vid card or ram?

[Sabb]

Ever since i got my computer from my mom ( as "payment" for borrowing $600 from me) about 2 years ago; i have had no more than 25 fps in WOW and during LFR i get 5 fps. My mom built this computer fro her web design from TigerDirect. Like most moms she knows nothing about computers. What she did was just pick out parts and said " OOO that looks nice. OH and that too. GASP! that has shiny lights, MUST... BUY... NOW!" So she got the parts and one of her friends who works on computers for the government put it together. To this day she swears up and down that this computer is worth the $1300 she paid for it, BUT; all the parts she got are outdated about 2-4 years. When i try to tell her about something that is wrong such as; the CPU is too hot, the video card stops working, or the computer is slow, she reply's " its all your fault your on it all the time that computer is worth $1300 there is no way there should be any problems with it,ITS ALL YOU!, and if you don't like it then throw it away"

WOW I'm getting off topic now. Anyway to get more fps in WOW would i need to upgrade my vid card or my ram or is there anything else i need to upgrade?
CURRENT VID CARD > GeForce 9500 GT (EVGA)
UPGRADING VID CARD > Radeon HD 6870 ( I'm getting this anyway unless anyone can find me a better one under $200)
RAM > 4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 401MHz
CPU > AMD Athlon II X4 630
MOTHERBOARD > Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA785GM-US2H (Socket M2)
HARD DRIVE > 977GB Western Digital WDC WD10EARS-00Y5B1 ATA Device (SATA)

[Fuzzykins]

Do you have a specific budget?

[counterhero]

Ram's fine, cpu is fine, It's the video card. I run wow on ultra with a e7200 oc'd to 3.4 and a 4870 and i get 50-100 fps with shadows down in lfr 25m's

[Fuzzykins]

Ram's fine, cpu is fine, It's the video card. I run wow on ultra with a e7200 oc'd to 3.4 and a 4870 and i get 50-100 fps with shadows down in lfr 25m's

Lol, what? There is no way. Resolution is also sort of relevant. I can claim to run any game out today on integrated graphics on an 800x600 display. That just won't fly. You're not running it at that settings, there's no argument or dispute.

[Moucalgeon]

Ram is fine for now, Video card would be a much better choice

[counterhero]

Lol, what? There is no way.

Lol, what? Yes I do. Remember its not dx 11. So its not using some of the more intense things. Like sunshafts and crap/

[Nem2k]

upgrade the video card. upgrading the ram is not going to do you much good here

[Theforgoten]

I actually have that video card. I am able to run wow at about 40 fps out side of a raid environment and in 25 mans i drop to about 25 fps on Medium settings. So i don't think your video card is a HUGE concern. As long as your not over doing the settings it shouldn't make playing with that video card unplayable.

[Sabb]

for the vid card i would say at most $200 unless there is a freakin awesome card for a bit more maybe $250 is as high as i will go but it has to blow my socks off
for the ram about $100 or less
that's really all that needs some updating

[counterhero]

Oh ya btw that's not a 1300 dollar computer. That's about a 500 dollar computer 2 years ago to build. I hope your mom didn't rip you off :x. But if you get that video card you will be able to run everything on ultra with a few tweaks like with shadows and stuff.

[Fuzzykins]

for the vid card i would say at most $200 unless there is a freakin awesome card for a bit more maybe $250 is as high as i will go but it has to blow my socks off
for the ram about $100 or less
that's really all that needs some updating

No, I mean what can you spend on your computer? Let me outline it for you.

Your processor is more important in WoW than your GPU, especially in a raid environment.
Since you need a new processor, you'll need a new motherboard and RAM. And you'll probably want a new video card too.

See what I'm saying? You have to put a lot more thought into it than that.

You're not going to get the performance you want, no matter how much you spend on Ram and video card. Go out and buy a 7970, and you'll still be getting 25fps.

(Also, look at my post count compared to counter's. I've been here longer, I know what I'm talking about... -_-')

[sosleapy]

what os you running

[GG you got me]

Lol, what? Yes I do. Remember its not dx 11. So its not using some of the more intense things. Like sunshafts and crap/

I realize what you're trying to say, but you should realize that with DX11 capable hardware, wow tends to run faster in dx11 than in dx9.

[Sabb]

OH i get it now. well sadly i don't have much all i can put into it is about $800

[Fuzzykins]

what os you running

That has nothing to do with WoW performance... If he was running Linux, he'd know he's running Linux, as most people choose to use it or know what they're doing. If he had a Mac, he wouldn't be looking to upgrade, as that would void his warranty. So he has Windows.

[counterhero]

I realize what you're trying to say, but you should realize that with DX11 capable hardware, wow tends to run faster in dx11 than in dx9.

But my video card is not Dx11. Dx 11 started with the ATI 5xxx series.

[Sabb]

what os you running

Win 7- 64 bit

[Deleted]

That nets you the nvidia 560 Ti (200$-230$ not the 448 one ) or the Ati 6870 ( 180$-200$ ). If you wanna give it that extra push you can go with the Ati 6950 for 250$ .

and about 50$-60$ should give you another 2x2Gb mems. so that leaves 50$.


800$ pc would be something like an
i5 2500k : 230$
P67/Z68 : 114$-200$
8Gb DDR3 : 50$-70$
560 Ti / 6870 / 6950 : 180$-250$
Caviar Blue/Black 500Gb-1Tb : 110$-159$
PSu that can hold it : 60$-70$
Case : 60$

But you needed to put some money aside for a real heatsink for the i5 2500k ;P
You can check some good setups here : http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...-Sample-Builds

Edit : Forget this and read Fuzzykins reply cause it's much better :P

[sosleapy]

That has nothing to do with WoW performance... If he was running Linux, he'd know he's running Linux, as most people choose to use it or know what they're doing. If he had a Mac, he wouldn't be looking to upgrade, as that would void his warranty. So he has Windows.

bullcrap it dont...when i put vista on a machine from xp pro i dropped alot in FPS cuz vista is very tasking on a comp and still is so dont tell me it has nothing to do with it....

[Fuzzykins]

OH i get it now. well sadly i don't have much all i can put into it is about $800

That's way more than enough. Hold on...

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($129.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 560 Ti 1GB Video Card ($232.55 @ Newegg)
Total: $586.39
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-01-28 23:14 EST-0500)

That will decimate WoW and any current generation game. Very similar to my build.