Upgrade Comp. for gaming

[Donavaughn_08]

Hello,
I just recently bought a dell inspiron 518. I would like to upgrade the graphics card on it so I can play WoW on max settings. I only have a budget of $75 and only one graphics card slot. Any suggestions on the graphics card would be appreciated. Here are my comp specs

Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit
4gb ddr2 memory (800)
ATI Radeon hd3450
Intel Pentium Dual CPU E220 2.40ghz
23" Dell Widescreen Monitor so i play on 1920 x 1080 resolution.
300 watt power supply

I bought a ATI Radeon 4350 512mb that i tried out and took back because it wasnt much of an upgrade.

 

[Herr_Koos]

This article was written just for you:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/graphics-card-radeon-hd-5870-geforce-gtx-480,review-31892.html

Looks like the 4650 or the 9800GT will fit your budget.

 

[Donavaughn_08]

thanks man, good article. I really wanna know if either of those cards will work given my power supply is 300w. I know the 4650 requires 400 i believe

 

[Herr_Koos]

That's why I prefer custom build to off-the-shelf. PC retailers tend to give you minimum hardware for maximum currency.

 

[Donavaughn_08]

yea me too but i just dont have time to build anymore. I wanna game sometimes, I know WoW is not really graphics intensive is why i was hoping to just upgrade the card

 

[Donavaughn_08]

Also, do you think that this setup would be fine to run WoW with max settings with the ATI Radeon 4670? I have heard many people can run the card with a 300 watt power supply as well. IS my CPU sufficient to run WoW at max settings.

 

[Herr_Koos]

Not sure; I've never played WoW so I can't really comment on that. Why don't you check the recommended specs for the game?

 

[frozentundra123456]

The 4670 should run on a 300 watt power supply. The ATI statement of 400 watts is "recommended" only, not reqiured. Be careful with the 9800GT. One version requires a six pin connector and might be too much for the 300watt power supply.
However there is a "green" or lower power version that does not require a six pin power connector and should work on your 300 watt power supply. Actually I am running one of these on a 300w power supply with no problem so far (about 6months.) You might be able to find one of these on sale or close out for around the price you are looking for. Probably the best card would be the ATI 5670, but that card is new and still overpriced. A 4670 should be in you price range though, and is maybe 30% weaker than the newer 5670.

 

[Donavaughn_08]

thanks guys for the advice. I went ahead and bought the 4670 and will let you know how it does with my gaming needs.

 

[Donavaughn_08]

I would also like to know if i should upgrade my CPU for WoW or if i need to upgrade anything else?