Please Don't Laugh *need help*

[stoptherockets94]

Hello, this is my first post and I don't know too much about computers except all the basics and how to put them together.

I have a old E-Machines W3105 with 2GBs of RAM and I was wondering how I can make it faster still? Is there anyway to make it hold more RAM, and I play World Of Warcraft and it looks horrible. Does anyone know a cheap and decent Video Card for this computer?

thanks

-rockets

Below are the stocks specs except I have 2GB of RAM in my machine.

Product Details and Features
Product MPN
MPN W3105
Key Features
Form Factor Tower
Processor AMD Sempron 1.8 GHz
Chipset VIA K8M800
Installed Memory 512 MB (DDR SDRAM)
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Recommended Use Home Use
Processor
Processor Type AMD Sempron
Processor Speed 1.8 GHz
Processor Manufacturer AMD
Motherboard
Video Output Interface AGP
Memory
RAM Technology DDR SDRAM
Installed RAM 512 MB
Max Supported RAM 2 GB
Supported RAM Speeds 400 MHz
Installed Cache Memory 256 KB
Technical Features
Integrated Input/Output Ports USB 2.0 x 7 • Serial Port x 1 • RJ45 Lan Port x 1 • PS/2 Mouse x 1 • PS/2 Keyboard x 1 • Parallel Port (ECP/EPP/SPP) x 1
Expansion Slots PCI x 3
Memory Card Slots Memory Stick • SmartMedia • Memory Stick PRO • Micro Drive Memory Stick • MultiMediaCard • SD Memory Card • CompactFlash Card type I
Other Features Media Card Reader
Hard Drive
Hard Drive Capacity 80 GB
Hard Drive Interface EIDE
Hard Drive Rotation Speed 7,200 RPM
Controller Type Ultra ATA
CD / DVD
Optical Drive Type CD/Floppy Drive (Combo)
Optical Drive Read Speed 48x (CD)
Audio / Video
Graphic Processor VIA UniChrome Pro
Video Out Ports 15 Pin D-Sub VGA port x 1
Integrated Audio AC97 Audio Codec
Modem
Modem Type Fax / Modem
Networking
Networking Type Integrated 10/100 Network Card
Data Link Protocol Ethernet • Fast Ethernet
Dimensions
Width 7.25 in.
Depth 16 in.
Height 14.25 in.
Weight 22.5 lb.
Miscellaneous
UPC 827103073485
Product ID 27901345
Family Line eMachines

 

[Trotter]

The bad news is that there's not much you can do for your machine, rockets. Socket 754 went the way of the dodo a bit ago. While you can buy a better CPU on eBay, upgrading it would be kind of pointless. you are already at your max as far as RAM goes. AGP cards, while still out there, are much more expensive than PCI-E cards.

You would be better off buying a new motherboard, CPU, RAM, power supply, and graphics card. That may sound like a lot, and it can be, but we can fit it into your budget. Just let us know what you want to spend and we will cobble together a shopping list for you. You have already upgraded your RAM, and putting the rest of it together is just about as easy.

You can reuse your case, optical(s), and hard drive. We just need to make sure that we recommend a mATX board for you.

 

[stoptherockets94]

The bad news is that there's not much you can do for your machine, rockets. Socket 754 went the way of the dodo a bit ago. While you can buy a better CPU on eBay, upgrading it would be kind of pointless. you are already at your max as far as RAM goes. AGP cards, while still out there, are much more expensive than PCI-E cards.

You would be better off buying a new motherboard, CPU, RAM, power supply, and graphics card. That may sound like a lot, and it can be, but we can fit it into your budget. Just let us know what you want to spend and we will cobble together a shopping list for you. You have already upgraded your RAM, and putting the rest of it together is just about as easy.

You can reuse your case, optical(s), and hard drive. We just need to make sure that we recommend a mATX board for you.

Alright thanks for the quick reply, but is it cheaper to buy a new PC or not?

 

[myowngod]

what he meant was... the relative performance gains you would get vs. what you would pay when trying to upgrade your current system would be minimal - especially if you considered building a new one, which would be far more upgradable as needed but more expensive... you are better off toughing it out with the old system than throwing hundreds of dollars at it only to make a tiny improvement... you should save up for a whole new setup instead...

 

[meat_helmet]

Well, this is the best card your going to get for it:

Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR AG3850 512MD3 Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

But having said that it is quite possible you would have to upgrade your Power Supply to be able to run that card. Also, you may not see too much benifit as your cpu may hold you back quite alot.

You might be able to run this card without a new power supply, but its hard to say if it will have enought power, or if you will see much gain in performance:

Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR HD2600XT 512M AGP Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

As Trotter said, the only sure way to get a good performance increase is to get a new build unfortunately.

 

[kmote]

Anything short of a complete overhaul on your current PC would be a waste of money. You would need to replace the motherboard, CPU, RAM and PSU aka virtually everything. It would still cost less than a complete system build (or a prebuilt) since you would already have the case and drives. TBH though I would recommend a new case as well.

 

[Trotter]

You can buy a new eMachine for $400. You can build a new rig (recycling your stuff) for less than that.

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TFORCE TA780G M2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

Newegg.com - CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Power Supplies

Newegg.com - Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

Combo - 7750 Kuma & Sapphire 4830 512MB

$310 w/free shipping on CPU, PSU, graphics card, and RAM and $25 in mail in rebates.

There's a way to move your hard drive to a new build without losing anything, so that won't be a concern.

 

[patonb]

Even cheaper if he could ditch the video, and run the onboard... It'll run circles around tje old one.

But as a combo, maybe a good idea now.

 

[Trotter]

I forgot to take out the combo savings, so it would be a flat $300.

While the onboard would run it, an decent card will make a huge difference.

 

[Gothch1ck]

yea, onboard is "alright' in most cases, but for real gamers, even a mediocre video card would be better then onboard, since a card is dedicated to the games and such.


Yea.. I'd tough it out a bit, save up 300-500 dollars and go for a better rig, or go for a die-hard rig, save a little longer and save up for i7's which by the time you get a good 1,500 together for a new system like that, they will drop in prices quite a bit. So figure 1,000 for a new computer, in a few months, and it'll run probably everything out on the market, or 300 for a medium now, or you could spend a couple hundred now and upgrade your graphics for the E-machine for very little gain.. if any...

I know the feeling man. I had my last system for 7 years, finally got some money and went for the i7 - still no decent GPU or Case- but it has made a tremendous difference even without them.

Games used to get say 45 FPS online, now get 120 FPS easy, and I actually Downgraded graphics cards because of the need for a PCI and I had a AGP before (of higher grade then the free PCI a friend gave me)

Granted that game wasn't "state of the art" in graphics, but you can tell the difference that way, every game has improved some, at least.. say smoother edging or 10FPS difference.