Need Suggestions for upgrading my comp for Max WoW

[Padraigo]

Approximate Purchase Date: Sometime before end of year.


Budget Range: 1000-1500


System Usage: Gaming (mostly World of Warcraft on max settings)


Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor, Speakers


Country of Origin: Australia


Overclocking: No


Monitor Resolution:1920x1080


Additional Comments: Basically the computer I have now is something I built about 2 or 3 years ago, and now I need something I can play games with little to no fps problems and high graphic settings. Mostly it will be used for World of Warcraft.

My current specs are:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4800+
2.51 GHz, 2.00 GB Ram
GeForce 8800 GT

 

[Motopsychojdn]

list your current mobo model, it might be that we can slide a nicer chip into the socket, rather than a new mobo/cpu bundle
more ram will definitely help you out,
what O/s are you running there? Xp32bit?
and what psu do you have?
Moto

 

[boiler1990]

The Athlon 64 X2 is an AM2 chip, I believe, so we may need to bump up to an AM2+ or AM3 board and chip, but it is still relatively inexpensive.

Your PSU will be important because we need to know what GPUs it can handle.

 

[Padraigo]

The current O/s is Xp 32bit yes, I may upgrade to windows 7.
My current Mobo is the Asus M2N-SLI.
My PSU is the Thermaltake 430W XP550 NP.

Also, how much more ram should I get?

I really appreciate your help and quick responses, thank you very much.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Ok, your laughing then, you already have an AM2+ board
check http://www.asus.com/Product.aspx?P_ID=szSFtrap7crpBaQE
the cpu support list is at the bottom right of the main pic, you should be looking at a triple core chip in my opinion, theres a few in that list that are nice looking, although be sure to read the notes, most require you to update your bios to use them,
Ramwise go for 4Gb, if you stick with a 32bit system it will use 3.2ish of it, but thats better than having 2Gb, and if you go to a 64bitversion of Win7, the 4Gb will all be usable, psu is something youll want to update before a new gfx card as well imo
Moto

 

[boiler1990]

Personally, I would upgrade to an AM3 board, get at least a Phenom II X3 (triple-core), and 4GB of dual channel RAM or 6GB of triple channel RAM. If you want to SLI or upgrade your GPU, definitely look into a bigger and better brand PSU (we can help with that if you know sort of what GPU you want/need).

 

[Padraigo]

I've looked on the asus website (thank you for the link) and i've decided upon the M4N98TD EVO, and will likely get the 6gb, i am still well within price range, its alot cheaper than i thought.
Would it be worth it going for 8gb ram? and what type of video card should i be looking to upgrade to aswell.

Again, much thanks in your help guys.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

your playing wow, 4Gb will more than suffice
plus that mobo is a dual channel job, not triple so no point in getting a triple kit
2x2gb sticks in dual channel or 4x1gb in all slots,
Graphicswise youd be fine with a 1Gb radeon 5770 although theres only budget stopping you getting a better one to last you longer so its up to you there tbh
Moto

 

[vampirelisk]

for that budget just buy a completely new comp...

antec 900 case
rampage III mobo
i7 920-950 cpu
x3 2gb 1600mhz ddr3 ram
hd 5850/5870 or nvidia 460/470 gpu
spinpoint f3 or wdc black 1tb hdd
get a blu-ray player or a dvd burner doesn't really matter.

I max WoW on a 1600x1050 monitor running 40+ fps constantly except dalaran with a hd 5670 gpu and an old athlon64x2 4600+

 

[takiatriwo]

Just to confirm, were you looking to spend the bare minimum to upgrade your PC to play wow or were you interested in building a new comp from scratch in the 1000-1500 range ( vague, try to be more specific in price on which end of the spectrum you would prefer). For that amount of money you can buy top of the line equipment that should suite your needs in gaming for the next 2-4 years on WOW, SC II, SWTOR, Diablo, CIV 5, or whatever other games that spark your interest.

Like the Vampirelisk said, you can get a very nice build for that budget. I just built one very similar for 1400. Here is another brief description of it would look like:

Rampage III Formula mobo ( what I bought bc of ease of OC and such but you can save 60-70 dollars easily with not alot of loss)
Antec 900 case or spend whatever amt for a case that looks good to you. I chose the coolermaster storm sniper. I highly recommend it and you can look at the review toms did on it. Just isnt the BEST cost-performance ratio like the 900
i7 950
x3 2gb 1600mhz ddr3 ram- whatever brand you like
GTX 470- I chose this and I recommend it. If you search around u can find one for around <270. With your setup you can SIL them in the future to further advance your gaming experience when a game comes out that pushes your rig
SSD 60GB - for your OS and APPS- personal preference here, but it truly is amazing to have an SSD.
Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD
dvd burner

If you decide you are interested in building the new rig let me know and i will put together links with total cost and combo packages.

 

[tanner775]

I hate to hijack this thread, but I am also interested in building a rig specificly to play WoW @ max setting w/ 60 fps or higher.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=20639048

my budget is around 1100-1200. I already baught the Antec 300 case so if its gonna hurt me then I can end up selling on craigslist and get a better one if you think I need to.

thanks

 

[boiler1990]

I hate to hijack this thread, but I am also interested in building a rig specificly to play WoW @ max setting w/ 60 fps or higher.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=20639048

my budget is around 1100-1200. I already baught the Antec 300 case so if its gonna hurt me then I can end up selling on craigslist and get a better one if you think I need to.

thanks

The Antec 300 is a great mid tower case. Using that Corsair Liquid CPU cooler will be difficult because you'll have 2 fans by the hard drives, one on the side, and one on top that will be intaking air, and one outtake fan on the rear. There won't be a good place to put the radiator for the cooler. You'll be fine with a good air cooler that'll cost you like $50 max.

 

[ms5555]

If you're just looking to play wow at max settings you won't need anything that fast. You especially won't need to oc your 3.4 ghz quad core so why buy the non-stock cooler?

If honestly all you really want to do is play wow I would go with a fast dual core, mid range graphics. Something like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.509780

Mobo is great, supports sli at x16 in both, so you could grab a gtx 460 768mb card for around $170 and have a system plenty powerful enough for wow. Or you could probably get away with even a gts 450 and sli later. The 450 scales very nicely in sli.

 

[takiatriwo]

With the launch of Cataclysm in WoW and the updates, I would question the ability of the card/CPU recommendation above to play 60 FPS @ all times at 1920x1080 resolution. Also hard to really say until he comments on what he is looking to do. His budget suggests building a new PC, but the title says "upgrading my comp". It really all just depends on what he wants. I had a comp that could easily play WoW at mid to high settings @40 FPS but instead of upgrading peice by peice I chose to build a new system. Admittedly this had less to do with WoW and more to do with other games being launched. I-7 is overkill for current gaming but its all in the chooser. Also is he going to have AA enabled? Let us know and I am sure the community can give you some direction.

 

[Padraigo]

Im just looking to upgrade really. I dont need harddrives or burners, the ones i have at the moment are fine for what im doing.
My framerate in wow and some other games, like sc2 is getting poor and I would like to be able to play them at max setting (or as close to as possible) and still have awesome fps.

The GTX 470 was one of the cards i was considering getting, im still a little undecided on the mobo, caught between getting an amd3 or going with the rampage which does look impressive.

I would like AA but not absolutley necessary if its going to complicate things

 

[Padraigo]

Also forgot to mention, my current case is the thermaltake shark, am I still going to be able to use this.

 

[takiatriwo]

Here is my suggestion on what I would do assuming the budget no longer applies:


Case: Keep yours, will work fine.
CPU- AMD Phenom II x2 555 Black Edition- Allows high OC ability along with high probabily for dormant cores to be unlocked
MoBo- ASUS m4n98td EVO AM3- am3 good reliable SLI capable MoBo.
Use the link above provided by MS555 to recieve 25 dollar discount on this package and you walk away with this for 203.98
Memory- G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-4GBRM
PSU- CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power. It is not modular, so if this is needed then I would go to a diff kind.
Combo for PSU/MEMORY- total cost after MIR 169.98 . http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.492821
GPU- EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130562 - 169.99

I know the PSU is a little heavy but that is my recommendation. I always prefer to over do it on the PSU end and since your getting an SLI Mobo with a 460 then you want something your not going to have to replace. 460's SLI very very well. I chose to avoid the 1gb for 50.00 more because that price is just too close to what you can find some 470s for. I bought my 470 for 249.99 after price shopping 2 weeks. For your setup I think it would be more balanced to use a 460 and SLI them in the future. Less power, heat and all that good stuff

Total Cost- 543.95. You would prob want a custom heatsink/fan if you decide you need to OC the CPU.

Let me know how this looks for you. If you prefer not to replace your CPU, MOBO or anything else let me know and we can work around that. Not sure if this really fits into the "upgrade current pc" category but its what I would do to maximize my WOW/gaming experience for the least amount of money.

 

[takiatriwo]

I hate to hijack this thread, but I am also interested in building a rig specificly to play WoW @ max setting w/ 60 fps or higher.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=20639048

my budget is around 1100-1200. I already baught the Antec 300 case so if its gonna hurt me then I can end up selling on craigslist and get a better one if you think I need to.

thanks

Hey Tanner, feel free to make another thread if you want and we could address any specific issues you might have in building a new PC for WoW. If the build I made above works for you then great, if not we could kinda see what your looking for specifically. Honestly if your looking to maximize your dollar and want to spend every penny of 1100-1200 I would probably go with an i5-760 build. Depends on what your looking for. Also in making your new thread please use the template. not sure if your budget is including or excluding things like monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset/speakers, etc.