I was play WoW last night, and my graphics got all wacky for about 10 seconds, then my monitor blinked off.  I noticed an odd smell from the general direction of my tower.  After openning it up, I notice that the heatink for my graphics card has melted through its mounts and fallen to the bottom of hte case, shorting out my TV tuner card on its way.  Effin wonderful.  

So - I need a new graphics card.  Since this is primarily to play World of Warcraft, and its secondary (but still important) use is Photoshop, I would prefer an nVidia card, as Blizzard supports them better, and PS likes them as well.

My budget is about $100.  My system, as it stands:
2GB PC2700 RAM
cheap-ass Soyo motherboard, SY-P4VTE if memory serves -- needs replaced, was next on my list.
Intel P4 1.6Ghz CPU -- was 2nd on my list to replace
60Gb 5,400 RPM hdd -- 3rd on my list to replace, loadign times weren't too bad for what I do
burned out 128Mb PNY nVidia GeForce4 Ti4200
burned out generic TV tuner card
Sound Blaster Audigy card - the original one, still serves my purposes well.

I might be able to increase my budget by quite a bit, depending on a couple of other concerns I may be able to put aside.

I need this machine up and running ASAP, and while I'm at it, I may as well re-work my upgrade path.  A new gfx card is a pretty big expense, and AGP is on its way out as a standard.  Do you guys think it would be more cost-effective to swap out the mobo for one that supports PCIe at the same time?  Might be nice, as then I could purchase a duplicate card in the future and run them via SLI.  

Finally, and being a former PC builder, I hate to say this - but might it be cheaper jsut to buy a new PC?  My case and PSU are ancient, I actually had an electrical engineering student friend O/C my PSU, from 300W original to 450W.  

What does the hivemind think?

Quoted: I was play WoW last night, and my graphics got all wacky for about 10 seconds, then my monitor blinked off.  I noticed an odd smell from the general direction of my tower.  After openning it up, I notice that the heatink for my graphics card has melted through its mounts and fallen to the bottom of hte case, shorting out my TV tuner card on its way.  Effin wonderful.   So - I need a new graphics card.  Since this is primarily to play World of Warcraft, and its secondary (but still important) use is Photoshop, I would prefer an nVidia card, as Blizzard supports them better, and PS likes them as well. My budget is about $100.  My system, as it stands: 2GB PC2700 RAM cheap-ass Soyo motherboard, SY-P4VTE if memory serves -- needs replaced, was next on my list. Intel P4 1.6Ghz CPU -- was 2nd on my list to replace 60Gb 5,400 RPM hdd -- 3rd on my list to replace, loadign times weren't too bad for what I do burned out 128Mb PNY nVidia GeForce4 Ti4200 burned out generic TV tuner card Sound Blaster Audigy card - the original one, still serves my purposes well. I might be able to increase my budget by quite a bit, depending on a couple of other concerns I may be able to put aside. I need this machine up and running ASAP, and while I'm at it, I may as well re-work my upgrade path.  A new gfx card is a pretty big expense, and AGP is on its way out as a standard.  Do you guys think it would be more cost-effective to swap out the mobo for one that supports PCIe at the same time? Might be nice, as then I could purchase a duplicate card in the future and run them via SLI.   Finally, and being a former PC builder, I hate to say this - but might it be cheaper jsut to buy a new PC? My case and PSU are ancient, I actually had an electrical engineering student friend O/C my PSU, from 300W original to 450W.   What does the hivemind think?

Yes... a new APG graphics card is a dead end so if you can afford it...

And

Yes... A new system because you will have to get a new CPU as well, I don't think there are any PCIe MBs that will support a P4 1.6 ...

I sugest a AMD Althon 64 system, a X2 if you can afford it.

You might as well pony up for a PCI-E motherboard, Athlon 64 processor, and a new PCI-E videocard. That rig is oooold, and you'll definitely notice the improvement in gameplay.

Which power supply do you have? Athlon 64 processors need a high quality one. At least 400w, with a secondary 12v 4-pin power connector for the motherboard.

What kinda budget can you eek out for this upgrade/rebuild?

Quoted: You might as well pony up for a PCI-E motherboard, Athlon 64 processor, and a new PCI-E videocard. That rig is oooold, and you'll definitely notice the improvement in gameplay. Which power supply do you have? Athlon 64 processors need a high quality one. At least 400w, with a secondary 12v 4-pin power connector for the motherboard. What kinda budget can you eek out for this upgrade/rebuild?

+1

There are not many AGP cards left now, it was one of the main factors I upgraded my system to a PCI-e Athlon64 rig.

dang, thats a good card too.  Currently what I'm running.

You need a new computer, not just a new graphics card

Quoted: dang, thats a good card too.  Currently what I'm running.

Good 3 years ago...

Quoted: Quoted: dang, thats a good card too.  Currently what I'm running. Good 3 years ago...

hey now, I can run COD 1&2, BF Vietnam, Bros in Arms, etc. just fine with it!  (no BF2 tho :( )

I say buy a agp card as a hold out till you do a whole system swap.

they still do make agp card with 1st generation chips, they just arn't as great as the pci-e, but your replaceing a ti 4200 so you won't notices a performance drop anyway.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/05/vga_charts_vii/index.html

It's upgrade time. If the power supply is still good, I'd go with a Socket 939 motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 processor, 1 GB of quality RAM and a decent mid-range video card.

NewEgg is your friend here. Shopping carefully, you may be able to do this all for about $400.

I would get one of these if you're going to stick with that mobo....



Radeon 9600 Pro


or if you want to stick with Nvidia

6600

Quoted: I actually had an electrical engineering student friend O/C my PSU, from 300W original to 450W.   What does the hivemind think?

There's your first mistake.....

Geforce 6600 videocard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121197 $109


TV tuner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815100129 $28

Power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023 $30 AR

Total $167 plus shipping. If you can afford a new system, go for it. Reality is sometimes you gotta spend money on other things, like food, LOL. This videocard will be lightyears ahead of your old one. The TV  tuner card is a good one for the price, but I don't know what specific needs you have for it. Not a big fan of "overclocked" power supplies, $30 is cheap insurance for a pretty good one. Again, if you can spend the money on a new system with AMD dual core processor, SLI motherboard, dual 7800 GTX videocards, etc, etc...then you will be amazed with the performance and it will be good for a while, but if you just need a bandaid to hold you over, what I listed above should be more than sufficient.

Quoted: I would get one of these if you're going to stick with that mobo.... Radeon 9600 Pro or if you want to stick with Nvidia 6600

To get back up and WoWing, a big +1 on those.