New Video Card or New Rig

[traber]

I didnt see the sub forum to computers so it prob makes more sense to post here.

I am a long time wow player, since vanilla and wanted to get some help from you guys. Obviously, i am 10 years older and have other responsibilities than playing wow all night long after work. I wanted to know if i could get away with going with a better video card or would i have to get a whole mobo,cpu and video card. I dont spend a whole lot of time on my desktop other than to play WOW and maybe H1Z1 when it comes out, but thats about it, everything else is on my laptops and ipad.

I know my current set up is old but I am getting over 100 fps while questing and around 30-40fps in cities.

Can you recommend a better card or should i just just redo the whole thing? I am looking to just get by with settings on high for WoD and decent framerates in instances and raids.

Thanks for the help!!!


CPU - AMD Phenom 9850 Quad Core
MOBO - Asus M3A78-CM
Video Card - GTX460
Ram - 8Gig
128 SSD
1T HD for files
Res. 1080

[Arbiter]

Honestly...Redo.

That CPU is what's holding you back. Which means new Mobo also. If the PSU is as old as that CPU I'd recommend replacing it as well. Not sure the specs on the RAM, but the SSD and HDD can be reused I'm sure. GPU doesn't HAVE to be replaced, but for WoW only purposes, you would benefit from a 750ti or something a bit better if you can spare the change. Nothing too crazy if the only game you play is WoW.

If you want further help to your best options on doing that I'd suggest posting up a budget to work with.

[traber]

I was thinking along the same lines as you but I really didnt want to dump a whole lot of money into a new setup if i didnt have to. I am able to put about $600 into the system but I would like to put that money else where since i just got into a new house.

Do you think it would be worth looking at upgrading the processor, i know there are faster ones out there (for my current Mobo) and maybe getting into a 750ti? Would I see any improvements going into just a 750ti?

Ive got a 700 psu and 8 gigs or ram, so i am set with that.

Just looking to stay cheap...im not as hardcore playing wow as I once was. Mostly do it for the nostalgia and passing time doing achievements or playing the Auction House.

[Arbiter]

Honestly, AMD is pretty shit for WoW and your Mobo is outdated extremely. You won't find a CPU on that socket that's worth paying for or that will even perform any better. The ram you have I'm assuming is DDR2 since the Mobo supports DDR2 which is extremely slow compared to DDR3.

I don't see you getting the fps you claim you're getting on Ultra or even High settings in WoW. The highest end computers don't see about around 50fps on Ultra settings in crouded areas such as heavy populated major cities.

At least replace the CPU/Mobo/Ram and if you aren't satisfied with the 460 after that replace it as well. If you want to spend that kind of money I'd suggest just dealing with what you have.

[traber]

Yeah, you're right. I will take your advise and upgrade. I will try the mobo, chip and ram first and see what the card can do with that combo and then go from there.

Can you recommenced anything along those lines around $400-$600. If i can go lower than $400 that would be ok, but i know im pushing it.

Thanks for the help!

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

You could get away with a decent Intel setup, and stay under your budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.67 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 93.3 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($107.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($75.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $488.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 13:49 EDT-0400

You will need to let us know what case you have. This could change what MB you could use, as well as the cooler. I kept the M-ATX form factor since that is what you have now. The cooler is a somewhat large tower, so you might have problems fitting it if your case is small. There are other choices for sure, but the be quiet! coolers are quite good and nice looking. Your current MB only supports DDR-2, so that is going to have to be updated.

[traber]

I can fit either a Micro ATX or ATX motherboard in the case. It is a Thermaltake S, so i don't think room will be too much of an issue. I don't know if that changes your selections or not.

Thanks for taking the time out and suggesting a few items.

[Arbiter]

If you want to save more money you could drop down to an i3 (could even save on the mobo due to the inability to OC) or even the Pentium G3258 (would need to overclock) which would give you about the same performance in WoW as the i5 and still save you another $100-150, but the i5 is much better at multitasking. Really your choice.

[traber]

What your thoughts on the AMD FX-6300?

[Arbiter]

Might as well get an i3, same price and will perform better in the game you're doing these upgrades for. Much better performance.

Seriously though, stay away from AMD for Video Games. On paper, it seems to look nice. You're seeing similar specs (quad core and the clock speed) in the immediate description for half the price of intel, but I promise you it doesn't perform near as well and it's hard to see why from your PoV, but you'll honestly never understand until you've seen both of them in action.

You'll still have to buy another mobo for that CPU, WoW is going to only use 2-3 of the cores on it, and each core will be a lot weaker than any intel.

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

If the case was smaller, you would have to get a lower profile cooler. It looks like the cooler I suggested will fit, though I would check your manual to make sure.

Revised with standard ATX board:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 93.3 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($88.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Avexir Core series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($75.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $464.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-15 17:38 EDT-0400