4phantom2500]

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6164252/index.html?cpage=3

That looks like it'll be useful for you. I'd say an Athlon 64 3200 or better, 1GB RAM, and a 7600GT would do you good. If you have 1GB RAM already, get a 939 or 754 system (ideally 939) so you can reuse your RAM. <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=40&threadid=1941268&ente
<b">thread=y">A 939 motherboard can easily be had for under $50</a>, an Athlon 64 3200 can easily be had for under $50, and a 7600GT can be had for $90 shipped in the fs/ft forum. As for ATI...according to that guide it seems that NVidia cards tend to do better than ATI in WoW, because an X1650XT is ~on par with a 7600GT and the 7600GT is about 45% faster in their tests. The next step would be an X1900GT, X1950 Pro, or an X1800 series card, all of which consume considerably more power than, are considerably larger than, and cost considerably more than a 7600GT. Since that review shows the 7600GT nipping at the heels of the X1950 Pro in their review, the 7600GT seems like the obvious choice for WoW.

 

[thujone]

rad... thanks man!

this was pretty much what i was thinking even though i hadn't read that article.

and upgrading my hardware for that cheap means i have enough cash leftover to get a new lcd maybe.