Guild Wars 2

I have an old PC and am getting ready to buy a new one and so am looking for some advice. I have a decent budget that is flexible — $1000-1500. I primarily play GW2 but would like to have the ability to play other/newer games. I will be buying and not building — more money than time and skill. Based on what I have read, I will most likely be buying an Intel with NVIDIA (spelling?) card. Also, most seem to come with Windows 8.1 but I thought I read that there were some issues or does it work fine now. Also, any great brands or brands to avoid would be great. I have been looking at CyberPowerPC but again advice on sites would be helpful. It would be great to play and see everyone’s armor as opposed to the generic model.

If you don’t want to wait for Windows 10 to come (Since 8.1 is horribad), get an i7 PC with Windows 7.

Don’t know which region you are living in but there’s gotta be a place where you can get a custom pc built. Go with intel 4770k/4790k processor with a z97 board from asus, asrock or gigabyte they all rock solid boards. Get atleast a Gtx 970 graphics card (Evga, Asus, Gigabyte, Msi w/e is your favorite brand), 8/16GB CL9 Rams 750w psu with atleast a +80 Bronze certificate (corsair, antec, silverstone, seasonic are some of the best ones outthere) and a case which is appealing to your eyes but I would avoid anything that looks like bikes from tron ^^ and get one with good airflow and cable management options. As far as storage goes that depends on your budget. 250-256GB ssd gone down in price lately if you can afford one combine it with atleast a 1TB HDD from western digital (Caviar Black) or seagate if you cant go with only the HDD and buy ssd later on.

TBH I would prefer slower CPU or GPU than computer w/o SSD now.

Arjuna.1356:

TBH I would prefer slower CPU or GPU than computer w/o SSD now.

You are missing the point of adding it anytime you want/can. But when you buy a slower cpu and gpu your money is gone^^

You want to buy it but im gonna tell you to build anyways . Its not only childs play to build a PC , But what you get for the same price if you build it is at least 3 times better . You DO NOT need an SSD . Get A sata 3 capable drive and install windows under AHCI , or legacy if you don’t know how and switch it once its up and running . I suggest WD black edition as they will outlast ANY drive on the market , period .
The FX chips from AMD are nothing to shake a stick at . You can easily run an 8350 on air (after market cooler) , @ 4.6 stable . With the right case , you can get your cores down to 12 C at idle and 28-32 C under load . Thermal paste is important , IC diamond , accept no substitute for your CPU , and GPU if your comfortable removing the cooler to do it .
As for GPU , I am all about bang for buck . Having been building my own for over 20 years now , I am over the mine cost more its better than yours . I would just go with an R9 290 x OC dc II from ASUS . Amazing card if you have over 750 watts to power it . Go with Corsair PSU . The quality and warranty is hard to beat . Same with the RAM , Corsair I have found is just more stable across the board @ many different clock profiles . The costly RAM like Mushkin , is way too touchy on the timings and causes way to many headaches . You don’t need 16 + gigs , just grab 2 – 4 gb sticks . Motherboard for AMD , crosshair formula -z . I already know the flaming im about to receive , but I will put my AMD up against ANY intel out there and run circles around it . Do the research , Intel is better at single thread applications only . Nvidia Graphics are a tad better looking , but that’s about change . AMD has some very interesting things in the works . If you must buy one , I suggest NEWEGG . They have many prebuilt systems to choose from and I am sure you can find one in your range , just not as good as if you built it yourself . Windows 8 can be downgraded to 7 for free , I wouldn’t sweat that in the least .

I wanted to add . Although I am biased for ASUS videocards . Sapphire actually makes the best ones and there cheap . The components they use are the best of the best all across the board . I like ASUS for there voltage control because I like to play with everything and there the most stable when overclocking . Corsair really is a fantastic company for all around quality . ESP when it comes to RAM and Power Supplies . And I will always recommend NEWEGG.com because I have been with them since they started and I seriously cant name 1 single problem they have ever given me . I can ramble on for hours and the positive things they have done for me . Just my thoughts , GL no matter what you choose .

My recommendations:

• If you don’t plan to build, get away from known brands like acer, dell, hp… They tend to have lower specs, cases with bad airflow and higher prices.
• CPU: Intel i5 or i7. Look for highest speed possible, and avoid -k version. Models you should look are i4 4460 (bugdet), i5 4670, i5 4690, i7 4770, i7 4790.
  AMD FX series is only good if you plan to overclock them, which will require you to install an aftermarket cooler.
• GPU: If you want to max settings, 200 bucks range is the minimum you’re looking for. r9 280, r9 285, r9 280x, gtx 760 or gtx 960 are the best options.
• RAM: 8GB is the ideal, more is not needed for gaming.Also get high speed ram, like 2133 or 2400mhz.
• Hard disc: I strongly suggest to go for kitten. In the game is decreases a lot the map loading and the overal system is way more faster.

Here is how my pc runs the game (i5 4690k oc to 4.3GHz, r9 285 with small oc and 8gb ram at 2400mhz):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XSvcnLcmwI

If you plan to play Gw2 forget about amd cpus. Dont even think about it.

Windows 8.1 is a great stable choice, it’s even faster then windows 7 don’t ride the hate wave. Also make sure to get an intel processor!

muslumgurseks.4951:

Arjuna.1356:

TBH I would prefer slower CPU or GPU than computer w/o SSD now.

You are missing the point of adding it anytime you want/can. But when you buy a slower cpu and gpu your money is gone^^

Sure sure and reinstalling system if copy from hdd wont work
Times when I did often had case open and doing something inside past. Now its close, opened once year for cleaning and thats all. And system is changed when I do big upgrade (last WinXP had 6 years)

i finished my new pc a few weeks ago, the most important advice i can give you is this:
If you have the money, do not hesitate to buy a GTX 970 GPU…or if you want GTX 980…trust me…I have Asus Ostrix GTX 970, that GPU alone costs almost like all the other components at one place(well to be honest i got them at discout on christmass/black friday … but anyway) a good i5 with a GTX 970 and 8 gb ram, and good cooling will do wonders.

Don’t be cheap when it comes to the GPU….

Thank you for all of the advice. I will take a look at NEWEGG and some of the brands that you all have liked.

also, i suggest Asus, most of my hardware is Asus, my girlfriends laptop is Asus, overall they are great. Price, Quality it’s awesome. I have gaming headphones, GPU and motherboard from them….and i couldn’t be happier (Republic of Gamers series)