LF Suggestions for which part to upgrade first

Looking for advice ..
I would like to increase my FPS in crowded areas, especially in places like large PVP battles (Isle of Conquest for example).

Currently have:
Intel Q6600 - 2.4GHz quad core
Nvidia GTX 280
8GB RAM
multiple 7200rpm hard drives
30" monitor (2560x1600)
Windows 7 x64

If it matters, I'm 5-boxing with ISBoxer. I get less than 10 FPS when in crowded areas (all graphics settings set to minimum, except view distance at "good" for main toon). Not a big deal in Dalaran, but it hinders my already horrific PVP skills.

Clearly, I can benefit from upgrading the CPU, graphics card and getting an SSD.
But I can't afford to upgrade all of them at once, especially since a new CPU means new MB and RAM.
Any suggestions for what order to upgrade, as far as "bang for the buck"?

Thats a tough call. If you upgrade your Processor to an i5/i7 you'll most likely need a new motherboard.

SSD was a nice upgrade for me... but it wasnt the "big boost" I was hoping for.

My personal "BIGGEST" upgrade was the i7 920 processor.

I'm also debating whether to go with the i7 vs a 6-core AMD Phenom II X6.
I wonder if there is any difference having 6 "real" cores vs 4 "real" + 4 hyperthreading for a 5-boxer.

I had a similar system to yours.

Q6600
8GB DDR2, 800mhz
4870X2 Video, 30" (2560x1600) monitor.
10k rpm Raptor HD.
Vista 64-Bit.



I upgraded my Processor, Motherboard, and Ram.
New configuration was:

i7, 920.
12GB DDR3, 1600mhz
4870X2 Video, 30" (2560x1600) monitor.
10k rpm Raptor HD.
Vista 32-Bit.

I don't like mounting motherboards or placing processors on the board, so had the computer store do it for me. They messed up, and installed 32-bit Vista instead of 64-bit. Even with only 2.2 GB of the new ram, the system ran much more smoothly then previous; with Crusader Aura off, I could not cause follow to break with epic flyers... needless to say, ground mounts in AV would not lose follow either, and prior to this they could.

Got Vista 64-Bit put on shortly thereafter. Had a bug, where 1-2 slaves would freeze when I got onto a gryphon. Was using Keyclone at this point. Upgraded to IS Boxer, and had the same issue. Messing around with parts, replacing one piece at a time... Downgrading to an Nvidia GTX275 1GB, removed the freezing issue.



A few months later, upgraded my HD to a 64GB Patriot Torq.

This has been a fairly substantial boost in zoning/load times, but the processor/motherboard/ram (even with the 32-bit OS) was a much larger boost for me.

Low fps in dala is texture lag.

I would get this first:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...E:B:SS:US:1123

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sam DeathWalker

Low fps in dala is texture lag.

I would get this first:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...E:B:SS:US:1123

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Or any other SSD, doesn't have to have PCIE.

Yes, yes sam you're going to bring up bandwidth, but I state: our issue is with access times and average bandwidth being served by Mechanical drives vs solid state, not running out of bandwidth due to saturation.

Thinking about this SSD - It seems to have VERY fast read times (but slower write) and the price is good.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sajuuk

Or any other SSD, doesn't have to have PCIE.

Yes, yes sam you're going to bring up bandwidth, but I state: our issue is with access times and average bandwidth being served by Mechanical drives vs solid state, not running out of bandwidth due to saturation.

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Ya that is correct enough, but one small edge is that you don't need to upgrade the Sata port if you don't have the 6G speed ones. But ya the difference between SSD and old hard drive is going to be big. Make sure you get 50G or more though cause you have to fit all of wow folder into the SSD.

Also the fact that the buss is not saturated means that you don't really need an I7 / x58 system, cuase the real edge of the X58 is the incredible bandwidth.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sam DeathWalker

Ya that is correct enough, but one small edge is that you don't need to upgrade the Sata port if you don't have the 6G speed ones.

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A small edge, yes. But one that is probably paid with a premium, as well as the cost for space. Some might not have the motherboard layout for a PCIe SSD, or they might not even have a spare PCIe slot (based on motherboard layout). I think it's more likely that a typical user will have more sata ports than pcie slots, and if those run short, are a short controller card away.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bollwerk

Thinking about this SSD - It seems to have VERY fast read times (but slower write) and the price is good.

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you can get a better SSD for a little bit more money.
maybe someone here can point you in the right direction.
although this SSD is something I might get to replace my intel V SSD, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231362