Budget upgrade for ancient computer to play wow

[vifferlv]

My current comp:

amd 3000+ s939 cpu
asus a8n sli mb
1 gb ram
6600gt 128mb
550w antec truepower
22" lcd at 16x10
win xp

just ain't cutting it these days for wow. Dalaran is like a powerpoint presentation. I'm running 1680x1050 which is part of the problem I know, but I have all settings at a min to get by. Would like to keep it at 16x10 as that is the monitors native resolution.

I know I need a new rig, but just looking for the cheapest possible upgrade to hold me over until I can afford a new build. Normally I make good money but the economic downturn has hit my industry/area particularly hard and am watching every $ until things get back to normal. Budget is <$100. Thinking of getting a cheaper gpu like a 4670 to tie me over, but wondering if this will be enough or will it still be just as bad? Any help or ideas appreciated.

 

[4thSurvivor]

a gig of ram, and a new video card would probably do the trick...but you wouldn't be able to fit that in with less than $100...you'd be able to get the ram, but not the card, or the card, and not the ram...

your mobo a a8n32-sli deluxe?
or is it this one h**p://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131540
what ram do you run...ill grab some prices, pcie-x16? 2.0 pcie or 1.1/1.0a?

GSKILL 1gb "value" ram pc3200- ddr2 400 - 21.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820231036

evga geforce 8600gts 256mb - 69.99 mir it's like 39.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130320

those are really your only choices, especially graphics card wise...i dont think youll be able to get much more than that for under $100

 

[mpilchfamily]

Get a new video card. Something low end like on of the Nvidia 7K series. I have a S939 with a 3700, 1GB RAm and an Nvidia 7300GT and it runs WoW fine. You can get a 7300GT for about $35.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814260048

My Laptop is running a 7150 in it and it runs WOW fine as long as all the settings are on low. You may even be able to find another gig of RAM with the money you have left over. But really the RAm isn't needed.

 

[4thSurvivor]

doh, blank mind

 

[heyheybooboo]

Excellent plan.

A Radeon HD 4670 should give you 3 to 4 times the performance of the 6600gt at only an extra 10-15w power draw (IIRC the 6600 pulls 45-50w) - for less than your $100 budget. For an even bigger bump take a look at the MSI Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit for $105 after rebate. At 16x10 you will be nipping at the heels of an HD4850 (with a nice little OC yah just might beat it).

If you want to blow that budget the Asus Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit is $130 AR and perform at almost twice the level of the HD 4670 (and would work well within your power envelop).

I'm thinkin' you have a 6-pin PCIe power connector ??? Let us know how it goes ...

 

[vifferlv]

Thanks for the replies thus far. I'm assuming that the cpu is not choking me off too much and to definitely get a better card to get to where I need to be. The question is, get and ultra cheap card + additional ram, or stretch as much as I can just for the card and reuse it in a new build (maybe 6 months to a year from now).

I don't have the exact mobo info, but I want to say is the A8N-SLI Deluxe with PCI-e. I'm running 2x512 pc3200 ddr and it has 4 slots fwiw. Thanks again.

Mplichfamily - what res are you at with that setup?

 

[soccerballtux]

He'd be SEVERELY CPU limited with a 4850. I cannot emphasize SEVERELY enough. I'm wondering if part of his problems now are due to CPU speed. Particularly in cities, wow is very CPU dependent. Back when I had my socket 754 oc'd Sempron 3100+ (OC'd to slightly more than 3200+ levels) Shattrath was about 15 FPS with my 6800GT. Other people with a 6800GT were getting 35-45fps in Shattrath.

OP I would try to OC your processor some, and see how framerates do. If you turn down the game resolution to 1280x1024 or 800x600, do your frames inside cities improve? If no, then you are CPU limited.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
He'd be SEVERELY CPU limited with a 4850. I cannot emphasize SEVERELY enough. I'm wondering if part of his problems now are due to CPU speed. Particularly in cities, wow is very CPU dependent. Back when I had my socket 754 oc'd Sempron 3100+ (OC'd to slightly more than 3200+ levels) Shattrath was about 15 FPS with my 6800GT. Other people with a 6800GT were getting 35-45fps in Shattrath.

OP I would try to OC your processor some, and see how framerates do. If you turn down the game resolution to 1280x1024 or 800x600, do your frames inside cities improve? If no, then you are CPU limited.

.... or stretch as much as I can just for the card and reuse it in a new build (maybe 6 months to a year from now). ...

 

[faithwarrior118]

I could be wrong, but I doubt he's got a PCIx slot on his Mobo. He's likely looking at a full core upgrade (Mobo, CPU, Ram, GPU)

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: faithwarrior118
I could be wrong, but I doubt he's got a PCIx slot on his Mobo. He's likely looking at a full core upgrade (Mobo, CPU, Ram, GPU)

PCIx is not the same as PCI-Express, but either way he said his board supports SLI so it would have to have PCI-Express slots on it.

As for the OP, WoW is VERY CPU dependent especially if you use 3rd party mods. Upgrading your GFX card will let you turn the details back up, but it might not increase your frame rates. Your best bet would be to upgrade them both if you can, but in reality I think a much faster CPU will help you out more then a newer video card.

 

[Triglet]

I must agree that that WoW is heavily CPU dependent -- I just went from an X2 4200 (939) to an E8400 w/ a bunch of RAM and while I still see the same max fps with my 8800GT (60 of course) my lows are no where near what they used to be. Used to be in the 20's in shat and dalaran now I'm not seeing anything lower than 45 fps. It used to just chug with that older processor in those cities and where there were a bunch of people. Huge difference!

I'd have to agree with another gig of ram and a cheapo card -- if you have to do anything at all right now -- until you can do a full upgrade as I just don't think you're going to see the difference you're looking for on that current processor you have.

 

[magreen]

OP, just grab a 9600gt video card, a cheap AM2 mobo + x2 cpu (like x2 5000+ or 6000+) and 2gb of memory. Total cost if you shop around: < $200 and you have a whole new system.

 

[magreen]

And whoever said a 7300gt would be an upgrade for you is (Ok, I decided to be nice and not write what I was originally going to say) mistaken. It would be a downgrade.

 

[Zap]

I'd say suffer now and save up until you have around $300, then do a major upgrade. You need to move to a dual core processor. AFAIK WoW became multithreaded around the time of BC. You'll want to aim for an E5200 or E7200 level processor with 2GB RAM and a new midrange video card.

 

[Dravic]

Originally posted by: Zap
I'd say suffer now and save up until you have around $300, then do a major upgrade. You need to move to a dual core processor. AFAIK WoW became multithreaded around the time of BC. You'll want to aim for an E5200 or E7200 level processor with 2GB RAM and a new midrange video card.

I agree wow is more CPU and ram(2gb) dependent, but you are in a world of hurt all around. You waited just a bit too long for the last upgrade cycle to be worth it for a 939 socket CPU.

ddr is more expensive(no too bad on Ebay), socket 939 CPU's no longer manufactured(as of last year), 6600 hampered by 128mb video ram. Any single upgrade is going to highlight the other bottlenecks.

Even a 939 3800+ x2 is like $100 on Ebay.

I would do the following:

$99 biostar am2 790gx board (IGP 3300 is faster then the 2400pro which is faster then your 6600gt)
$60-70 dual core x2 cpu (x2 7750 phenom rev b CPU's just launched today for ~$80)
$40 4gb ddr2


~$200


This lets you drop in a AM2/AM3 quad core phenom II over the next maybe 18 months (12 to be sure, am3 drop in compatibility is up the manufacturer). Or, stay with the x2 (esp if you go with the 7750) and drop in a mid range vido card.


The intel version may cost the same (crappy IGP's, but cheap mobo + 3450 or something) and overclock further, but socket 775 is EOL and AM2 at least gives you the am2 phenoms II being manufactures through next year. You will not lead an benchmark contest, but you will be back in the game, with a semi decent upgrade horizon.

 

[vifferlv]

You guys called it. I went ahead and got a 4670 with the funds I had available. It made the graphics slightly better and I get much better fps when there is not much activity in the vicinity, but loading times and heavy activity is still bogging me down. Definitely need a new cpu + more ram.

Hopefully soon I can spring for a new core setup that can hang with the 4670, like an e5200, p43, 4gig setup. Thanks for the help.