Question Regarding Video Card Upgrade

[Organic_Pear]

Hi All I am looking to upgrade my computer to mainly run World of Warcraft more smoothly and perhaps starcraft 2 and diablo 3 when they come out.


I currently have

AMD ATHLON 64X2 3800+ DUAL CORE PROCESS at 2.01 GHZ
1GB RAM
Nvidia 6600 GT PCI Express Vid Card
400 W power supply
ASUS A8N-SLI Motherboard

I was wondering if this computer is worth upgrading at all? Or would I be better off purchasing somthing new? I dont do much computer gaming besides blizzard games so the graphical demands are pretty much limited to that.


If it is worth upgrading what is the best video card I could put in it, or what video card would you reccomend for it?

All help appreciated!

 

[funkysnair]

it think an extra stick of 1gb ram-and a 8800gt will do for wow but if your wanting to play games that are just coming out your talking new psu-gpu-cpu-more ram!

also is your 400watt psu a cheapo/free with case job?

you start getting new graphics cards they become more power hungry so you need to find out what the power supply can handle.

post up the name and model number of your power supply

 

[Organic_Pear]

icute ATX - 400W/P4 is what it says on the powersupply sticker

although i have had some problems with the psu fan going weird rpm's in the past to the point where I thought I was going to have to replace it. I changed how I have the stuff plugged in though and it seems to be ok now except for occasionly making weird noises when it first boots up.

also is there any way to tell which type of ram I currently have and whether or not I have room to upgrade to more what type etC?

 

[funkysnair]

18amps on the 12volt rails.... not much

i think you would struggle to push a 8800gt with it!

if you pruchase a new power supply,8800gt and another 1gig of ram with a little bit overclocking of your cpu you might be ok!

 

[Organic_Pear]

any other reccomendations?

best to upgrade or entire new comp?


1) or perhaps just get a radeon 3870 for like 90 dollars

2) I think it would be about 400 dollars for another gig of ddr ram a new psu and a 9800GT vid card.

3) Or aroudn 1300 for a new cpu with a quad core processor q6600 and a radeon 4870 1 gig vid card with 4 gigs of ddr2 ram

which of these 3 do you guys think is the best option? Keep in mind wotlk is probably the most graphically demanding game i will be playing on this computer.