Want to upgrade

[xcrafter2]

Here is what I have:
Mobo- ASUStek(AMI?) model M2N5-BN nvidia chipset
Memory - 2gb DDR2
Video Card- nvidia geforce 210
CPU - AMD athlon 64 3200+ 2.0ghz SINGLE core socket AM2 (stock cooler)
PSU- ASUS 260w

EDIT: also my current case is a mini I believe, it's about 1 foot high, 6-8 wide and probably 1 1/2- 2 ft long. I have a tower case that I could strip the mobo out of and probably just use that instead if needed, just wanted to factor that in to this.

This thing has been running since 2007 without a hiccup, other than a replaced video card that I upgraded a while back.

I'm looking to upgrade this for pretty cheap, really just looking at getting a new cpu + memory sticks, could somoene help me with this?
My budget is pretty small, looking for 150-200 bucks tops. Thinking dual or quad core + 4gb RAM would probably do it, 8gb if possible.
What is realistic? I really don't need the top end stuff I'm looking to get what I can. I play world of warcraft mainly and I'd like to put it on High(not ultra) gfx with a steady framerate in a 25man raid.

Some ideas I had were:
CPU-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103953 3.4 dual core

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103886 3.2 triple core

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871 3.0 quad core

RAM- not sure if I need DDR2 because of my mobo but that's what I'm linking.. maybe someone could help explain this if needed.
Also, my current mobo has 4 RAM slots, so if possible maybe I could just get 4x1 or 4x2.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

 

[flamehead269]

well its a little hard to work with $200 if your looking for outstanding graphics on WoW, I mean the ultra settings I dont think require that much, but looking at your specs and plus I dont know why you are looking for more RAM, but are you looking for a whole new build? Yes you need DDR2, if you ask me I think you should build a comp, but 4GB should be just fine for WoW, and a quad core would be great. But I'd recommend a GPU upgrade, but idk if itll bottleneck or something.. So thing is, I think you'd be better of spending $500 on a new build (AMD). My friend made a $500 build that can max out skyrim.. So what I am saying is the for $100-$200 more you can get what you want and then some.

 

[flamehead269]

I was thinking that it's kinda hard to put in a "Updated" GPU into that old of a comp because your specs aren't really that great enough to support a decent GPU. I mean to get a decent GPU you would have to upgrade everything! So you'll most likely end up getting all your components renewed when you should just go with a new build that is decent for $500, and if you want I could draw up some specs for ya.

 

[xcrafter2]

Well if I could afford 500 I would be building a new machine... I said 200 tops to get the best upgrades possible not to be told spend more than double that and get a whole new comp..

 

[gommer556]

Well if I could afford 500 I would be building a new machine... I said 200 tops to get the best upgrades possible not to be told spend more than double that and get a whole new comp..

what he is saying is that in the long run it is better to build a better computer from scratch right now as oppose to just keep upgrading parts as needed. if you cant afford this right now then i would not upgrade until you can afford better components.

 

[gommer556]

but anyway, if you insist on upgrading then the RAM you chose is fine (great actually, 5 stars) and i would go with the AMD X4, simply because its the best out of the 3 CPUs that you picked.

 

[xcrafter2]

Yeah I'm probably not going to game on PC past WoW and Diablo 3. So by those standards I don't think getting a new computer is really necessary for me, but now I'm seeing your point.
Will just the RAM and CPU upgrade do it for me for these 2 games?

 

[gommer556]

Yeah I'm probably not going to game on PC past WoW and Diablo 3. So by those standards I don't think getting a new computer is really necessary for me, but now I'm seeing your point.
Will just the RAM and CPU upgrade do it for me for these 2 games?

your graphics card is to be honest pretty crappy also, that should be your next upgrade. but if you want to upgrade your CPU and RAM those 2 would do it. the X4 will destroy your athlon in anything any day

 

[xcrafter2]

Can you help me find a suitable upgrade for under 70 for the gfx card? I am looking now, I have a PCI-E 16x slot (NOT 2.0,2.1,3.0). If there is nothing good then I will just go for the cpu and ram.

 

[xomm]

Can you help me find a suitable upgrade for under 70 for the gfx card? I am looking now, I have a PCI-E 16x slot (NOT 2.0,2.1,3.0). If there is nothing good then I will just go for the cpu and ram.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-2.html would indicate a 6670 fits into your price range. Personally I'd go over the $70 a bit and get the 7750.

PCI-E is backwards compatible, and at your budget bottlenecking shouldn't be a problem, so no issues there (afaik).

Edit: What resolution is your monitor? Some benchmarks for you to look at:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_6670/17.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_7750_IceQ_X/23.html

Keep in mind the HIS 7750 is overclocked, and the different expansions for WoW (not familiar with how those relate to each other performance-wise).

 

[wip99gt]

What about an APU? Something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157331
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460
With fast memory the on board gpu plays WOW at a decent framerate.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10-5800k-a8-5600k-a6-5400k,3224-16.html
Diablo 3 in that review shows decent playability at 720p.

It's not incredible but I think that it's the best option for your price range especially if you don't plan on upgrading any time soon after. Along with the fact your PSU is pretty low powered so if you wanted to change the video card you'd need to get a new one adding to the cost as well. And so by then you should just go with the $500 build.
Of course AMD has their new APUs coming out the first half of this year and they're supposed to be quite a bit better so you might want to wait.

 

[xcrafter2]

Best answer selected by xcrafter2.

 

[xcrafter2]

What about an APU? Something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157331
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231460
With fast memory the on board gpu plays WOW at a decent framerate.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a10-5800k-a8-5600k-a6-5400k,3224-16.html
Diablo 3 in that review shows decent playability at 720p.

It's not incredible but I think that it's the best option for your price range especially if you don't plan on upgrading any time soon after. Along with the fact your PSU is pretty low powered so if you wanted to change the video card you'd need to get a new one adding to the cost as well. And so by then you should just go with the $500 build.
Of course AMD has their new APUs coming out the first half of this year and they're supposed to be quite a bit better so you might want to wait.

A little bit over my budget but I think I will go for this, it sounds like exactly what I need. Thanks for the help everybody, and thanks for the APU suggestion!

 

[wip99gt]

The nice thing is that it's a complete upgrade to your system, other than the psu of course, so everything will be noticeably quicker.