My brothers ATI 9800 AGP card busted today, started artifacting like crazy. My bro mostly plays WoW, War3 and similarly demanding games, but nothing too big. So we went over to Staples and bought an FX 5500 as a quick replacement, but it seems to be insufficient (it was pretty cheap, so it was worth a try, atleast). He's getting frequently under 10 FPS in battlegrounds, when the 9800 was getting 50+. And this is with the graphics specs/res turned down. Anyways, after he installed the CD drivers I told him to get nvidias latest drivers, they didn't do much. First question: Does anyone happen to know what are the best nvidia drivers for this card? I think an FX5500 should be able to run WoW. Keeping this card would be best case scenario, so if anyone can make some recommendations on this it would be great. Next, we can take it back to the store within 30 days, but he will need to get something better (we can get something online in that time if needed). He only has a 250W PSU though, so he might need to get a new one of those. So what is our best course of action here? He only wants to play WoW, and he certainly doesn't want to spend much more than 100 bucks (don't even recommend getting a PCI-E motherboard - it ain't happening). Assuming we get a different card what should he get, and what PSU should he get? Plus, how much power on the PSU, and what cost should it be? Thanks. P.S. I don't think he can overclock - it's a Dell.
The FX 5500 is not on par with the 9800, FX 5900s are. If the PSU supported the previous card, then it should be ok with a similar model.
I recommend 6600GT or 7800GS under AGP. This cards is cheap, but find them very very hard If your PSU very old, then you need to buy new with 300W or anymore.
get an ebay'd 6800GT or Ultra, 400Watt power supply should hold it, and it is quite marginally better than the old card
I'd go with Rimmer with a 6800GT or an x1650 or x1950 (depending on how well you want it to play.) When you get to the point of paying too much though, it will be time to think of PC overhauling. You can build a pretty amazing rigg now-a-days with $400.
7600GS goes for like NOTHING on ebay, I've seen them go for £30 (55 USD) including shipping :O anyway they are a good compromise considering power consumption, price and performance
