Just upgrade the CPU or mobo/gfx as well?

[mmcookies]

Okay, so I've gotten my 5-boxing already set up on two computers.

The 4 shammies are comfortably settled into the quadcore box with 4gigs of ram,
but my pally tank is still on my old Pentium 4, which is showing its age in Northrend (it's stll got an AGP slot for cryin' out loud).

So as I'm seriously planning to resume my 5-boxing thanks to news of patch 3.2,
I'd like to upgrade my old computer considering it's where I'm looking most of the time.

My question is, would upgrading the CPU alone be sufficient to run WoW at the "ultra" graphics setting in Wrath?
Or should I get a new motherboard, ram, and graphics card as well?

My current computer has:
- Pentium 4 3.0GHz (2 cpus)
- 2gigs of ram (i think 400's)
- Radeon X1950 Pro

[Enndo]

If your cpu is a p4 and it has 2 gigs of ram chances are good that you will need a new motherboard to use ANY other chip. Check newegg for their mobo/cpu combo deals.

[mmcookies]

It's a P4 (2 cpus), Pentium D I guess?

And the motherboard can handle core2duo.

edit:
Actually nevermind... turns out I was thinking of another computer I'd built
Definitely need to upgrade the whole deal on this bucket of boards

[chaosultimamage]

Your current processor is probably one of the later P4s with HyperThreading, which would read as dualcore CPUs, but wasn't an ACTUAL dual core processor.

Definitely upgrade the main PC. You don't need anything huge. My PC does fine for running two or even three instances of WoW and you can rebuild it from scratch for under a grand nowadays. If you're not looking to splurge, get a 2.8GHz Core2Duo and a 9800GT 512MB with whatever board. Cheapest solution that I can think of without digging for prices.

[Bovidae]

Definitely need to upgrade the whole deal on this bucket of boardsP4/AGP = time to build i7 imo

[mikekim]

i doubt that your board would be able to go to 4gb, you might be stuck at a 2gb limit, as for GFX card you could look into getting a ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 512MB or 1GB (one of the highest spec cards you can get for the AGP slot) they are not that expensive (but then nor is buying a new rig nowadays 8o )

[mmcookies]

i doubt that your board would be able to go to 4gb, you might be stuck at a 2gb limit, as for GFX card you could look into getting a ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 512MB or 1GB (one of the highest spec cards you can get for the AGP slot) they are not that expensive (but then nor is buying a new rig nowadays 8o )

Thanks for the tip on HD3850.

I've looking at the listings from my supplier... looks like I might be able to get pretty much a new computer for under 400 Canadian (353 USD).

Intel Core2Duo E5300
Asus P5GC-MX/1333 S775 945GC Chipset
2gb of ram
ASUS GEFORCE EN9800GT HB HTDI 512M PCI-E DDR3

[alcattle]

Wrong motherboard, that one has onboard graphics. And the 945 is old like 3 years. Look for a 965P MB if not newer. Try to go at least to 4 gigs, 2x2 sets are pretty cheap

[Jheusse]

I know you're looking at upgrading the older board, but have you considered just minor upgrades to your beefier box?

Specifically add another 4 GB to your main board and move to a 64 bit OS if you are not already on one?

You can run Windows 7 RC1 in 64 bit for free for almost a year at this time, and I'm guessing your mobo can handle 8 GB if it can run a quad core.

As far as upgrading your secondary box, you're likely to get caught in an upgrade cascade.

You need a burlier processor, which necessitates a new mobo, and while you're at it more memory is cheap, then graphics card. Oops PSU upgrade perhaps as well.

Anandtech does regular buyer's guides for gaming computers in different budget segments, I've often found them a great resource when doing builds.

You're an Intel guy, so here
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=3563&p=3

That's the Entry level build, they have a budget build as well, and an enthusiast level, including AMD options.

I think Newegg has plenty of capability for Canadian folks. Some great options and you can get well under those budgets by reusing parts.

[mmcookies]

The thing is I'm also making a dev server out of the old P4 with another case I've had sitting around for a while.

As for upgrade spirals, I'm usually pretty good at avoiding them :p

I don't do this often enough to keep up with the details, so I'm still researching ATM.
Thanks for the guide and the tips on the mobo.

[mmcookies]

This is what I ended up getting thanks to some nice discounts ^_^

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 Processor

MB: GIGABYTE EP45-UD3L

still waiting for ram and video card to go on sale