Guild Wars 2

Well so currently I’m playing GW2 on my nearly 4year old computer and so far he’s doing quite good but I’m noticing it’s getting slower (normal after such age). So I’m considering of assembling a real gamer pc which should last a time. Now I often experience skill lag or random screen freezes for 30secs-1min+.
What sort of internals should I consider when ordering such game PC.
At the moment I only play GW2 but maybe I’ll consider other PC-games afterwards.
I’m a student so should it also be price/quality related. I’d prefer Nvidia and Intel because I’m more familiar with those items but some thought on how much memory I should need and what graphics card etc.

Thanks in advance

Hi there,

Plz list your current setup first, maybe we can offer you some idea’s without the need of an entire new setup.

Also you’ve got a budget to work with?

If you have any experience in home-build pc’s I’d suggest that over buying the one from some shop.

Even if you don’t have experience building PCs I’d recommend considering it.

As long as you understand enough to follow the manuals it’s not as hard as it might seem. The most I’d done before was installing a new graphics card, then back in April I installed a new motherboard, CPU and graphics card which required taking everything else apart and reassembling it. The only thing I didn’t have to do was take the power supply and hard drive out of the case.

Admittedly on my first attempt I didn’t plug the RAM in properly (they always need more force than other things for some reason) and I’ve only just gotten around to digging the front panel headphone wire out from behind the hard drive to connect it, but other than that it was fairly straight forward and saved me a lot of money because I was able to buy just the parts I needed and order them separately to get the cheapest price on each one.

Well I’m certainly planning to let it be made at a specialized shop so I’m not thinking about upgrading the current one. I as this because I’m no expert on the area of what computerparts are decent on the current market.

If I remember well It’s a packard bell Ixtreme. Has 1Tb HDD, 5Gb RAM, Geforce GT 220?
Budget is quite stretchable. Would prefer around 1000€ but of course if an increase of some money means a lot of profit in experience then I would save more that is. So actually quality/price related. Have no idea if this graphic card is bad but it can run game on mid-high settings with 15-20fps. Lowest settings give 50-60fps.

Will update this later with the exact graphic card info cuz I have to use manual and currently studying. But I thought it was this category of card.

If you want everything to be peachy, pick a newer Intel i7 processor (Ivy Bridge or the newer Haswell architecture – or you might even want to consider Broadwell, the newest).

Based on your motherboard RAM slots, I would recommend filling all of them, if you can. You won’t have to upgrade at all and part of those seemingly long freezes will be avoided, as you won’t have to swap data to the HDD when your RAM runs out.

GeForce GT 220 is a bit old and won’t allow you to release the game’s full potential. After you have a good processor and good RAM under your belt, dedicate a sizeable chunk of your budget to your GPU – with culling gone, huge WvW raids, lots of bling-bling, and many other games to consider, you want to have all the firepower you can get now.

In the end, the PC has many purposes and unless you are an animator / specialist designer, you won’t use your graphics card’s extra features, so I would leave it last (but not least important).

CPU
any intel quadcore / i5 is enough //for example i5-2500 shoudl be cheap
amd fx6300 should be enough too

ram
8gb //more is useless, less is not enough

gpu
the best u can get // i was playing on gt560 and got 60fps in pve on mostly highest settings

Alchymista.8192:

CPU
any intel quadcore / i5 is enough //for example i5-2500 shoudl be cheap
amd fx6300 should be enough too

ram
8gb //more is useless, less is not enough

gpu
the best u can get // i was playing on gt560 and got 60fps in pve on mostly highest settings

I’m gonna reply with most the same things as this dude, as he’s right. :P

i5 is MORE then fine, i7 is just waste of money for GW2
8gb DDR3 1600mhz is enough, higher mhz doesn’t give more in GW2
Get whatever card you can afford, reasoning below.
I would suggest think of an SSD (120-240gb) does improve your load times massive!
Can’t really go wrong on the motherboard
PSU: 600w is more then enough!

Video card:
The problem with GW2 is, you won’t ever get constant 30+ FPS. The game just isn’t designed that way that it can max out your video card. (Talking about high population like world bosses)

When you’re in a map on your own you’ll get 30-60 fps quite easily with a decent card.

Gonna echo the two above me.
i7 is a waste of money. As is more than 8GB RAM. Should also consider an SSD as it definitely improves load times. As for the vid card a mid-range affordable one should be fine.

ok iam going to give some more my personal experiences and opinions..

i7 is not wasting money.. if we compare it to i5, in GW2 it is going backward.. the difference between them is, that i7 has HT, so each core is connected with 2 threads.. it is rly nice feature, but if u have (lets say) multi-core application and its not optimised for HT.. it decrase performance..

if u will be buying RAM.. dont care about frequency and timings.. it doesnt metter..

if u go some normal cpu(like mentoned above) and only one GPU, buy max 500W PSU.. dont go for “stronger”.. i recommend to going for quality.. gold certification etc..

Alchymista.8192:

i7 is not wasting money.. if we compare it to i5, in GW2 it is going backward.. the difference between them is, that i7 has HT, so each core is connected with 2 threads.. it is rly nice feature, but if u have (lets say) multi-core application and its not optimised for HT.. it decrase performance..

Hyperthreading is a marketing gimmick more than it’s usefull, besides that HT isn’t that usefull in any games. In My Opinion, not worth the money.

EDIT:
In my country the price difference between a i7 4790k and i5 4690k is €95,-
not worth it…

Pump that extra 95,- into your gpu!

Guardian of Angels.9867:

Hyperthreading is a marketing gimmick

cant agree
try cinema4d with i5-2500 and i7-2600..
but lets not going out of topic
different ppl, different opinions

Alchymista.8192:

Guardian of Angels.9867:

Hyperthreading is a marketing gimmick

cant agree
try cinema4d with i5-2500 and i7-2600..
but lets not going out of topic
different ppl, different opinions

You are going off-topic by saying i7 is justified for GW2.
Tell me how the i7 is worth that €95,- more than putting that money into his GPU?

@OP
Where are you from?

I’m from Belgium, Europe. I have been searching on a website of a local computer store and was able to make an online simulation of my desired pc with the items they provide.
So I’ll tell first what I’d put in the system simulation. I simulated an I5 (3,5-3,9GHZ) processor, intel 240GB SSD, 1TB HDD, water cooling and an GTX 970 graphics card. (The shop provides the 760, 970, 980 and titan.) Should this be suffiient or not? Or is it even a bit over the top??

And I had the idea of possibly using the hard drive from my current PC in the next one or isn’t that a good idea since it’s an elder kind? It’s also 1TB, 2×500GB.

Fauven.3195:

And I had the idea of possibly using the hard drive from my current PC in the next one or isn’t that a good idea since it’s an elder kind? It’s also 1TB, 2×500GB.

Putting your old Sata disks in your pc won’t hurt you that much, just don’t install any programs on it… – Only use them for data storage that doesn’t have to transfer a lot (movies, pictures, etc)

Install your OS and GW2 on your SSD.

I’ll have a look into what’s available in belgium within your budget.

p.s.
Are you 100% you wanna buy a pre-made? Isn’t there anyone in your environment who can assemble a pc?

just because HDD can stop work from day to day.. u should get a new one..

for several reason i heavily dont recommend to go for All In One CPU water coolers
u can look for some very popular coolers from Noctua, and rather give some more money to good case which can provide dust filters, easy instalaton, good cooling..

I made a little list for you. It’s €300,- over budget unfortunatly but it’s a complete computer.

http://be.hardware.info/wensenlijst/producten/220716-131531-143017-118094-218748-200130-221897-253091-195092

All you need is someone to assemble it.

Anyone got suggestions / feedback to my system?

If you got an OS already, or can get it somewhere else cheaper that’s -100 eu.
If you already got a suitable case for an ATX motherboard that’s -75 eu.

p.s. with 4 year old sata disks I wouldn’t worry that much, I’ve got one in mine that’s nearly 6 years old.

Well I really don’t know anyone who has the possibilities of creating/assembling such system. And to be frankly I wouldn’t start on it myself xp I’m handy but these are some delicate stuff.
But the site made me actually pretty sure to do it at the store. I compared the components their site offered and a lot are the same. In total it’s only 70€ more expensive but those are the installation fees. Then I’m sure all things are in the proper place and no issues with warranties afterwards
Would a gtx970 get me settled for a few years :p and the budget was just an aiming prefer to add 400€ but that I have a system that can last a time :p

Really thank you that you did so much research (I wouldn’t even know where to start) but I’m very cautious on fragile items like a pc :s I always think I will screw something up internal :p cleaning the internal with compessed air was already a challenge cuz ppl told me the fan could explode etc. Xp

Edit: just even noticed that the store I was gonna use, is also listed in the vendor lost of your shopping list (Tones :p)

I do have another question also. What about overclocking? I read the K-series are abled to be overclcoked so the GPU works at higher speed with better results but I also heard that it reduces the lifespan? Is this true? Should an GTX 970 actually need an overclock or is it powerfull enough at it’s own?

You really shouldn’t be afraid of assembling a new PC on your own.

Sagramor.7395:

You really shouldn’t be afraid of assembling a new PC on your own.

I built my first one last Summer and, literally, the hardest thing about it was trying to read the Windows activation code.

I used pcpartpicker.com and a youtube video.

I’ve always found that installing and initially setting up Windows and the rest of the tools more aggravating, at times, than building a system. As long as you aren’t all thumbs and know how to use a screwdriver competently (and use a static strap) putting the parts together is easier than IKEA furniture. But there are guides online and as long as you take your time, double check when you aren’t entirely sure, you’ll be fine.

Fauven.3195:

I do have another question also. What about overclocking? I read the K-series are abled to be overclcoked so the GPU works at higher speed with better results but I also heard that it reduces the lifespan? Is this true? Should an GTX 970 actually need an overclock or is it powerfull enough at it’s own?

I picked the K series as it’s only 10 euro’s more than the non-K series, it’s incase you want to have a look into overclocking at some point (Don’t expect miracles from it)

No, your 970 is more than capable of running the latest games on max!
http://be.hardware.info/productinfo/253091/msi-geforce-gtx-970-gaming-4gb#tab:testresultaten

Just check at the 1920×1080 ones, that’s Full HD.
And a very standard resolution.

Fauven.3195:

Well I really don’t know anyone who has the possibilities of creating/assembling such system. And to be frankly I wouldn’t start on it myself xp I’m handy but these are some delicate stuff.
But the site made me actually pretty sure to do it at the store. I compared the components their site offered and a lot are the same. In total it’s only 70€ more expensive but those are the installation fees. Then I’m sure all things are in the proper place and no issues with warranties afterwards
Would a gtx970 get me settled for a few years :p and the budget was just an aiming prefer to add 400€ but that I have a system that can last a time :p

Problem with video cards is that they always out-date fast, unless you buy high-end ones that cost you 500-800 euro a card.

The 900 series is recently released, should be able to keep up at least a year on MAX Full HD settings.

Can you give me a link to where you are looking? As most of those companies actually list “nearly” the same but leave out specific details that might end you with lesser quality.

Also, why not make a post on your facebook / twitter / social media / anything.
You’re a student, put a note somewhere on the techie department of your school

I’m sure there are some skilled people willing to help you for a few beers!

http://www.tones.be/product/gtx970-gaming-4g
http://www.tones.be/product/strix-gtx970-dc2oc-4gd5
This would be the one I’d let them install. I’d done some research and saw that it scored pretty well on Battlefield 4 and other games. It has 2 types but I somewhere read that the MSI one was a bit better in fps.

And btw I’m at a school studying for nursing and teaching (nursing myself). We’re better with people then with technic stuff :p ask me for setting up cinema surround, wifi-install, all simple stuff. All good but even though I’m still actually a bit (scared ain’t right word) anxious of doing it myself. I once let a person work on an older computer and that one messed up completely xp

http://www.alternate.be/html/configurator/builder/pc/page.html

Try to check it there, they’ve got all the items I’ve selected.
Basicly all you’ve got to do is find the right items, load them in there and order

Tones is quite expensive compared to alternate.

EDIT:
I’d suggest the following:
Search for EAN on alternate, copy the name → find it in pc builder by name (can’t search by EAN in pc builder :/)

http://tweakers.net/reviews/3849/desktop-best-buy-guide-januari-2015.html

Tweakers has a €1000 build in their most recent best-buy-guide. Those components are not set in stone, but they offer a good start. If you’re never going to overclock your CPU for example, there’s no need to get a K series. If you do plan on overclocking, make sure your mobo has a chipset that actually supports it.

I order most of my hardware from Dutch or German webshops: usually, they’re cheaper even with the added shipping.

Assembling your PC is not hard. The most annoying part is usually getting it all to work properly (OS, drivers, …), but even that shouldn’t be a problem for anyone who’s a bit computer savvy.

Noobs is actually right on the pricing for NL shop vs BE.

http://nl.hardware.info/wensenlijst/producten/220716-131531-143017-118094-218748-200130-221897-253091-195092

If you check Afuture, with assembling the entire system the price is 1298,-
While Alternate is 1314,- without assembly.

I’ve got to admit, I love the hardware.info reward system <3
That’s why my list is more expensive. (also better performance / quality according to HW.info)

EDIT:
That tweakers list is nice, but their pricing isn’t representative.
They take the lowest pricing (without shipping costs) for their calculation, while if you check the “total” prices, you’ll get different numbers. (Add €5-10 per item to get a more accurate pricelist)

Also, as OP says he’s not able / unwilling to build himself this system won’t work either as there are parts that aren’t for sale at every company (means buying separate and assembling himself, is a no-go)

Alchymista.8192:

CPU
any intel quadcore / i5 is enough //for example i5-2500 shoudl be cheap
amd fx6300 should be enough too

ram
8gb //more is useless, less is not enough

gpu
the best u can get // i was playing on gt560 and got 60fps in pve on mostly highest settings

One thing you didn’t mention..you need a 64 bits OS for that

metaldude.4132:

One thing you didn’t mention..you need a 64 bits OS for that

The windows 7 I recommended is 64 bit <3, so that’s been taken care of