Guild Wars 2

My question should be pretty simple for someone who knows this game and computers.
I have a terrible laptop for gaming at the moment, and I want to play Guild Wars 2 bad enough to eat a lamp for it. As a result, I am buying a new desktop. The desktop just has to be able to play games like this one, and maybe a few other MMOs that my friends play; in short, it would be completely dedicated to gaming. After 2 full days of researching what the heck all of the computer terminology means, this is what I have come up with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229364

I chose this computer because I really don’t want to spend TOO much money on a computer. My main question is this: If I bought this computer, would I be able to play Guild Wars 2 on max graphics, or close to it? Thanks for the help.

In case that link does not work for some reason, or someone gets too lazy to click the link, here are the relevant specs:

Gigabit Ethernet
Processor = Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4 Ghz, 64 bit Quad-Core Processor
Memory Capacity = 8GB DDR3 1333
Memory Spec = 4GB x 2
Hard Drive = 1TB SATAIII 7200RPM
Graphics = Nvidia Geforce GT 620 2GB
Power Supply = 700W
Operating System = Windows 8, 64-bit

Please help, I want to play this game. A lot.

Everything else is fine but the graphics card is utter crap. Buy gtx 650 or 660.

Newegg gave the description of that computer as ‘Gaming and Entertainment’. If I had to toss my vote in, its 95% entertainment, 5% gaming. That graphics card will go excellent in any home theater PC, but won’t go very far for gaming.

As Covis said above, everything looks decent specs wise besides the video card. If you’re looking for a budget buy for a graphics card I recently purchased a GTX 650Ti for my siblings who want to play GW2 but couldn’t because they inherited my old 9800GT which was an excellent card for its time, but its very outdated now. For kicks (and to make sure it wasn’t DOA) I tossed it in my rig and tested the quality. I was able to toss everything to max settings (aside from supersampling of course) and could run around LA gettings 25-35 frames. Modifying the options to a lower setting, I don’t recall what I changed, I was able to get 35-40 frames around LA, then on lowest settings I was getting 75+. I got the card for 110 (after rebate on newegg and got a free copy of assassin’s creed III).

If you’re more into the intensive side of GW2 (WvW, large scale dynamic events, etc) then I would bump up to the 150-200 dollar range and get a GTX 560Ti (normal edition or 448 edition) or a GTX 570, or a GTX 660 (if you can find one that cheap).

Obviously you can run ATI cards as well, I’m just unfamiliar with what is comparable to the above listed Nvidia cards.

For reference, I run a GTX 560Ti 448 edition and it runs GW2 at max settings while getting 35+ frames everywhere besides WvW, where it dips down to a 25+ frames.

My younger brother (not the aforementioned siblings) runs a GTX 560Ti (normal edition) and it fares out almost as well as my card.

Thanks for the input, I’m looking at more options now.
If anyone “runs into” the desktop I’ve described, you can post it. I realize that’s me asking for someone else to perform my search, but hey, it can’t hurt to ask, right?

you can just get the parts and build it yourself, its like assembling IKEA furniture. IF that is too intimidating you can have someone else to do it or a company like pugetsystems.com. They get the parts like you normally would, build it, and burn-in test it. You get all the manuals etcs from the individual parts.

Its ok but the graphics card is pants ..u need a better one ..one thats designed for gaming on not one just for media,wordprocessing ,and browsing like the 620.

Your best bet to save money Tilrune is to build a computer urself.

STOP ..right there. .dont panic ..its easy ..its like lego nowerdays. Seriosly.

That cpu is perfect .. a 3570K or a 2500K/2550K will do great for GW2.
You then need motherboard that goes with it. Like a Asus or Gigabyte LGA 1155.
A good aftermarket cooler. The Coolmaster 212 Evo would do nicely.
Some DDR3 RAM 1600mhz (8gb) G.skill r good and pritty cheap
A 600w/650w PSU
A good gaming GPU (like a Nvidia 560ti/660ti or AMD 7850/7950 )
A ATX compatable Case.
You will need SATA Hardrives. A single 500gb or 1TB Sata III 7200RPM drive would do.
A Optical Drive (CDrom/DVD)

And thats ur box done. Anything else would be things like a keybaord. mouse. .monitor, and sound system.
i was on neweg earlyer today looking for a premade computer for som1 else on these ofrums and the cheapest PC they have which has a OK GPU and a good Intel CPU is $900. So thats the kinda price area u should be thinking.

EDIT: These are what i found ..but i would still advise building one urself.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227445
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227441
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227453
The last one i think is the better of the 3 as the GPU is better (AMD 7850). The other two are 650 non ti and 660 non ti ..both of which would have been much better had they been Ti versions.

Thanks for the help guys. My brain is melting from 4 days of computer lingo, but I guess I’m learning. This is what I’ve come up with in the past few hours of research:

Building somehow seems more expensive, despite everything I’m hearing. I choose the parts individually and their pre-built counterparts are always cheaper, minus the video card. My idea is to grab a cheap gaming comp with at least i5, 3 GHz, 500W, 4GB x 2 RAM, and if the graphics card doesn’t seem good enough, then it at least should be cheap enough for me to buy the card separately to make up for it. This is what I’ve narrowed it down to:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227453
(thanks, SolarNova)
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229361
and I would throw a http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GeForce-PCI-Express-Graphics-GV-N65TOC-2GI/dp/B009L946II/ref=sr_1_10?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1355818272&sr=1-10&keywords=1x+PCI-e in the back.
Do these options seem legit, or am I doing something terribly wrong if I’m wanting to play this game at pretty good graphics? Thanks for the help, guys.

prebuilts are built from cheap components, the usual higher cost of a home build is usually from picking higher quality parts. often its the build quality of the power supply that makes a significant difference before adding anything like gpu’s.

I own an computer store and an IT Technician by day and avid gamer by night. I have ATi Radeon HD5870 and it runs everything maxed at high FPS. DDR3 1333 and 1600 Mhz wont make any difference. A decent Motherboard like an ASUS or Gigabyte is the main factor. DO NOT cheap out on a crap MoBo. You’ll thank me later. Decent PSU 700W upwards and a good HDD. Either small 60GB Solid State for Windows and GW2 on it and bigger for data. If you need decent pricing I get it at cost from Distributor. So cheaper than Newegg. Let me know. Also depends where U situated.

The smallest SSD u should honestly go for is 120gb (if u want a SSD). Windows can get big with all its updates and GW2 isnt exactly small. Ontop of that, SSD’s run faster when they are NOT full. So you want atleast 25% of free space(75% usuage) to keep the performance up.

A 700W PSU is a bit overkill for a Ivybirdge processor and modern Non OC’d gfx cards. A 600w or 650W high quality PSU would be enough. Hell… i run a 750W PSU on a highly OC’d 3930k (6core 12 thread Sandybridge) and a OC’d 560ti, and have plenty of wiggle room.

Do NOT go AMD with the CPU ..it will hurt u in GW2 ..specialy in WvW. The only AMD u can probably use is the FX 8350 but even that wont handle WvW without droping below 30fps. Intel cost more ..but they are worth it.

Last stament is wrong,AMD can run this game fine,also in wvwv,its more of an intelfanboy statement then anything else.Running in wvwvw with 80fps+ easily,lowest drop is about 30 in a really heavy zerg.Some people just dont know what their talking about since they dont even own an AMD.Honestly you can get the same perf of a 300$ stock intel with ocing a 150$ amd cpu,but whatever.

if im wrong,please do a nice search in this Forum for “Intel Low Fps”,and then also see the people with AMD saying their playing the game just fine.Anyway,goodluck with whatever your buying,just stop people from trying to mislead you with fanboyism.

Caedmon. I dont fanboy anything. I run purly from stats. Most AMD cpu’s cannot handle proper WvW battles wihtout droping below 30fps. There is plenty of evidence on this forum ..form benchmarks ..and other games to support that AMD processors cant manage some of the heavily single threaded processes that some games have. Like for example GW2, and MechWarrior Online (to lesser extent). Dont get me wrong u can still play, but u wil lend up being bottlenecked below the 30 fps threshold.

If your so intent on on using the ‘fanboy’ argument then please feel free to post a vid of ur AMD cpu via a monitoring program and u in WvW in a large battle staying above 30 fps.. and ill gladly recommend ur CPU and its OC.

SolarNova.1052:

Caedmon. I dont fanboy anything. I run purly from stats. Most AMD cpu’s cannot handle proper WvW battles wihtout droping below 30fps. There is plenty of evidence on this forum ..form benchmarks ..and other games to support that AMD processors cant manage some of the heavily single threaded processes that some games have. Like for example GW2, and MechWarrior Online (to lesser extent). Dont get me wrong u can still play, but u wil lend up being bottlenecked below the 30 fps threshold.

If your so intent on on using the ‘fanboy’ argument then please feel free to post a vid of ur AMD cpu via a monitoring program and u in WvW in a large battle staying above 30 fps.. and ill gladly recommend ur CPU and its OC.

And i can say the same about intel,like i said do a forum search for people with intels that should have much higher perf,but playing like crap.Many intel posts about this,now i do also see many AMD users having said other then you are saying right now,and are playing perfectly fine.Its just that your AMD sucks and Intel is the way to go mentality on every thread is kinda crap and based on false judgements since i talk from experience and know im running the game flawlessly.I also do not find the need to make a vid specially for you just to show my fps,dude seriously you just dont have a clue if you want this kind of proof,do you ?

In anyway,i was merely saying this for the OP to not exclude AMD from his list and just do his own research about whats right for him.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/guild-wars-2-performance-benchmark,review-32511-7.html

B4 its said, no im not bassing my advice on just this.

Before this turns into a total flame war…

@Tilrune, that graphics card you linked is the 2GB version of the GTX 650Ti. Personally, you won’t need the extra 1GB of RAM that card comes with. If you want to spend about 180 on a card:

Would be awesome if it was in stock (not sure if you want to wait for it)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133470 -GTX 660

Or…

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500275 -GTX 570
After the rebate it’s got a pretty nice price.

Edit: AND you get Duke Nukem! I’d buy the card just for the sake it comes with Duke Nukem (sarcasm)

AMD is certainly playable, its not bad, just it not great or the best for gaming.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html
Since most games rely heavily on single thread performance this list is a good approximation of gaming performance and AMD 8350, the best they offers, rank no where near the top. Its comparable to intel’s last generation performance which isn’t bad and still decent. People who don’t WvW would be perfectly fine and happy with AMD in GW2.

Ilithis Mithilander.3265:

Before this turns into a total flame war…

@Tilrune, that graphics card you linked is the 2GB version of the GTX 650Ti. Personally, you won’t need the extra 1GB of RAM that card comes with. If you want to spend about 180 on a card:

Would be awesome if it was in stock (not sure if you want to wait for it)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133470 -GTX 660

Or…

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500275 -GTX 570
After the rebate it’s got a pretty nice price.

Edit: AND you get Duke Nukem! I’d buy the card just for the sake it comes with Duke Nukem (sarcasm)

1GB is easily usable on these video cards, so 2GB would be a boon.

Squall Leonhart.2075:

Ilithis Mithilander.3265:

Before this turns into a total flame war…

@Tilrune, that graphics card you linked is the 2GB version of the GTX 650Ti. Personally, you won’t need the extra 1GB of RAM that card comes with. If you want to spend about 180 on a card:

Would be awesome if it was in stock (not sure if you want to wait for it)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133470 -GTX 660

Or…

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500275 -GTX 570
After the rebate it’s got a pretty nice price.

Edit: AND you get Duke Nukem! I’d buy the card just for the sake it comes with Duke Nukem (sarcasm)

1GB is easily usable on these video cards, so 2GB would be a boon.

It depends on the applications running. From my experience in my normal operations, I never use more than 3/4 of a GB when running GW2. Either way, the GTX 660 rocks the same 2GB capacity for a few bucks more while the 5/4 GB on the GTX 570 is more than enough to run GW2 with all your desired high resolution textures.

If you’re determined to go on a budget build, I recently purchased a GTX 650Ti (1GB) for my siblings as a Christmas present who want to play GW2 but couldn’t because they inherited my old 9800GT which is slightly antiquated Out of curiosity (and to make sure it wasn’t DoA) I tossed it in my rig to see how well it performed. On max settings, besides supersampling, I was able to pull 25-35 frames in LA, and on lowest settings I could pull 75+ frames. So, if you don’t mind lowering some settings, then the card is an awesome budget buy. I got it on newegg for 110 after rebate (and it came with Assassin’s Creed III).

SolarNova had some good recommendations on computers for it. GW2 is more cpu intensive than say SWTOR, but actually less graphics intensive from benchmark testing… go figure.

As far as building it is not hard, cyberpowerpc.com has alot of options for building systems too if you do not want to build yourself.

couple of points I would make on cost though

Save money go i5 instead of i7. The performance increase vs the cost is negligible and AMD can run GW2, but they do bottleneck

Gskillz is some great RAM that is cheaper than Corsair. Do not go with off brand RAM, you will regret it which is why you do not want a prebuilt machine

Video card.. GTX 560 can play the game in ultra.. so GTX560Ti would be a good bet for cost vs production.

I would say Evo or Thermaltake Frio. Do not mess with water cooled. It is not needed and if you have a leak it could cause bad things

PSU – you do not need much but look at brand too if you plan on computer more than a couple of years. PSU degrade over time and some not so high quality degrade faster and cause problems later. Corsair 750 you can get for $100 and would be plenty of power even after several years and if you want to mod up and OC

SSD are great, but the space sucks while the costs is high. This is not a game accessing harddrive a ton so I would not worry about an SSD. Ideally would be booting off the SSD and having like a Raptor HDD in there for rest, but thats money

Mobo.. Asus is historically the best, but I am not happy with the board I have now. I would say go Gigabyte.. they are great and less expensive