[Solved] Building Gaming Computer for Wife, is 600 best I can do!?!

Title says it all. My loving wife loves to play World of Warcraft, but my computer from college finally kicked the bucket and she is forced to use my customized HP laptop that I bought for grad school...so it doesn't have the best graphics...We are on a relatively tight budget, please help! Hoping to not have to replace within 3-5 years...

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: (within 1 month) BUDGET RANGE: (e.g.: 500-700) After Rebates, want the best quality for the price

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: (gaming, surfing the net, etc)

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: (DVD player (That thankfully still works), keyboard, mouse, Windows 7(yay for college discounts), 17inch LCD Monitor)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: (newegg.com, zipzoomfly.com) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: (USA)

PARTS PREFERENCES: by brand or type (Had good responses with OC, Antec, Thermaltake, Intel, Western Digital )

OVERCLOCKING: No
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: (she likes greens and purples, needs to be lightweight and quiet if possible)

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ITEMS I'M CONSIDERING:

The AMD VERSION-650.00 with a 10.00 MIR

Case: (will the 4870 fit?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119199

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371016

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145256

Video Card (I think I might be sold on this one...):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150436

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128392


Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103649

Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148469







THE INTEL VERSION-750.00 minus 60 MIR= 690
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Case: (will the 250 fit?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119199

Power Supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341019

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145256

Video Card (Better than my 9800 GTX+?, better to go with the 260?):
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] e=10010152

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188033

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115057

Hard Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136113
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That cyberpower doesnt have a gaming GPU in it. A 9500 would barely play WoW at minimum settings. You really want something like an ATI 4850 or 4870. The question is if you can wait a week and see if the new cards coming out force prices down.

My advice is say "yes, dear" and go with the green case. Its a decent case at an ok price. Make her happy. Case with Vista 64/win7 upgrade ($160.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] 11-119-199

AthlonIIx2 2.8GHz, Gigabyte GMA875 Motherboard, 500GB Seagate HDD, 4GB Corsair Dominator DR2 1066 RAM ($250 plus a $15 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.258870

Coolermaster RS550 power supply ($60)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817171038

Total $470 - $15 MIR so far. You could try onboard graphics but you really need a GPU to play WoW at good resolutions. Next weekend will likely be a better time to buy a GPU.

If you need it this week a Sapphire 4850 ($100)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102824

Total $570 - $15 MIR for a system that will handle wow well on a 20inch LCD at 1380x1050. I am assuming you are using the same monitor and you dont have a high resolution widescreen before.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect0
A 9600 is barely playable at 1280x1024. That GPU wont work well. It will take a $100+ GPU to play WoW well.

A Thousand Apologies for the lack of clarity (this is what I get for posting in between playing and dinner and what not...). She currently has a 17 inch LCD that she will be using, so I don't think she needs beyond 1280x1024. And yes, if new cards are coming out around the end of the month, I have no problem waiting. Currently, I am running a GeForce 9800 GTX+ on my machine made by XFX that I bought this time last year and it is still running very smoothly. Good catch with the Cyberpower GPU, I completely missed that detail. And if 600 will give me a stronger machine, I think I can find some wiggle room in the budget. Thanks for your suggestions!

Am I taking from these great suggestions that Intel is not doable in my price range? The old machine was an AMD and it ran great, just a little warmer than I expected so I'm not against their build. I am just curious what the comparison would be. Thanks!

At your price range AMD is your best solution. The 9600GSO with the PII x3 720 mentioned above gives about 45 FPS in Dalaran at your resolution with most settings at high or medium with shadows up one click from off. I've built 2 computers recently for WoW players that are using the GSO/720 combo and the players are happy with the performance in Dalaran and 25 man raids. Perhaps this case/PSU combo with an additional $9 green case fan in front. Antec 200/430w Basiq, $90 + shipping.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.246458
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835103062

Regarding your new hardware selections -
Caviar Blue is not the HDD you want. You want a Caviar Black or Samsung F3. The Samsung F3 is cheaper.

700W power supply is overkill unless you intend to overclock and run dual graphics cards. Stick with a good quality 450-600W power supply.

Dont get an expensive 775 CPU/Motherboard. Socket 775 is dead. What you picked is almost as expensive as an i5 and a P55 motherboard. Either spend a little more and go i5/p55 or go cheaper with the PhIIx3 720 or AthlonIIx2 and an AM3 motherboard.

The GTX 250 is about the same as a 9800 GTX+ is about the same as a HD 4850. The next step up is the GTX 260 or HD 4870 and the 4870 is likely cheaper.

The CPU is not going to affect your gaming experience nearly as much as the graphics card, which I why i was recommending the higher speed AMD 2 core cpu to save money for a better graphics card.

i'd say go for a HD 4870 512 MB about $140 on Newegg
*u need at least 500w psu

as you can see in dirtmountain's post the Phenom x2 550 BE beats out the 720 on stock speeds

for the case i'd say a CM centurion 5 - good cooling, different colors -roomy
which goes for about $50 on newegg
but the case is pretty much up to you


*i just made a whole build but when i hit submit it bugged out and lost it LOL

good luck

On the AMD build:
The DDR2 ram is incompatible with the AM3 mobos. They require DDR3. Change the ram, not the mobo. Something like this will work for you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231276

That case should fit the GTS 250 also. The 4870 is a touch smaller than the nvidia card, but either should fit. As for the GPU, unless you're looking to upgrade the monitor, the 4850 should run the game at max and the 4870/GTX 260 would destroy everything thrown at it. I would pick a different flavor of the 4870 though as that's a single slot design. It dumps the heat from the GPU right into the case and not exhaust it out like this one would:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

While Antec makes good power supplies generally, the basiq powe line falls short of the expectation of quality that is normally there. While it does have a 3 year warranty, there's better PSUs you can get for $65 like the Antec earthwatts 500w. $55 w/ free shipping and promo code EMCLXMV35 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371007
All corsairs, seasonic, silverstone, and even OCZ makes a decent enough PSU.

Don't forget to look for combos for all the parts too.

^gtx 250 overclock edition is bad choice and its $119 lol, why not 4850 (you could even get 1gig at this price)

1gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

512mb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

because 4850>250 and it's cheaper.

The GTS250 outperforms the HD4850 in WoW, which is the main use for this PC. ^ Good build, the 4870 XFX is a great choice.

Thanks for the memory find! I would rather go with Crucial anyway!

Although everyone had great responses, Skora was the one to get the ball rolling, and wins the prize for best post. Thanks for the help everyone!