I am looking to build a computer for the first time. Unfortunately, I have not built one on my own before but I see there are plenty of resources to follow in order to DIY. I have researched a similar build (MadAdmiral’s sig) before posting but after reading several posts on here and seeing some excellent advice, I thought I would post a question of my own instead of piecing out a build from other requesters.
What I want: I play World of Warcraft for a top guild on my server and since the release of the new ICC content (and signs prior to this content), I am noticing that my machine is not capable of handling 25 man raid environments well. I run at 3-5fps in 25mans with ALL settings turned down and with the very few necessary addons needed. No AA, no VSync, no physicx, and I'm left with no other option. Since this is a hobbie of mine, I don't mind investing a little $ to get that performance back..
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: ASAP
BUDGET RANGE: ~$600ish (I can be negotiable with budget. I'm more concerned with meeting my priorities but I also like good value)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Max settings, smooth gameplay, high FPS on WoW in 25man raids, FireFox+10 tabs, alt-tabbing, to watching movies online.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor, mouse, and keyboard
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg or other trustworthy sites.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA (Florida)
PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD Phenom II X4 955 or 965 (Are these equivalent to the i7s w/out the premium?)
OVERCLOCKING: No.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe. I'm not familiar with how it works.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Current monitor is 20in ultra wide Dell 1680x1080, I wouldn't mind upgrading it, if it will help performance in some way..
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
[Comments were taken from another poster with similar interests] priorities are: 1) running WoW or any game currently available at very high settings and maximum FPS, 2) reasonably priced and 3) future upgradability. I would like to be able to come back in 1-2 years and bump the performance to make it last another year or two, albeit not as a top-performance machine. I assume that 'bump' would likely come in the form of a second SLI / CrossFireX card and possibly some additional / upgraded memory.
[/end plagiarism]
Additionally:
I'm hoping for a quiet box, that has USB + headphone jacks on the front, not too flashy but sleek + sharp design, and that requires little assembly. As I said, this will be my first time building a rig and I would be uncomfortable fabricating a mounting assembly if the case didn't fit one of the fans.. (this could happen, right?)
OS: Win7 w/ preferably a fast bootup time. Side topic - What do I need to do there?
Here's what I'm leaning towards at the moment:
[more plagiarism]
Motherboard: AMD3 socket to 'futureproof' my system and allow for maximum upgrades in a year or two. Also think I need a minimum of 2x PCIe x16 slots to allow the second GPU later? Not sure of any other specific future expansion details I need?
Processor: AMD primarily for the value, since I'm not looking to pay Intel top dollar for top performance. Leaning towards quad-core because it looks like more and more games will start making use of 4 cores (seems like 2 cores is max efficiency at the moment). So, I think I'm looking for the best performance quad core, AMD3 socket processor that I can get right now ... but not sure what that is?
Graphics card: My plan is to good an excellent GPU atm with either CrossFireX or SLI and then add another one down the road to bump my performance, especially since multi-GPU scaling should really start taking effect over the next 1-2 years. I think going AMD is forcing me to go for CrossFireX, right? I haven't thought too much about the GPU because I know I need to nail down the mobo and CPU first.
[/end plagiarism]
If I’m asking for too much, given the reduced budget, then please let me know. I’m flexible, to a degree. Any assistance with a proper solution for building this rig is greatly appreciated.
What I want: I play World of Warcraft for a top guild on my server and since the release of the new ICC content (and signs prior to this content), I am noticing that my machine is not capable of handling 25 man raid environments well. I run at 3-5fps in 25mans with ALL settings turned down and with the very few necessary addons needed. No AA, no VSync, no physicx, and I'm left with no other option. Since this is a hobbie of mine, I don't mind investing a little $ to get that performance back..
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: ASAP
BUDGET RANGE: ~$600ish (I can be negotiable with budget. I'm more concerned with meeting my priorities but I also like good value)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Max settings, smooth gameplay, high FPS on WoW in 25man raids, FireFox+10 tabs, alt-tabbing, to watching movies online.
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: monitor, mouse, and keyboard
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg or other trustworthy sites.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA (Florida)
PARTS PREFERENCES: AMD Phenom II X4 955 or 965 (Are these equivalent to the i7s w/out the premium?)
OVERCLOCKING: No.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe. I'm not familiar with how it works.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: Current monitor is 20in ultra wide Dell 1680x1080, I wouldn't mind upgrading it, if it will help performance in some way..
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
[Comments were taken from another poster with similar interests] priorities are: 1) running WoW or any game currently available at very high settings and maximum FPS, 2) reasonably priced and 3) future upgradability. I would like to be able to come back in 1-2 years and bump the performance to make it last another year or two, albeit not as a top-performance machine. I assume that 'bump' would likely come in the form of a second SLI / CrossFireX card and possibly some additional / upgraded memory.
[/end plagiarism]
Additionally:
I'm hoping for a quiet box, that has USB + headphone jacks on the front, not too flashy but sleek + sharp design, and that requires little assembly. As I said, this will be my first time building a rig and I would be uncomfortable fabricating a mounting assembly if the case didn't fit one of the fans.. (this could happen, right?)
OS: Win7 w/ preferably a fast bootup time. Side topic - What do I need to do there?
Here's what I'm leaning towards at the moment:
[more plagiarism]
Motherboard: AMD3 socket to 'futureproof' my system and allow for maximum upgrades in a year or two. Also think I need a minimum of 2x PCIe x16 slots to allow the second GPU later? Not sure of any other specific future expansion details I need?
Processor: AMD primarily for the value, since I'm not looking to pay Intel top dollar for top performance. Leaning towards quad-core because it looks like more and more games will start making use of 4 cores (seems like 2 cores is max efficiency at the moment). So, I think I'm looking for the best performance quad core, AMD3 socket processor that I can get right now ... but not sure what that is?
Graphics card: My plan is to good an excellent GPU atm with either CrossFireX or SLI and then add another one down the road to bump my performance, especially since multi-GPU scaling should really start taking effect over the next 1-2 years. I think going AMD is forcing me to go for CrossFireX, right? I haven't thought too much about the GPU because I know I need to nail down the mobo and CPU first.
[/end plagiarism]
If I’m asking for too much, given the reduced budget, then please let me know. I’m flexible, to a degree. Any assistance with a proper solution for building this rig is greatly appreciated.
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