Temporary video card upgrade, new system later

Jaywalh

Junior Member
Oct 21, 2009
2
0
0
Quick question for you all: I built my current PC about 5 years ago so its obviously damn near extinct but its still holding in there for what I want to do with it RIGHT NOW. I mainly do mundane office work with MS Office suite, browse the internet, and play World of Warcraft. It does everything fine, except doesnt really run WOW all that great anymore at anything over middle-low settings. Im currently working with an Athlon x64 3000 (1.8ghz, not OCd), ATI Radeon x800 GTO (with 256 DDR3; core @ 398; memory @ 493), 3 gb RAM, Windows XP pro.

I plan on building an entirely new system at some point before the end of this year, however Im unemployed right now (thanks US Army and your welcome for deploying...) and cant drop the $1,000 or so to build the ideal system. Im guessing that upgrading my video card will give me substantially better performance in WOW and some of the other older games I still pop in and out of that I have installed on here. So my question is whats the best real budget option for a video card that I could put in this system and run? Im willing to spend probably around $50 right now on this upgrade, which Im guessing will still give me a substantial more amount of performance. Or at this point is my CPU limiting even these low Req. older games? I seem to doubt it but thats why Im asking!

Thanks for the input, this is the best website ever and the only one I trust for all my computer questions and research ;)

Jay
 

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
x800gto with a 1.8 Athlon is a good match. Don't waste your money.
Overclock the x800gto and see if that helps.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,229
9,990
126
Your CPU is the limiting factor in WoW, for the most part. An X800 is pretty powerful, you would be hard-pressed to find anything more powerful for the $50 budget you've specified. Unless you go used, then you might be able to find an 8800GT or 4850 for that if you're lucky. But chances are, it won't noticably improve your WoW framerates. WoW is a very CPU-heavy game.
 

TemjinGold

Diamond Member
Dec 16, 2006
3,050
65
91
I would rough it out the few extra months. Anything you buy for ~$50 is a complete waste of money because you'll be throwing it out in a few months.
 

Jaywalh

Junior Member
Oct 21, 2009
2
0
0
OK guys thanks for the advice. Didnt realize WOW was going to be more CPU heavy, but now that I think about it it makes sense. I'll tough it out as I work on building my new rig.

J
 

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
PC Games Hardware made a really nice CPU comparison for WoW: WotLK. Your Athlon64 3000+ is quite a bit slower than the slowest Athlon X2 5000+ on that chart... And it ain't doing so hot with a GTX285 (GPU performance worth ~$250). So, basically, your CPU together with the X800 both factor in the bad WoW performance. I don't think there's any way to have a better experience by just spending $50.

I'd say try to put aside as much money as you can in the next few months and do a full upgrade. A nice Phenom II CPU and a Radeon HD5750 or GeForce GTS250 should give you an amazing jump once you get them. And shouldn't be too expensive.

(I'd actually advise dropping WoW in general, but that's not what you're asking about :p)