Guild Wars 2

I have found a pc build that seems to be able to deliver what I would want with gaming performance but I would like to get some feedback from gw2 community and see what you guys think The following is a link to pc part picker https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/7MMnTW/i5-4460-radeon-r9-390-gaming-pc
Now if you don’t trust the link this is the listed items that are listed on the site

-Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
-ASRock H97M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
-Team Elite Plus 8GB (1 × 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
-Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
-Sandisk Z400s 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
-Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card
-ThankYou

That should work well enough. However, buying a 390 right now isn’t really a very good idea since you’ll be able to get a 480 for $200 starting the 29th, which will be a more powerful card as well. With that money saved you could probably squeeze in an overclockable i5, which is really good to have for GW2.

I’ve also got no idea if that PSU is any good, so just make sure it’s a quality unit. A PSU is the last thing you want tk skimp on, since a bad one can blow up your whole PC

Don’t play on max in WvW lol

Fermi.2409:

That should work well enough. However, buying a 390 right now isn’t really a very good idea since you’ll be able to get a 480 for $200 starting the 29th, which will be a more powerful card as well. With that money saved you could probably squeeze in an overclockable i5, which is really good to have for GW2.

I’ve also got no idea if that PSU is any good, so just make sure it’s a quality unit. A PSU is the last thing you want tk skimp on, since a bad one can blow up your whole PC

“Thinks for the tip and the psu is one that was recommended by the people that built that computer in the video so I would assume it is a safe bet. Now you mentioned getting a overclocked i5 but with out one could i still run everything on high in at least pve?!”

Fermi.2409:

I’ve also got no idea if that PSU is any good, so just make sure it’s a quality unit. A PSU is the last thing you want tk skimp on, since a bad one can blow up your whole PC

It most definetly isnt quality (the 80+ bronze and rebrand name sort of gives it away) but I did some reading at it seems like an ok-ish unit, at least not complete China kitten. If you notice the motherboard base, its a budget build to begin with.

If anyone could just recommend a build that would be great too!

Fermi.2409:

With that money saved you could probably squeeze in an overclockable i5, which is really good to have for GW2.

I will point out the fact that the OP originally selected a mobo using the H97 chipset. When creating a build for overclocking I suggest looking at motherboards that use the Z97 chipset instead. They’re only slightly more expensive than the H97 but have all the internals required for overclocking plus SLI/Crossfire support (should you ever need more than one gfx card) which most H97 motherboards do not.

Additionally, you want the i5 cpu with a K specifier, such as the Intel Core i5 4690K, the K part specifically means over-clockable.

Finally, when over-clocking, don’t forget to purchase an after-market cpu cooler. This point is extremely important! The stock cooler that comes with the cpu won’t suffice. Depending on how high you want to OC you may even need to cool with water.

Fermi is correct regarding the PSU. Don’t cheap out. Buy a reputable one with good circuit protection. Get a modular one too so that you don’t have extra unused wires sitting inside your case.

Hope that helps!

Agree with the above points, the psu is easily improved and the evga 750 gold is the same price as the listed one. You are a bit limited for coolers for that mobo but if you did get a z97/lga1151 instead you have the cooler Master 212 evolution or my favourite the be quiet pure rock available.

Cheers

I’m not familiar with the graphics card but…

-Any ssd is going to be leagues above an non ssd.
-8gb ddr3 more than enough
-i5 ideal gaming processor

My specs
-20gb ddr3
-1tb external hard drive
-Nvidia 970
-i5
-MSI Z97 GAMING 7 Motherboard

I’d agree with Fermi regarding the GPU… just wait a bit until Nvidia and AMD have released their new gen cards. Currently only Nvidia’s 1080 is available in limited quantities. The 1070 is supposedly released but I have not yet seen any in retail. AMD’s RX 480 will be the next one out. Personally I’m holding out to see what AMD’s Vega architecture (presumably it’ll be the 490 or Fury) brings before making my choice.

You can always run GW2 on the integrated GPU while waiting… it’s not pretty but its playable (I sometime play on my i5 Surface Pro 3).

Wow you guys have been so helpful !!!
now im just going to say I can spend the max of a $1,000 -$1,200 If someone could put me a build together that will be the most sufficient to playing gw2 and other games but with the idea I can run Gw2 on high graphics.
If someone could be so kind I truly would be grateful
-Thank You

Start with a motherboard and cpu combo, shouldn’t be hard to find a paired offering at overclockers.co.uk or newegg or wherever. Anything i5-y will be good.
If you can squeeze in more than 8gb RAM, consider doing so.
I often see mobo, cpu and ram deals. You know it’s all going to work together, takes a weight off your shoulders and if you’re going for something specifically to overclock, you know all the components are sold to overclock together.

Add a decent PSU, modular is nice, avoiding unbranded economy models. Modular is nice because it’s tidy and if you’re going to add a visible panel or get a case you can see into, tidy is better. Even if you aren’t.. tidy is better for cooling / air flow.

Graphics card – definitely wait for the 1070, it’s not the 1080 but it’s going to be 3/4 of the price so value / buck.. should be better. Or wait for the aggressive market reshuffling that always occurs when one of the manufacturers brings a new card out. AMD will retaliate and flagship cards will get relisted at lower prices, old cards will stop being produced and will get sold off cheaper to make way for newer ranges. Buyers can profit at this point over the next couple of months.

The hybrid hd/ssd drives are really nice. Gives you SSD booting and HD storage. And/or separate it with an SSD boot device and an HD storage device. However if you can only buy one drive.. the hybrid would get my vote.

Stick everything into a case that lets everything breathe.. tiny towers are not the way to go when you run hot. If it has to be small.. consider better cooling such as water.

If you really need to add a DVD/CD reader/writer. But do you really need these anymore?

I reckon for building it, places like overclockers.co.uk add a premium of about £100, $150 so you could do worse than starting with your budget, seeing what they will do you for the money and then buying the same parts but adding more RAM or upgrading the graphics a notch or whatever you feel like.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/pc-systems/gaming-pc/1000-pounds-2000-pounds
Obviously currency conversion and shipping may go against you outside the UK.

i5-6600k
Noctua NH-D15
Cheapest possible Z170 motherboard from MSI or Asus
Quality 500W PSU
8GB DDR4, speed doesn’t really matter
Decent case, something like a Fractal Design Define S (Windowed)
1TB HDD
240GB SSD
The best GPU you can get with the rest, probably waiting for the new GPUs that are coming out soon

ive got an old system, AMD FX4100 clocked, 8gb, gtx760 and i find i can play with max settings everywhere appart from wvw and the new zones, where i cut down the shadows, so i don’t think you need an uber system to play this game.

I would say that a fast cpu core > multi cores when you are looking at cpu’s in this case as many games including GW2 lean heavily on one core, so focus on that and the ability to overclock.

DillionBrim.1032:

If anyone could just recommend a build that would be great too!

-snip- saw my answer lower in the thread, I’ll post a pcpartpicker link later.

Also this could also be in the Player helping player section.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/XJvPxY (hope that link works)

This is at the high end of your budget, note that this does not include a keyboard, mouse, monitor or Operating system. I assume you have them already or can get them another time.
Justification for the build, Gw2 is a CPU and GPU demanding game, it has a lot of AI to render on screen(CPU) and the graphics on high/ultra are a lot of textures to render out(GPU). You didn’t specify which games you’re running besides Gw2. So I went with a simple 970, that should cover most of your needs. I went with a i7 4790k because in my opinion anything below i7 is trash, when talking about gaming and multitasking.

You have a budget clearly over $1000 so you don’t want some toaster that can just get by with nice graphic settings and passible FPS. an i5 and weak graphics card aren’t something you should be looking at. Also as much as I loved AMD for the past few years. They are the underdogs and sadly will stay that way, don’t bother with their cards, even if you get a free 390x like I did haha.

Things you could change on my list to save some more money.
1. brands: I have never been let down by Corsair or Asus, so I will always pick their parts over anyone else even if it costs more.
2. RAM: You could probably find cheaper ram, but it kind of ties in with point 1, and corsair is known for their RAM. But I’d go with 1600 no less, and I don’t think you need over 2000.
3. Motherboard: on PPP, there aren’t that many options under what I picked, but if you see one on newegg or something for cheaper you might want to consider. Motherboards are kind of barebones and the more expensive they are the more features they have, generally speaking.
4. Case: I picked something cheap. I personally would say browse what is there and pick one you like, you’ll be staring at it for awhile now. Again Corsair hasn’t let me down with the case I have.

I tried being as general and not super tech heavy with this post. Hopefully it was easy to follow. If anything use what I picked, as my opinion, for a reference sheet and make your own.
Also know you’ll need to or find someone to build the PC when you get the parts.

Riku.4821:

So I went with a simple 970, that should cover most of your needs.

A 390 is a better card, or AMD’s new 480 will be even better and save

I went with a i7 4790k because in my opinion anything below i7 is trash, when talking about gaming and multitasking.

Your “opinion” is objectively wrong then, since an i5 and an i7 are going to perform exactly the same in the vast majority of games, GW2 being one of them. For gaming, it’s not worth the increased price .

Riku.4821:

You have a budget clearly over $1000 so you don’t want some toaster that can just get by with nice graphic settings and passible FPS. an i5 and weak graphics card aren’t something you should be looking at.

And i5 and a solid graphics card are exactly what he should be looking at.

Riku.4821:

Also as much as I loved AMD for the past few years. They are the underdogs and sadly will stay that way, don’t bother with their cards, even if you get a free 390x like I did haha.

Except AMD has the better cards are numerous price points

Riku.4821:

Things you could change on my list to save some more money.

1. Drop the ridiculously overpriced SSD and get an 850 Evo

2. Drop the useless i7 and get an i5

3. Get a 480 (when released later this month) over a 970

4. Opt for a Noctua NH-D15 over that overpriced H100i (ffs the H100i v2 is $98, why would you ever get the original for $120?); it’s quieter, cools just as well, and means you don’t need to have water in your computer

Overall, that build is pretty lacking, especially for playing GW2. I’m also guessing that you just pulled it out of a saved list and didn’t even look at it, seeing how it had all kinds of outdated components. You also failed to include an HDD.

Overall this would be a much better build for your dollar:

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/zVFQzM

Riku.4821:

I went with a i7 4790k because in my opinion anything below i7 is trash, when talking about gaming and multitasking.

With regard to gaming I disagree completely. Until games actually support both DX12 and mutithreading (which GW2 does not) there is no justification to spend the additional money on an i7.

Core i5 is trash vs an i7? Not at all. The i5 ties the i7 in FPS for the games tested and is only marginally slower in multithreaded tests.
Source: AnandTech CPU Benchmarks

The GTX 1070 is just around the corner. If you don’t need the latest and greatest and just want to play Guild Wars 2 then I’d recommend a GTX 970 or r9 390 if they go down in price. The r9 480x is coming out soon on the AMD front but those are the equivalent to Nvidia’s GTX -60 Ti series so an r9 480x will be like a 1060 Ti if those ever come out, Ti’s are typically in between for power so a 1060 Ti would be somewhere between a 1060 and a 1070 as per their tradition to get an idea where the r9 480x will stand.

Processor wise, look at this
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

DillionBrim.1032:

I have found a pc build that seems to be able to deliver what I would want with gaming performance but I would like to get some feedback from gw2 community and see what you guys think The following is a link to pc part picker https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/7MMnTW/i5-4460-radeon-r9-390-gaming-pc
Now if you don’t trust the link this is the listed items that are listed on the site

-Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor
-ASRock H97M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
-Team Elite Plus 8GB (1 × 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
-Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
-Sandisk Z400s 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
-Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB Video Card
-ThankYou

I have a similar build to yours. Not too familiar with AMD brand GPUs myself. I recently upgraded to a cheap GTX 750 from a GT 630 and I found it to run really well on High settings with some framerate spikes here and there during massive events. The recent 1070 seems to be all the rage these days, so you could go for that GPU too if you got the money to spend.

Intel 5820k, 16gb ddr4 2666 dominator, M.2 SSD Samsung 950 PRO + 1tb SSHD for space and a Asus Strix 980 OC, all under water cooling. I consider my rig not the absolute high-end stuff but it’s definitely above average however u look at it.

Having said that, there are a lot of moments in this game when it goes under 40FPS …even to 10FPS. In comparison, in a game like The Division which is mind-blowingly stunning in visuals or The Witcher 3, i get solid 60FPS even in major “events” taking place like particles everywhere, explosions etc. The worst i’ve done with max settings in both games was 50-52FPS….and that at a resolution of 1440p with G-Sync on.

What i am trying to tell you is, do not make or judge your PC’s performance by GW2 standards. GW2 sadly is a very poorly optimized game that is capped by both GW1 engine and by very old computer systems as in, they made the game with single core heavy-use in mind. They either heavily misjudged the future of computing when they were developing GW2 or the engine just couldn’t handle more and didn’t have enough funds&time to modify it in order to support modern PCs at that period in time.

That will never change. They don’t have the manpower and funds to change this and still give you content. It is what it is. You can bash ANet however much you want for what i said but trust me, there is no dev out there that wouldn’t want their product to look even better, to move even faster, to offer even more. If they didn’t do it or are not actively working on it, that means they simply can’t because of economic&time reasons and because of strict expectations from their INVESTORS..not YOU…this is a BUSINESS. It’s frustrating as hell for both the consumer and the developer…i can’t blame them.

The only thing that they are actively doing, are tricks, that make the game move better here and there but nothing major…because that’s the limitation of their engine. There’s a limit to the “tricks” you can do or come up with, before you start investing a lot of $$ and more important time..and that’s not an option.

Fermi.2409:

1. Drop the ridiculously overpriced SSD and get an 850 Evo

I pretty much agree with Fermi, but I’d like to particularly emphasize: Stay away from the 840 Evo!. It had a flaw in it which slowed it down to a crawl after a certain time period, people only noticed it a year after release. Samsung tried to update the firmware to fix it, but the problem seemed to return with time. So far, the 850 Evo doesn’t seem to have that issue.

And I do have the Corsair H100i… if I was able to relive my decision, I would have picked a water cooler without the fancy USB control. The software is kinda flakey.