Hello, I know little or nothing about computers, but I love playing world of Warcraft. Up until recently I have been playing on a hp laptop. Recently this laptop broke and I have been trying to find a good gaming deskto build that is also affordable. I would like the price range to be around $400-600, but if necessary I could go up to $800. First question is this even possible? If I can get a list of parts I have someone that would put it together for me.
Budget gaming computer
- Thread starter Raukomir
- Start date
-
- Tags
- Font Motherboards
jmsellars1
Splendid
- Dec 31, 2010
- 3,916
- 2
- 23,465
You should easily be able to build a decent gaming desktop for WoW at that budget.
This one would be ideal but possibly costs a little more than you were hoping.
Intel Core i5-2400
8GB Mushkin Silverline 1333Mhz
ASRock H61M/U3S3
Sapphire HD 6850 1GB
Seagate Barracuda 500GB
Corsair CX-430 430W
Fractal Design Core 1000
LG DVD Burner
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit OEM
Total - $738.91 (Newegg)
That's actually a bit overkill for WoW. It would give slightly better performance than my PC in games and I can play Skyrim on ultra high settings at 1920x1200 fine.
If you wanted to reduce the cost a bit you could reduce it to:
i3-2120
4GB RAM
HD 6770
This would still be great for WoW. (Still far better than almost any laptop.)
This one would be ideal but possibly costs a little more than you were hoping.
Intel Core i5-2400
8GB Mushkin Silverline 1333Mhz
ASRock H61M/U3S3
Sapphire HD 6850 1GB
Seagate Barracuda 500GB
Corsair CX-430 430W
Fractal Design Core 1000
LG DVD Burner
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit OEM
Total - $738.91 (Newegg)
That's actually a bit overkill for WoW. It would give slightly better performance than my PC in games and I can play Skyrim on ultra high settings at 1920x1200 fine.
If you wanted to reduce the cost a bit you could reduce it to:
i3-2120
4GB RAM
HD 6770
This would still be great for WoW. (Still far better than almost any laptop.)
- Jul 27, 2011
- 42,545
- 823
- 104,940
Why H61? I think it's a huge moot point anymore when H67 and Z68 have far better expanadability options and Newegg dropped the price of Asrock's Z68 motherboard to an affordable $119.99
Try this:
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 - $59.99 ($10.00 MIR)
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX500 - $59.99 ($10.00 MIR)
Motherboard: Intel BOXDH67DLCB3 - $89.99
CPU: 3.30GHz Intel Core i3-2120 - $129.99
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 1600MHz - $44.99
HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB - $89.99
Optical: Lite On DVD Burner - $17.99
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 - $149.99 ($15.00 MIR)
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium - $99.99
Total: $740.90 - $35.00 MIR = $705.90
jmsellars1
Splendid
- Dec 31, 2010
- 3,916
- 2
- 23,465
I don't see any problem with H61. He can't overclock that CPU anyway and I doubt he will want to upgrade to Ivy Bridge, the difference in performance won't be big enough to warrant buying another $200 CPU. Surely it's a better idea to just get better performance (i5) now.
alphaalphaalpha
Honorable
- Mar 7, 2012
- 90
- 0
- 10,640
For WoW, I don't think it will matter if you have an i3 instead of an i5. Also, unless you intend to game at or beyond 1080p in WoW, you might want a lower end video card, I'd go for the 6770 or 7750 here unless other games will also be played and 1080p is required. H67 is better than H61 simply because it is more robust. If you're not going to overclock, I say H67. If you will overclock, then Z68.
H61 often only has a 100Mb ethernet port instead of 1Gb, doesn't support faster than 1333MHz memory (although that's really not important), tends to only have 2 DIMM slots, and doesn't support CF, which may be important later on. I don't remember if H67 supports CF, but it probably does.
I recommend waiting for IB to come out and getting an IB i3 or i5 because it will have slightly better performance and lower power usage for the sme amount of money, or at least lower prices on SB i3s and i5s.
However, I do not suggest going down to 4GB of memory, keep it at 8GB.
H61 often only has a 100Mb ethernet port instead of 1Gb, doesn't support faster than 1333MHz memory (although that's really not important), tends to only have 2 DIMM slots, and doesn't support CF, which may be important later on. I don't remember if H67 supports CF, but it probably does.
I recommend waiting for IB to come out and getting an IB i3 or i5 because it will have slightly better performance and lower power usage for the sme amount of money, or at least lower prices on SB i3s and i5s.
However, I do not suggest going down to 4GB of memory, keep it at 8GB.
- Jul 27, 2011
- 42,545
- 823
- 104,940
Now this I did not know - I knew H61 was limited in functionality but I always thought 1GB/s ethernet cards were standard equipment on motherboards anymore - even my old Intel 975 board has the 1GB/S ethernet card. Good to know.
You'll still be paying a premium for IB as opposed to what's out now - even on the lower-end chips. I don't usually recommend stuff that's not out yet until I see the actual numbers - especially after what AMD proved with the FX - sometimes it's not always worth the over-hype.
I definitely agree there.
You can't really go wrong either way - both will far outperform any AMD rig that's out there right now - even the $70 Pentium G620 outperforms the $250 FX-8150.
jmsellars1
Splendid
- Dec 31, 2010
- 3,916
- 2
- 23,465
Yeah he can go either way on the H61 vs H67 thing but personally I'd go H61, I don't see him realistically using any of the extra features provided by H67.
(The ASRock board I recommended has gigabit ethernet.)
(The ASRock board I recommended has gigabit ethernet.)
- Jul 27, 2011
- 42,545
- 823
- 104,940
Going with H61 is one thing, but I would not recommend mATX especially if any future expansion is planned.
subcutaneous
Honorable
- Feb 20, 2012
- 63
- 0
- 10,630
This advice all sounds pretty good. You could easily get the build as low as 400$ and still have better performance than a nice laptop.
I have heard that for WoW when lots of players on the screen it can be CPU intensive, so I would definitely get an i5 2400 or 2500K the price difference is not that big.
Also the 57xx/67xx/77xx(80-120$) cards would be fine for wow, even at very high settings. If you went up to a 58xx/68xx/78xx(140-250$) series you would be looking at great performance in any current game at moderate resolutions.
I have heard that for WoW when lots of players on the screen it can be CPU intensive, so I would definitely get an i5 2400 or 2500K the price difference is not that big.
Also the 57xx/67xx/77xx(80-120$) cards would be fine for wow, even at very high settings. If you went up to a 58xx/68xx/78xx(140-250$) series you would be looking at great performance in any current game at moderate resolutions.
- Jul 27, 2011
- 42,545
- 823
- 104,940
azeem40 :
You mean you don't recommend mATX? 
Duh! Of course, too many things going on at once. :lol:
I generally try to buy everything from the same store as it makes returns / RMAs easier, but do what you want.
alphaalphaalpha
Honorable
- Mar 7, 2012
- 90
- 0
- 10,640
WoW is not an intensive game even in cities with lots of other players. I played it until several months after WotLK came out on an old P4 machine that has Hyper-Threadings, 2.5GB of memory, and what was the slowest Radeon of the time.
I didn't play far above minimum settings, and sometimes cities were problematic, but WoW has improved greatly and well before I stopped playing there was no place that caused me problems. If I played on a P4 (I was one of the better players on my server too, especially in PVP), there is no way you can't do it on an i3, even at higher settings.
I had the P4 630, a 3.0GHz HTT CPU with an eighty something watt TDP.
I didn't play far above minimum settings, and sometimes cities were problematic, but WoW has improved greatly and well before I stopped playing there was no place that caused me problems. If I played on a P4 (I was one of the better players on my server too, especially in PVP), there is no way you can't do it on an i3, even at higher settings.
I had the P4 630, a 3.0GHz HTT CPU with an eighty something watt TDP.
subcutaneous
Honorable
- Feb 20, 2012
- 63
- 0
- 10,630
Alphaalphaalpha does not have your best interests in mind sir.
From everything I have read and heard about WoW is that the only part of you PC that does get taxed by the game is the CPU! I do not play WoW, nor do I intend to in order to shed any light onto this subject because many others have already gone over it in great detail.
Just check out this thread and it will give you an idea of how CPU limited WoW is in a large area.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/345312-33-upgraded-video-card-worse-performance
To sum up the thread is this "In WoW, I'm getting about 20 FPS with all settings maxed, at 1440x900 resolution. However, checking GPU-Z, I see that even at max settings and 20 FPS I'm only hitting 50% max GPU load"
He goes on to add "By the way, the 20 FPS is in a very crowded area in the game (lots of characters / models). I can get up to 60 in instances / less crowded areas."
60 is the vsync rate for most people's monitors, as in the game would be running faster but it automatically limits at 60 because the game won't look any better at higher framerates unless your monitor has a higher than 60hz refresh rate. When you FPS are hovering right around 60 that basically means your GPU has plenty more power, just the game doesn't need it right then.
For 800$ you could max out any modern game, and for 5-600 you can max out WoW not including potentially the most crowded areas. (who knows when an area might have 400 players rather than the usual 100, and this would have a big impact on performance in that area assuming they are all in your line of sight)
From everything I have read and heard about WoW is that the only part of you PC that does get taxed by the game is the CPU! I do not play WoW, nor do I intend to in order to shed any light onto this subject because many others have already gone over it in great detail.
Just check out this thread and it will give you an idea of how CPU limited WoW is in a large area.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/345312-33-upgraded-video-card-worse-performance
To sum up the thread is this "In WoW, I'm getting about 20 FPS with all settings maxed, at 1440x900 resolution. However, checking GPU-Z, I see that even at max settings and 20 FPS I'm only hitting 50% max GPU load"
He goes on to add "By the way, the 20 FPS is in a very crowded area in the game (lots of characters / models). I can get up to 60 in instances / less crowded areas."
60 is the vsync rate for most people's monitors, as in the game would be running faster but it automatically limits at 60 because the game won't look any better at higher framerates unless your monitor has a higher than 60hz refresh rate. When you FPS are hovering right around 60 that basically means your GPU has plenty more power, just the game doesn't need it right then.
For 800$ you could max out any modern game, and for 5-600 you can max out WoW not including potentially the most crowded areas. (who knows when an area might have 400 players rather than the usual 100, and this would have a big impact on performance in that area assuming they are all in your line of sight)
dkcomputer
Honorable
- Apr 5, 2012
- 145
- 0
- 10,690
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE - OEM
Item #: N82E16827151244
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$14.99
Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 500W Power Supply
Item #: N82E16811147117
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$25.00 Instant
$89.99
$64.99
Recertified: Seagate DB35 Series ST3250823ACE 250GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 / ATA-6 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148875
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$60.00 Instant
$99.99
$39.99
Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT51264BD160B
Item #: N82E16820148477
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$37.99
ASRock H61M-VS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157241
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$5.00 Instant
$59.99
$54.99
Intel Core i3-2125 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I32125
Item #: N82E16819115093
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$149.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986
Return Policy: Software Standard Return Policy
$99.99
1
G.SKILL 4GB Micro SDHC Flash Card w/ SD Adapter Model FF-TSDG4GA-C4
Item #: N82E16820231509
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$4.99 Saving
$4.99
$0.00
Subtotal: $462.91
That will play some wow, no extra graphics needed. If you order that get it built and you just hate the graphics quality then you can order a graphics card and get closer to your $800 max mark.
Item #: N82E16827151244
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$14.99
Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with 500W Power Supply
Item #: N82E16811147117
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$25.00 Instant
$89.99
$64.99
Recertified: Seagate DB35 Series ST3250823ACE 250GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 / ATA-6 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822148875
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$60.00 Instant
$99.99
$39.99
Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT51264BD160B
Item #: N82E16820148477
Return Policy: Memory Standard Return Policy
$37.99
ASRock H61M-VS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157241
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
-$5.00 Instant
$59.99
$54.99
Intel Core i3-2125 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I32125
Item #: N82E16819115093
Return Policy: CPU Replacement Only Return Policy
Protect Your Investment (expand for options)
$149.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116986
Return Policy: Software Standard Return Policy
$99.99
1
G.SKILL 4GB Micro SDHC Flash Card w/ SD Adapter Model FF-TSDG4GA-C4
Item #: N82E16820231509
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$4.99 Saving
$4.99
$0.00
Subtotal: $462.91
That will play some wow, no extra graphics needed. If you order that get it built and you just hate the graphics quality then you can order a graphics card and get closer to your $800 max mark.
TRENDING THREADS
-
-
Question Download speed is slow on only my PC - please help!- Started by Ograsmium
- Replies: 16
-
-
Question Buying a used card, what should I look for before purchase?- Started by MatthewJamess
- Replies: 8
-
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram