02-15-2005, 07:41 PM
DarkCrown,Feb 15 2005, 02:17 PM Wrote:I have a 1700MHz P4 system with 512 Meg of memory and a GeForce FX5200 video card with 128 Meg of memory. I'm playing WoW at 1024x768 with all the video settings at a minimum, and I'm lucky to get 35FPS standing still, alone in a deserted corner of the game. In large raids it drops as low as 8FPS, which is horrible. These numbers seem low to me.
I know that doubling the memory would help, but I was wondering if anyone knows of anything else I could do to improve my framerate. My only remaining thought is that it may be the flatscreen monitor, but I don't know enough about computers to know if that's reasonable.
-DarkCrown
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Your video card sucks. It's as simple as that. It's not worth the PCB board it was printed on. If you have anything less than a 5600, you wasted your money. Period.
Save up $250 and get a GeForce 6800 (plain). Or, if that's out of your budget, save up $150 and get a 6600. A 6800 will do you fine, although you'll find the card to be CPU limited, so it may not be worth the money to you if you're not going to upgrade your processor anytime soon.
I have a small upgrade lined up for myself, $250, that gets me a new motherboard and processor to go with my CPU-limited video card (a GeForce 6800). My planned upgrade should, in theory, allow me to play WoW at max settings without any hiccups. Although, I also have a way better video card than you and double the RAM (1 Gig).
Your CPU is too low for a 6800, but getting the card will still help, especially if you keep the settings on minimum. Your RAM is a bit low overall, but should be sufficient to play the game with minimal impact on performance. Your video card is, as I said before, absolute crap. It's BARELY manageable for watching a DVD, let alone playing a highly graphics-intensive video game like WoW. Ditch it the second you can, and get at LEAST a 6600 (although a 6600 GT, 6800, or 6800 GT would be more preferable in the long run). And, finally, you'll want to look into upgrading your CPU before long, as that little power will bottleneck the graphics card (in other words, the CPU won't be able to send data to the graphics card fast enough for the card to utilize its full potential; imagine driving a Ferrari in rush-hour - loads of horsepower, but no room to gallop).
Check out the topic on RAM, Graphics Cards, and WoW and you'll see what I mean. Explore that thread and you'll find lots of good advice, which I basically summed up for you.
CPU: $160
Motherboard: $80 - $100
Graphics Card: $120 - $250
RAM: $50 - $100
Total System Upgrade: $410 - $610
If you can't budget it all at once, do it one at a time. First, video card. Then, some new RAM. Finally, throw in a new CPU (and motherboard, if needed), and voila! A virtually brand-new system without spending a fortune. And it will easily least you the next 2 years without a need for an upgrade, if you do it right.
Roland *The Gunslinger*