$400 PC That Plays WoW Decently?

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theflamecrow

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That's mostly all I play, with a little Morrowind and some other older stuff thrown in. Nothing too amazing really, no Crysis or Prototype or anything new.

But I don't know what kinda machine to even build. Being poor really sucks, or I might be able to afford something nice. :(

Can $400 build something that runs WoW well enough? I don't need 60FPS (my laptop gets me like 10FPS or so... I hate it.) but would be nice to not have to have the settings all on low. And no, I don't want to overclock. I don't care if it's safer nowadays, being poor makes me careful with my stuff. X.X

Any suggestions?
 
royalcrown

royalcrown

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An athlon 64 xr, such as a 5400= can play WOW well. I know, I owned one before this. that and an 8800gt or ati 4850 or better and you6've got more than enough muscle. I like to play on newegg, so lemme see what is up.
 
royalcrown

royalcrown

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Not the best, but no hassle and cheap either, lemme know if that link works too, I built ya a good solid example on newegg and if ya have probs seeing it, i'll repost it. Only things you'd need over 400 bucks would be the shipping and a keyboard, mouse and speakers, notice that this doesen't take into account a monitor either. If you need one of those then a refurbished and or used machine might be more in the budget.

A decent 19 inch screen will add another 100 bucks.
 
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theflamecrow

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That makes it try to open in mine, where the info doesn't exist. :p
 
stevensl2

stevensl2

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400$ is a very very low price to pay for a PC, maybe considering selling your laptop if it has no use to you anymore for around 100 , 150? then buy the desktop for 500 and it would open up much more options. the E machine isn't bad considering that its only 339$?.... the 4650 would do just fine for WoW.
Maybe you can find a free monitor somewhere, www.craigslist.com, or for cheap.
 
royalcrown

royalcrown

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B-Unit

B-Unit

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eMachines use to be crap, but they recently scored as one of the best in a Consumer Reports study. Granted, a homebuild will probably have a bit more umph, but the eMachines isnt something to thumb your nose at on a budget like this.
 
T

theflamecrow

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I'd probably use the laptop for some stuff still.

I have a monitor a friend gave me, as well as a nice keyboard and stuff. Guess I can ponder a $500 one, but what would that look like for parts too? X.X It's tough when you don't know what's good and what isn't.
 
royalcrown

royalcrown

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Well, what I wuold personnally do for 500 is build the same machine on newegg and put the extra into your video card...like a 4870 for example. Or get a nice 19 inch lcd if your monitor is 17 or smaller.
 
L

ldyt

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That's impossible. I have had PC about $600 for WOW, but it's pity that I haven't time to play now.
 
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theflamecrow

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Anything is more possible than my laptop. It runs WoW poorly, but enough to raid with. The specs are probably worse than anything I can get in a $400-500 PC... I don't even have a full gig of RAM to work with on here as far as I can tell, it's 900something.
 
skora

skora

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Your best bet is to go this route:

Barebones from Tigerdirect. $212 delivered
CPU Athalon x2 5000+ 2.6ghz
Mobo Asus
Ram 2gigs DDR2-667
Case included
PSU 450w
HDD 320 sata
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4630639&CatId=332

From Newegg

COMBO!!!!! $160 after rebate delivered
Windows Vista home premium w/ free Windows 7 upgrade
4670 Graphics card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.205094.14-102-820

Sunbeam HSF with TX-2 thermal paste: $25 after rebate delivered
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207004

GRAND TOTAL after S+H and rebates: $397

You'll have an OS for years to come. I have that same HSF and it rocks, so for stock cooling, you'll be very well taken care of. Main reason I chose it though is it comes with quality thermal past.

This should serve you well for Wow and stay under budget. You'll hear flak about the ddr2-667, but it will be fine.

 
royalcrown

royalcrown

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That is a great idea, I'd just ditch that POWER supply ASAP.
 
M

megamanx00

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Here's what I would go with


ASRock A780GMH/128M $71.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157154

Vista Home Premium 64-bit $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) $22.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161030

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5400+ Brisbane $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103235

APEVIA X-Dreamer ATXB3KLW-BL Blue 420W PSU $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144002

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600AAJS 160GB $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD Burner $22.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151175

MSI N95GT-MD512-OC GeForce 9500 GT 512MB $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127419

$422.99

That's the best I could do if you don't already have an OS. You could download win 7 RC and use that for now so you don't have to pay $99.99 for Vista. It also may be best to pay an extra $35 and get the Antec 300 with the $420W PSU. You could also ditch the 9500GT for now and just use the onboard video untill you save up for a decent GPU, and perhaps a decent PSU to power it. The ASRock board can support AM3 CPUs and has 4 RAM slots so you've got some upgrade options with that.
 
Orion ZyGarian

Orion ZyGarian

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^ Yeah I know. When WoW was first released, I did the same thing pretty much. I ended up with a $500 bare Dell system...the lowest they had at the time with the only difference of a gig of RAM. Even then, the onboard video was enough, so basically anything brand new nowadays will be more than enough.

Depending on how much you want to actually build, you might opt for a similar route and get a prebuilt. It makes things easy if you dont want a serious build.
 
royalcrown

royalcrown

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Yah, but what about a case to keep his hamster stubby out of the cpu fan ?
 
skora

skora

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If only I was 15 years younger in wood shop. I'd try to show my true geekness and build a full ATX case out of a single piece of ash for him. I would even put a fan run by a hampster wheel hooked up to habit trail that circles the room at the cieling.

Excuse me, I have to go buy a hampster. :bounce:
 
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