Budget Warcraft Gaming Rig

[stplayahtn]

So I primarily use my pc for playing Warcraft, and I desperately need an upgrade. I'm working with about $625 including shipping and tax. Here is the system I have put together, and I would really appreciate opinions.

Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz.........................$109.99
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R....................................................$108.99
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066....$79.99
XFX PVT98GYDLU GeForce 9800 GT.....................................$129.99
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JB 80GB..........................$39.99
Rosewill RP500-2 500W ATX12V v2.01 Power Supply.........$44.99
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Case...............$59.99
Total....................................................................................$570.93

Thanks.

 

[jl0329]

Warcraft I? Warcraft II? Warcraft III/Dota? World of Warcraft??

I am able to play all of those on my Macbook with an integrated graphic.

So I'd say that build you have there is an overkill for any warcraft.

 

[slomo4sho]

Switch your ram to either of these choices:

CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800
or
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800

Switch the PSU to a CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W

This EVGA 512-P3-N971-TR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB is cheaper

Also, consider the COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 as its $49.99 with free shipping~

 

[serpent1202]

I wouldn't decrease the PSU to 400w, too risky if your GPU spikes and needs more power that you will get a hard reset. I'd get an Antec Earth Watts 650, they are like $64 on newegg.

I'd also spend another $30 and get a western digital 640 gig instead of only 80 gigs of space. You might not think you need it right now, but being future proof for only $30 is a steal.

Overall, good choices.

I own 3 of the Centurion 534 cases and they rock.

 

[jamesl]

and if you're mainly using the pc just for WoW then the e5200 would more than enough
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

and even though 80gb is probably enough, I'd go more
320 is only $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074

and 160 is only $42
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

and I agree with slomo on the memory, no need for 1066;
800 is fine

and for power supply you might consider
Antec NeoPower 550W for $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103941

although the corsair might be better

 

[kamel5547]

@jl0329
Eh, depends on the settings and resolution. For WoW at 1920x1200 I don't get the greatest FPS (still above 30 though). Resolution is the bigger driver in this case though, I've played on integrated (laptop) with no issues at lower settings.

 

[slomo4sho]

I wouldn't decrease the PSU to 400w, too risky if your GPU spikes and needs more power that you will get a hard reset. I'd get an Antec Earth Watts 650, they are like $64 on newegg.

Eh? Its not a garbage PSU. The Corsair PSU has no problem handling that GPU on the 30amp 12v rail.

 

[zenmaster]

Eh? Its not a garbage PSU. The Corsair PSU has no problem handling that GPU on the 30amp 12v rail.

That 400w PSU is PLENTY for that Setup..............

The E5200 is also more than enough for WoW.
Consider the HD4670 to save cash as well.
WoW is not demanding.......

 

[kyeana]

^+1. That setup would run fine on a corsair 400w. There is absolutely no reason to get a 650 with that rig. Heck a corsair 650 can power a 4870x2.

 

[kyeana]

That 400w PSU is PLENTY for that Setup..............

The E5200 is also more than enough for WoW.
Consider the HD4670 to save cash as well.
WoW is not demanding.......

Agreed. Go with the 4670 and save some cash, it will max out wow. Even my old 8600 gts can max out wow.

 

[slomo4sho]

Consider the HIS Hightech H467QS512P Radeon HD 4670 512MB if you decide to go with the 4670 route.

 

[B-Unit]

+1 for serpant, with Hard drive prices the way they are, you would have to be crazy to only get 80GB. Nothing less than 250GB.

Also the resolution is a good point. With the new expantion, at 1680x1050, when the spell effects get heavy, it drags my SLi 8800GT down into the mid-30s. Of course I have all settings cranked up to the max...

 

[jevon]

The Western Digital 320GB or 640GB are probably where you should for if budget allows it. They're new 320GB and 320GBx2 platters and run very fast and quiet. That said, I'd prolly put the extra money somewhere else if it's limited (PSU if you want to have Crossfire as an option).

4850 or 470 graphics card for sure, that way you can add a second card down the road when you have the funds and/or they're cheaper and run them in Crossfire. For that I'd want the 650W PSU though.

What about Windows? You should get Vista 64bit if you aren't re-using XP, you'll need a 64-bit OS to make use of all the RAM.

Good luck!

 

[DanielCD]

The Western Digital 320GB or 640GB are probably where you should for if budget allows it. They're new 320GB and 320GBx2 platters and run very fast and quiet. That said, I'd prolly put the extra money somewhere else if it's limited (PSU if you want to have Crossfire as an option).

4850 or 470 graphics card for sure, that way you can add a second card down the road when you have the funds and/or they're cheaper and run them in Crossfire. For that I'd want the 650W PSU though.

What about Windows? You should get Vista 64bit if you aren't re-using XP, you'll need a 64-bit OS to make use of all the RAM.

Good luck!

That mobo doesn't support SLI/CrossFire. But like someone else said, you should spend $40 more and get the 640GB Western Digital Caviar Black. There's a 500GB version for like $10 less than said hard drive if you don't want 640GB.

 

[stplayahtn]

Thanks for all the replies.

I'm not going for a bigger HD because I have a couple TB's in externals for all my storage.

WoW can be fairly demanding when you get into a 25 man raiding situation with everything on max, which is why I went with the card I did.

Is the EVGA 512-P3-N971-TR GeForce 9800 GT a better pick if I want to stay in that performance range?

The one thing that seems to be a constant, is that the PSU I selected needs to be replaced. I will def switch it with one of the recommended.

As far as an OS, I was just gonna reuse my XP Pro. Do I need Vista for 4gb of ram?

Thanks.

 

[slomo4sho]

The EVGA GeForce 9800 GT is the exact same card as the one you have chosen. Its just cheaper.

I would highly recommend upgrading the PSU because the Corsair PSU is of much greater quality and efficiency.

You can always use XP Pro but will not be able to take full advantage of your ram.

I would still urge you to go with the DDR2 800 ram and the Cooler Master case.

 

[foxrocks]

Warcraft I? Warcraft II? Warcraft III/Dota? World of Warcraft??

I am able to play all of those on my Macbook with an integrated graphic.

So I'd say that build you have there is an overkill for any warcraft.

This isn't necessarily helpful. You'd have a hilarious time trying to do 25-man raids on WoW with integrated graphics, unless you happen to enjoy N64-style texture detail and a draw distance of 3 inches.

WoW is very CPU-intensive in compaison to how hard it works your GPU. To give you an idea, at my resolution of 1680 x 1050, upgrading from an E2160 to an E8400 gained me more WoW FPS than when I went from a 7900GT to an 8800GT.

Therefore unless you have a big monitor I would say to go with a 9600GT or HD4670 on the GPU side, and see if you can squeeze in an E8400. I'm fairly sure that in WoW a 9600GT/E8400 would run better than a 9800GT/E5200 (this probably wouldn't be true for many other games, however).

If you really can't stretch to an E8400 then just stick with the E5200, as I don't think an E7300 would get you the gains to make it worthwhile (unless of course the price difference is totally negligible; here in the UK the 5200 and 7300 are far enough apart in price to make the 7300 not worth it, but if there's just a couple of bucks difference for you then by all means go with whatever represents the best bang for buck).

But yeah, E8400 or 8500 if you can stretch to it. WoW likes them CPUs.

A 450-500W PSU will be fine. Corsair 450 or 550 or Antec Earthwatts 500 would both be ok.

I think DDR800 RAM would be fine, even for a 3.8Ghz+ overclock on the E5200.

 

[stplayahtn]

Thanks again for the replies. The last thing I'm still not sure about is the OS. Do I need Vista, or will XP 64 be able to use the ram?

Thanks.

 

[jamesl]

I believe (and i may be wrong)
if its a 64 bit os then you can use the 4 gigs of memory
if its a 32 bit os then you will only see between 2 and 3.17 of gigs even if you have 4 gigs installed (depends on the motherboard and memory)

 

[tbird350]

If someone were to build a similar build and upgraded to a e7200 or e7300 from the e5200 would the 4 g's of ddr2 800 be ok or would it benefit you more to step up in ram? i.e. 1066 ddr2 or even ddr3 ram. Keep in mind I am planing on doing the same as Stplayahtn, meaning mainly for WoW.

 

[tbird350]

N/M that question just reread and feel stupid now...

 

[daweinah]

So I primarily use my pc for playing Warcraft, and I desperately need an upgrade. I'm working with about $625 including shipping and tax. Here is the system I have put together, and I would really appreciate opinions.

Stplay, what about a disk drive? And why did you choose the EP45-UD3R over the EP45-DS3L?

Rather than start my own thread, I'm gonna reply here due to the striking similarity of our builds..

My brother has been using the family's hand-me-down, 9 year old, 1.5GHz P4 + 512mb ram + 128mb 5600 Ultra for quite awhile now, and I am going in with my parents to get him a new computer this year. He doesn't need all the parts, since some are still salvageable from what he's running now, or can simply be added in later, so that gives me more room to play with his budget.

So, this is what he has: monitor (17" 1280x1024), all peripherals, hard drive, case
Meaning that he needs: cpu, mobo, ram, vid card, disk drive, power supply
And later will add: cpu hs&f, new harddrive, etc

We're working with a ~$500 budget, but that seems impossible so I've just cut it down as much as possible.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz.............$120
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L................................$105
RAM: G.SKILL HK 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800..................$55
GFX: HIS H467QS512P Radeon HD 4670 512MB............$80
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W............................$60
DVD: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R Model iHAS120-04 - OEM.....$24
TOTAL: .....................................................................$444

I'll be there to build it and we'll throw on some overclocking once he orders a HS&F (or if I can squeeze it in the budget, he can OC right away) so I think the low FSB on the cpu and ram is going to give us a lot of headroom for the OC. I'm worried the video card might be a little weak, but for $80 it wouldn't be a crying shame if it got thrown away because it was the first thing he upgraded. The CPU should be OC'able to well over 3GHz which should be enough for it not to bottleneck a 4850 or 4870 in the future.

I think I'm pretty satisfied with the state of the build atm but as always, purchasing any computer part, no matter how small, is never a decision that can be made alone!

 

[slomo4sho]

Daweinah, you could have gone with a Asus P5Q Pro and got a second 4670 later on and ran it in crossfire configuration. This would match the performance of a 4850.

Your PSU will handle a 4850 fine but will have difficulty handling a 4870 especially if you plan to overclock as well.

 

[Liderc]

I think you guys under estimate WoW's new graphic engine. I think you'll be disappointed with the performance you get with 90% of the advice you've received in this thread. Saying that you can play WoW with an integrated GPU is pretty ridiculous considering WOTLK is crippling most systems with 260's/4870's with higher resolutions.

 

[foxrocks]

Yeah, Northrend in general is pretty taxing on the system, and 25-man raids, busy Dalaran etc. can work systems pretty hard.

I'd try:
E8400/8500 (if the budget simply will not stretch to it, then E5200 or E7300)
Asus P5Q Pro
2GB/4GB of DDR2-800 RAM (depending on if you're using a 32bit or 64bit OS)
HD4670 (could Xfire another one later on) or 9800GT or HD4850 depending on how much money is left in the pot
Corsair 450W or 550W PSU

Then go from there.