WoW PC Build - New Budget

[eja78]

I posted a thread recently to get advice on a build. Initially, I thought my budget to be around $800, but now that I am ready to order, my budget is essentially $1100 to my door (tax+shipping, etc.)

So here goes...

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: This week BUDGET RANGE: $1100 to get it to my door

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: World of Warcraft, Internet, everything else

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Don't need Monitor, Keboard, or Mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com (or any other reputtable site)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA - Southern Cal (zip-91724)

PARTS PREFERENCES: My only requirement is that my build be reasonably "future proof" and the components be quality.

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Maybe, down the road if there is a reason to

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I will need to purchase an OS (assuming Windows 7) with this build. Thanks a bunch for taking the time to help me. If all goes well, hopefully I will be placing the order today or tomorrow.

Take Care - Eric

 

[MadAdmiral]

$1,100 is overkill for WoW, especially at your resolution. Here's a much cheaper build that would be overkill for what you've listed:

CPU: X3 425 $70
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 $125 after rebate
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $115
GPU: HD 5770 $150
HDD: Seagate 7200.12 500 GB $55
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 650W $72
Case/Optical: Coolermaster 690 and cheap SATA DVD burner $82 after rebate
HSF (if OC): Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus $35 (with free card reader)
OS: Windows 7 Home 64-bit OEM $100

Total: $807. You can check shipping and taxes.

 

[eja78]

Thanks a bunch for the quick response...

Is there any reason I shouldn't go with the Phenom II (955) Processor given my budget?

What are your thoughts on the G.Skill ECO memory vs. the memory you recommended.

I don't want to spend money for the sake of spending money, but it would be nice to have a little flexibility in case I stumble across a new game I'd like to try out down the road or something...

 

[MadAdmiral]

The X4 955 is a great CPU, it's just overkill for what your doing. If you really want a quad core, grab the X4 620 for about $100.

The Eco series is decent, especially if you're doing a lot of overclocking. The lower voltage provides a lot of headroom for that, but otherwise it doesn't do a lot. I generally recommend whichever is cheaper, which is currently the Ripjaws.

I didn't go cheap because of WoW. That's still a great gaming build. The 5770 will play every game at your resolution. Even if you buy a new monitor with 1920x1080 resolution, the 5770 is still decent. You might have to turn down the details a little, but it's not something to be too worried about. If you do buy a new monitor and run into games that are a little slow, you can pick up a second 5770 and run it in Crossfire to increase your gaming performance for a relatively cheap price.

 

[143miah]

Here's what I got. Might be overkill, but it should help if you plan on playing other games later.

AMD Phenom II x4 955 BE + ASUS M4A78T-E Mobo
XFX 5830 + G. Skill 2x2gb
Samsung f3 500gb HDD
Antec TP-650 PSU
Microsoft Windows 7 OEM
LITE-ON DVD Writer
CoolerMaster HAF 922

Your total comes to $1,064.87 with tax and shipping before rebates. After rebates it's $1,019.87.

You can add a second 5830 later for crossfire with that mobo and I'm sure the PSU is sufficient.

EDIT: I also recommend the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 if you plan to overclock. It might go over your total budget by a couple dollars, but with rebates it should bring it back down under.

 

[eja78]

I gotcha... thanks again for the respones MadAdmiral. Have a fantastic day.

 

[eja78]

Best answer selected by eja78.

 

[coldsleep]

If you do have the extra money to spend, you could consider getting an SSD to use for your boot drive and load WoW on there as well.

Other than that, there's not a lot to add to MadAdmiral's build. You could get a more expensive processor or graphics card, but there's no compelling reason to do so.

 

[ScoobyJooby-Jew]

WoW doesn't work with multiple gpus. Not very well or very easily anyway. just something to keep in mind

 

[cobot]

I would recommend the 5850 or the 5770.. the 5830 performs too close to the 5770 for its price..unless you can get a really good deal, that is..

 

[eja78]

I didn't know that WoW doesn't work with multiple GPU's that is definitely valuable information... thanks.

Is WoW more processor reliant, or video card reliant... meaning would the system MadAdmiral proposed benefit more from a faster processor, or bumping up to the 5850 GPU? Thanks to everyone for taking the time to provide your feedback. It's appreciated.

 

[coldsleep]

You're going to see more of an increase in fps with a bigger graphics card. That is the case for almost all games out there, once you look at realistic resolutions. The X3 MadAdmiral recommended has been shown to not be a bottleneck for gaming at most non-insane resolutions.

It's likely that you'd never need to upgrade the 5770 strictly for WoW, however, as they're not going to change the core engine or increase the graphics so much that it will have an adverse effect on your system. One assumes that WoW2 (or whatever the next actual game WoW players migrate to) will be built for SLI/CrossFire.

 

[ScoobyJooby-Jew]

when it runs, WoW runs superbly on my 5750. Although I have been having driver issues. I rolled back to 10.1 and things seem to have stabilized. amdkmdap issues. i get ~40 fps in dalaran and it only goes up from there. I get 110+ in 5 mans/dungeon finder. 1360x760 everything maxed out. Can't comment on 10/25's cause i aint 80 yet

 

[143miah]

Here's another build if you're still thinking about getting a 5850. It has a quadcore processor, too. About 22 dollars over budget though :/ But there's $45 in mail-in rebates.

AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE + PowerColor 5850
ASUS M4A78T-E Mobo + G. Skill 2x2 DDR3 1333mhz RAM
Antec TP-650
Microsoft windows 7 OS
Samsung F3 500gb HDD
LITE-ON CD/DVD Writer/Reader
CoolerMaster HAF 922

It totals $1,121.80 with shipping and tax. After rebates it's around $1,081.80.

Only thing it's really missing is a cooler for overclocking. There's the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 But that's only if you'd like to overclock.

 

[MadAdmiral]

You can easily get the 5850 under $1,100. Heck, I can put together a build with the 5870 for that.

However, the point still stands that anything above the 5770 is overkill for the resolution. The 5770 can play everything at resolutions under 1920x1080. So why waste the money to buy something for which you can't see the benefits?

 

[eja78]

Thanks for the continued input guys... I have another question for you...

Taking into consideration that the Phenom II would be overkill for what I need, I happened to go price parts at a local place called microcenter.

For the most part, they are willing to work with me to price match newegg so the prospect of being able to pick up the parts locally, and avoid the cost, and potential damage from shipping and handling is a big plus.

Having the ability to return a broken part vs. deal with an RMA process is appealing also.

Having said that, they are having what seems to be a pretty good sale in Intel chips at the moment and they priced me out of basically the same build, but swapped the MoBo and CPU for the following:

CPU - Intel I7 860 - $199.99
MoBo - Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 1156 - $119.99

I'd been operating on the premise that I should do an AMD build with my budget... but I'd like your thoughts on this MoBo Processor combo for the price.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[coldsleep]

Microcenter does have very good deals on processors in order to get you in the door.

Changing to an i7-860 is unlikely to change your gaming experience at all. If you want to get it because it has hyperthreading and you are thinking about doing some audio/video/photo editing, then it could be worthwhile.

For your intended purposes, I wouldn't pay the premium to switch to that processor. Not that it's a bad processor, I just don't think you'll see much benefit by getting it.

 

[eja78]

Here's the thing I am trying to balance out in my mind...

I have $1100 to spend on a PC, but realistically, once I build this machine, I won't be tinkering with it too much with the exception of maybe throwing a better GPU in it down the road.

If history is any indicator of the future, I probably won't be building another machine for 2-3 years, and in that time, I'm not sure how much technology will change, thus I'm not sure how realistic it is to try and "future proof" this build.

At the same time, I don't know what games programs, etc will be around in another year or 2, and I don't want to be in a position to have to build another machine, or significantly alter this one for it to be viable.

So... with that said, I feel like I am inclined to splurge a little now (while I have the money) rather than go cheaper and simply build around what I need this minute... hope that makes sense.

At the moment, my number one priority is the best performance in WoW on the highest settings possible... 6 months, or a year from now, there may be another game that steals my attention.

As always guys, really apreciate your input. I will probably be purchasing parts for my build tomorrow so despite my having selected a best answer, I would really appreciate any insight you can give me into finalizing my shopping list.

The only thing I am dead set on at this point is the case which I will be purchasing at Microcenter:

Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced - $89.00 (about $10 cheaper than on newegg)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0328082

 

[coldsleep]

If you feel more comfortable switching to the i7-860, the price difference isn't great enough that it would be ridiculous to do. It's what, $40 difference? Not really a big deal in the long run.

From my perspective, the question is: is getting hyperthreading worth the extra expense? Most games today don't even use 4 cores, much less 8 (4 physical + 4 logical).

For your purposes, the Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 is probably fine, as it doesn't sound like you plan on using CrossFire.

 

[eja78]

I'm not sold on Intel or AMD, and you're right, it's more likely that I will upgrade to a faster single GPU, than trow in a second and crossfire.

In the battle between the AMD and Intel builds, I would lean towards the one that will offer the most stability/ reliability now, coupled with the most "future proofing" in the event I need / want to upgrade the CPU or GPU down the road.

That's the one concern I had with the Intel build, is that the new chips require a different MoBo, thus it seemed like I was kind of at the cieling with that build, while the MoBO in the AMD build would likely be able to fit the AMD hex cores down the road... is my thinking correct?

 

[coldsleep]

No one is 100% certain, but it's likely that more new processors are going to be released for the AM3 socket than will be for the Intel 1156. If you decided to upgrade the AMD build in a couple of years, at minimum, hex-core processors would be available.

I don't think there's any true difference in reliability or stability between the two brands at the moment. Taking that out of the picture, it pretty much comes down to future-proofing and cost. All signs for both of those factors point to AMD right now.

In short, yes, all the info we have right now suggests that AMD is the right choice for you.

 

[eja78]

Thanks...

I will post my final shopping list once I have it all sorted out (probably later today).

Thanks to everyone for your input, this is a considerable expense for me, and I really appreciate you helping me to make the most of the money I have to spend. I've recommended this site to quite a few people, and will continue to do so.