Hi all,
So this question may be a little broad, but I'm interested in building a PC for the first time, and I really need some guidance. I've read this site many times before when investing in pre-built systems, and it's always seemed like it had a knowledgeable community, so I come here to learn from your sage advice.
I want to build a new desktop for the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm, and I'm a bit of a graphics snob. The one thing I don't mind turning down a little are dynamic shadows, as I tend to forget they're not there after awhile, but besides that I would like a computer that will get me 60fps at 1920x1200 resolution everywhere (with a possible exception of Dalaran, where dipping to 25-40 would be okay).
If possible, I'd like to do this all for under 1000 dollars, which doesn't seem too unrealistic.
I know WoW needs a strong CPU, so I've been looking at a combination of some of the i7 3ghz+ quad core processors with maybe something like an nvidia 460 or one of the new ati 6870's. Would that be a good choice? Is that enough GPU to handle ultra with some AA? The morphographic AA on the 6870 looks interesting, but I haven't been able to find any actual benchmarks on WoW with the new 6800's.
As far as the less flashy components, like motherboards, heat sinks, and power supplies, I'm completely lost as to what I should be looking for - although I've been reading as much as I can on them. I just never really know if what I'm reading about is going to be ideal based on what I'm trying to build. I would like a setup that supports SLI, as in the future I may sink more money into the system.
Any guidance or stories you have about your experience with some of these components or building your own system would be awesome.
Sorry again if this all sounds really broad, I'm just a little hesitant to move forward as I've never built my own system before.
So this question may be a little broad, but I'm interested in building a PC for the first time, and I really need some guidance. I've read this site many times before when investing in pre-built systems, and it's always seemed like it had a knowledgeable community, so I come here to learn from your sage advice.
I want to build a new desktop for the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm, and I'm a bit of a graphics snob. The one thing I don't mind turning down a little are dynamic shadows, as I tend to forget they're not there after awhile, but besides that I would like a computer that will get me 60fps at 1920x1200 resolution everywhere (with a possible exception of Dalaran, where dipping to 25-40 would be okay).
If possible, I'd like to do this all for under 1000 dollars, which doesn't seem too unrealistic.
I know WoW needs a strong CPU, so I've been looking at a combination of some of the i7 3ghz+ quad core processors with maybe something like an nvidia 460 or one of the new ati 6870's. Would that be a good choice? Is that enough GPU to handle ultra with some AA? The morphographic AA on the 6870 looks interesting, but I haven't been able to find any actual benchmarks on WoW with the new 6800's.
As far as the less flashy components, like motherboards, heat sinks, and power supplies, I'm completely lost as to what I should be looking for - although I've been reading as much as I can on them. I just never really know if what I'm reading about is going to be ideal based on what I'm trying to build. I would like a setup that supports SLI, as in the future I may sink more money into the system.
Any guidance or stories you have about your experience with some of these components or building your own system would be awesome.
Sorry again if this all sounds really broad, I'm just a little hesitant to move forward as I've never built my own system before.