Guild Wars 2

Hi all,

I am thinking about building a new computer, and naturally I want it to play GW2 very well.

I will re-use my case, PS (750W), CD drives, etc and will be buying a SSD and 8GB of ram. So what I need advice on is basically CPU and GPU selection.

I was thinking about the core i5-2500K for the CPU and a decent Gigabyte mobo. (Is it worth the money to get an i7?). As for the GPU, I haven’t kept up with the latest products and I don’t know what is best for this game. Something with good driver support, compatibility with GW2, and preferably no more than $300 would be great. What has been working well for people? What has been a disaster?

I’m also curious about mouse delay. I used to play wow, and that game had awesome responsiveness with the UI. Has anyone achieved this kind of responsiveness with GW2? If so, what kind of setup do you have?

Thanks!!

i5 2500k is a great choice, plus very overclock-able. i7 would be faster at stock settings but if you choose to overclock then the i5 will give nearly the same results for $100 less.

http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=57962&vpn=BX80623I52500K&manufacture=Intel&promoid=1375
CPU Cooler: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002G1YPH0/?tag=pcpapi-20

GPU – Best bang for your buck for your price range is a Radeon 7870. A GTX 660 Ti is also a worthy recommendation.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007MUKAMO/?tag=pcpapi-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008Y65MUA/?tag=pcpapi-20

Also, a Radeon HD 7950 is right around $300 at this time – that is a great card.

I would recommend the Noctua NH-D14 for air cooling (its huge make sure you case is big enough and RAM is not to tall i recommend GSkill RAM) ..its the best there is and will allow for some very nice overclocking which you will need to get the most out of mmo’s. 4ghz+ i would recommend. For budget gaming a 2500k is fine.

Graphics wise i personaly would stick with a 500 series nvidia for now, save the money and get a 700 series when they are released next year. The 600 series currently has a few compatability issues, specialy with GW2 form what i’ve seen.

A single 560ti will give you nice frame rates in general 60fps , but will dip in heavy areas like lions arch (40-50 fps) and though i havnt checked myself i suspected maybe 20-30 in WvWvW, if you want you could even Sli 2 for around £200 and that should help increase those numbers.

(EDIT: thats with max setting, except rendering which is on ‘native’, @ 1920×1080)

But i would not go for a 600 series, i’ve heared to many issues arising with them and to many belevable rumors that nvidia renamed the lower end 600 series cards to higher end ones becouse ati had nothing to challenge their ‘real’ best cards.

@SolarNova I’m using a 670 and have had zero problems with the game. I never drop below 40 FPS (even in huge WvW fights) and am usually between 90-120 running around at 1920×1200. I wouldn’t believe rumors, only cold facts. Fact is not everyone is running into problems, and as with any computer, is much more dependent on a combination of factors rather than simply saying it’s the GPU’s fault.

@OP Why a 2500K? You can get a 3570K for about the same price (I got mine for $215.99, while a 2500K costs $219.99).

Yea i know i shouldnt listen to rumors ..and in truth that isnt the main reason.

my main reason is simply that my last upgrade was from 2x 88o0 GTX’s to a single 560ti .. a Big jump. Going from a 560ti to a 670 ..wouldnt give me a big enough imporvment .atleats noo to me. So im waiting on the 700 series.

Ah. In your case, I completely agree with you.

SolarNova.1052:

I would recommend the Noctua NH-D14 for air cooling (its huge make sure you case is big enough

The Noctua NH-D14 is a beast of a cooler! It is HUGE too – I had to slightly alter my case by removing the side fan holder so as the Noctua NH-D14 would fit.

As for cooling, I have two front fans, a large top fan, a fan in between a front fan and the Noctua NH-D14 that has two clipped on fans and I have a final rear fan. This may sound excessive but it gives me quite cool standing still and in game temperatures according to ‘Core Temp’. It is important to have the wiring inside the case tidy to allow good airflow too!

CPU: Sandy Bridge overclocks better than Ivy Bridge since 1) Ivy’s TDP is only 77W (vice 95W) and 2) Intel used cheap thermal paste (!) in the heat spreader rather than flux-less solder. cf. http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/column/sebuncha/20120511_532119.html

As far as the i7 goes, I didn’t feel hyperthreading was worth the extra C-note; put it towards video since your GPU will bottleneck before your CPU. (Caveat: GW2 will peg both on occasion but I’ve not experienced sustained bottlenecks with it.)

Cooler: Pretty much any aftermarket one will let you hit your OC potential. I like Zalman: they are quiet and look very, very nice but you’ll pay for’em.

Motherboard: Gigabyte indeed. I’ve built several UD3s an UD4s and I don’t see the UD4’s beefier VRM array do any better than the UD3’s at sub-5GHz (basically, anything do-able on air), so you needn’t splurge for it.

Video: The 660Ti is probably your best bet but the 560Ti is cheap and two of ’em might outperform a single 660Ti but you lose scalability.

SSD: I avoided SandForce 22xx when I bought mine because it had issues at the time. I started using them several months later and mushkin’s Chronos kicks the crap out of my m4 (both are friggin’ fast regardless).

RAM: Again, mushkin (fast, lower voltage, inexpensive). Don’t get anything less than 2133; it doesn’t cost any more and RAM speed does have a direct impact on FPS (cf. Tom’s Hardware; I don’t have the link). 8GB is plenty and keep to two sticks (not four, hurts performance).

Mouse: I like my Logitech G9x (5700 dpi for buttery smoothness but, truth be told, I’m not at 5700 unless I’m first-person-shooting) and their quality and customer service is top-notch** and has been since I can remember (early 90’s). I don’t like Razer; their quality is crap.

_ **I inquired about ordering a new mouse cable since my cat chewed through mine and they just sent me a whole new-in-box mouse; I didn’t have to pay anything._