World of Warcraft performance

This is my current system:

OS: Windows XP (SP #2)
Processor: Intel Pentium II 795 Mhz
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 4000
Memory: 640 MB RAM
Connection: Cable Modem

My question is, I appear to meet min specs more or less, but will I be able to run WoW well enough (without so much clipping I will go insane)? And what can I do to improve performance (e.g. can anyone recommend any programs to minimize processor power being used up by background programs, etc.) Finally, what are some of my best options for hardware upgrades for performance (preferably for a limited budget) thanks, any advice is appreciated! - Dallas Raines

 

Whats your limited budget? Thats a term thrown around relativly easy since i dont know your income or what you have available to spend.

 

Let's say try to keep it under or around 200

 

i think your main problem is the cpu... but i dont know if u can upgrade to a much faster one without changeing ur mobo and probably ram and psu also... sooo i would suggest a new graphics card, BUT ur cpu will most likely be a bottleneck...

i think the best thing u can do is not spending any money but optimizing your system.. defrag and clean ur HD, use a ram cleaning tool (if necessary), set ur nvidia settings to performance and not quality (maybe get the Omega Drivers and choose the performance ones).. u can also give WoW a higher priority in the Task Manager.. also check out www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm or www.blackviper.com (once it is no longer under construction) here u can find out how to shutdown loads of windows services that slow down performance...

 

FYI for ya. When you enter certain citys like IronForge for example, it won't matter what rig you have at home, it will lag and clip like a mofo if there are a lot of people on your realm. I have a 2.8 512mb 128mb ti4200 and a 3MB connection, still clips and chokes often if the realm is busy.

 

no offence dude but that might well be because u have a geforce 4200ti... try it out with lower details and/or resolution

 

Thats not exactly performance pc... I never clip/lag.

 

I just accepted the defaults when I installed the game. It doesn't skip a beat when there isn't alot of people online. Same thing happens at work 1.5gb ram, 3.2ghz, fx5200. I haven't changed out the ti4200 cause it just works no matter what the game. Oh well, maybe its time to chuck it...

 

Okay, theoretical, let's say i put together some money, and I'm ready to invest in a new Motherboard and processor (I'd be inclined towards AMD Athlon XP based on previous recomendations). What should I be looking for? What processor would you all recommend for as close to two bills as possible? I'm looking for a balance between value and something that will be able to handle next gen games for awhile to come... As far as a motherboard, this is one of the few components I have yet to replace in a pc, so I'm feeling around in the dark here. What are some things I want to look for? Will my RAM be compatible or will i have to sell it? What kind of price range am i looking at here? and finally, Will my geforce 4 be able to keep up for awhile yet?

Can you suggest a Ram cleaning tool? And what is the deal with the "Omega Drivers"?

 

im not too sure if 200bucks will be enough to upgrade ram, motherboard and cpu. especially if u want it to be able to play the next generation games. for that u would also have to upgrad to a good graphics card which alone will be about 100 bucks... and then u will probably need a new psu as well... so.. 200 wont cover all that