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What's the cheapest setup I can get that can run WoW pretty well?

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I only know how to make cheap but good setups for modern gaming. But i'm curious to make a setup for my brother that will run WoW well (not necessary max but medium settings atleast) that's below 400 bucks. Is it possible? I can't think of a way

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EVGA 384-P3-N965-TR GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130364

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103211

BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813138128

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231098

Antec earthwatts EA430 430W ATX12V v2.0 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371006

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136113

Total: $408 before rebates. $388 after rebates.

Missing a cheap case and a DVD burner (You can get a junk case even on a dumpster if the budget is set on stone and the DVD drive shouldn't be hard to come by). Perfectly overclockable setup, you can drop a Phenom (790GX+SB750 board), and you should be able to play any recent games at max settings with this setup.

Message edited by emp on 09-08-2008 at 05:09:03 AM

------------------------------ Anxiously awaiting the Hydra 100 and the Hydra Engine...
www.lucidlogix.com
Reply to emp

Message edited by dirtmountain on 09-08-2008 at 07:58:38 AM

Reply to dirtmountain

WoW is not a very demanding game at all, and the guy who posted above me put up parts that will run WoW at max settings.

Reply to doomturkey

or buy something like this
http://www.recoupit.com/Shop/Contr [...] /SFV/31197 and drop a low level GPU in it like the 8600GT or 2600XT. Comes with an OS too

Reply to dirtmountain

Here is my setup--cheapest by far
780G Motherboard: $67 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813186141

AMD X2 5000+: $60 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103211

2GB DDR2 800: $33 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820134488

Cheap Case w/ PSU: $37: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811217042

18XDVDR Burner: $22 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135154

80GB HDD: $39 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148231

Total Cost: $258 plus shipping. Will play WoW all day long at medium settings.... if you OC the onboard videocard you could run all day long on high.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by hesskia on 09-08-2008 at 05:25:44 AM

Reply to hesskia

Lose the cheap power supply and replace with this one so it will be a more solid system:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139003

Also, do you have a copy of windows?

Reply to englandr753

Well considering the recommend requirements are

Intel Pentium® IV 1.5 GHz or AMD XP 1500+ MHz
1024 MB RAM
64 MB 3D graphics card with Hardware Transform and Lighting, such as NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX 5700 class card or above

just about the cheapest thing nowadays, with a dedicated GPU or even a decent onboard GPU, will do.

BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX 99.99 + 8.25 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813138128

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103637

Kingston 2GB DDR2 800 32.49+ 6.99 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820134488

LOGISYS Computer Area 51 with 480W PSU 37.99 + 15.99 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811148029

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM 41.99 + 8.55 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136075

ASUS 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Beige PATA 22.99 + 8.97 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135153

Windows Vista Home Basic 89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116196

And that gives you a total of $399.18 with shipping

The Onboard Graphics should be enough to play on medium settings. 480W should be enough to upgrade the video card latter to something like a 4850 or 8800GT. Also this board will support the latest Phenom processors and you can go crossfire latter if you want. Of course if you have a copy of windows you can invest in a dedicated video card and maybe a 770 based board instead.

Message edited by megamanx00 on 09-08-2008 at 06:31:12 AM

if you take advantage of newegg combo deals and promo codes, you can save a CRAPLOAD of money...

------------------------------ AMD64 X2 6000 + Biostar Tseries 770 + 4gb DDR2 800 G.Skill + Thermaltake WingRS case + Raidmax 530w modular PSU + 200gig internal WD HD + 250gig external WD HD + 500gig external Simpletech HDD + Belkin Wireless G PCI receiver + Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD4850
Reply to Ahslan

I have a $400 build that can run wow on max settings with about 30 fps. Will post links tomorrow.

Reply to mark $

Why are you guys posting a $100 motherboard with onboard video/HDMI that would get stomped by a $70 8800gs and $50 basic board? I mean it's not like he needs to overclock that chip to its limit (another what, 400mhz?).

Reply to Noya

cause $100 is cheaper than $120
and the $100 setup will run WOW just fine

Reply to jamesl

I personally agree with emp 100%. couldn't have put it better myself. disagree with dirtmountain i'm afraid...

Reply to V3NOM

Just for comparative purposes, I run WoW on a Dell Dimension 4600 with Pentium 4, 6800GT GPU and 1.5G of RAM (and running XP). Runs just fine. So pretty much any system you could build or buy these days will run it as long as you have adequate RAM and a reasonable GPU.

Reply to rakoth

yeah, but do you play it on max in a heavily populated area?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to V3NOM

My son is still using a single core amd 3500+ and I installed a 7900GS in his system and he is perfectly happy with it and he does run with large groups often.

You could get away with a very good onboard video mobo but I would rather get a semi decent video card for a little more power.

Reply to englandr753

Wow isn't that taxing; a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 and a NVIDIA 7800 is enough to run the thing maxed out. Any modern setup you buy will run it without a problem, assuming a good internet connection.

Reply to gamerk316

The thing is, why would you get $300-350 worth of stuff that can "barely" play WoW, when you could pay $400-430 of stuff that can play any of the high end games at great settings and is made to last with quality parts.

------------------------------ Anxiously awaiting the Hydra 100 and the Hydra Engine...
www.lucidlogix.com
Reply to emp

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz
BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX
CPU/MoBo Combo Deal = $140 w/ free shipping on the CPU
This combo is a very nice deal and the onboard HD3300 gfx will be more than enough.

OCZ SLI-Ready 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800
RAM = $20 (after MIR) w/ free shipping
Normally I wouldn't recommend RAM spec's at 2.1V, but for the price you can't argue. The similarly cheap OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 is spec'd at 1.8V, but a guy in the comments said he only go it up to 4-5-5-12@2.1V.

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500AAJS 250GB
HDD = $55 w/ free shipping
It's only $5 more expensive than the 160GB HDDs because of the free shipping. It's really hard not to recommend the WD6400AAKS because of it's superior speed and capacity per dollar, but if you're looking for the cheapest possible setup, the 250GB will due. Strongly consider splurging for the 640GB, though.

SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R SATA w/ LightScribe
DVD Burner = $26 w/ free shipping
Cheapest Lightscribe drive. It's only $2 more than the cheapest non-lightscribe drive.

OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600SXS
PSU = $55 (after MIR) w/ free shipping
600W is totally overkill for this build, but for only $55 it's hard to argue against it. And with the excess power, it'll leave the door open for a fairly beefy GPU upgrade in the future. You could save ~$20 and go with a smaller unit, but it'd be $20 well spent.

RAIDMAX APEX ATX-802B Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower
Case = $24 (after MIR) w/ free shipping
Top/Rear PSU mount, 120mm rear fan, mount for a 120mm front fan. Make sure you consider the shipping cost when picking out a cheap case.

Grand Total = $320 (plus $9 shipping on the MoBo)

Message edited by Wanker79 on 09-08-2008 at 05:40:24 PM

Reply to Wanker79

^great build...

hesskia wrote :

Looks like I still have the cheapest setup.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to hesskia

what is WoW?

Reply to batidora

batidora: Women on Wheels.

Reply to hesskia

V3NOM wrote :

yeah, but do you play it on max in a heavily populated area?

No but the OP didn't ask for a system that can play on max in a heavily populated area. For the record, I play on medium setting and the only place I have issues is in the major cities when they are crowded. Again, I was merely demonstrating that you don't need much of a machine to play WoW successfully (unlike other games). For $400 he can put together a system that's much better than mine.

Reply to rakoth

hesskia wrote :

Looks like I still have the cheapest setup.

Yes, but you also have a piece of crap PSU. I have the cheapest build that he's actually be able to use for a while without it frying.

Reply to Wanker79

I endorse Wanker's build. I know from looking at a friends comp and actually playing WOW on it that a good onboard GPU and 2GB of RAM will do the job well, as long as you are running at reasonable resolutions.

He has:
Athlon 64 3800
Some onboard nVidia chip, I think it's 7200.
2Gb RAM

He was running with 1GB, and had some major issues in Shatt or IF. I threw another Gb in and he was set.

Reply to Proximon

CPU/Mobo combo - $140!!! Decent CPU and mobo combo. Latest onboard GPU, incase your dedicated GPU fails you can still use your computer while waiting for the GPU to be fixed/RMA'd!!!
Combo link, look at 3rd combo down from the top!
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
BIOSTAR TFORCE TA790GX A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

GPU/Memory combo - $160 - $45 MIR's = $115!!! Can't beat this deal on this combo! Dual slotted GPU, so the hot air from the GPU gets pushed out the back of the case!!!
Combo link, combo #4 down from the top
EVGA 512-P3-N971-TR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
OCZ SLI-Ready 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

HD - $60 shipped! Plenty to start with. Add another HD later, if you need the space.
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500AAKS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

DVD Burner - $25 shipped!!! This is a "Retail" version, so you'll get the necessary software to Read/Burn DVD's!
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - Retail

Case/PSU combo - $85 shipped!!! One of the cheaper and more reliable Case/PSU comob's out there. I have a e6700/x1800xt/2gb's DDR2/DVD burner running in this same case/psu combo. Which is more power consuming than what your looking for.
Antec New Solution Series NSK3480 Chassis - Tower APFC Power Supply 380W 3 x External, 1 x Internal - Black, Silver

Total = $470 - $45 MIR's = $435!!! Now that is one heck of a budget build!! Gonna be hard to beat the gaming performance with this build for the $!!!

You can subtract out the GPU and use the onboard GPU and that would drop the price down to about $355 - $25 MIR = $330!!

------------------------------ PSU Tiers
GPU Power
8800gtx w/e6600 OC'd will run on Antec 380w w/27A on 12v rail, PSU!!
Reply to lunyone

That's a pretty nice build, lunyone. But I guess I have to say that since it's basically the exact same build I already posted. :kaola:

But I still think the small differenced between the two give the edge to my build. You chose to spend an extra $5 for the newer version of the HDD I suggested (not sure if it's worth it, but I guess newer usually doesn't hurt). Your DVD burner is a dollar cheaper, but it's an IDE, 20x instead of 22x, and doesn't have lightscribe. And your case/psu costs $5 more than mine but you're losing 220W of power from the PSU. The Antec case is probably nicer than the Raidmax case I chose, but I'd rather have a quality PSU over a quality case.

I am still the king of the cheapass build! :ange:

Reply to Wanker79

Yeah I guess we were on the same track. Didn't look at your build before I posted, so sorry for that. It is basically the same build, I just added the GPU into the equation, since it'll add alot of punch. I'd get the SATA version of the DVD burner, so you have less cable clutter.

------------------------------ PSU Tiers
GPU Power
8800gtx w/e6600 OC'd will run on Antec 380w w/27A on 12v rail, PSU!!
Reply to lunyone

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