Guild Wars 2

Hey guys,

I’m planning on getting a gaming desktop so i can play gw2 with more than 15 fps

I can buy this rig for 650 euro’s, second hand:
Processor: i5 2500K
Memory: GeiL 8 GB 1333
Motherboard: P8P67 LE
GPU: XFX 7970 Double Dissipation
HDD: 500gb
CPU cooler: Antec h20 920
PSU: OCZ StealthXStream 2 600W
Case: MS-TECH CA-0200

Would I be able to play GW2 on high/ultra with a constant 30-40 fps on this rig, or would i be better of building my own rig and build something around this:
i5 4430
ASRock B85M-HDS
Palit GeForce GTX 760 2GB Jetstream

You would be able to play on highest settings with that graphics card at 30-40 FPS assuming you’ll be playing on a 1080p display. The exceptions being WvW and large dynamic events where you’ll see sub 30 FPS. It does come with a water cooler, so you can overclock that 2500K and see how far you can push it to get close to breaking that 30 FPS barrier in WvW battles.

Whether the price is fair, that is debatable.

Sounds fair from a performance stand point.
The 2500k is a 2nd gen. The 3570k is its 3rd gen equivalent. The 4670k is the 4th gen equivalent. The difference btween each one is about 7% more or less.
The 7970 again is a good GPU.
I cant say for sure but im pritty sure that rig brand new if u can find a 2500k new, would be around 1000 euro’s.
If u know the person who is selling it and know the rig has been looked after in its time, then go ahead and buy it. If not, u may want to ask a few questions about how its been used ..i.e overclocking and such and why its being sold. (its likely just due to a up grade but always good to know).

IMO that second hand rig is betetr than the brand new one u listed below. The 760 is a lower end card even though tis newer. The 4430 probably faster at stock but it can only OC so far, the 2500k is a OC monster, if u got a AIO water cooler as good as a Corsair H100 u can get 5ghz out of it..the water cooler listed i dont know much about, im pritty sure its as good as a h100 though noiser, but i would be suprised if u couldnt get 4.5ghz out of it..i can get 4.6ghz out of the 2500k’s 6 core HT’d equivalent the 3930k and thats on air …so yea ..like all sandybridge 2nd gen k CPU’s u shouldnt have a problem hitting 4.5ghz.

I don’t know the seller in person. However the seller states that the system is a year old, except for the GPU and CPU Cooler which are respectively 2 and 5 months old. He’s selling it because he doesn’t need such a good system anymore. If i’m gonna buy it I will pick it up personally.

The thing i’m having most trouble with is that the processor is nearly 2 years old and requires overclocking to show its true ability. I have never overclocked before (no idea how hard it is). The watercooler is a good model (already did some research on it).

Would the i2500k with a simple overclock outperform a i5 4430 or i5 3350?

Ilithis Mithilander.3265:

Whether the price is fair, that is debatable.

What would you consider a fair price?

I’ve heard bad things about the XFX 7970 DD. Get a Sapphire 7970 VaporX 3GB.

God Of Fissures.8627:

I’ve heard bad things about the XFX 7970 DD. Get a Sapphire 7970 VaporX 3GB.

It’s a complete second hand rig he’s considering buying!

2500k overclocks fantastically, it should handle GW2 fine, the GPU is great, even overkill if GW2 is the only game you play.

As a fellow european I can confirm that the rig would cost around 1000 euros new. Whether it’s a good deal or not really depends on the shape of the PC.

iPrevail.1268:

Ilithis Mithilander.3265:

Whether the price is fair, that is debatable.

What would you consider a fair price?

I’m not used to playing in euros, but it really comes down to how the system was handled. For me it seems kinda sketchy considering the age of the GPU. Now he wants to get rid of it just 2 months after replacing the GPU…

I’m very cautious around second hand stuff just because you don’t know what has happened to it. I’d make him run through stress tests, Prime95 and some GPU benchmarks and make sure everything is within spec. I don’t think I would ever recommend getting something older than the previous generation (Ivy bridge at this point) simply because it’ll be out of date that much sooner.

Ilithis Mithilander.3265:

I’m very cautious around second hand stuff just because you don’t know what has happened to it. I’d make him run through stress tests, Prime95 and some GPU benchmarks and make sure everything is within spec. I don’t think I would ever recommend getting something older than the previous generation (Ivy bridge at this point) simply because it’ll be out of date that much sooner.

Especially that the 2500k is like 5 bucks cheaper than the 3570k.

Another important factor is whether the OP plays any other games besides GW2. If not, there is no reason to have such a strong GPU. And 650 euros could easily buy a decent new 3570k-based PC.

Ilithis Mithilander.3265:

You would be able to play on highest settings with that graphics card at 30-40 FPS assuming you’ll be playing on a 1080p display.

40-50 in cities like lion’s arch. Or more. Buddy of mine has an i5 3570K and a Radeon HD 7770. 40+ fps in lion’s arch and 60 FPS everywhere else (v/sync yes) and the usual drops in zerg vs. zerg. he plays 1080p.

the i5 2500K and 7970 will bring in like the same.

Avelos.6798:

Ilithis Mithilander.3265:

You would be able to play on highest settings with that graphics card at 30-40 FPS assuming you’ll be playing on a 1080p display.

40-50 in cities like lion’s arch. Or more. Buddy of mine has an i5 3570K and a Radeon HD 7770. 40+ fps in lion’s arch and 60 FPS everywhere else (v/sync yes) and the usual drops in zerg vs. zerg. he plays 1080p.

the i5 2500K and 7970 will bring in like the same.

Except that the 7970 will allow all settings at maximum and maybe even supersampling while still getting a decent framerate like you mentioned.

Ilithis Mithilander.3265:

Avelos.6798:

Ilithis Mithilander.3265:

You would be able to play on highest settings with that graphics card at 30-40 FPS assuming you’ll be playing on a 1080p display.

40-50 in cities like lion’s arch. Or more. Buddy of mine has an i5 3570K and a Radeon HD 7770. 40+ fps in lion’s arch and 60 FPS everywhere else (v/sync yes) and the usual drops in zerg vs. zerg. he plays 1080p.

the i5 2500K and 7970 will bring in like the same.

Except that the 7970 will allow all settings at maximum and maybe even supersampling while still getting a decent framerate like you mentioned.

Oh I forgot to mention that this friend with the 7770 is also running max.

Gregorius.2375:

Ilithis Mithilander.3265:

I’m very cautious around second hand stuff just because you don’t know what has happened to it. I’d make him run through stress tests, Prime95 and some GPU benchmarks and make sure everything is within spec. I don’t think I would ever recommend getting something older than the previous generation (Ivy bridge at this point) simply because it’ll be out of date that much sooner.

Especially that the 2500k is like 5 bucks cheaper than the 3570k.

Another important factor is whether the OP plays any other games besides GW2. If not, there is no reason to have such a strong GPU. And 650 euros could easily buy a decent new 3570k-based PC.

Yeah, I mean what we could do is piece together a new machine.
I kinda started one with a Haswell backbone, but its already creeping on the 650 euro limit.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1bfvy

Obvious changes would be to slash the hard drive and grab a slightly cheaper but much less capacity drive. You can drop the 920 AiO water cooler for a cheaper something. You can likely find a cheaper case, I just have dreams of one day using a Xigmatek case for someone.

The GTX 760 was based on your alternate build list. I chose the cheapest motherboard ASUS made for the 1150 socket.

Most of the build was put together without much thought, it was mainly to get across that you’ll likely spend over 650 euros. Please take it and tweak to your needs.

Thx guys, i have indeed reconsidered building my own pc. The second handed one just doesn’t fit my wishes. Your build looks sorta what I had in mind. Remember that your build costs 650£ and not euros.

In reviews of the new k-processors i can make out that overclocking isn’t going as smooth as it was before. And since i’m not familiar with it I tend not go with a k cpu, unless u say that would really improve the performance.

I was thinking about getting this:
Processor: i5 4430
Mobo: ASRock B85M-HDS
GPU: MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC
HDD: 1tb from seagate
Case: Cooler Master K280
Memory: 8gb 1600 from crucial
PSU: seasonic 520w
SSD: Samsung 840 series 120GB

I can get this all for around 690 euros

Other games i play are LoL and some mmo’s that switch around very frequently.

iPrevail.1268:

Thx guys, i have indeed reconsidered building my own pc. The second handed one just doesn’t fit my wishes. Your build looks sorta what I had in mind. Remember that your build costs 650£ and not euros.

In reviews of the new k-processors i can make out that overclocking isn’t going as smooth as it was before. And since i’m not familiar with it I tend not go with a k cpu, unless u say that would really improve the performance.

I was thinking about getting this:
Processor: i5 4430
Mobo: ASRock B85M-HDS
GPU: MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC
HDD: 1tb from seagate
Case: Cooler Master K280
Memory: 8gb 1600 from crucial
PSU: seasonic 520w
SSD: Samsung 840 series 120GB

I can get this all for around 690 euros

Other games i play are LoL and some mmo’s that switch around very frequently.

Yeah, overclocking looks likes its been slowly going downhill…you can’t get an additional 1.3Ghz like I did anymore. That doesn’t mean its not worth it though. You can still get over half a Ghz out of an overclock which by no means is bad. In the case of your Haswell processor, the 4670K can still hit 4.5Ghz while your 4430 will only see about 3.5Ghz on an overclock.

1Ghz is huge in Guild Wars 2, but building a PC around one game isn’t smart, especially when its kitten poor optimized so that even the best CPUs struggle (or aren’t really used effectively).

I still think that the 50 dollar difference between the 4430 and the 4670 is worth the .6Ghz if you aren’t going to overclock. Then, the additional 20 is worth the potential extra .7Ghz you can get with the unlocked version. That is my only gripe with your build.

I get that overclocking will help me get better performance. But an i5 4430 and a cheap mobo is a lot more cost-efficient than an i5 4670k that needs an extra cooler and possibly a better mobo.

SSD is kinda crucial for me since I want it to be a fast computer capable of quick bootups and low loading times. I want the cpu to not bottleneck for about 3-4 years. I don’t care that much about playing gw2 on a bit lower settings as i’m used to gaming on lower settings (macbook user).

Will the i5 4430 keep a playable fps with medium settings in normal circumstances?

This is an OT aside/rant.

Not everyone is willing to build their own rig. If they are asking what’s better A or B, don’t simply ignore them and provide a parts list that’s 20% higher than the price of A or B.

Not everyone has a spare copy/licence of Windows laying about so you can ignore it’s cost in terms of the budget an OP. At some point somebody will take a list published here, buy the parts, put it together and then realize that it doesn’t have Windows on it already, that there isn’t a way to install it because they left out a DVD drive (it’s the new floppy drive, who needs one).

Not everyone will be willing to overclock and then properly test their system to make sure the system is stable at that speed.

If an OP lists a budget, don’t pull the old “but for $X more you can get …” car salesman line. All those “but for $X” can add up quickly and now they are way outside their budget and you sold them on a system they can’t get and anything they now get would feel inferior, even if it’s still loads better than what they currently have.

People who enjoy building systems always have an inch to scratch when they aren’t and threads like the ones that popped up here over the last week or so on “building a rig” can partially fulfill that need. But listen to what the OP is asking for first. Try to stay within the limits they’ve set forth and if they have unrealistic goals for their budget just tell them so.

People who don’t have the passion for building computers are usually quite ignorant in what parts are important and what aren’t. They aren’t familiar with the last 3 generations of CPU and GPUs. I imagine some still believe in the MHz, now GHz myth. Or that 16GB of memory over 8GB would make the one app at a time they run somehow faster. Please just realize this and take the time to explain why what they believe isn’t true.

/rant

Hi Behellagh,

I appreciate your concern. I am planning on building my own rig. Windows won’t be a problem, i got an external dvd drive and a copy of windows will be taken care of. Since i’v e already done quite some research I know what’s out there. My question for now is whether the rig I have put together is fast enough to run GW2 at a reasonable speed and if I can cut prices on some parts.

Edit: Would a fx6300 beat the i5 4430 at stock?
Nvm: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/guild-wars-2-performance-benchmark,3268-7.html

Your thread just happen to be the one I went off in, sorry.

I see you’ve already found your answer. Not necessarily the best chart since the FX series has a worst ipc (instruction per cycle) than the Intel’s Core iX series so it needs to be clocked faster to achieve the same performance. Add on top of that the difference between the performance of a Intel core running a single thread Vs and FX module running a single thread, we would be looking at well over 5.0 GHz on the FX-6300 simply to match the i5-4430 at 3 Ghz.

Which is why AMD prices relative to general performance so looking at NewEgg the FX-6300 is $120 vs the i5-4430 at $190.

Ay man, thats okey.

Yeah i found several benchmarks that the i5 is way better. I will probably get the i5 4430 with a low-end card. Waiting till juli 1 to see if the gtx 750 is coming out and otherwise i’ll just buy a 650ti or 660.

Thx a lot all for your advice and see you in game (since i can finally play soon

660 = low end card? Man, don’t make me feel bad. I’m so excited that my 650 Ti Boost will arrive next week.

According to nVidia’s own slides they aren’t planning on releasing any other new cards through the fall of 2013. Next card bellow the GTX 760 in terms of available performance will be the GTX 660 for the next few months.

And yes sadly there are DIY gamers who believe if you aren’t spending at least $200 on your video card then you aren’t serious about building a gaming system.

Behellagh.1468:

And yes sadly there are DIY gamers who believe if you aren’t spending at least $200 on your video card then you aren’t serious about building a gaming system.

But those guys are mean. I like helping people find what’s best for them rather than throwing the most expensive piece of trash overpowered gaming laptop or desktop at them so they can edit photos for Photography class.

Gregorius.2375:

660 = low end card? Man, don’t make me feel bad. I’m so excited that my 650 Ti Boost will arrive next week.

Yeah you’re right i meant mid-end :p

Behellagh.1468:

According to nVidia’s own slides they aren’t planning on releasing any other new cards through the fall of 2013. Next card bellow the GTX 760 in terms of available performance will be the GTX 660 for the next few months.

I’ve found 2 websites confirming a release in q2 2013, one even saying they will release it on july 1st. So i’ll wait till monday. If it doesn’t come out than i’ll probably get the msi 660 tf