Guild Wars 2

Hi!

In the wake of the release of GW2 Season 2, I’m wanting to start building a PC. With the dust storms and all the beauty of Dry Top my old PC is finally starting to show it’s age having ugly FPS fallouts whenever a duststorm kicks up.

What I’m looking for is a motherboard/processor combo that will be durable and resilient so that I can upgrade components over time and keep the motherboard around.

Does anyone know of any brands of motherboards that are durable and reliable? And what kinds of ports should I look for to find a motherboard that would be relevant for up to 5 years? (My current PC is about 4 years old and has worked brilliantly with new games up until recently with only gradual upgrades to RAM and graphics cards) I like having a solid foundation that I can build on top of over time as money and need arise.

Thanks for any advice you have to offer!!

Upgrade your current, is your current computer chassis a standard ATX mounting? If not you need to buy a new chassis which is sub $100 for a budget one. Then those standard goes on for years unless you want different fashion of the chassis.

CPU and Motherboard depends on your budget. You can go Core i5 or i7 with Z87 or Z97 board (current).

I’ve built a friend a rig 1.5 years ago, powering GW2 with Core i5 3570k + Z77 board with a GPU HD6970 which run perfectly fine.

GW2 is a CPU intensive anyways.

I’m not affiliating with Geforce here but here is some basic information you need to know.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/geforce-garage

To learn more you can find helps here. http://www.Overclock.net

When I start planning a new computer build I always start with the processor then work from there.

I normally go with the current chip, which right now is “Haswell” from Intel. I’ve never used AMD processors so I don’t have info on their current product. If you wait a few months, September timeframe, Intel should be releasing the “Haswell-E” along with a new motherboard chipset and DDR4 memory support.

In my last two builds I used Gigabyte motherboards. I choose Gigabyte simply because they fit into my budget and had the options I wanted. I never had any problems from either. I would still be using my desktop, which was built in 2007, if it could have survived a lightning strike.

My current wishlist has a Intel Haswell i7-4790K processor and ASUS Maximus Hero VII motherboard. But this will change when after the Haswell-E is released.

Things I look for when choosing a motherboard:
Is it compatible with the chosen processor?
Does it have all ports I need? (USB 3.0, SATA 6, PCI-Express, etc..)
What memory is compatible? (check manufacturer’s site)
And the Most Important – Does It Fit My Budget?

Board brands: ASUS, MSI in my preferences.

And you shouldn’t worry about computer ports these days. All come in standard USB2.0/3.0, SATA, PCI-E, etc.)

Unless you’re building a server…

Haswell-e is not going to bring anything to the table that the current 1150 group of CPUs already have. Haswell-e is going to be DDR4 only (more expensive due to new spec on RAM), and IMHO that is one reason to NOT go haswell-e. Also, the 8core CPU is going to be clocked lower to compensate for heat.

Now, if you are planning on using SLI/CF with 2+ GPUs that are Dual GPU then you should definitely consider Haswell-e/2011v3 due to the PCI-E lanes.

But if you are going to cross fire, say 2 290x’s, or 780TI’s then you do not NEED haswell-e, as PCI-e16x V3 cannot be saturated by a single card, but by 2 (having 2 on 1150 would be 8×8x maxing the PCI-E link buss).

Now that being said, GW2 is HEAVY on the render thread. So I do not see haswell-e outperforming a 4790K for this game.

Thanks for all the replies! Some stuff is a bit over my head but most of it makes sense.

The problem I’ve come to on my current PC is that newer graphics cards aren’t compatible with my motherboard.

I currently have this GeForce GTX 560 Ti:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CI7FWJM/

I don’t remember what the problem was, but I remember when I was shopping for a graphics card it turned out that this GTX 560 Ti is one of the best graphics cards I could get that was still compatible with my motherboard. Pretty much everything newer than this GTX 560 Ti is incompatible with my PC for some reason I can’t remember. Something about the PCI-E slots I believe.

That’s my main concern. I feel like my PC is still going strong but I can’t upgrade the graphics card any further because of compatibility issues so I’ve basically hit a brick wall.

Are there any new PCI-E slots in development or other new upcoming motherboard advancements that I should wait for so I can get a PC that I can upgrade for a few years without hitting a brick wall?

I’ll research the dual graphics card stuff and see what I can find out about the current Haswell processors so I can understand what you all were talking about on that front.

“The problem I’ve come to on my current PC is that newer graphics cards aren’t compatible with my motherboard.”

You didn’t provide your current mobo specs. According to Zotac, that graphics card is PCI-E-2, which will work in any current motherboard with a PCI-E slot. ANY new graphics card will work in your motherboard, provided your mobo is using (at least) a PCI-E-1.1 slot. If your mobo has a PCI-E 1.0 slot, a newer card may or may not work.

Give us your motherboard model, please.

Here is my mobo according to CPU-Z:
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Model: M4A77TD, Rev X.0x

According to the ASUS website I have a PCI-E 2.0 slot. I feel like it was the PCI-E 1.0 thing that I thought was the problem, but the website clearly states that I have a PCI-E 2.0 slot.

The only other thing I can think of was the power plugs. According one website my current graphics card requires this: “Two (2) 6-pin PCI Express power connectors”

I remember that my stock graphics card didn’t need those two 6-pin power connectors, and I had to search around and find those little things that I didn’t know existed to plug into the GTX 560 Ti. Could there be an issue with power connectors that might create incompatibility?

Here is my motherboard:
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M4A77TD/specifications/

And here is the computer I bought back in the yonder times:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227237

It’s pretty much stock except I’ve upgraded the RAM to 8GB and it has the GTX 560 Ti graphics card replacing the old one.

Am I completely incorrect in thinking I can’t use a new or near-new graphics card on my PC? :o I’m thinking now that I may have shorted myself and gotten a weaker graphics card than I needed to. O.o

You can use a newer graphics card but I wouldn’t recommend it because your CPU is gonna have a hard time keeping up(specially in Guild Wars 2). You should also check what exactly is the power supply provided in the system you got.

If you keep the 560 ti, how much is your budget for new processor and motherboard? You could also use 4gb more ram.

Well the power supply is 700W. I’m thinking with what you and everyone else said I should just optimize my graphics settings in GW2 and start looking to build a new computer.

As far as a budget, I’m still trying to figure out what I need before I settle on a price. I’m generally a mid-range kind of person when it comes to buying electronics, but I want to make sure I get something that will be well upgradable without hitting a compatibility brick wall for a good amount of time.

Newegg usually has CPU/Motherboard combos for sale though I can’t currently find that search option, but I figure it’s cheaper to combo like that, no? I heard putting in a CPU is a bit tricky and since this will be the first time I’m gonna build a PC from scratch I want to avoid screwing that up.

I want to stay mid-range as much as I can on a motherboard/CPU combo, but I’m willing to pay a bit above mid-range to get longevity.

That’s why I’m just trying to figure out what the most important factors will be in finding a long-term motherboard.

The 700w isn’t the important part for power supply, first and foremost should be the Manufacturer and model of the power supply. Not so reputable manufacturers can rate them as 700w but in reality can’t even give 400w or even worse.

Anyway, if you’re keen on upgrading for guild wars 2 you’ll be leaning on an Intel.

You can go with these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116991
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132229

I assume you don’t want to overclock but you can mildly overclock 4 bins higher(4.1ghz) on the non-k 4590 anyway with a z97 motherboard and there’s also m.2 support.

Mo Mo.1947:

Well the power supply is 700W. I’m thinking with what you and everyone else said I should just optimize my graphics settings in GW2 and start looking to build a new computer.

As far as a budget, I’m still trying to figure out what I need before I settle on a price. I’m generally a mid-range kind of person when it comes to buying electronics, but I want to make sure I get something that will be well upgradable without hitting a compatibility brick wall for a good amount of time.

Newegg usually has CPU/Motherboard combos for sale though I can’t currently find that search option, but I figure it’s cheaper to combo like that, no? I heard putting in a CPU is a bit tricky and since this will be the first time I’m gonna build a PC from scratch I want to avoid screwing that up.

I want to stay mid-range as much as I can on a motherboard/CPU combo, but I’m willing to pay a bit above mid-range to get longevity.

That’s why I’m just trying to figure out what the most important factors will be in finding a long-term motherboard.

Going from a 965 to a Current Gen Intel (say a i5-4460) will get you 2x-3x’s the performance you currently have, even with your 560Ti.

Your 560Ti is still relevant, as its 38% faster then a HD7790/R7-260×. And the Later has the ability to play this game on High settings (not ultra) at 1080p with a decent CPU.

I suggest buying a H97-G43 MB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130784&cm_re=H97-G43-_-13-130-784-_-Product) and a i5-4460 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117302&cm_re=haswell-_-19-117-302-_-Product)

And recycling the rest of your system (Since its AM3, You should have DDR3 Spec Memory, yea?).

That is the most cost effective solution for you. And You WILL get 2x-3x your current performance by only swapping the MB/CPU.

When it comes to big upgrades, CPU and Board is always first. CPU is the heart while the board is the body. GPU is your leg. Your leg is still strong but your heart can’t keep up the pace with all the blood pressure. So you will be handicapped by your heart (bottleneck).

DJRiful.3749:

When it comes to big upgrades, CPU and Board is always first. CPU is the heart while the board is the body. GPU is your leg. Your leg is still strong but your heart can’t keep up the pace with all the blood pressure. So you will be handicapped by your heart (bottleneck).

Um, that analogy doesnt really work in the Computer world. There are plenty of times when the GPU is the bottleneck and the CPU is not.

Awesome! Lot’s of excellent help! It’s great when you point out that my current GPU and other components could be recycled. I hadn’t thought about how much my current CPU could be throttling all the rest of my hardware.

The only thing I still don’t know is about motherboards and PC cases. Are they all pretty much standardized so pretty much all mobos fit all cases?

My current case has a few issues and I don’t have the spare parts like sliders to put in extra hard drives or other things because I bought it prebuilt. And the case is old enough you can’t find the spare parts online. :S

Mo Mo.1947:

Awesome! Lot’s of excellent help! It’s great when you point out that my current GPU and other components could be recycled. I hadn’t thought about how much my current CPU could be throttling all the rest of my hardware.

The only thing I still don’t know is about motherboards and PC cases. Are they all pretty much standardized so pretty much all mobos fit all cases?

My current case has a few issues and I don’t have the spare parts like sliders to put in extra hard drives or other things because I bought it prebuilt. And the case is old enough you can’t find the spare parts online. :S

what is your current budget. And do you want a small foot print or a larger foot print when considering your tower. I can give you 2-3 different recommendations on CPU/MB/Case builds, but i need to know your top line cost.

sirsquishy.8531:

DJRiful.3749:

When it comes to big upgrades, CPU and Board is always first. CPU is the heart while the board is the body. GPU is your leg. Your leg is still strong but your heart can’t keep up the pace with all the blood pressure. So you will be handicapped by your heart (bottleneck).

Um, that analogy doesnt really work in the Computer world. There are plenty of times when the GPU is the bottleneck and the CPU is not.

That’s true but always need to have the best boards to support all the rest of the component for future upgrades. CPU and Board are the one doesn’t change often. Meanwhile you upgrade your GPU every 2-3 years (some people does).

While the performance per clock of the haswell 2011s are going to be the same as the 1150s but there is a major difference in overclocking as all 2011 socket chips will have (as all e series have) their IHS soldered to the die, which removes the heat problem that ivys and haswells have. In a cpu constrained situation it could make a difference if you decide to overclock.

As for longevity, the x series boards have longer lifecycles. x79 has been around since sandy bridge and supports ivy bridge e cpus that still rival the haswells as the better oc evens out a lot of the architecture improvements. Personally I’m using a 4820k at a very stable 4.8ghz (65C at load to boot!) which is only a bit slower overall than the newest haswell refresh cpus.

X79 is finally being EoLed with the release of x99 haswell e later this year, which is a lot longer than any of the z series boards have lasted. I expect x99 to be viable board at the top end for quite sometime at least until skylake e gets released right before cannonlake (2016-2017ish). And will be "viable"even with cannonlake. Though who knows

But yes it is a bit for expensive especially with ddr4 ram. Though if you only consider cpu/board then compared to top end i7’s like the 4790k and a quality z97 then the prices are similar.

sirsquishy.8531:

what is your current budget. And do you want a small foot print or a larger foot print when considering your tower. I can give you 2-3 different recommendations on CPU/MB/Case builds, but i need to know your top line cost.

Hmmz, well going off the prices of those two things you recommended, and considering some other things, could I get a long-lasting CPU/MB/Case combo for $500-$600?

If that sounds like a reasonable price range maybe that’d be best since I’ll need to consider the cost of buying the other odds and ends like power-supply/fans/SSD/etc. I’ll need to look into the costs of those.

You mentioned low-footprint vs. high-footprint. Are you talking about power usage? It’d definitely be nice if it wasn’t a power hog. With my current PC I really can’t notice an impact on my electricity bill during months I spend a lot of time with my PC turned on and gaming vs. months I am too busy with life and my PC is hardly ever turned on. It’d be nice if it stayed that way. As far as I know, newer PCs and components are becoming more power conscious so that shouldn’t be too big an issue, right?

The mobo you recommended has two PCI-e x16 slots but I was looking at other mobos and some of them had 3 or even 4 PCI-E slots. Like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128704

How necessary is that? I’m only using the one PCI-E x16 slot on my current mobo for my GPU. What other useful components would someone plug into a PCI-E x16 slot?

Anyway, one thing I would like in a mobo is pretty much as many USB slots as can possibly be shoved onto that thing. I’ve got a lot of peripherals that I use depending on what I’m doing, including some things that require a USB slot for power. It’d be cool if they could all be plugged in at once. It’s nice that it seems most USB slots are 3.0 on current mobos. The more 3.0 the better I figure since newer devices can require them.

Ideally (since you said my GTX 560 Ti is still okay) I’d like to eventually if not quite soon revert my current PC back to stock condition and just carry forward all the upgrade components I added into the new PC. I need to start teaching myself to program and be more familiar with the inner-workings of OS’s so it’d be nice to have a spare PC I can use as a trial-and-error learning lab. I’d like to have the freedom to REALLY kitten things up without being negatively affected if it stops working for a few days.

Thanks again for all this insight!!

Given a $600 budget, I’d go with this:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xqmnyc

You may opt to change the cooler to an all in one liquid coolers but that involves checking for leaks/cracks periodically etc. They happen very rarely but it’s more maintenance.

You wont need more than 1-2 PCI-E slots, it’s best to upgrade to the best single card you can find and by the time you wanna sli/crossfire there’s another one released that’s more powerful and energy efficient.

Okay I’ll look into that and research the liquid coolers. My current PC has some degree of liquid cooling but I didn’t know there was a possibility of cracking so I’ll keep that in mind now.

Thanks for posting the build!