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'Low Rise' G/cards and Wow - Advice needed!

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  • 30-10-2011 9:31pm
    #1
    Signwriter
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭


    Hi people,

    Sorta new here and this is my first post but needed some friendly advice and figured this would be the best place to turn!

    So yesterday i bought a Dell OptiPlex 745 for next to nothing with the perspective to upgrading it to run World of Warcraft effortlessly at high to ultra graphics settings.

    Heres the base spec as is:
    Home Vista Basic
    Dell OptiPlex 745
    Intel Pentium D 3.40ghz (2 cpus)
    2044mb ram
    directx 10

    Ati Radeon x1300/x1550 series
    Internal DAC (400mhz)
    Aprrox total mem 1021mb
    current display mode 1024 x 768 (32bit) (60h)


    Now i know this is an old system, but it has potential from what im aware, it can run up to 8gb ram, its small and compact and its dual core which would be sufficient to run wow nicely.
    I plan on a terra hdd over the coming days and a fresh install of 64bit 7 to run the 8gb.
    The problem as you can see is the graphics card, and as im mostly a laptop user my knowledge is very limited when it comes to them.

    What i need to know is what 'low rise' graphics cards will fit, and whats the maximum i could use?
    As its a 'small form' desktop', im finding it difficult to find a card that will fit, as most have their own cooling units etc.

    Can anyone advise me on what is the most i can do to this system, what g/card or whatever can i do to make it run the game effortlessly with nice graphics?

    Im sure theres some fellow wow heads out there that feel my pain

    If pics or more info is needed please ask!

    Big thanks in advance!


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    Signwriter
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭Signwriter


    Bump!


  • Options
    #3
    plaguemarine 11
    Registered Users Posts: 24 ✭plaguemarine 11


    you need to know what kind of pci slot you have on the motherboard ( or if its a AGP slot ) most new cards will only work in a pci 2.0 slot and you will need a atx power supply for some cards . Also you don't really need that much RAM as if its ddr2 RAM it will be kind of expensive .


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    #4
    Cuddlesworth
    Registered Users Posts: 13,995 ✭✭✭✭Cuddlesworth


    Pentium D are a bodged dual core. Essentially you have bought a Pentium 4, a slow one at that. Its not going to run Wow very well.

    Best card would be a low profile 6570 I guess. Would be very cpu limited with that proc.


  • Options
    #5
    ED E
    Registered Users Posts: 36,167 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    Signwriter wrote: »
    I plan on a terra hdd over the coming days and a fresh install of 64bit 7 to run the 8gb.

    Poor timing, HDDs prices just more than doubled :(


    Dont bother putting a good card in that either, as below the CPU is just gonna bottlekneck it. Get a cheapish €60 card and then see if you cant OC the CPU. Sometimes possible on dells. If thats the box I think it is, the one we use in college, the cooling is decent and should allow a bit of headroom to work with.


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