suggested upgrades for eMachines T6524 for WoW

[tynopik]

http://www.emachines.com/produ...oducts.html?prod=T6524

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Processor (512KB L2 cache, 2.20GHz, 2000MHz FSB)
1024MB DDR
ATI Radeon Xpress 200 (PCI-Express)
Up to 128MB DDR shared video memory
PCI-Express (PCI-E x16) slot available for upgrade
XP MCE 2005

The trick is it's for someone who lives a ways away and are only moderately tech savvy (probably ok putting in a video card, not sure about a cpu)

i don't have a specific budget but they're looking for something cheap and frankly it's not worth spending a lot on that machine anyways

i think they're mainly using it for WoW at 1680x1050

my initial thought:
$40 2GB DDR400 RAM
$53 / $33AR ASUS EAH4650/DI/512MD2/A(LP)

is it even worth upgrading?
is there a better bang for the buck upgrade?

 

[SonicIce]

where do you get 2gb of ddr400 for $40?

 

[tynopik]

http://www.1stchoicememory.com...g/products.asp?ID=2195

now that i look at it, it says "VIA & SIS Chipset Based Boards" so maybe that wouldn't be a good choice after all

 

[Krynj]

This RAM will work in that board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...pk=KVR400X64C3AK2%2f2G

 

[tynopik]

after more digging, it looks like it should have 2 slots free (4 total), so they could just get a 2x512 kit for $34

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: tynopik

my initial thought:
$40 2GB DDR400 RAM
$53 / $33AR ASUS EAH4650/DI/512MD2/A(LP)

is it even worth upgrading?
is there a better bang for the buck upgrade?

That's a decent path and its the route I'd go if I had no alternative. However, that is nearly a 100 dollars for life support. It'll run most areas in WoW fine, but in more intensive areas its going to lag.

You might be better off looking at the Dell Outlet store for a cheaper Inspiron 546 or 537 and slapping in that same video card. I've seen the 546s with X3 Phenoms and the 537s with Pentium Dual Cores in the 300 to 400 dollar price range.