What is my best option with this m/b..?

[FizzBomb]

Hi

I bought a 'ready-made' PC with onboard graphics, not thinking I'd want to play games anymore but have started playing WoW again. And only getting 12-15FPS......

The m/b is

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...=en&dlc=en&cc=uk&lang=en&product=4229104#N101

(Sorry about length of link, ******* doesnt seem to work.)

Anyway, looking at my options as I only have 2 PCIe x1, I don't have many things I can do.....

I can't seem to find any x1 graphics cards under £100, would a x1-x16 converter work (only have a basic power supply, with no spare power connecters, although this could be overcome with a splitter maybe), or should I increase RAM from 3Gb -4Gb (max allowable) and increase on gfx memory share, although I can't see the option in BIOS to do this.

I've turned down settings in WoW, but didn't really see any improvement.

What can you suggest ?

 

[AndyOcUK]

power supply and space in your case will be your limiting factors m8. I'd look at a gts450 or a GTX 460, but you need tomake sure you're running a decent 450W + PSU for either of those. TBH, if its a HP machine, you'llprobably have a 300W but, iirc, they are usually a decent brand like FSP. Bottom line is it ain't gaming machine and HP don't usually build to be too upgrade friendly.

 

[Amidar]

FizzBomb i wouldn't bother doing anything with that motherboard as it only has 2 PCI-e x 1 slots.You would better off saving your money up & building a new pc, i don't think andy has looked at the picture of the motherboard in that link as there is no way you would run any of the mentioned cards in a 1 x PCI-E slot.

 

[hlennie]

Really not a lot time to build a new rig

What made u think u would not play games again?

 

[FizzBomb]

I didn't think there'd be much I could do. I stopped playing PC games because I lost interest in them, now my children are a bit older I thought I'd reinstall WoW for them to play on. We have consoles for game playing. Building/buying another PC is out of the question. I didn't buy the machine with game playing in mind....

What do you think of these slot converters? I've seen them where they turn x1 slot into x16.

Also, I'm puzzled why there is no setting in BIOS to change the video RAM, so it seems I really am stuck !

Slightly different approach, would this m/b be an improvement ? It has upgradeability but is the onboard graphics better than the Radeon 3000 I currently have?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-278-GI