Which would improve my system most more ram or Video Card

[Vmpwraith]

Ok I know GET A QUAD CORE and I will soon, but for now which would improve game paly the most Ram or Video Card. Maybe extra HD's? At the moment I can 5 box ok it only gets painful in flight or in major cities.

My setup
Op System :Vista 32 (maybe this will effect me a little but I cant find an English 64 Version here)
Intel Dual Core 3 Ghz
Yeston G31s Motherboard 1033 FSB
4gig DDR2 800 Ram
Radeon 2600+ pro Graphics card 256mb
Single Sata 7200 rpm 500gig HD

VMP

[algol]

5 clients on Vista will go over 4GB easily. 32-bit Windows will cap you at 4GB total, including for example video memory.

Ideally I would get 64-bit Windows, 8GB, AND the video upgrade (and still keeping the planned quad-core upgrade). More memory won't do jack for you until you swap out the OS though, as you already have more than it can talk to.

[Terraelf]

I agree with the above poster. Being a 5-boxer myself and having gone through all the hardware upgrades and knowing a little something about computers, your path is this:

You're in a complicated spot. First of all I completely agree with algol in that your number 1 priority needs to be to get more RAM. Quad Core is nice, but based upon what you have, memory is the thing you should do first. In order to get more memory, you want to move to a 64-bit OS. I recommend Vista, but I have used both XP and Vista in 64-bit and they will both work for you. I am going to make an assumption that your processor is a 45nm processor. As long as you'll be moving to 8 GB of RAM instead of 4 GB, I would strongly suggest getting a new motherboard that supports DDR3 to coincide with your memory increase and OS upgrade. You need to be very careful when doing this to make sure you're not losing compatibility with your processor or other components. If your processor would not be supported in a motherboard that supports DDR3, then you have to decide if you want to spend money now on DDR2 memory for your existing motherboard that will probably be phased out before too much longer or if you want to pony up the extra cash for a new processor to coincide with the other upgrades.

For sake of argument, I will assume you go with a DDR3 memory capable motherboard and a 64-bit OS to have 8 GB of RAM and are keeping your old processor. At this point in time, I think you'll be in pretty good shape. You'll find play a lot better and for all practical purposes, your processor will most likely suit you fine (I was doing just fine w/ a Dual Core 2.4 GHz processor running a 5 box). As algol said, again, I think you should turn your attention your video card and not your processor as your next consideration... Although this is said without seeing your system in action. Here's how to tell if it would really make the difference... Is your processor pegged when you are at your worst performance? I'm betting the answer is no... Second, what's your FPS like when you have worst performance? If you find that while the processor isn't completely pegged all the way, your FPS is suffering, then a stronger video card is the way to go. Another thing to consider is that a stronger video card will also off-load your main processor. I just went from a Geforce 7800 GT to a Geforce 285 GTX. I haven't yet tested it out with my 5-box setup, but look forward to doing so either tonight or later this week (depending upon guild raid schedule).

You asked if hard drives would help.... plain and simply... no. I could give a detailed response, but there's not much reason to elaborate. :thumbsup:

[Vmpwraith]

I will be upgardeing the CPU in maybe a month or two and with it the motherboard and Ram. So I may hold of on the ram and board upgrade because I belive the processor size will also change. So I'm going to get the Video card first and hopefully that will help the stutter a little and I'll be able to use it in the new system when I get it also. So kind of a temporay fix.

I have a little problem in that I live in China so much of the packaging is in Chinese but i can read some of the specs. I'm thinking maybe a GeForce 9800gtx 1gig (I think thats what they were).

[Terraelf]

How much money do you have to spend on a video card? The 9800 GTX is good (and is much better than the geforce 7800 GT I was using for 5 boxing for a LONG time), but if you're buying a new card why not get into the Geforce 200 series? I like the Geforce 285 GTX a lot as it is a transition into a lower power consumption GPU and has in my opinion MUCH better heat dispersion than an out of the box 9800 GTX. If cost is a big factor, stick with the 9800 GTX as it's around $150 or so and the Gefroce GTX 285 is about $350 and the difference in performance probably isn't worth the $200.... The other good news is the 9800 GTX supports the next big thing in video rendering:

http://www.enlighten3d.com/2009/01/21/play-world-of-warcraft-in-3d-starting-today/

http://www.nvidia.com/object/GeForce_3D_Vision_Requirements.html

[Vmpwraith]

Price isn't to much of a concern. I live in China so the stuff is priced ok.

Its more a question of brand and quality and a retailer I can trust to sell me legit hardware and not crap with good labels. It pays to unbox and look at the hardware close up or you can find you brought nice packaging. If the 200 series is better then I'll look at a 295 maybe. I dont want to have to upgrade it again soon. A Quad core etc are my next big upgrades.

[Coltimar]

With Vista 32 you are capped at 3.2 GB :( If you own a legit copy of Vista 32 you can get the 64 bit version from MS for free (cost of media). I would actually recommend getting 2 nice WD 7200 rpm hard drives and doing a RAID0. That will help a lot with lag. Search for 'symlink' if you have questions about the benefits. Raid0 is fast and having wow on a different drive than windows will help a lot.

If it were me, I would get a decent video card ($200 will buy several nice cards that destroy wow x5) and 2 hard drives. I have an ati 3850 and I can run 8 clients with no trouble.

[Hiarcs]

Ok I know GET A QUAD CORE and I will soon, but for now which would improve game paly the most Ram or Video Card. Maybe extra HD's? At the moment I can 5 box ok it only gets painful in flight or in major cities.

My setup
Op System :Vista 32 (maybe this will effect me a little but I cant find an English 64 Version here)
Intel Dual Core 3 Ghz
Yeston G31s Motherboard 1033 FSB
4gig DDR2 800 Ram
Radeon 2600+ pro Graphics card 256mb
Single Sata 7200 rpm 500gig HD

VMP


You play out of china? you do realize china is one of the countries banned in their policies of acceptable countries. I would imagine you would run into problems with suspensions and bannings using a foreign IP?

But with regards to your upgrade question, you definately should go 64bit no matter what. And 4Gigs is more than enough to 5 box with the real performance boost you will see will be from installing the best graphics card. its a 500-600$ investment you won't regret. I recommend the 280GTX and stay away from Radeon.

[moosejaw]

You play out of china? you do realize china is one of the countries banned in their policies of acceptable countries. I would imagine you would run into problems with suspensions and bannings using a foreign IP?

Way to jump to conclusions. He plays on the chinese servers. Please read his Signature.

OP, take a look at improving disk performance using Solid State disks, raid or both. This has proved to be the bane of boxers and city travel. Loading new data quickly will help tremendously.

You are lucky you guys are still on BC because you can really trim down the slaves using lower resolutions to stay under a 3gb footprint.

[TheStig]

I would suggest you pop into Hong Kong to solve your 64-bit vista problem. I was able to pick up an English copy of Vista will there.
As for upgrading, I would suggest getting more ram first. Mainly it will allow you much better overhead when you have multiple copies running. After that I would suggest you upgrading into a GTX260 instead of a 280. Aim for the XFX GTX260 Black Edition, it has the same scores as a stock 280. It runs for ~$280 on newegg. I'm not sure how much it will run you in Guangzhou, I know for Shanghai there'd be about a ~200 RMB premium on a XFX. Hope that helps. Also thinking about Guangzhou has given me a mad craving for some Cantonese food.

[Vmpwraith]

Yeah cheers... I did get a 3 day ban when I was playing out of China on the US servers but I got it fixed by talking to a few people at blizzard. The ban was lifted and I could play ok but the lag was a killer. I didn't have any problems with IP blocking or anything, but things may have changed now.

Now I just play Chinese Servers. Yeah I may have to head to HK for the 64 bit Vista. Most of the hardware is cheap enough here if you bargain for it.

In the end I want to upgrade the Motherboard CPU so I dont really want to pay twice for RAM ddr2 >ddr3 and my current board only has two slots for ram and the 4gig sticks are a little harder to find. If only I wasn't moving apartment soon and I could spend that money on new kit.

[Terraelf]

Although I was the one to say as for hard drive upgrades, 'don't bother'... well ok if you decide to go solid state disk (SSD) and you split your hard drive that runs wow off onto another disk from your operating system, there will be a positive impact. In addition, you can have a hard drive for each instance of wow which will help mostly in content like Dalaran where there are a lot of things going on. However, the performance increase for the SSD will be minimal compared to the other upgrades we've been discussing for your system in its current state. I'd recommend saving hard drive for last.... As for going RAID 0... yes technically it would help, but I don't believe there will be appropriate bang for the buck.

Memory still HAS to be first and to fix that you have to fix the 64 bit problem. I don't know why someone said 4 GB is enough. I've been 5 boxing for quite a while now and never have I found 4 GB to be sufficient. I had horrendous performance problems caused by memory prior to making the 64 bit leap and 8 GB upgrade and have been much happier since.

As for the person that suggested the Geforce 260 GTX over the 280 GTX. I would agree with that statment as there's not really a different worth paying for between these two cards. However the suggestion was the 285 GTX. The big break-through with the 285 (and 295) version of the card is the move to the 55 nm architecture, which means less power consumption and yields higher performance. However, since you are tossing out the option of getting the Geforce GTX 295, if you're comfortable spending that kind of money, the 295 is clearly far superior to the 285. I personally didn't find the value in paying that much more for the video card. See: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3501

[elsegundo]

i personally think upgrading your videocard will not improve performance. you will be tempted to improve your graphics to the point that your performance will be just the same as before, only tihs time, things will look a lot nicer. lol.

but if you can avoid turning up the graphic settings, then sure, get the graphics card. it can easily go into a new rig also. not so with the ram/processor, as we're in the time between production models, Core2 quad --> i7. you can wiat til the growth phase of the i7 to start buying the stuff. any pci-e card made today will probably last you a while.

[Catamer]

it sounds like you have the memory maxed out for the OS you are using
if you can only upgrade on thing then it will have to be the video card.

It is my experience that the video card is doing a majority of the work so you should see a pretty hefty improvement with a faster video card.
the only possible drawback would be the 32 bit OS.

Try one with more that 256M , preferably 512M or 1G.

[Vmpwraith]

Woot I got a new gpu today a Nividea gt9600 1gig card. It's working sweet and the framerate is great. I just need to sort out the gamma as it's very dark when I play wow. Once thats done it'll be running sweet. I looked for a gt295 card but they wanted 2500RMB about 350-400US for it which seemed a little excessive.

Anyway I wish I had had a better card fro the last 4 years. The game truley does look amazing with the improved card.

[suicidesspyder]

Nice nice. Im working with fixing my laptop now. Lol duo core for me with 4gb of ram as well. My comps pretty new like 6 months so i have a pretty good video card. Just wish i could upgrade the ram in this bad boy oh well. But also thinking of getting a 500gb hdd due to the 280gb i have now so i think with wow all on the 500gb external one it might give me faster load times which will be nice then just gotta get more ram. Oh yea where do i get the 64 bit vista so i can upgrade outta the 32 i have a legit copy due to buying from dell.