02-04-2005, 02:02 AM
Looking for some advice from the game hardware pros here.
I'm currently running WOW on a 2.5 years "old" computer system with the following specs:
Processor: Pentium 4 2GHz
RAM: 512 MB
Graphics Card: Geforce 4 Ti 4200 with 64 MB graphics memory
Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional
For WOW, I'm currently using its "medium" graphics settings and the Geforce 4 card has 2x Anti-Aliasing and medium Mip-Mapping detail on. The performance at 1024 x 768 x 32 is overall relatively good so far. However, as soon as more objects become visible, especially in forests with lots of trees and leaves, performance (graphics and loading of new content) gets very heavy with lots of harddisk access. Bat flights over detailed landscapes end up in a slow slide show.
I would like to see an improvement for this beautiful game but don't want to invest more than about 100 Euros in my "old" system anymore. So, what would you hardware pros recommend from the following two options to get significantly better graphics performance with more detail?
1.) New Graphics Card "Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB Advantage DVI" for 99 Euros
or
2.) Upgrading System Memory from 512 to 1024 MB for about 80 Euros
I can live with the fact that loading of new area content (as soon as it becomes visible) takes more time with 512 than with 1024 MB RAM, but am not sure if upgrading system memory from 512 to 1024 MB RAM would increase the graphics performance of my Geforce 4 Ti 4200 with 64 MB in any way (through additional texture memory in the system RAM). Also, how big would be the graphics performance increase (in %) that can be expected if I upgrade the Geforce 4 Ti 4200 with 64 MB to the Radeon ATI Radeon 9600 Pro Advantage with 128 MB? My guess is that the graphics card update would be the far better choice, but am not quite sure. It should also be noted that the system memory upgrade would mean buying an additional 512 MB RAM module of the old "PC 266" class, which is outdated these days.
I'm currently running WOW on a 2.5 years "old" computer system with the following specs:
Processor: Pentium 4 2GHz
RAM: 512 MB
Graphics Card: Geforce 4 Ti 4200 with 64 MB graphics memory
Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional
For WOW, I'm currently using its "medium" graphics settings and the Geforce 4 card has 2x Anti-Aliasing and medium Mip-Mapping detail on. The performance at 1024 x 768 x 32 is overall relatively good so far. However, as soon as more objects become visible, especially in forests with lots of trees and leaves, performance (graphics and loading of new content) gets very heavy with lots of harddisk access. Bat flights over detailed landscapes end up in a slow slide show.
I would like to see an improvement for this beautiful game but don't want to invest more than about 100 Euros in my "old" system anymore. So, what would you hardware pros recommend from the following two options to get significantly better graphics performance with more detail?
1.) New Graphics Card "Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB Advantage DVI" for 99 Euros
or
2.) Upgrading System Memory from 512 to 1024 MB for about 80 Euros
I can live with the fact that loading of new area content (as soon as it becomes visible) takes more time with 512 than with 1024 MB RAM, but am not sure if upgrading system memory from 512 to 1024 MB RAM would increase the graphics performance of my Geforce 4 Ti 4200 with 64 MB in any way (through additional texture memory in the system RAM). Also, how big would be the graphics performance increase (in %) that can be expected if I upgrade the Geforce 4 Ti 4200 with 64 MB to the Radeon ATI Radeon 9600 Pro Advantage with 128 MB? My guess is that the graphics card update would be the far better choice, but am not quite sure. It should also be noted that the system memory upgrade would mean buying an additional 512 MB RAM module of the old "PC 266" class, which is outdated these days.
"Man only plays when in the full meaning of the word he is a man, and he is only completely a man when he plays." -- Friedrich von Schiller