Graphics card upgrade for this Asus Pre-built PC

[jjj807]

Hey guys,

A friend of mine owns this PC- http://www.asus.com/Desktop/Gaming/Essentio_CG5270/#specifications

It is an ASUS Essentio CG5270

8 GB DDR2 RAM
Intel Core 2 Quad 8300 2.5 ghz
Nvidia GT220, he says it is a 64-bit model
Asus p5Q motherboard, x1 pci-express 16 lane
400 watt PSU, don't know model or +12V ampage

He wants to upgrade the videocard to play Wow at a smoother framerate. It is very choppy for him now. Can you guys give any suggestions for something that would work on this 400 watt PSU? Or does he need to upgrade the PSU and graphics card?

Remember, this is solely for WOW, looking to spend between 100-200 total.

Also, Ati or Nvidia for wow?


Thanks, all recommendations welcome.

 

[Termie]

The GT430 should work: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...NodeId=1&name=128-bit&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=20

A few on that list are $30AR/FS. Pretty good deal if you ask me...

GT440 isn't bad either: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...107097&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce GT 440 (Fermi)

These cards are about half as fast as the next tier up ($80-$100): http://www.jagatreview.com/2011/02/review-geforce-gt-440-nvidia’s-fastest-entry-level-card/. But you'd need a PCIe power cable for those, and that's not a sure thing in a pre-built.

I think nVidia might have the upper hand in WoW, but others might be able to comment on that. These benches of higher-end cards seem to put nVidia ahead: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm-directx-11-performance,2793-8.html

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Cpu is a big factor in raids/towns.

WoW is dual threaded, a 2.5GHz quad isn't going to be fast enough to produce high fps in populated areas.

Does his board support cpu overclocking? If not spending much more than 50-60 dollars on a gpu will be wasted in many cases.

 

[jjj807]

He does not know how to overclock, he lives far away so helping him is out of the question. Upgrading the CPU would be too much for him, but you are right about the need for CPU in WOW in cities. I feel that his CPU is still bottlenecked by his 64-bit GT200 series nvidia card.

I'm skeptical of the GT430 because it is still GDDR3 ram, which is pretty slow.

The gt440 looks appealing because it does not require extra power.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121426

I've used ASUS cards in the past and have had no problems with them.

 

[Termie]

He does not know how to overclock, he lives far away so helping him is out of the question. Upgrading the CPU would be too much for him, but you are right about the need for CPU in WOW in cities. I feel that his CPU is still bottlenecked by his 64-bit GT200 series nvidia card.

I'm skeptical of the GT430 because it is still GDDR3 ram, which is pretty slow.

The gt440 looks appealing because it does not require extra power.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121426

I've used ASUS cards in the past and have had no problems with them.

Indeed, while the GT440 only has about a 15% bump in clock speed over the GT430, it has double the memory bandwidth when equipped with GDDR5. Probably worth the extra money. Here's an article exploring the effect of that difference in spec: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/arti...-MB-GDDR5-vs-1-GB-DDR3-Video-Card-Review/1272

On the other hand, that Asus is much more expensive, so take a look at the reviews of the other cards and see if any look reliable enough - this Zotac seems like a particularly good deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500191

If you really want to go with Asus, this HD6670 GDDR5 is a much better deal, as it's a faster card overall (which should make up for any nVidia advantage in WoW): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121442

The 6670 should be about 20% faster than the 6570 tested in this article (which by the way was never produced - no GDDR5 version of the 6570 exists): http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/AMD-Radeon-HD-6570-512-MB-Video-Card-Review/1271/1

 

[-Slacker-]

A HD6770/5770 should do the trick. That power supply is probably low quality generic crap, but it should still hold a HD6770.