It's time to have a small upgrade on my 6 year system; it served me very well and I rarely had any issues. I'm just looking forward to get most out of it, currently it has these components:
Motherboard : Albatron KX600
Processor : AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (1.8 MHz)
Videocard : GeForce FX 5200 (256 MB)
RAM : 2x 512MB
Power Supply : Antec SL400 400W
The MoBo has its integrated network adapter, and sound card, and I have no problem with either. Unfortunately, it does not support PCI-e cards.
I mainly use it to play games like WoW or Counter-strike with all the effects on lowest. Its main function over the time devolved into just playing games as I work and watch DVDs mainly on my laptop.
I've recently observed more problems in crowded instances when playing WoW, and also I'm looking forward to play a little more graphically advanced games (not the most high-end ones, though). I think, a system with a 2.4+ MHz CPU and 2 GB with a decent 2-3 year old GPU should do fine.
However, I'm very low on budget (100$-150$) and I don't need additional component upgrades/replacements such as a new soundcard and a network adapter, therefore I'm thinking perhaps I should keep my MoBo and CPU intact and just go for GPU and RAM upgrades.
1) Should I upgrade my GPU and RAM with a Radeon HD4650 1GB/128MB AGP (around 75$) and a 2x 1GB DDR 400 SDRAM (around 45$), how much of a bottleneck will my CPU cause especially when playing a CPU dependent game like WoW? How much would such an upgrade improve the current performance, if any? I just hope to play WoW at max.
2) Will my power supply be able to handle an Radeon HD4650 (which also requires 400W), I also have a DVD-ROM and a CD-ROM connected to my system - I can ditch out either or both when not using if it will help any? Will the GPU just not run at all, or will it work on a lower rate and not use its full capacity?
3) Given my budget limitations, what alternative upgrades would you recommend? Is there a better balanced MoBo/CPU/GPU/RAM/PSU combination you can think of that may cost around 150$-200$ if a better upgrade is absolutely necessary? I've considered to purchase and overclock an Athlon XP 3200+ to get around 2.4 MHz processing capability, but it seems like it may cost me another 75$ and I'm not sure if it's worth it.
4) Finally, my MoBo supports 3x 1GB, yet in its manual it recommends only 2 DDR 400 1GB RAMS at once, and not all three at the same time. Why is there such a limitation and what kind of performance issues would I have if I installed 3x 1GB? Would I get 3GB, a little less than 3GB or just 2GB? What kind of a setup should use if I want more than 2 GB from this MoBo?
Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any help.
Motherboard : Albatron KX600
Processor : AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (1.8 MHz)
Videocard : GeForce FX 5200 (256 MB)
RAM : 2x 512MB
Power Supply : Antec SL400 400W
The MoBo has its integrated network adapter, and sound card, and I have no problem with either. Unfortunately, it does not support PCI-e cards.
I mainly use it to play games like WoW or Counter-strike with all the effects on lowest. Its main function over the time devolved into just playing games as I work and watch DVDs mainly on my laptop.
I've recently observed more problems in crowded instances when playing WoW, and also I'm looking forward to play a little more graphically advanced games (not the most high-end ones, though). I think, a system with a 2.4+ MHz CPU and 2 GB with a decent 2-3 year old GPU should do fine.
However, I'm very low on budget (100$-150$) and I don't need additional component upgrades/replacements such as a new soundcard and a network adapter, therefore I'm thinking perhaps I should keep my MoBo and CPU intact and just go for GPU and RAM upgrades.
1) Should I upgrade my GPU and RAM with a Radeon HD4650 1GB/128MB AGP (around 75$) and a 2x 1GB DDR 400 SDRAM (around 45$), how much of a bottleneck will my CPU cause especially when playing a CPU dependent game like WoW? How much would such an upgrade improve the current performance, if any? I just hope to play WoW at max.
2) Will my power supply be able to handle an Radeon HD4650 (which also requires 400W), I also have a DVD-ROM and a CD-ROM connected to my system - I can ditch out either or both when not using if it will help any? Will the GPU just not run at all, or will it work on a lower rate and not use its full capacity?
3) Given my budget limitations, what alternative upgrades would you recommend? Is there a better balanced MoBo/CPU/GPU/RAM/PSU combination you can think of that may cost around 150$-200$ if a better upgrade is absolutely necessary? I've considered to purchase and overclock an Athlon XP 3200+ to get around 2.4 MHz processing capability, but it seems like it may cost me another 75$ and I'm not sure if it's worth it.
4) Finally, my MoBo supports 3x 1GB, yet in its manual it recommends only 2 DDR 400 1GB RAMS at once, and not all three at the same time. Why is there such a limitation and what kind of performance issues would I have if I installed 3x 1GB? Would I get 3GB, a little less than 3GB or just 2GB? What kind of a setup should use if I want more than 2 GB from this MoBo?
Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any help.
