Advice on getting a new graphics card?

[isaacsquared]

Well, unfortunately, I've fallen into the deep dark abyss known as World of Warcraft. My computer did fine up until I hit the expansions, now it's pretty lacking. I do not really know anything about PC hardware, but I think I need a better graphics card (sometimes my framerate goes below 10... blech!). Anyway, system specs so somebody who knows PC's can make sure the graphics card is really the issue:

3 GB DDR3 system memory
AMD Athlon 2 processor, runs at 2.82 GHz
NVidia GeForce 6150 SE integrated video chip
500 GB HD, mostly free
runs Windows 7 home premium 64 bit

I'm fairly certain the video card is what needs to change, please make some suggestions. I'm not looking to spend a whole lot, but at the same time I have no idea what a video card costs. Thanks for any help on that large question!

[mason]

I would not spend more than 150 dollars; you can receive an excellent card for around 90 dollars, the radeon 4850. Once a top tier card that still performs admirably and will you to play wow with great graphics and smooth experience. Or you can wait a month until the inevitable price decrease for all graphic cards following nvidia's introduction of it's new graphic card.


Here is a great guide to help make your decision:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/bes ... ,2569.html

You can open the motherboard manual or download it to avoid opening the case.

[Hobie-wan]

First you need to see if you have an available slot in the PC for an upgrade. You need to see if you have a PCI Express x16 (PCIe) slot free. Don't worry about the colors, but see here for what they look like. In that picture, the back of the computer would be to the left. Note that the notches are toward the back of the PC, as opposed to older PCI slots where the notch it to the right.

[Anayo]

I put my PC together last year. I knew nothing about putting PC's together prior to it. I'm still no expert, but I did learn a little, so I'll tell you what I'd recommend myself if I could go back and do it again.

I don't remember the type of graphics card I got other than it's an NVidia and has 512 MB of memory. It cost about $140 and I can play Fallout 3, Bioshock, and Crysis at high settings (not "highest", though, cause then the framerate goes south).

First make sure your motherboard has a PCi Express slot, cause that's what's required these days to run these kinds of graphics.

Make sure your power supply has enough juice for the video card you want. I know that sounds silly, but when I got my video card in the mail it was a monstrous brick I could have killed someone with and required two power splitters to feed it the electricity it needs to run.

Other than that, if you just buy something that's in line with the recommended tech specs for the WoW expansions you want to play, you probably can't go wrong. Maybe read a lot of reviews as well. (I bought mine cause so many people on tiger direct gave it a good review. It's served me well so far.)

[Ziggy]

As Hobie said, see what free slot you have in your computer. If you have integrated graphics, there really should be a free slot unless you have a low end budget PC. More over, the graphics card is definitely what you want to upgrade. Integrated graphics are usually very basic and not for gaming. Also, it shares (or steals, rather) your system's memory.

I'm not exactly sure what the integrated chip counterparts are in comparison, but a GeForce 6100 stand alone card would be very weak.

What kind of computer do you have? Post the brand and model and I (or some one else if they get to it before me) will look up exactly what you have and can better recommend a compatible graphics card.

[vlame]

u need a new cpu/mobo. and v card.

[emwearz]

u need a new cpu/mobo. and v card.

Agreed
If you get a semi decent card, you will be bottlenecked by your CPU by quite a lot, even my old 8800GT was bottlenecked by aE6300 @ 3.2ghz.

[puke_face]

You do not need a new cpu/mobo. The system specs are fine except for the video card. Any kind of integrated card is going to be of lesser quality than a peripheral card. I play WoW and all I'm running is a laptop with Intel duo core 2.8ghz processor with 2 gigs of ram, and a Nvidia 8600 video card, running Windows XP. I don't experience any lag whatsoever, except for when it's on the server side.

[Niode]

We need to know what kind of expansion slots are available. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will only have an AGP slot available. Either that or it's a laptop, if that's the case you're SOL. Time to upgrade.

For AGP cards the Radeon 4650 1GB AGP card will be more than suitable for running World of Warcraft. (my Radeon x1600xt in my macbook pro can run WoW on full settings with no slowdown except in places where there is lots and lots of players, but that's more to do with network lag than graphics)

For PCI-e The best bang for buck card is the Radeon 5770 but that will be total overkill for the rest of the system the PCI-e version of the Radeon 4650 will be enough for WoW.

If you wanted to play any modern games you're going to have to upgrade the entire system, the processor is very underpowered will severely bottleneck any graphics card you put in the system.

[Hatta]

I play WoW and all I'm running is a laptop with Intel duo core 2.8ghz processor with 2 gigs of ram, and a Nvidia 8600 video card, running Windows XP.

Yes. You'd be surprised at what you can do with an 8600. If WoW is all you want, that will be plenty.