I built this system a few years ago:
Albatron PX-915P Pro MB
P4 520 (2.8GHz) CPU
Albatron 6600GT vid card
1G ram (4x256k)
Thermaltake Truepower 420W PS
I'm a casual gamer, and it has handled everything I threw at it with reasonable FPS using mid end vid settings. Then WOW entered my life. Prior to the BC expansion pack WOW ran flawlessly. After BC was installed I started getting a REALLY annoying video glitch. Often, when entering a new area where many new textures were suddenly getting loaded, the video will hiccup, and then many objects will appear without any or with messed up textures. The frame rate also drops into the single digits. Once this occurs, it never clears up on it's own. Forcing a reset of the video card by toggling vsync using the in-game controls usually clears it, but not always. Exiting and re-starting the game will also usually clear the problem. Re-starting the PC will always clears the problem. The problem is just as likely to occur five minutes after turn on as it after 5 hours of continuous use. Fortunately it never happens when in instances. I have no problems in any other application. The WOW tech support forum has lots of threads with people describing similar problems that started when the version 2 (BC) patch was released, and none (from what I have see) with any success at fixing it. This has proved to be the most vexing comp problem I have ever dealt with. I have tried four different versions of the Nvidia drivers, used driver cleaner between vid driver installs, ran a ram check test, updated my chipset driver, updated my MB bios, cleaned dust out of the case, tried both OpenGL and DirX modes, ran the WOW repair tool, removed the WTF folder, and played with every vid setting in the game. Nothing has changed the rate of occurance or nature of the problem. I have communicated with Blizzard and Nvidia tech support, and while they have made useful suggestions, nothing has worked. (BTW, Albatron has not answered any of my Emails - they no longer seem to be interested in supporting any of their older products. Remember that if you are considering buying anything from them.) Based on all of the above, I am concluding that this is most likely due to a H/W or BIOS problem in the video card. So I have been looking at replacements. I have a new 450W, 33A +12V PSU on its way from newegg, so any single card currently on the market is fair game. Right now I am considering the Nvidia 8600GT, ATI 2600XT, and ATI X1950Pro. After replacing the PSU and video card I plan on dropping in a P4 640 CPU and some more ram, so I can get another few years out of the system. So, my questions to the THG community (the most knowledgeable on the web, IMHO) are:
1. Does my conclusion that this is a problem in the video card make sense?
2. Does it make sense to stay away from Nvidia given the problem I am having, or will a new board from a new manufacturer just be a new roll of the dice compatibility-wise?
3. Is there any strong argument against any of the boards I am considering, given that WOW is my application of interest? I would like avoid any compatibility problems and to get at least 40 FPS using 1440x900 res, and 4xAA, with all the video quality settings maxed out.
Albatron PX-915P Pro MB
P4 520 (2.8GHz) CPU
Albatron 6600GT vid card
1G ram (4x256k)
Thermaltake Truepower 420W PS
I'm a casual gamer, and it has handled everything I threw at it with reasonable FPS using mid end vid settings. Then WOW entered my life. Prior to the BC expansion pack WOW ran flawlessly. After BC was installed I started getting a REALLY annoying video glitch. Often, when entering a new area where many new textures were suddenly getting loaded, the video will hiccup, and then many objects will appear without any or with messed up textures. The frame rate also drops into the single digits. Once this occurs, it never clears up on it's own. Forcing a reset of the video card by toggling vsync using the in-game controls usually clears it, but not always. Exiting and re-starting the game will also usually clear the problem. Re-starting the PC will always clears the problem. The problem is just as likely to occur five minutes after turn on as it after 5 hours of continuous use. Fortunately it never happens when in instances. I have no problems in any other application. The WOW tech support forum has lots of threads with people describing similar problems that started when the version 2 (BC) patch was released, and none (from what I have see) with any success at fixing it. This has proved to be the most vexing comp problem I have ever dealt with. I have tried four different versions of the Nvidia drivers, used driver cleaner between vid driver installs, ran a ram check test, updated my chipset driver, updated my MB bios, cleaned dust out of the case, tried both OpenGL and DirX modes, ran the WOW repair tool, removed the WTF folder, and played with every vid setting in the game. Nothing has changed the rate of occurance or nature of the problem. I have communicated with Blizzard and Nvidia tech support, and while they have made useful suggestions, nothing has worked. (BTW, Albatron has not answered any of my Emails - they no longer seem to be interested in supporting any of their older products. Remember that if you are considering buying anything from them.) Based on all of the above, I am concluding that this is most likely due to a H/W or BIOS problem in the video card. So I have been looking at replacements. I have a new 450W, 33A +12V PSU on its way from newegg, so any single card currently on the market is fair game. Right now I am considering the Nvidia 8600GT, ATI 2600XT, and ATI X1950Pro. After replacing the PSU and video card I plan on dropping in a P4 640 CPU and some more ram, so I can get another few years out of the system. So, my questions to the THG community (the most knowledgeable on the web, IMHO) are:
1. Does my conclusion that this is a problem in the video card make sense?
2. Does it make sense to stay away from Nvidia given the problem I am having, or will a new board from a new manufacturer just be a new roll of the dice compatibility-wise?
3. Is there any strong argument against any of the boards I am considering, given that WOW is my application of interest? I would like avoid any compatibility problems and to get at least 40 FPS using 1440x900 res, and 4xAA, with all the video quality settings maxed out.