Old Lady needs help!WOW

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KrazyKat

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Jul 18, 2005
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:roll: Don't chuckle toooooo hard at this post, but I am a 56 yr. old mom who loves to play PC games and my 16 yr. old son and I just got into WOW-oh my! We have to upgrade and I can't build myself (can get someone but couldn't fix myself and need support). I need to spend bare minimum on a new tower. (500-700) I have a Dell 15"LCD screen which is ok. I found an ACER for around $600 with 1GB and decent video card plus Vista 1 step up from basic. I'd love to get something B _ _ _ _ _ _ , but can't afford it. If I was to put more RAM and a decent video card upgrade into what I have now, I might as well buy a new tower for the extra bucks. Also, is it best to wait a couple of mos for these new Core 2 chips? or in my case will it matter? I prob. will never play anything more demanding than WOW, but need wiggle room to upgrade later on. TA :)
 
Check out Dell's C521 desktop. In the customize options, subtract the monitor (-$160) and upgrade to the X1300 card ($60) for a decent $600 machine. This has an Athlon64 X2 3800+ which will run WOW just fine.

Does the Acer you found use a P4 chip? If so I would avoid it. While the Core2Duo's are nice, Athlon X2's are just fine, while Pentiums (all of them) are obsolete.

Jo
 
If you feel like you can put in a video card yourself. I would get that dell without upgrading the videocard to the x1300, then go buy a videocard from newegg and throw it in there. Maybe a 7600gt for $90. I think you'd be a lot more happy with that. I think the 7600gt will give you about twice the performance of the x1300.
 
Yeah I agree with featherstone that the 7600 GT would be better. Just check 2 things 1st:

1) That the computer with integrated graphics actually has a PCI-E x16 slot for a video card.

2) That adding a video card yourself does not void your service agreement with the manufacturer.

Jo
 
Could always go my route and get a Gateway GT5408 from Bestbuy. Will end up just out of your price range after taxes, but I can say first hand that it's upgradeable in a great way. Just out of the box you can get a free upgrade in the sense that the 533 mhz DDR2 RAM can be changed to 667 mhz.

If you do decide to get that computer and do that to the RAM, just be sure to change the CAS latency to 5 from the 4 it's on. Logically it would hurt things, but it makes things very smooth and zippy.

Honestly though, you could spend >$400 for a bargain basement computer, throw in a $50 video card, and it would probably perform World of Warcraft like a charm.


http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto/computer_customize_components.do

Change the video card to the other one and that should do fine for most things. Might want to up the RAM, too, I hear 512 with Vista isn't too good.
 
What is your current computer? I don't know what other games you play, but if you want to play WOW mainly, even an old GF4 ti4200 would get you great gameplay with that 15" display, for the price of $30 on ebay. If your current computer isn't too terribly old, it may be the best route.
 
If you are just playing WOW and are willing to spend 600-700 I would just get a cheap system that runs Vista at Wal-Mart or Bestbuy. Get one for about $400 without a monitor and then spend about $250 to get a 21" wide screen LCD monitor. You will enjoy the monitor and it will make more of a game impact then spending money on Processing and Graphics power you will not use to play WOW.

Try to get a HP or Compaq. These are the best bang for the Buck and have excellent service with them.

Enjoy. :)
 
This reminds me of my own story my 5 yr old son on my lap playing diablo in early 90's.

Then when he was 8 we played diable 2 for about 5 years - I was ranked in the top 50 players in the useast diablo hardcore ladder for 2 years.

Then universal bought blizzard and ruined it! All the warcraft diablo creators left - Hellgate London starts this summer - I have high expectations. Most diablo palyers went to WOW a few went to Guild wars.

O - I miss the old days! 200 baal runs per day!


Contact me i be glad to help you! I have alot of old parts and some used systems that are a great deal.

you need a good psu and graphics card -- you need the psu to power your graphics card. there are some great deals on ebay - if you email me i tell if its a good deal!

http://www.warpedsystems.net/contactus.html
 
I got a used gaming system I warranty for you for a year.

Its got a 2.4c in a hp case with lights and fans its a trade in -- its agp with a 6200LE - you need a better card

asus p4r800 - upgraded hp mobo
intel p4 2.4c
512 memory
6200le
windows home
80 gig drive
dvd and cd - 2 drives
fan controll
uv lights
window in a hp door - this is customized hp i did for someone

this is trade in on $2500 gaming system.


i will install fresh windows, spysweeper and avg - coa and cd

$200 you probably get twice that for the parts on ebay - only for nice older wow-gamer - its going on ebay in 1-2 days

if your not allowed to sell stuff here - email me and i will deleate this


I upgrade the psu for free - just the cost of the psu - so you can add a new video card.

this is the old agp - new agp cards are more money then pci-x. But you can get great cards on ebay really cheap and many nvidia cards have lifetime warranties - while the gpu is still being made. so you can get a good system for $400.

the new psu and a new used video card would cost about $200

well good luck!!!
 
thats awesome you and your son play wow. i wish my mom did that. but she dont lol. maybe one day i will get lucky and she will. if your son is good at computers you would go to newegg.com and build your self a nice little computer that would run wow just fine. because its really not hard to build a computer. and no i am no i am not trying to sound like a mr know it all or anything i am just trying to help her out. because i am only a kid still 21 :)
 
I'll toss in another company to think about, Cyberpower. I've bought a couple HPs through the years and I really couldn't recommend one. Too many cheap parts of unknown manufacture. You can get a Cyberpower with Vista premium and an AM2 X2 3800+ on your budget. Then you can upgrade later as you want and can afford.

I've had a Cyberpower for over a year now and the only parts that went bad were upgrade parts, not the original hardware, so from my experience, I think the company is ok.
 
Actually, since x64 doesn't appear to be going anywhere....
If you have a 478 chip sitting around and already have a stick of 512mb ram...
Click to expand...

I added the Vista Premium in case that was desired. Getting XP would be a bit cheaper and allow money for more ram or something else.
 
Consider the value of a project with your son to build your own. If you are computer literate enough to find this site and post, then you can do it. The hardest part is doing the research and making certain that the parts fit . There are several threads you can research on budget builds, and there are some sites that show you in pictures step by step how. There are many here who can help. Having done this, you will not need support in the future, and the value of having your son participate---priceless!
 
I was just talking about hardware actually. LOL P4's aren't 64bit. But you're right. Vista would be nice if her system can handle it...but in truth she should probably stick with XP. Who knows how Vista handles old games.
Click to expand...

Ok. I was thinking of an entire new computer, not a rebuild using her P4. The Cyberpower I mentioned would support Vista and give her an AM2 3800+ cpu which should suit her needs and budget with ease, or use XP if seh wanted to stick with that.
 
Consider the value of a project with your son to build your own. If you are computer literate enough to find this site and post, then you can do it. The hardest part is doing the research and making certain that the parts fit . There are several threads you can research on budget builds, and there are some sites that show you in pictures step by step how. There are many here who can help. Having done this, you will not need support in the future, and the value of having your son participate---priceless!
Click to expand...


For everything else --- there's mastercard. Haha, sorry I had to.


Yeah, I agree though. Simply the experience from building a computer with your son will be invaluable in the future, should you ever require upgrading your system to play new games. It essentially untethers you from those big companies and lets you buy only what you need.
 
:roll: Don't chuckle toooooo hard at this post, but I am a 56 yr. old mom who loves to play PC games and my 16 yr. old son and I just got into WOW-oh my! We have to upgrade and I can't build myself (can get someone but couldn't fix myself and need support). I need to spend bare minimum on a new tower. (500-700) I have a Dell 15"LCD screen which is ok. I found an ACER for around $600 with 1GB and decent video card plus Vista 1 step up from basic. I'd love to get something B _ _ _ _ _ _ , but can't afford it. If I was to put more RAM and a decent video card upgrade into what I have now, I might as well buy a new tower for the extra bucks. Also, is it best to wait a couple of mos for these new Core 2 chips? or in my case will it matter? I prob. will never play anything more demanding than WOW, but need wiggle room to upgrade later on. TA :)
Click to expand...


e4400 plus killer p5n mobo = $250 running dual core 2.8ghz - add 1 gig ram and a good 700 watt (silverstome psu) is $250 - dvd, floppy, hdd is $100 - nice case $40 parts are $600 or less -- $100 to build it find a local guy - buy a low end temporary video card x1650 or 7600 are $100 (these cards will game find at low settings)

use your old xp coa, total price is $800. then add a nice $200 video card in few months - the system will work for years.


You could also get a used gaming system off ebay or from a local builder with 1-2ghz ram a dual core chip if possible, a good 600w+ psu for upgrading the video card. Just get some advice to make sure its good - there are so many nice systems cheap on ebay everyday.


You do not need vista save money and skip it. Why would you want vista? - it will slow down the gaming - if you buying a budget system to play wow you want xp. (vista needs more resources and it does anything for you)

she said tower: Why would you buy a lap top from hp/wallmart? - with all the junk software and only 512 mb ram it will not even game well out of the box - the x700 is a very poor graphics card. Not to mention that blazing fast 1.7ghz chip.



The problem with site is way too many IT amti people not enough real tech savoy gamers - almost everyone that I have conversed on this site is an IT person who runs linux on a amti system.
 
OK-SO BUILD ME A PC FOR GAMING around 600. Be kind I've only been at this for 2 days now 😳

I guess I would go with newegg/also download "How to make your own computer for DUMMIES" 😛

Let me know if I'm missing something or if things aren't compatable or upgrade where needed for the budget! :lol:

Here's what I got so far:

CASE
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
99.00 + 15.99 SH
OR
Rosewill R604TBLK-N 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Computer Case+450W Power Supply
59.99 + 14.81

MOBO
ASUS M2N Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 430 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
80.99 + 6.13

VIDEO CARD
EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
109.99 + 5.64

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor
109.00 free sh

RAM
Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory
122.99 + 4.99


HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
89.99 free sh

DVD burner
LITE-ON Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM IDE Burner - OEM
28.99 + 5.64

Monitor (tell me what and where for the next two items)
Samsung SyncMaster 740B, 17", or a 940B, 19" LCD around 150.00

Keyboard
25.00

AND WITH ALL ELSE THERE IS MASTER CARD if it wasn't maxed out...kat
 
That's a nice list. I'd just recommend couple of changes.

Get rid of the floppy drive. It's a waste of $7.

Try to get a SATA DVD burner. Newegg probably has couple of 16x LiteOn SATA burners. There's no performance benefit, but if you go SATA, then you can completely get rid of the PATA cables.
 
Let me know if I'm missing something or if things aren't compatable or upgrade where needed for the budget!

Here's what I got so far:

CASE
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
99.00 + 15.99 SH

MOBO
ASUS M2N Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 430 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
80.99 + 6.13

VIDEO CARD
EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
109.99 + 5.64

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor
109.00 free sh

RAM
Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory
122.99 + 4.99


HDD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
89.99 free sh

DVD burner
LITE-ON Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM IDE Burner - OEM
28.99 + 5.64

Monitor (tell me what and where for the next two items)
Samsung SyncMaster 740B, 17", or a 940B, 19" LCD around 150.00

Keyboard
25.00

AND WITH ALL ELSE THERE IS MASTER CARD if it wasn't maxed out...kat

Last edited by KrazyKat on Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:21 am; edited 2 times in total
 
Here is a simple and but strong system at $600

HP Pavilion Media Center a1610n Desktop PC Athlon 64 X2 4200+ $450 + $30 shipping
http://shop4.outpost.com/ShopCartServlet?purchase=5096475

Now add a video card:
EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT $110 + $6 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130062

Total $600

You mentioned you could go to $700. So if possible, to the 1GB of PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM already in the system, add a second for about another $80.

Under $700 - no work other than installing video card and memory - and you have workhorse.
 
OK, you're too fast for me, I'll check it out.

CASE
I just saw this as a comparison for 99.00
LIAN LI PC-A05B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811112130
here's your pick
http://www.chiefvalue.com/product-_-productdetails.cv_-_linkid--111&item--11-119-109
Antec Sonata II is Smartpower not Truepower-don't know what either really means but U prob. do.

MOBO
don't think I need nor can I afford dual core/should I tweek up what I got now?
What does overclocking mean-can't say that I will or won't since I don't know what it is, HA! :lol:

RAM
yea I'll change it cause it's dual channel yet 2 512's
should I go single stick 1 GB or 2 sticks if I can afford it?what's the dif cept 10 dalla
2 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141308
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144157
or go 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820134014
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820134009

DVD BURNER
this better and does it get rid of PATA cables cause I don't know what they R :roll:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106047

MOUSE/Keyboard
I have a Logitech cordless mouse and I do need a keyboard, but not the really old style.

As far as DX10 I thought that was a download upgrade, do you actually buy cards for that too? TTTTOOO MMMUUUCCCHHH INFORMATION to know... :cry:

I have only been looking at newegg so far.
still tweeking -I'll Be Back... :wink:
 
I don't know if this has been pointed out yet, but there are some issues with performance of games in Windows Vista, not to mention the lack of nVidia drivers for Vista (is that still a probem?) My family just got a Dell with Vista (the C521 w/ an X2 3800+ and X1300), and even simple Flash games run crappily. I honestly wouldn't recommend getting a Vista computer for at least another couple of months.

To KrazyKat: If you just need a computer that works and will run WoW, forget building and get a prebuilt system so that when stuff breaks, they, not you, pay for it. Any system with a dual-core CPU, 1-2GB RAM, 160+ GB HDD, and a standalone graphics card will fit your needs.
 
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