Need help for low FPS

[AllynTal]

I'm trying to help a friend with his low FPS while playing World of Warcraft. I'm not at the computer now, so the info I give here is from my notes.

He has a Compaq Presario (I think it is the SR1318NX-B desktop PC) with an ASUS PTGD1-LA motherboard. It has a 2.8G P4 in it--Intel 915GV chipset running Windows XP Home. Over the course of the last 8 months, I've put in a new 450w PS (old PS died), 4G of RAM (can never have enough RAM), and sometime last fall, the chipset drivers were updated.

Ever since the latest game expansion in November, he's had dreadfully low FPS. I thought a new video card would help. I consulted WoW's list of recommended cards and quickly narrowed the list to only those cards that I can get in PCI. Out of the now very short list, I got a Visiontek HD2400 Pro 256M.

Here are the steps I took to put it in:
1) set a system restore point
2) disabled the drivers for the onboard video in the device manager. It was recommended to disable them rather than uninstall them to stop Windows from trying to reinstall them.
3) shut down
4) Start up and enter Setup--checked in the BIOS to be sure the primary video now pointed to PCI and not to Onboard.
5) shut down
6) open the case and installed the new card in a PCI slot. Closed the case. Connected the monitor to the new vid card.
7) Booted up the box to Windows. Inserted the CD that came with the vid card. Installed the drivers, then installed the Catalyst Control Center.
8) once everything was installed, I rebooted the computer.

I launched WoW, and nothing has changed. The frame rate is still dreadfully low--usually single digits. I must be missing something. The fancy video card has to be better than the integrated video, doesn't it? What am I missing?

 

[doormatderek]

Sadly NO. It was 'upgrade' but hardly. You did say PCI right? He had no AGP slot at all? It would be the brown slot if it's there... My only recommendation would be uninstall those drivers after downloading the newest ones from www.ati.com Should be 9.2 right now

 

[AllynTal]

Sadly NO. It was 'upgrade' but hardly. You did say PCI right? He had no AGP slot at all? It would be the brown slot if it's there... My only recommendation would be uninstall those drivers after downloading the newest ones from www.ati.com Should be 9.2 right now

If there was an AGP slot in that motherboard, I would have increased my pool of choices for vid card by a significant amount, but alas, no. Only PCI slots.

Is there anything I can do to his computer to boost that frame rate? At this point, I'm not above replacing the motherboard to get something with AGP or PCIe slots just so I can get a kickin' vid card for him. What hurdles do I face if I pursue that course?

 

[4745454b]

The OS won't work if you do that. Once the computer fails to detect the Compaq Bios, it will (correctly) assume its no longer in the computer it was sold with. At this point it will need to get authorized again.

I'm not sure whats going on here. I have no idea what IGP he started with, nor do I know how much the PCI bus will limit the 2400. Are there any other setting he can turn down? I would also download CPUz and make sure everything is running at the speeds/settings they should.

 

[bustapr]

I'm trying to help a friend with his low FPS while playing World of Warcraft. I'm not at the computer now, so the info I give here is from my notes.

Might just be an internet speed problem. If the network is not fast enough you will get loww frames. Besides if it is a video problem , you can find a Biostar TA780G
motherboard at 80$ and a athlon 4400+ for $50, then buy any geforce 8 series that can be found around $40. now that wont hurt his pocket that much wont it.
I recommend all of this because most your friends pc is outdated .

 

[AllynTal]

The OS won't work if you do that. Once the computer fails to detect the Compaq Bios, it will (correctly) assume its no longer in the computer it was sold with. At this point it will need to get authorized again.

I'm not sure whats going on here. I have no idea what IGP he started with, nor do I know how much the PCI bus will limit the 2400. Are there any other setting he can turn down? I would also download CPUz and make sure everything is running at the speeds/settings they should.

He has all the game effects turned to minimum or turned off. He'd been running it that way since the last game expansion and the game performance wasn't great, but it was doable. This recent game expansion sent him back into the toilet.

I'm going back to his house in a few hours. I'll D/L that CPUz of which you speak and see what it tells me.

 

[AllynTal]

Might just be an internet speed problem. If the network is not fast enough you will get loww frames. Besides if it is a video problem , you can find a Biostar TA780G
motherboard at 80$ and a athlon 4400+ for $50, then buy any geforce 8 series that can be found around $40. now that wont hurt his pocket that much wont it.
I recommend all of this because most your friends pc is outdated .

It sounds like changing the Mobo won't work. 4745454b pointed out that the OS won't work if it doesn't detect the Compaq BIOS, and authorizing it doesn't sound like something I can do.

I don't believe it is an internet issue. He's on DSL with the same provider as I am, and my box is fine. His game latency is even lower than mine. It seems to me that I recall there being sites that will check your speed for you. I'll see if I can find one of them and check his internet speed.

We are acutely aware that his PC is outdated. We're just trying to nurse it along until he gets some disposable income to get a fancy new gaming box. Once that happens, this box will get handed along to his son because his son's current box won't play the game with its new expansion at all.

 

[shiftstealth]

you should

1- Buy a sledge hammer its cheaper than a mobo

2-Take the pc out into the middle of the street

3- Smash it

4- leave it there for the garbage men.


PS- you might be able to salvage that PSU for the new pc your going to build him after you shash his.


I had a old 1.7ghz celeron that i used to play wow on, on integrated graphics, i bought a 6200 and had no performance increase, like i said, the sledge hammer is cheaper.

 

[AllynTal]

. . . . I would also download CPUz and make sure everything is running at the speeds/settings they should.

I ran CPUz. The numbers look okay, but I have a question about some of the info it is giving me. It's telling me I have a PCI express graphic interface. I know I don't. Is it possible that the system thinks it is a PCIExpress slot and is treating it as such and that's why the performance of the HD2400 is so crappy?