So my girlfriend's birthday is coming up soon. She plays a lot of World of Warcraft, but it lags in some places. After doing a little research I was able to find out what kind of ram she uses and how much I can upgrade it to. I also found out what kind of expansion cards she has.
Now she isn't a hardcore gamer, so she doesn't need the best video card out there, but I wanted to upgrade hers. Her computer is a Acer Aspire M1100 4400+ desktop computer. And I want to get her This video card.
Some people have been talking about the size of the video card. Not sure about a lot of the details about the case size or shape of her PC. I was hoping some of the more "in the know" PC experts out there could help me find look and find out if this video card should fit her case without any problems. And if you don't think it will fit, then, could you recommend another video card of similar quality to pick up for her case? Thank you, I really appreciate it.
ID:278055
 Jan 31 2009, 4:19 am
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Jan 31 2009, 5:11 am
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Mizukouken Ketsu
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ATI drivers weren't meant for gaming. Not even normal gaming. That card looks too huge to be in ANY tower. And you'll want to find a PCIe card with a FAN on it, not a heatsink. Go for NVIDIA if you want a gaming graphics card that'll actually do its job. I have an ASUS AH3450 in my now 6 year old Dell Dimension 4600C tower, which happens to be SFF, and I gotta tell you. I'm disappointed with it really. Online flash games lag like no tomorrow, but Guild Wars has literally no lag. What's up with that, right? Anyways... YEah go with NVIDIA drivers, in other words Geforce all the way man.
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That isn't what I asked. But thank you for completely ignoring my questions. Size aside, in my old e-machine with the PCI slot in it, my card only has a heatsink and it is perfectly fine. Heatsink VS Fan is going to be an opinion.
I asked for some experienced computer user opinions, not just some fanboy rumble about video card brands or heatsink VS fan debate. I hope some other users (more experienced computer users) can give me some decent advice and input. | |
Trosh Kubyo wrote:
So my girlfriend's birthday is coming up soon. She plays a lot of World of Warcraft, but it lags in some places. After doing a little research I was able to find out what kind of ram she uses and how much I can upgrade it to. I also found out what kind of expansion cards she has. Honestly, I'd go with the 4850, it's one of the best cards for the price. It'll cost you only 20 bucks more: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131125 Anyway, I can't tell what the size of the card is. Here is the manu's website: http://www.hisdigital.com/us/product2-274.shtml I'd contact them directly and ask the size, then measure the size available in your case. Also, make sure you Power Supply can handle it. (You can ask the manufacturer what it's power requirements are, and your PSU will have it's power rating listed on the side.) | |
Thanks for ignoring my post as well ^-^ Apparently you didn't read through it. I gave a perfectly feasible reason why you should get one kind of graphics card over another, and anyone else who's tech savvy will tell you the exact same thing. NVIDIA is (it's a fact) better at gaming than ATI. And fans are also, as a fact, better than a heatsink. The only thing better than a fan is liquid coolant. So maybe it is you whose the fanboy? I'm IC3 certified so I know the basic hardware of a computer and how one works in general. I'm working on A+ right now. If you don't believe my facts, do a little research. I'm not saying that heatsinks are terrible, I'm merely saying that a fan is better for keeping the card cool, and keeping the air flowing in your tower.
The only request that I ignored by you was to find a better graphics card than you have hyperlinked. I did that because I narrowed your search down by at least half and I'm not going to find a potential graphics card for you since I don't know what else your (sister?) does other than play WoW. If that's all she does, then pretty much any grpahics card will do that's at least 128MB VRAM. As an added note, a graphics card alone isn't going to make the game run perfect. Other things like RAM and CPU power play a major role as well. If you have a 1GB VRAM card, but only 512MB of RAM, you're computer will still run like crap. Then there's your internet connection of course, but that's a lot more complicated than computer hardware >_> | |
Mizukouken Ketsu wrote:
Thanks for ignoring my post as well ^-^ Apparently you didn't read through it. I gave a perfectly feasible reason why you should get one kind of graphics card over another, and anyone else who's tech savvy will tell you the exact same thing. NVIDIA is (it's a fact) better at gaming than ATI. And fans are also, as a fact, better than a heatsink. The only thing better than a fan is liquid coolant. So maybe it is you whose the fanboy? I'm IC3 certified so I know the basic hardware of a computer and how one works in general. I'm working on A+ right now. If you don't believe my facts, do a little research. I'm not saying that heatsinks are terrible, I'm merely saying that a fan is better for keeping the card cool, and keeping the air flowing in your tower. If you were a computer expert and not a fanboy yourself, you would know the 4850 series ATI cards are the fastest on the market for the price. They blow an 8800gt and most 9xxx series cards out of the water and are way cheaper! (Disclosure: I run an 8800gt, got it before the 4850s were released) As for fan vs heatsink, it's irrelevant. Who really cares? If I had the choice between two cards that ran at the same speed, I'd get the fanless one cuz it's quieter, as long as it can actually keep cool, which btw, the card he picked out has no reports of it running too hot. I installed a zalman fanless heatsink on a 8400gs graphics card, and it runs fine, and has run fine for over a year. | |
Mizukouken Ketsu wrote:
I gave a perfectly feasible reason why you should get one kind of graphics card over another, and anyone else who's tech savvy will tell you the exact same thing. NVIDIA is (it's a fact) better at gaming than ATI. ATI actually gives you a LOT more bang for the buck these days. Currently, however, ATI is not giving nVidia a run for its money because of all the nVidia fanboys that refuse to believe ATI provides more power for less, i.e. you. Regarding fans over heatsinks, fans generate heat themselves. Maybe a fan is more efficient at dispersing heat, but it requires more energy and can get really loud. Also, there shouldn't be an argument against buying a card that has a sink but not a fan or otherwise. Both parts can be bought separately (rather cheaply, too) and installed with ease. But I find that an overall good airflow system is best. CPUs and GPUs with heatsinks work wonders if you have good, clean air throughput on your tower, you won't even need fans for your individual parts. I also find that you are putting too much reliance on VRAM. Most games don't even require much, especially if the clock speed of your GPU is good. GPUs can borrow RAM from the motherboard, too. Regarding IC3 and A+, you should probably not shove that in the faces of your peers. Those are basic, entry-level certifications and they don't certify that your facts and tales are trustworthy or reputable. A+ just certifies that you are able to be a technician. IC3 is not relevant here, I'm sure. | |
Now see, you make me take any credibility you might have had and simply ignore it, because you are trying to suggest my girlfriend is my sister? What is this, third grade? Grow up. As you can most likely see, there are a lot of people who could disagree or argue your "facts" with you. Anyone who is "tech savvy" who is going to try and drop a blatant opinion as fact in my face, I am going to ignore.
If all she is doing is browsing the internet and playing World of Warcraft, why would I want to even bother with liquid cooling? I am not planning on over clocking her system in the least. Her computer reaches a reasonable temperature in a nice, wide open space, I don't need to worry about the whole fan VS heatsink debate. I have taken several computer classes myself and I know the questions I am asking are not necessarily "certified" questions. If you had played World of Warcraft at all, especially recently with the latest expansion pack and upgrade, you would know that the system requirements are steadily beginning to get higher and higher. It isn't as low tech as it used to be. I know a video card alone isn't going to cover everything. Don't assume things. I am already planning on buying her a extra 2 gigs of ram and will be, in the future, looking at kicking up her CPU to a 3.3ghz. But I don't have several hundred dollars to drop down all at one thing. The crap you are talking about are all pretty much basic stuff. If you are trying to impress anyone with your "knowledge" then you need to go back to class for awhile. I asked for help, not a snotty student. As for everyone else, thanks for the input. I know I might have to think about upgrading her PSU, I have been trying to find cards that won't need that at this moment in time since those can cost even more money. The few I have looked at seem to be decent, but at the same time not have massive power requirements. | |
Trosh Kubyo wrote:
Now see, you make me take any credibility you might have had and simply ignore it, because you are trying to suggest my girlfriend is my sister? What is this, third grade? Grow up. Why do you assume I was trying to bash on your girlfriend or you for that matter? I couldn't remember that little tidbit in your OP so I made a guess as to whom the computer was for. Way to make assumptions there, hypocrite. | |
CaptFalcon33035 wrote:
ATI actually gives you a LOT more bang for the buck these days. Currently, however, ATI is not giving nVidia a run for its money because of all the nVidia fanboys that refuse to believe ATI provides more power for less, i.e. you. Really? So what could be making my internet browser games run so slow, and not games like Guild Wars? It couldn't possibly be my internet, now could it? And 256MB of VRAM and 2GB of RAM is plenty to play a small flash game... | |
I'm pretty sure the video card has little to do with flash applications, other than rendering video, and it's used only in applications built with flash 9 update 3 and newer. I suspect for flash games, almost no work is actually sent to the gpu. It's likely your CPU that's the bottle neck.
Here's some info, about halfway down the page: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/logged_in/ jchurch_flashplayer10.html | |
You're certified in a Danish-built high-comfort medium/long distance diesel multiple-unit train?
Oh, you mean it's really only a certification program that is designed to teach individuals the digital literacy skills associated with basic computer and Internet use? The one created "to address the need for a globally-recognized and accepted standard of basic computing knowledge to be considered fundamental to academic learning and a minimum requirement for employment in a typical office setting"? Right, so the nothing-special certification? Go flaunt somewhere else. | |
I dunno. All I'm saying is it's almost certainly not the graphics card. I might be willing to buy that if you tested a similar nvidia graphics card, (the 8400gs, for example).
Anyway, my last computer was almost just like yours. A P4 Celeron 2.23ghz with a Radeon 9800 and had no slowdown in Flash applications. The point I see severe slowdown in Flash (youtube gets unwatchable) is when you hit P3 speeds or older. | |
Currently, ATI is favorable as far as bang-for-buck go. I personally run with an nVidia 8800GT with the G92 GPU, bought shortly before the GTS G92 was released - Or I would have gone with that. The 8800GTS was, prior to the 48XX series of ATI the best thing to head for. This goes back and forth, they're really both not that far apart in price; we're talking $10 or so usually. ATI is out ahead right now, and in six months it will probably be nVidia. In a year, back to ATI. And so on.
With a power supply of 250watts, you're in a bit of trouble. I'd find a stable 400W power supply and go with a 4850 or 8800GTS for a solution you would be able to afford. While I don't know the inside of that case, it looks like the standard desktop tower measurements which means anything short of the ultra-large cards will go fine in there; cards like the 8800GTX Ultra and the 9800GTX might not fit. But you're not looking to go there anyway. The 8800GTS takes up two slots, but isn't all that big; the 8800GT is even smaller, taking up only one slot. This means a smaller fan (which means more noise from the graphics card), though. In short: * Upgrade PSU to 400watt * Make sure the computer is running either 2GB dual-channel (2 x 1GB sticks of same speed) or 4GB dual-channel (2 x 2GB sticks of same speed) * Buy either an ATI 4850 or an nVidia 8800GT/8800GTS depending on what you want / what is cheapest. They all work good. Dual-channel has something to say as far as gaming goes; running with 3GB is sub-optimal for gaming compared to 2GB unless you're running completely out of RAM. So either go with 2 or 4GB, and always run with the exact same sticks (Or make sure they've got equal timing and both work for dual-channel interleaved). | |
I already planned on using dual channel ram for her computer. On the box it is advertised as 2GBs of ram, but when you look at it though windows it says 1.5GBs of ram, I don't know why, maybe it is windows.
I have personally found that most video cards run fine on what the computer has for a stock PSU as long as it isn't a super heavy duty video card. I have had several computers in the past and never bothered to upgrade the PSU. I haven't had any problems, but I'll consider upgrading it. | |
Trosh Kubyo wrote:
I already planned on using dual channel ram for her computer. On the box it is advertised as 2GBs of ram, but when you look at it though windows it says 1.5GBs of ram, I don't know why, maybe it is windows. Depending on where you're looking could be effecting what its reporting. Checking the system info through the control panel should be giving you an accurate report, however using something like dxdiag will show you exactly where RAM is being allocated. I have personally found that most video cards run fine on what the computer has for a stock PSU as long as it isn't a super heavy duty video card. I have had several computers in the past and never bothered to upgrade the PSU. I haven't had any problems, but I'll consider upgrading it. Putting a video card into a system without the proper wattage rating will usually lead to it overheating. Though it could also cause shorting/crashing/damage to hardware. Its definitely a good idea to at least meet, if not exceed the minimum requirements. | |
Thanks for the heads up about the PSU, I guess I've just been lucky. After thinking about it I am going to go ahead and get her some dual channel 4GBs. I guess under Vista 64 she could support up to 8GBs of ram, but I don't really see her needing that much, plus I don't feel like downloading a print of Vista 64 either.
I am looking at a new video card now, it seems a bit cheaper, but it seems like an OK video card. Like I said, she isn't a hardcore gamer, so it should be OK. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133250 So I might end up buying her a new PSU. Just enough to get her by with the new video card. I am a little more unclear on the PSU though. On the desktop desc it says it uses a micro atx case, so I assume that is the size of the PSU I am going to have to pick up. Newegg doesn't exactly have a lot of 300> watt PSUs that seem high quality. Could you point me out to a few that could be decent? | |
Trosh Kubyo wrote:
Thanks for the heads up about the PSU, I guess I've just been lucky. After thinking about it I am going to go ahead and get her some dual channel 4GBs. I guess under Vista 64 she could support up to 8GBs of ram, but I don't really see her needing that much, plus I don't feel like downloading a print of Vista 64 either. If the game is only displaying lag at certain points when large amounts of effects/players/enemies/etc are on screen at once; the only upgrade needed may be to the RAM. Check the task manager during gameplay, if the RAM usage is constantly (or even occasionally) being maxed out, throwing an extra gig or two in would probably improve efficiency by a noticeable amount. | |