Need a new video card

[laurenmp2]

Hi, I play WoW and my computer is rather slow. I dont have the money to go buy a new computer at the moment so im thinking the best upgrade would be to upgrade my video card. What would be the best video card for the money right now? During raids, i normally get around 2-5 FPS and its just not liveable anymore. So anything that would boost it up to atleast 15 FPS would be good enough for me. Any help is appreciated.

 

[hunter315]

Full system specs including power supply, either make and model or current on the 12 volt rails. If the issue primarily occurs during raids its likely a CPU bottleneck rather than a GPU bottleneck, is it affected by lowering the detail settings?

 

[laurenmp2]

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 9/21/2009, 00:25:56
Machine name: HOWESTHAT
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP Pavilion 061
System Model: DF253A-ABA A250N
BIOS: BIOS Date: 05/08/03 22:15:37 Ver: 08.00.08
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.60GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 321MB used, 928MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce FX 5500
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0326&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A1
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: SyncMaster 753DF(T)/ 783DF(T), MagicSyncMaster AQ17DF
Monitor Max Res: 1280,1024
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.7519 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 5/16/2008 14:01:00, 6108928 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
Mini VDD Date: 5/16/2008 14:01:00, 6557408 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4066-11CF-EF7E-0B2000C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0326
SubSys ID: 0x00000000
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_B ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D
Deinterlace Caps: {212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{212DC723-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_MedianFiltering
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{212DC723-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_MedianFiltering
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{212DC723-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_MedianFiltering
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x32315659) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{212DC722-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{212DC723-3235-44A4-BD29-E1652BBCC71C}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_MedianFiltering
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run


I am sort of computer illiterate. If thats not enough information, just let me know and ill post more.

 

[D-Dog]

I used to play WoW... hunter is right here. When you go on a raid or go into one of the big cities you probably notice your FPS drops vs killing a monster or two in the middle of Borean Tundra 😛

This is because the game has to render the real-time movements of all the other real characters. This is very CPU intensive and WoW is not threaded to utilize (correctly) more than a single CPU which presents problems.

The second most important factor affecting FPS in cities/raids is you network bandwidth although you CPU will almost always bottleneck before this.

What CPU do you have right now?

 

[laurenmp2]

Yeah, I know my computer is older and obviously wont be the most amazing computer to have for gaming..but i want to see if i can make it somewhat playable. Combat in raids are what get me bad. Normally i dont have too many problems in cities. I have all the video settings turned to low but spell detail and have very few addons on. So i dont think that could make much more of a difference.

 

[D-Dog]

Looking at the specs I would say CPU bottleneck just b/c the P4's were really bad at hyper-threading and if wow is relying on that to split up AI rendering vs texture rendering vs real people then it may be slower than without HT on. The graphics card is showing its age too 😛 but I don't think that is the problem.

My brother used to play wow on a G4 1ghz 64mb V ram and he usually got around 10 FPS on Raids... worse specs than you.

I would say disable Hyperthreading and make sure you run full screen with everything turned down. (If you can disable hyperthreading on that computer, not all give the option in BIOS

 

[laurenmp2]

Yeah, i dont think i can disable it..and if i can i have no idea how. But so what your saying is, buying a new video card wont be much use? My computer just sucks? lol

 

[D-Dog]

It doesn't suck, just showing its age a little 🙂

I used to be able to get like 7 FPS on my 1.13ghz laptop which didn't even have a graphics card, but now after 3.1 especially I can't even load it on that machine.

Now the FPS even drops a bit on my current laptop which is a 2.2 C2D with an 8600gt inside it.

Rule of thumb is that the graphics card really only matter if you increase the resolution or the eye candy a lot... almost everything else is CPU bound

I bet when WoW first came out that machine ran it great b/c back then there weren't as many ppl on the servers and not as advanced textures, etc

 

[dirtmountain]

If this post in the HP forums is the same system as yours (HP Pavilion 061) it uses an AGP graphic card.
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/psg/board/message?board.id=Monitor&thread.id=1171

The problem is that to upgrade that computer for decent performance in WoW in large raids, in Dalaran or any other graphically demanding area you'd have to dump about $150- $200 into what is basically an outdated/obsolete system. You'd be better served by saving some money up and getting a newer system. An example is this Lenova for $379 with an Intel wolfdale E5200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883108208

That said there are some things you can do to improve your performance.
One thing you could do to improve performance in WoW is add RAM, you have 512MB now, replace it with 2- 1 GB sticks. Something along the lines of this G.Skill DDR 400 (PC3200) $58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231039
for graphic card a HD4650 would improve your performance by quite a bit and since it uses so little power wouldn't strain your current power supply. This HD4650 AGP at $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103080

Here's a graphic card power hierarchy chart that shows the relative power of different cards.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2404-7.html

WoW is very CPU/processor dependent though and just a new graphic card may not improve your performance by a huge amount.

 

[Ehsan w]

+1 ^
how about the 3850?
i'm not sure what the price is,
won't get bottlenecked by the E5200 either

 

[dirtmountain]

The 3850 is a good card and more powerful then the 4650, but it also uses much more power. The OP may have to get a new power supply to use the 3850 or a 4670 AGP card.

 

[jeffredo]

An HD 4650 AGP is about the max you should bother with on an older PC like yours. They are very power thrifty and relatively cheap. The Diamond HD 4650 dirtmountain linked would be fine.

Another 512MB of RAM would help as well (I believe your motherboard can only support 1GB total). It won't be a barn-burner even after that, but at your resolution you should be able to play WoW fine.