Need serious system advice on upgrade

[Hotnutz]

Hello everyone I recently started dual-boxing on 1 pc and loving me some keyclone.

Anyways to the point, i want to at least start a 3rd account so I can Tri-box but not sure if I should ugrade my pc and try to run 3 or get a second pc to split the load.

This is my current pc's specs:

Windows XP Pro (All graphics turned down/looks like 98)
Mobo came out of an HP Pavillion a1243w

Hardware
Base processor
Athlon 64 (V) 3200+ 2.0 GHz

*
2000 MT/s (mega transfers/second)
*
Socket 939

Chipset
ATI Radeon Xpress 200

Motherboard

*
Manufacturer: Asus
*
Motherboard Name: A8AE-LE
*
HP/Compaq motherboard name: AmberineM-GL6E

Memory
Currently Installed 1 GB (2x512MB)
Maximum allowed 4 GB* (4 x 1 GB)
Speed supported PC-3200 MB/sec
Type 184 pin, DDR SDRAM
DIMM slots Four

Hard Drive
120GB Western Digital

Graphics :(
Onboard
ATI Radeon Xpress 200
**Strange part here is it reads 256MB in windows and doesnt show 256MB shared coming from my memory only 32MB from memory)

ATI's video memory on my board uses Hyper Memory which turns the 32MB into 256MB somehow. (bout all i know)

It has the following Expansion Slots
1x PCI Express x16
3x PCI


I know I want to get a video card and probaly will from my girlfriend for christmas or sooner.

My mobo supports up to 4GB of ram but if I put anything in the other 2 dimm slots it knocks it down to 333mhz on the ram.

Should I replace the 2 slots I already use with 1GB sticks? only 2? fill all 4?
or add additional to what I have already?

If the case is not a ton of money on this PC I would like to upgrade it and run all 3 accounts from it, but I dunno if the processor would be good enuff either.

The addition of at least 1 video card and a second moniter is already planned.

But looking at performance, I am still getting 20ish FPS on my current 2 windows one my current setup, which is still playable for leveling but not PVP.

SO any ideas or thoughts about this would be greatly appreciated also I am not wealthy so budget suggestions are suggested.

[Hotnutz]

Bump....anyone?

[Zen]

imo you need a video upgrade and ram upgrade the most, considering that your video is onboard and you cant upgrade the ram without bus bottlenecking it seems to me you should go with an upgrade for the motherboard if possible. a new processor would help out, but the one youve got shouldnt have too many problems, so i'd label it a "only if youve got the cash.

in summary upgrade the following, in order of importance

video
motherboard
ram
proccessor <~~~ maybe for this one.

[Hotnutz]

Thanks for the response Zen :)

I am definitly getting a new vid card and was thinking of getting more ram b4 i upgrade mobo that way i can at least lvl the 3 toonz.

As I can really only afford like one of these per paycheck im probly gonna wait for mobo for last.

The extra ram on this board would bottleneck the memory but I figure its better than nothing so I can at least get this lil posse started :)

at least after i upgrade video card and ram i will be able to tell where my systems weaknesses are for running 3 toons on one box. That way if I do need a processor upgrade I can just look forward to maybe getting a mobo/processor package and save a couple bucks.

[Wilbur]

I'd buy the Graphics Card first, then buy a bundle for the processor/RAM/Motherboard.

Otherwise you'd just be wasting your money.

[Contents]

I'm not 100% on this but i believe that in order to run 3 WoW's at once, smoothly, you'd want at least a dual core processor.

But for your case to just get up and running, go with a new video card.

I recently got the nvidia 8500 and it runs rather well even with 5 instances of WoW running. Plus it's really an affordable card.

[Hotnutz]

Ya after using the 2 toons for a bit the lack of video performance is only holding me up in towns atm so I know with a third the video card is a must.

As for the processor I do beleive Im going to have to upgrade it because with just 2 instances of wow running I am at 100% cpu usage and it takes a bit to get them both loaded up etc.

So I think im gonna get the video card, use a trial account for the 3rd toon and see how it goes. If I can hold out for a bit I would like to get a quad core maybe so I can upgrade to maybe 4-5 toons in all later down the road.

You guys are very helpful and i appreciate it.

If any1 knows where to find a decently priced mobo/processor/ram combo plz let me know. Dual processor would be ok for the 3 I plan but quad I think would be needed for more.

[marvein]

Intel Q6600 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819115017
this gigabyte motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128059

Ive got 3 of those motherboards and they are excellent. As for memory Ive had great success with qaulity/price on mushkin(secondary rigs, not for wow currently), corsair and g.skill(current main rig)

Also dont completely skimp on the PSU, you dont need some $120 psu to run this but dont dive into the bargain bin for $29.95 either The Corsair line is great and so are the Antec EarthWatts (part # are EA###) which are a bit cheaper. But if you are just building one rig I would recommend invest in good quality hardware.

I run these in my less graphics heavy rigs http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817371006 and these in my heavy gaming rigs http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001 Ive read posts (diff forum) where people ahve been running quads with 4gb of ram and mid end graphics cards on the first one I linked and even quads +sli on GTX's on the 2nd one so they are definately solid PSUs and worth the money.

[Contents]

one thing you might want to give a try is typing
/console maxfps 30
&
/console maxfpsbk 15
into both of your wow clients. This might relieve a bit of stress on your CPU.

[twobztwop]

I always get stuck in the upgrade trap. I'll set out to upgrade one or two components, next thing I know I'm putting together a whole new computer -- and while I'm at it I might as well pick up a new case and psu.

One thing to note when your planning your upgrades, the memory you'd use on your current board probably isn't going to be compatible with a new motherboard. So don't upgrade the memory first if you plan on getting a new MB/Processor in the future. (184pin ddr vs. 240pin ddr2)

Plus anything over 3gb memory, you'd need a 64bit os. otherwise you'll only see 3ish of your 4gb. Don't forget to budget that. ;)

If your on a tight budget, go with a video card first. you could carry it over to a new computer build if you wanted (pci express x16) and any old $100 card is going to be better than what you have now I'd guess. Easy install too.

[Bollwerk]

one thing you might want to give a try is typing
/console maxfps 30
&
/console maxfpsbk 15
into both of your wow clients. This might relieve a bit of stress on your CPU.You can also set these values within Keyclone.

[lukey15]

do you guys kno if a 7series nvidia graphics card works with vista?

[Hotnutz]

Well I found a decent gfx card on sale and also some memory but the memory was sold out for now, had to order.... Woot! 1GB sticks for 30 bucks each! even if they r not so great thats cheap as hell IMO and it's kingston.

Still looking for mobo/processor, and probly 1-2 more hard drives cuz i hate how long the load times are.

[Lost Ninja]

Speaking from experience:

Go with RAM first unless you are 100% sure about upgrading the motherboard in the next 3 months. I went from 1Gb to 2Gb and I noticed that a lot of the chug has gone, even in cities. Load times especially zone -> zone or zone -> instance are much faster.

Graphics card is the next option, as it will almost certainly work in a new motherboard (okay it will but if I say it will and it won't... :?). It'll give you the most bang for your buck.

If you think its even possible that you might be upgrading the motherboard, go for that first, as apart from the graphics card the odds are that the RAM won't work in the new board, especially if you're moving from AMD to Intel (and you should :)).

IMO A cheap Quad Core, 2Gb RAM, a new board (doesn't have to be all singing all dancing) and a new GPU again unless you want to play Crysis or something it doesn't need to be that special. Would be the best upgrade path at the moment. Basing this on the existing specs, because unless you are really strapped for cash there is no upgrade path that will allow you to use your existing components, that I know of.

[Hotnutz]

Speaking from experience:

Go with RAM first unless you are 100% sure about upgrading the motherboard in the next 3 months. I went from 1Gb to 2Gb and I noticed that a lot of the chug has gone, even in cities. Load times especially zone -> zone or zone -> instance are much faster.

The ram I may be getting like 2-4GB of, It was like 5200? 53,54? IDK what the number was the lower number on the clock speed listed was 400mhz. but what would the minimum specs be for a newer board, i havent looked at alot of new ones out there.



Graphics card is the next option, as it will almost certainly work in a new motherboard (okay it will but if I say it will and it won't... :?). It'll give you the most bang for your buck.

I was going to get a PCIEx16 card to go in my existing motherboard. Would it be a good idea to look for say a minimum of 512MB DDR2? DDR3?

Or would I need a higher standard of gfx card? Would I need multiple cards as well say if I wanted to run 3-5 Accounts on one machine?



If you think its even possible that you might be upgrading the motherboard, go for that first, as apart from the graphics card the odds are that the RAM won't work in the new board, especially if you're moving from AMD to Intel (and you should :)).

IMO A cheap Quad Core, 2Gb RAM, a new board (doesn't have to be all singing all dancing) and a new GPU again unless you want to play Crysis or something it doesn't need to be that special. Would be the best upgrade path at the moment. Basing this on the existing specs, because unless you are really strapped for cash there is no upgrade path that will allow you to use your existing components, that I know of.

Ya I was thinking unless I want to be buying yet another processor that I should look for a quad instead of a dual core. Just a Couple questions.
How many clients do you run on your PC? Smoothly? FPS? (town, out of town)

So I'll stop rambling and say thanks for the advice everyone. I think I'm just gonna stick to lvling my 2 shammys for now and save some cash up, but I seriously would like to have a 3rd toon for xp bonus.