Better option for extremely cheap MMO machine

[skaughtz]

I have an old system with an Athlon 64 X2 4000+ and a GeForce 6600GT. I am just looking to turn it into an extremely basic system capable of playing MMOs like Star Wars The Old Republic without jumping or without having to turn plane clipping all of the way down (the current system might suffice already but I havn't tried it). Would it be a better option to keep the processor and purchase a Radeon HD 5450, GeForce 210 or 8400 GS, etc. (~$30), or, would it be a better idea to purchase an APU like the A4-3300 (with the motherboard about $100... I have zero experience with APU graphics)? Would it even make a noticeable difference?

I'm more or less doing this for kicks. The wife wants to try her hand at MMOs so while she is on the good system I can screw around on this.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[vinaykumar5320]

Hi,
If you don't mind spending around $50, HD 6670 is an excellent card for your needs:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125403

And, this is the DDR5 version (60 $), which will be slightly faster:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127586

 

[skaughtz]

So regardless of cost, you think the crappy X2 4000+ and a new graphics card would be a better option than one of the cheap APUs?

 

[vinaykumar5320]

IMO, you should stick with your current CPU. It will work absolutely fine with the HD 6670. Discreet cards are always better than the Integrated.

However, check that your PSU is at least 350 W.

 

[Derza10]

For MMO's you will need a decent CPU... I don't think it will be very playable with any $100 solution. But your best bet would be to grab a video card, don't expect to much (like being able to do anything with 10+ people close by). And like Vinaykumar said, Check your PSU before you buy anything.

 

[Adsuki]

Get a quad CPU, something like an i5 would do best, and it won't bottleneck the HD 6670 DDR5 like my Phenom 9750 did, and that was a quad core too. Now I'm able to play Star Wars: The Old Republic with better frame rates on my new system then I was on that one with it getting choppy and what not. Best bet is, listen to Derza10. Get a better CPU, a good quad core, and get a GPU like a HD 7770 or higher; with 4GB of DDR3 RAM; so you won't have to worry about getting choppy stuff in MMO's. =)

 

[werdna87]

Get a quad CPU, something like an i5 would do best, and it won't bottleneck the HD 6670 DDR5 like my Phenom 9750 did, and that was a quad core too. Now I'm able to play Star Wars: The Old Republic with better frame rates on my new system then I was on that one with it getting choppy and what not. Best bet is, listen to Derza10. Get a better CPU, a good quad core, and get a GPU like a HD 7770 or higher; with 4GB of DDR3 RAM; so you won't have to worry about getting choppy stuff in MMO's. =)

His whole goal was cheep... a new I5 is around $200 alone

 

[bliq]

You're kinda stuck with the old 939 platform. I'd just pick up the best video card you can get for $100 and go to town. You may miss out on a couple fps with the Athlon but it should be good enough to try it out.