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

[johoz]

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 :/

 

[emp]

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/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130364

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/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103211

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138128

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/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371006

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136113

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.

 

[dirtmountain]

CPU- E5200 $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072
Motherboard P31 gigabyte $65
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128077
RAM 2x1 GB DDR2 800 $20 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227198
Case - cheap raidmax case $24 after rebate, free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156202
PSU antec 350w $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371003
GPU 2600 XT - $20 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121082
HD SATA western digital 320g $60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098
Burner SATA Liteon $23
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106100
$402 and then -$70 in rebates

 

[doomturkey]

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.

 

[dirtmountain]

or buy something like this
http://www.recoupit.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/vpid/5940571/vpcsid/0/SFV/31197 and drop a low level GPU in it like the 8600GT or 2600XT. Comes with an OS too

 

[hesskia]

Here is my setup--cheapest by far
780G Motherboard: $67 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186141

AMD X2 5000+: $60 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103211

2GB DDR2 800: $33 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134488

Cheap Case w/ PSU: $37: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811217042

18XDVDR Burner: $22 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135154

80GB HDD: $39 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148231

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.

 

[englandr753]

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

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003

Also, do you have a copy of windows?

 

[megamanx00]

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/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138128

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103637

Kingston 2GB DDR2 800 32.49+ 6.99 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134488

LOGISYS Computer Area 51 with 480W PSU 37.99 + 15.99 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811148029

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/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

ASUS 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Beige PATA 22.99 + 8.97 shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135153

Windows Vista Home Basic 89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116196


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.

 

[ahslan]

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

 

[mark $]

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

 

[Noya]

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?).

 

[jamesl]

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

 

[V3NOM]

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

 

[rakoth]

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.

 

[V3NOM]

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

 

[englandr753]

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.

 

[gamerk316]

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.

 

[emp]

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.

 

[Wanker79]

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)

 

[ahslan]

^great build...

 

[hesskia]

Here is my setup--cheapest by far
780G Motherboard: $67 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186141

AMD X2 5000+: $60 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103211

2GB DDR2 800: $33 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134488

Cheap Case w/ PSU: $37: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811217042

18XDVDR Burner: $22 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135154

80GB HDD: $39 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148231

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.

Looks like I still have the cheapest setup.

 

[batidora]

what is WoW?

 

[hesskia]

batidora: Women on Wheels.

 

[rakoth]

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.

 

[Wanker79]

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.