World of Warcraft Cataclysm Desktop Build

[smittyt33]

Alright, I realize there are probably hundreds of threads about this exact same thing. So I'm sorry in advance for that, but I just don't know what to trust and what is worth my time reading.
I want to start from the ground up. I have a case, but everything else needs to be bought.
So: GPU, CPU, MoBo, RAM, HDD, and PSU. This is what I've been finding should do well for me. (I know that it is super easy to bottleneck at one place if you don't know what you're doing so I'm looking for some help making a balanced build. - Please help.)

GPU: GeForce GTX 460 (Performed well and only costs around $139. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125412 )

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k Sandy Bridge (I've only read good things about this processor and Intel is supposed to do well with Cata. $225 on Newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 )

MoBo: This is one I haven't done much research on, I know it has to be an 1155. ? But if this is one place I can save money and not have the little bells and whistles, I'm totally up for it. (On Newegg it has a Gigabyte MoBo paired with the i5-2500k: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128495 , only $118. ? Good MoBo?)

RAM: From what I understand RAM is pretty generic, I'm thinkin' 8 gigs of of DDR3. ?

HDD: I have a 1TB External hard drive, so I don't need a whole lot of space on the computer for much other than Cata and the OS. If I want to put both those on an SSD I'll probably need a 120gig or bigger right? Those can get spendy these days; does the speed of the SSD really make that much of a difference over a regular HDD?

PSU: And finally the PSU. I know there's websites that you can put your build on and they tell you what you're going to need total, I'm guessing I won't need much more than 600w tops. ?

Thats pretty much all the main components if I'm not missing anything.. ?
Let me know, more than anything I want the BEST BANG FOR MY BUCK. I don't want to spend an excessive amount, but if I'm going to get 10 times the performance from an $800 build rather than a $650 build, I'll pay the $800.

 

[tlmck]

If you do not plan to overclock the CPU, you can get by with an i5-2400 and save a few dollars. Only 10% slower at stock speed which is not really noticeable in games.

8gb DDR3 1333 from Gskill, Kingston, Corsair, Crucial. You do not need the fancy heatspreader stuff unless you just want it. The plain stuff will do fine.

You can probably find the slightly faster AMD 6870 vid card for about the same price.

If you do not plan on dual vid cards, then the motherboard will be fine. For dual cards it is best to step up a bit and get one that will run dual cards is x8 mode in both slots.

A good PSU for a single card would be 500-550w 80 plus certified Bronze from Antec, Seasonic, Corsair, Silverstone or XFX.

An SSD can make a difference in things like boot times, program and game level load times. And you are correct on the 120gb size. The 60ish gb drives can be a pain to manage. Here is a good way to set up a SSD and HDD after everything is up and running on the SSD. http://www.pcworld.com/article/237496/the_best_of_both_worlds_an_ssd_and_a_hdd.html

If you do plan on overclock, a good CPU cooler is a must. The Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus is a good one.

 

[Zero_]

Check this: http://gamingrig.blogspot.com/2011/06/world-of-warcraft-ultra-settings-gaming.html
Does what is says for just $600.

I'd recommend spending a bit more and getting the $800 build in my sig (includes a $210 GTX560Ti) with the GTX460 you picked. Shouldn't cost over $750, including OS.

EDIT: the Samsung RAM in the $800 build varies from $45 to $99 depending on availability every few hours. If you want to spend less, just get 2x sticks of HyperX Blu for $35.

 

[Guest]

Crossfire works fine on the motherboard he picked has x16/x8/x4

 

[confish21]

GPU: 6870. Its the best bang for your buck out there. It will pair your CPU better too.

 

[smittyt33]

GPU: 6870. Its the best bang for your buck out there. It will pair your CPU better too.

Yeah I've been looking around today and found that the performance jump from the GeForce GTX 460 to the Radeon HD 6870 is worth it. The Radeon is $149 + Free shipping + free Dirt3 game on Newegg right now. Haha

The only question in my mind is, is the AMD graphics gonna pair well with my Intel processor?
I'm thinkin I'll go with the Intel i5-2400 . ?
Or is that processor going to totally bottleneck the graphics card?

And I don't even know where to start looking at Motherboards. I want to do research on them but I don't know where to start. What're some good brands?