Upgrading My Graphics Card

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imported_Indecision

Junior Member
Dec 14, 2007
21
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0
Hey all,

I am in the market to purchase a new graphics card because I think mine isn't doing the job anymore. I'm a casual gamer who is looking for a reasonable priced card that will show improvements in the following games: World of Warcraft, Battlefield 2, and Starcraft 2 (when it comes out). As of right now, I get terrible FPS in both World of Warcraft (average 15fps) and BF2 (average 18fps).

This is my setup right now:

Mobo: ABIT KN8-SLI Socket 939
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 3800+
RAM: 3GB
Graphics Card: EVGA 7800 GT 256MB PCI Express x8
HDD games are on: WD Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM SATA 1.5Gb/s
Power Supply: Antec Neo Power 500w
OS: Windows XP SP2

This setup for the games I play above isn't giving me favorable framerates, which I'm assuming is the outdated graphics card(?).

So I was looking online and I found this deal on Newegg, and was wondering if replacing my 7800 GT with a 8800 GTS 320MB

I don't plan on playing Crysis or anything graphically intense games like that. I'm really only going to stay within the games I mentioned above.

Thank you for any help or advice on this issue (I want to order ASAP, I'm dying to get better FPS)

-Ind
 
Jax Omen

Jax Omen

Golden Member
Mar 14, 2008
1,654
2
81
A) your GPU isn't the issue for WoW, at least. My girlfriend gets 30-60FPS, depending on population, on a 7600GS. And her CPU is slower than yours (albeit single-core) and she has less RAM. She's running it at 1440x900.

B) DON'T get the 320MB 8800GTS. It was a hell of a deal when it came out. Nowadays, you can get an 8800GS or 9600GT for comparable amounts of money. They're both better choices. 8800GS is at least as fast and less power-hungry/heat-creating, and 9600GT trounces it.
 
Jax Omen

Jax Omen

Golden Member
Mar 14, 2008
1,654
2
81
Well, the first question is what resolution are you on? If you're on 1920x1200, Kitty's experience is pretty meaningless. If you're at 1280x1024, you should be hitting similar performance to her.

I don't know if WoW is multithreaded. If it isn't, her CPU may very well be performing better than yours, due to the higher single core clock.



But don't let what I said stop you from upgrading to an 8800GS or a 9600GT. They're both a very significant jump over what you currently have. Just please don't waste your money on a G80 GPU now. I got mine a year ago, when it was the best value/dollar that existed.

And please don't take my CPU comments to mean you need to upgrade your CPU. It's not worth upgrading the CPU in a socket 939 system. Waste of money. You'd be better off saving for an AM2 rig if you're AMD-bound, or a Core2 Duo if you're not brand-conscious.
 
Jax Omen

Jax Omen

Golden Member
Mar 14, 2008
1,654
2
81
In my experience, 3D games in windowed mode run HORRIBLY. That may be your problem.

Hopefully someone else can come in here and tell us if you're CPU limited or GPU limited. If it's a CPU problem, the GPU really wouldn't improve anything.
 
Jax Omen

Jax Omen

Golden Member
Mar 14, 2008
1,654
2
81
Nonono, I told you to do more research before you throw money at the problem.

Unfortunately, I don't know WoW's capabilities enough to say that you're CPU limited. That's just my guess.

As for BF2, I've never played it, but if you're not maxing it out, a new GPU would at least let you turn the eyecandy up the rest of the way.

For both, maybe consider dropping some settings and see if it gets more playable? If lowering graphics settings doesn't meaningfully affect the framerate, you're CPU limited.
 
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imported_Indecision

Junior Member
Dec 14, 2007
21
0
0
I just tested lowering all the graphical settings and doing full screen, my FPS has jumped greatly. I'm now getting average of 35-40 FPS in areas I was getting 12-15 FPS
 
Jax Omen

Jax Omen

Golden Member
Mar 14, 2008
1,654
2
81
Hmm... Now the real question is... why is your GPU bottlenecking you so badly? My girlfriend has a significantly weaker GPU and it runs better.

My thoughts:

A) Driver issues? You said you had the latest, though.
B) Heat? How hot is the GPU running when it starts slowing down badly?
C) Fluke? If you set the settings back and leave it fullscreen, does the framerate die again?

Also, what settings were you using in WoW? I turned everything up all the way on Kitty's computer (aside from AA/AF, but I don't think the game offers those and I don't usually mess with driver settings for those).
 
Jax Omen

Jax Omen

Golden Member
Mar 14, 2008
1,654
2
81
Hmm. I think we need someone more knowledgeable than me in here to answer you :p
 
surfsatwerk

surfsatwerk

Lifer
Mar 6, 2008
10,110
5
81
In my experience WoW is very much CPU and RAM bound. I upgraded to what I have now and can get around 100fps, dipping down to 65fps on a busy day in Shat.

That's at 1400x900.
 
L

Lithan

Platinum Member
Aug 2, 2004
2,919
0
0
Your cpu isnt bottlenecking you. Wow is 4 or 5 years old. It can probably run on <1000mhz procs. I'd guess you've got something chewing up ram. Maybe even some kind of malware. 3 gigs is plenty of ram and 7800gt is plenty of card for WoW. Something's not right.

That said, yah 320meg gts is bad buy unless ya get it <$75
 
C

Cuular

Senior member
Aug 2, 2001
804
18
81
Yes, WoW and certain other MMO's are somewhat CPU bound. They did that to make the game playable on older systems that don't have the latest and greatest graphics cards. Make the CPU do work that could be offloaded to newer GPU's, and the game will run on older systems. With your CPU being 2.0Ghz speed, that is a hold back for CPU intensive games. Since WoW doesn't make use of multiple CPU's, having a faster single core will net higher frames.
 
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