Upgrade options for a friend

[Oxaqata]

Hey Anandtech,
My friend is in need of an upgrade, he wants to play games like WoW and CS. His current system specs are

Pentium 4 2Ghz
256mb RAM
Geforce 2 64mb

He doesnt want to spend more than $150 (USD) but might go a bit more if needed.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Oxaqata
He doesnt want to spend more than $150 (USD) but might go a bit more if needed.

Any suggestions?

$150-$200 is his cap?
P4 2GHz, 256MB RAM, GF2 AGP system specs now?
Tell him he's living in a dream world... continue saving his money. :laugh:

 

[Oxaqata]

Whats the minimum for playing WoW? by the way his screen wont go anymore than 1024x768 and he doesnt mind low resolutions so much.

 

[Agentbolt]

How desperate is he? If he can find a 512 stick of RAM for ~50 bucks, he can spend the rest on maybe an Radeon 9800 or a 6600GT AGP. He'd be playing WoW with that, but not much else.

 

[Blain]

If his P4 2GHz is a Willamette, he may be running PC133, therefore he'd be limited by his chipset to 512MB total memory.

 

[Oxaqata]

We could have him the following system for his budget. How will it tackle WoW?
2ghz P4
512Mb RAM
7600GS (256)

Edit: BTW a Northwood

 

[Blain]

Your friend has an older CPU & MB. Make sure you know what type APG slot his MB has before buying a new AGP 8X card... That may not work

 

[Oxaqata]

Argh! Im so confused! This site says his GeForce 2 MX400 is Universal AGP and thats the 7600GS is Universal 1.5V AGP 3.0 Card. Is this compatible?

Edit: Ive managed to get his Mobo details from CPU-Z
ASUS P4B533VM REV 1
Intel i845G

( 1 x AGP 4X (1.5V only))

 

[Blain]

By the chart, it looks like the only MB slot that won't work is an AGP (3.3v).
Pull his AGP card out and look at the slot. You could also download and run Belarc Advisor on his machine to find out more specific information about his current hardware.

 

[Oxaqata]

Unfortunately im doing advising his upgrade by the net. Ill tell him to run Belarc.

 

[Blain]

No matter what he does, he really needs to have an understanding of the actual components in his rig.
Not so much for his own knowledge, but so you can make correct choices as to component limitations and compatibility.

 

[Oxaqata]

Ok, thanks for your help.

 

[engiNURD]

$110 - Chaintech GSA76GS GeForce 7600GS 256MB AGP 8x/4x ($130 - $20MIR)
$76 - Kingston ValueRAM 1GB (2x512MB) DDR-400 KVR400AK2/1GR
=======
$186 + tax and shipping (after rebate)

Sell the 256mb if you can find anyone to buy it on ebay. That will help offset the cost.

 

[Oxaqata]

Update:

He's bought 1gb of RAM but now has been told by the local PC store that a Geforce 4 would suit his needs. Am i correct in saying that a Geforce 4 is highly inadequate for WoW?

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: Oxaqata
Update:

He's bought 1gb of RAM but now has been told by the local PC store that a Geforce 4 would suit his needs. Am i correct in saying that a Geforce 4 is highly inadequate for WoW?

LOL, maybe if it was a GF4 ti series, but not MX. But even the ti's were dx8.

 

[Oxaqata]

with this system is WoW even gonna run on 800x600??
P4 2ghz
1gb RAM
geforce 4 (MX/Ti)

 

[Chapbass]

with a TI i would think it would...but with an MX your pushing it...


also depends on whereabouts in wow were talking about. i wouldnt go into a raid with that rig, but having lag in the big cities is bearable considering you dont need reflexes.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: Oxaqata
with this system is WoW even gonna run on 800x600??
P4 2ghz
1gb RAM
geforce 4 (MX/Ti)

i'm not sure how Ti's are but the MX definitely will not. i tried playing a prince of persia 1 demo and thief (i tried playing both like 3+ years ago) and neither of them worked. the card doesn't have shader or something like that to run the games either.

if he's really desperate, he can get one of those really cheap motherboards with agp8x or pci-e for less than $50, get a 7600GT (pci-e) for $100 or a 7600GS (agp) for $105AR. then spend the rest on ram (probably 512mb). this still wouldn't be something worth getting. i would have him wait til he has $275, preferably $300

 

[stevolution]

Another important question.... how much is the shop selling the geforce 4 for? Some of the shops charge like over $100 for geforce 4 ti which is totally ridiculous

 

[Oxaqata]

Theyre trying to sell it to him for $70AUD (54USD) which is quite exorbitant, when he can get something like a 6200 for the same price. Theyre also trying to sell him RAM for $70 more than a shop across the road from it :~

 

[Oxaqata]

Update:
He was mistaken, theye have an Nvidia 5200FX and a 6200 for sale and he refuses to buy online so these two cards are pretty much it. The 6200 IS better but he's a cheapskate and wants to know how WoW will run with the 5200. Can anyone who's had this card tell me how it will go?

 

[zagood]

Tell him it'll run horribly on either.

Less horribly on the other one.

And have him post on here himself if he's such a whiner.

-z

 

[Oxaqata]

LOL my thoughts exactly!
Ive told him to order online but he's very very stubborn and he's going to buy on of the two tommorow no matter what.

 

[Blain]

Let him make his mistakes. Sounds like that MAY BE the only way he'll learn.
But there are some people that don't even learn that way. :laugh: Just watch any episode of COPS and that's obvious.