# help please [moved from Gaming]



## Timmmy (Mar 10, 2008)

not sure if this the right thread to post in but w/e.

ok, so i used to play WoW but eventually had to stop due to extreme lag issues, which i know realize were due to many shortcomings of my PC. Well, i want to start playing again so i went to srtest.com and it said that i need 1 GB of RAM, a 64 MB 3D transform lighting(such as an Nvidia GeForce 6600 class or better) graphics card, and 6 GB of Disk Space.

I currently only have 255 MB of RAM, a RAGE 128 PRO ultra GL AGP graphics card, and 4.1 GB of Disk space.

So what I'm basically asking of you guys is what I should get and should i attempt to put them in my PC myself or get somebody to do it.

I have a Dell Dimension 4400.

Thanks for all help.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

*Re: help please*

Hi Timmy, welcome to TSF

The lag durng games could be _partly_ due to your low disk space of 4.1GB. Windows needs at least 15% free space to run efficiently, so your computer might be running much slower than its capable of. What size is your hard drive? Do you defrag regularly?

255mb is very low for XP. 512mb is the recommended minimum, 1gb preferable.

Do you have any experience with upgrading computers? Adding more RAM and freeing disk space shouldn't be a problem, but for anything more advanced like upgrading the graphics card or motherboard you will need to post your full system specs and budget so we can advise you further.

I'll move this thread to Hardware/Building after your next reply.


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## Timmmy (Mar 10, 2008)

*Re: help please*

Thanks, koalaray:. Go ahead and move this into Hardware/Building.

My hard drives' total size is 37.2 GB and only 4.24 GB of it is open.
I defrag every once in a while, maybe once every few months, but probably not as much as I should.

I'm planning on buying 1GB RAM sometime this week.

I have no experience at all upgrading computers. Some friends of mine do though, so it would be no problem at all if i needed to get somebody to do it for me.

Thanks again.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

*Re: help please*

There are other upgrades you could make, like motherboard, CPU, PSU, etc but to keep costs down I think RAM, hard drive and graphics card are the first things to look at to improve performance.

Download *Everest* and go to Computer > Summary to see your computer's details. Post back with the motherboard make/model so we can see what kind of graphics card (AGP/PCIE) and hard drive (IDE/SATA) you can install.

The extra 1gb RAM will make a big difference. If you need any help selecting which type is compatible, Everest will tell you what memory is currently installed. You need to buy the same type.

Try and clear some files so you have at least 6GB free space. This will allow defrag to work.

If you install another hard drive, you can keep your current one and move some files onto the new slave one which can be used for storage.

Let us know if you want to upgrade any other parts. What's your total budget?


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## Timmmy (Mar 10, 2008)

Ok, Everest looks like it will be a ton of help. 

CPU Type: Intel Pentium 4, 1600 MHz
Motherboard Name: Intel Pendleton D845PT (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 2 DIMM, Audio)
Motherboard Chipset: Intel Brookdale i845D

How do I go about cleaning up my hard drive? Where do I go to delete files?

I don't know if this will be enough but my budget is currently $100-300.

Thanks again.


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

To delete files to free up some space, open Windows Explorer (My Computer) and burn any media files, old documents that aren't needed, etc to DVD. Uninstall any programs you don't use from Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.

Don't go into C:\Program Files or C:\Windows and just delete programs and random files. This will cause all kind of problems.


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## Timmmy (Mar 10, 2008)

ok. will do. Will my budget of $ 100-300 be enough?


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## 0siris85 (Mar 5, 2008)

Looks like your motherboard supports PC2100 memory. A 1GB stick of this memory goes for about 50 bucks, depending where you look. You could possibly find it cheaper.

Your motherboard supports AGP 4x, and while I'm not quite up-to-date on AGP video cards, a 7300GT would serve your needs nicely. As a matter of fact it's probably overkill for World of Warcraft. Someone might give you better advice as far as the video card goes, so I would recommend you wait until you get a few replies regarding this :smile:

Anyway, your total would come to about 150 bucks with shipping, minus 30 bucks if you take advantage of the rebate on that video card :smile: Again, the price depends on where you buy.

hope that helps :wave:


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## InfernalSolo (Nov 8, 2006)

In my experience, no matter what generation of geforce card it is, the x300 cards are not built well for any type of gaming. I would get a Geforce 7600 for around $100. If that is too much money, a Geforce 6600 would be plenty for WoW, and you can probably pick one of those up for $50-60. 

Again, like I said before, even though the Geforce 7 series is a newer generation, I would still expect the 6600 to perform better than the 7300 just because of what the cards are designed for. Of course, the 7600 would be much better performing than the 6600.

PLEASE NOTE: If you get the 7600, MAKE SURE you get the AGP version of the card, and not the PCI-Express version, as that will not work on your system.


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## Timmmy (Mar 10, 2008)

Thanks, Infernal and Osiris.
This should help me a lot.
I'll update the thread when I buy my equipment.


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