Keeping an ancient PC alive and kicking..HELP!

[SorrowsEnd]

Ok here is the dilema....my primary gaming pc is down for a few weeks being repaired, the liquid cooler on it has died...

I'm currently left with using a computer so old it was in its prime when Moses was still hunting the dinosaurs for food.

Pentium 4 1.8 with 1 gig of rambus ram! (shoots self)

I'm looking for the best nvidia chipset video card I can put in this pc that won't be completely bottlenecked by the processor.

The only thing this box will be used for is to play World of Warcraft.

Any suggestions are quite welcome.

 

[imported_rod]

MX4000?

The cheapest cards you can find these days will probably be near or at the limit of the CPU.

RoD

 

[herm0016]

you really should think about what you have there, it may be old, but its not that bad, many people dont have anything even close to that for a computer.

 

[SorrowsEnd]

Originally posted by: herm0016
you really should think about what you have there, it may be old, but its not that bad, many people dont have anything even close to that for a computer.

My comments were made in an attempt at humor and to attract replies from computer minded folks who have more knowledge than myself.

I'm a high end raider in WoW and require a top notch system to handle all of the graphics a 40 person raid produces. My main system (which is in the shop currently) Is a AMD 64 4000+,2 gigs OcZ 2.3.2.5 ram, 74 gig raptor HD, Geforce 7800 GTX....so going back to the PC I used back in 2001 is a slight downgrade in performance.

Oh I was checking the technical specs on the mx4000 cards, nice and cheap but I do need a card that can run directx 9.0c to run WoW, Thank you for the suggestion though.

 

[NaOH]

you don't need a directx9.0 card to run wow

 

[Kartajan]

I beleive the best NVidia AGP is NVidia 7800GS.

not sure of the good gory $$$$ details- see your favorite online retailer?

 

[StrangerGuy]

Can you overclock that P4 1.8? (Assuming its a Northwood)

 

[SorrowsEnd]

Originally posted by: Kartajan
I beleive the best NVidia AGP is NVidia 7800GS.

That might be the best card around but it will be extremely limited in performance by the CPU.

Currently there is a vanilla 6800 inside the box that is completely bottlenecked by the cpu. I'm going to give that one to my girlfriend to run in her box that has a celeron 2.8g with 2 gig ram, she can get much more use out of the card.

I'm just looking for the best replacement to go with the p4 1.8 cpu.

Thank you.

 

[SorrowsEnd]

Originally posted by: StrangerGuy
Can you overclock that P4 1.8? (Assuming its a Northwood)

Its not overlocked in the slightest and still puts out more heat than any other pc ive ever used.

If I have my office door shut and the pc on the room goes up in temperature a good 10 degrees in an hour easily.

No overclocking will be going on with this cpu hehe.

Over the years I've had to replace the fan/heatsink on it twice. Over the years they just wear out trying to keep this cpu cooled down.

 

[iRONic]

Originally posted by: SorrowsEnd

I'm looking for the best nvidia chipset video card I can put in this pc that won't be completely bottlenecked by the processor.

6600GT just might do it. I have a friend who still uses a 9800 Pro/XP 2400+ rig to play WoW.

 

[Nick5324]

You want it to be nVidia based, DX 9, and less than a basic 6800 (as you are taking that out). iRONic says a 6600GT, which makes sense, but I can't see why you would take out a 6800 and then buy a 6600GT to replace it. Since you think the 6800 is overkill, you are looking to downgrade to the "best" card that won't be limited by the P4.... I would guess a FX5500 or Geforce 6200 *shrug*

 

[SorrowsEnd]

Originally posted by: Nick5324
I would guess a FX5500 or Geforce 6200 *shrug*

I know there have been quite a few problems with the FX5xxx series conflicting with WoW, those problems do not seem to occur with the 6xxx series.

I was looking up prices/specs of the 6200 series and they are a very low priced card. Most in the $50 range which is more than acceptable.

My only concern is that the 6200 cards do not have any type of fan on them. Will I melt the card running a graphically intensive game such as WoW?

Thank you everyone for all your input, it is much appreciated.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Originally posted by: SorrowsEnd

Originally posted by: Nick5324
I would guess a FX5500 or Geforce 6200 *shrug*

I know there have been quite a few problems with the FX5xxx series conflicting with WoW, those problems do not seem to occur with the 6xxx series.

I was looking up prices/specs of the 6200 series and they are a very low priced card. Most in the $50 range which is more than acceptable.

My only concern is that the 6200 cards do not have any type of fan on them. Will I melt the card running a graphically intensive game such as WoW?

Thank you everyone for all your input, it is much appreciated.

Nah, passively cooled video cards runs cool enough that they don't need any fans, so no worries there.

 

[Madwand1]

I found a 4400 Ti to be bottlenecked in WoW with an Athlon XP 2600+ (both the processor and video had to be improved to get a signficant improvement).

http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/10/04/vga_charts_iv/page13.html

Looking at this chart, the 4400 Ti would be somewhere between a FX 5700 and an FX 5800 -- maybe closer to an FX 5700 U. I guess that these would not give you worse performance in WoW than the 6800 with that processor.

If you look at prices, it sort of bottoms out around there -- a lot of cards come in around $80. (And at this price, the 6600 becomes tempting at $90.) I couldn't tell you what the minimum card would be, but I'd be reluctant to drop it down further until I had some good indications to save another $10-20 or so.

I also see that the FX 5700 is mentioned in the recommended minimums.

http://www.blizzard.com/support/wow/?id=aww0823p

 

[jdkick]

Originally posted by: iRONic
6600GT just might do it. I have a friend who still uses a 9800 Pro/XP 2400+ rig to play WoW.

I was thinking the same thing... 6600GT.