Looking for Decent card to play wow.

[Kevinsilhouette]

Hello, I'm looking to purchase a graphics card. But, I'm not sure whats a good card to play Wow with. Currently I Just want to Upgrade the Graphics settings on WOW to max. Any suggestions would be nice! Ive never purchased one before so I'm lost because there are so many to chose from.

Here are my specs.

PCI Express Slot.

AMD ATHLON II x2 215 Processor, 2700 Mhz, 2 Core (s)

3 Gigabytes DDR2

Windows 7 x64

300 Watt PSU * I know ill need to upgrade it*.

World of Warcraft: Specs

DirectX : 9.0c
Operating System : Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor : Intel Pentium 4 @ 1.3 GHz / AMD Athlon XP 1500+
RAM : 1 Gb
Video Card : nVidia GeForce FX 5500 / ATI Radeon 9500

 

[hybridfan]

ATI 5750 at a pinch a 5770 but dude you really need a better PSU

 

[Zepher]

isn't WoW CPU intensive as well, so getting a better card may not get the improvement you are looking for.

 

[Hopalong X]

You will need at least a 700W PSU.

Mike

 

[Kevinsilhouette]

@zepher its a 5+ year old game. I get 50 FPS with wow on medium settings =D. I know my Comp isn't the best, But i know it will play wow on high to max with a decent card. Thats all I'm looking for! I really don't play any other games than that and a few other Sim games from a few years ago.

@Hoplongx do you have a recommendation for a PSU?

 

[Hopalong X]

Well to start the model number of your PC is not on Compaq website.
Presario/cq5010f
They have a 5100 series listed. The reason is to check to see what will actually might fit.
Most 700-800W won't fit in my old HP case. Might not yours either.

OCZ and Corsair are good brands and you can usually find one on sale here.
Newegg.com - Power Supply, ATX Power Supply, Uninterruptible Power Supply, DC Power Supply

Also the design is a bit different on fan exhaust on many prebuilts so you need the right upgrade.
Probably slide by with a 600W.

Need the right model # first.

 

[Kevinsilhouette]

Sorry my bad it was 5210F not (5010f) I updated my info!
Here is the Dimensions

Product Form Factor Tower
Width 6.7 in
Depth 16.8 in
Height 14.8 in
Weight 20.9 lbs

 

[Hopalong X]

Okay.

Downloaded the manual. It has a fan on each end or a single on the exhaust/ rear of case.
Probably a single on rear.

I was looking thru Newegg while you were getting the model number. There are no major brands with this style in 500-600W. I will post a few candidates here in a few minutes for you to check out.
I'll disqualify those with bad Newegg customer reviews. If I wouldn't have it neither should you.
So I'm going to look as if I was replacing the one in mine or my parents HP.

Back in a few.

 

[Kevinsilhouette]

Thanks so much for your kind help =D

 

[Hopalong X]

$90 Measurents under detail tabs. So at some point you want to pull the side cover and measure your PSU.
Should fit though.

Newegg.com - Antec earthwatts EA500 500W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply

So far only thing that isn't iffy brand. 500W is biggest unless you want iffy brand.
Also has video card plugs.
Still looking.


Best deal $75 2 12v rails and 2 6pin plugs not a biggy since you won't SLI but decent set up. I'd order it today if I needed it for mine or my parents PC.
Check out the Feedback tab. 19- 5 stars and 1- four star.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371035

 

[Kevinsilhouette]

I have a quick question before adding this to solved. When you buy a graphics card and it says you need a certain PSU amount. Do you add the amount your computer has now plus the amount the card recommends for deciding the amount of PSU to purchase to run the card and computer ?

 

[Hopalong X]

They should give you a suggested total for the PC. I can check it out. Cooler Master has an excellent PSU
wattage calculator.

Well Cooler Master says 306W with a ATI 5800. Suggestions are 350-400W.

Seems a bit slim on watts. Personally I'd go with the 500W.
It will never overload it.

I can see if I find something closer to a 450W if you want.

430W $44 Has one 6pin for the graphics card.
Newegg.com - Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX12V V2.2 Intel Core i7 Compliant Dual 80mm Fans Full Cable Sleevings Power Supply

430W $60 Has one 6 pin for graphics card.
Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply


$75 500W 2 12v rails and 2 6pin plugs not a biggy since you won't SLI but decent set up. I'd order it today if I needed it for mine or my parents PC.
Check out the Feedback tab. 19- 5 stars and 1- four star.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371035

Well these three are the best choices for brand and customer ratings.
They all should do you well.

I initially thought it would need more wattage than it turned out.

Mike

 

[Kevinsilhouette]

So I found this card I'm hoping will do decently. Its XFX - ATI RADEON HD 4650 1GB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card. A lot of people have commented saying they use it for World of Warcraft and love it. Says 400W or greater PSU. So my question is, do you think its a decent card ? because I'm not to sure a $150+ one will make to much of a difference since World of Warcraft is not high demanding as these Direct 10 and 11 games these days!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/XFX+-+ATI+RADEON+HD+4650+1GB+DDR2+PCI+Express+Graphics+Card/9254585.p?id=1218069451494&skuId=9254585

 

[Darician]

I use the Radeon HD 4650 with a 240W PSU in an HP Compaq dc7100SFF and it runs just fine. You should have no problem running it on your current equipment.

 

[Hopalong X]

Thanks Darician.

There was discussion to upgrade to 5750 which brought about the bigger PSU.

Well Kevin I guess with Darcian statement and a 4650 your good.

If you go to the 5700 at least you know what you need for a PSU.


The card itself I don't know specifically?

With your CPU and Ram it should be well balanced.
Nothing wrong with ATI.

Mike

 

[Kevinsilhouette]

@ Darician. Are you able to play games on decent to better settings with the 4650 ?

@hopalong x thanks so much for your help!

 

[Hopalong X]

Darician left the thread. Look at the bottom left to see who is viewing.

You are welcome. At least we both learned something today. LOL

Not really any help on the video card but I leave you with options if you go with the 5700 series.
Not sure you need to though.

Take care good luck and see you around here on seven forums I hope- just for the heck of it.
Mike

 

[Darician]

@ Darician. Are you able to play games on decent to better settings with the 4650 ?

@hopalong x thanks so much for your help!

Decent settings, yes. Although the PC I use it on bottlenecks the card but on the PC listed in your specs, you should get quite decent performance. Even a GT 220 could also do decently or Radeon HD 5570.

 

[Joshatdot]

I'll just chime in here with my WoW experience with 4 GFX cards.

My first experience with WoW was on my much older system: athlon xp 3200+, 1gb ram, and radeon 9800 Pro 128 .. on a 1280x1080 CRT .. low to medium settings

2nd experience is with my current rig with the onboard GF8200 .. man it sucked, ultra low settings 1024x768

3rd was the GF 9600GT OC @ 1920x1080, I set everything to High, but kept the ground clutter and ground clutter quality to low. This was pretty darn good .. but n Dal my rig chugged to 10~15FPS (mostly CPU intensive, rather than GPU)

4th .. I just installed my new Asus GTS 450 OC .. it runs quieter, cooler (so far still breaking/burning in). In Dal, its abit better 15~25 FPS .. so it looks like I'll need to upgrade my CPU if I want better FPS in Dal.

Anywho the 9600GT OC and the GTS 450 are running perfectly fine on my Antec EA-430D PSU.