Guild Wars 2

Hello,

I’ve been wanting to upgrade an old computer of mine so I can play GW2 with better settings. I have an old Compaq Presario desktop (I don’t play GW2 on it). I’m very aware that it’s a P.O.S. but I’ve heard that building your own desktop is more affordable and better than buying overpriced gaming computers, and after doing some research into the matter, I’ve decided that it’d be cheaper to just build on the remains of the Presario than to buy a new tower.

I’m familiar with tech but I’m no expert; upgrading computers is a bit new to me. I’ve done some research and learned that MMO’s are CPU-intensive, which makes sense when I think about it. The Presario has a crappy CPU since it’s a budget computer so I know for sure I need a new one. I’ve watched a video on how to change one out and have examined the computer, so I’m sure I could do it.

Same thing goes for the graphics card but I have one seated in my friend’s unused desktop. I believe it’s an NVIDIA GeForce 9400 (I bought it for $40 a few years ago). It’s nothing great but I’m familiar with how to integrate it and whatnot. I know it could play GW2 decently at the least but it’d be nothing great and most likely needs to be replaced as well.

I’d like to also be able to get parts that allow the computer to handle other games too, and not just GW2. I’m willing to upgrade the RAM if I need to (which I probably do). Ultimately, I’ve tried to do some research but the technical aspects are slightly confusing; some help from people would be great.

My bottom-line question is this:
For a technical gaming experience ranging from good to great, what CPU/GPU/RAM should I purchase, particularly for being able to play WvW?

Please try to explain in relatively layman terms since I’m no pro and it won’t do too well to drown me in technobabblejargon.

I’m not sure if there’s any point to posting the specs of the Presario, as they’re pretty much all guaranteed shiet, but here’s a page with all the basic specs: http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/compaq-presario-sr5710y-athlon/4507-3118_7-33549735.html

Thank you in advance.

In layman terms, here’s what you need:

A CPU with very strong per core performance, only 4 cores are needed. This is why for example AMD FX-8350 is not going to shine in this game, it has 8 cores and they are individually relatively weak. WvW is the most CPU demanding place in the game so you want the best available. I have, and you would recommend it also, the Intel i5 4670K, but basically any i5 from 2nd gen onwards will do (those are i5 2xxx, 3xxx and 4xxx). i7’s only add more threads so their cost is not justified for GW2.

This game demand very little from the GPU. You will do great with an HD 7790 or GTX 650 Ti. If you’re looking to play some more graphically intensive games, you might want to go for a bit stronger.

As for RAM, go for 8 gigs of DDR3 1600MHz. 8 gigs is plenty as GW2 can’t use more than 3 GB and Windows itself wont use more than a few either, but the difference in cost of 4 vs 8 isn’t much and it’s better to be on the safe side. The brand doesn’t matter too much as long as it’s reputable, $200 stick or kit instead of $80 isn’t going to bring you fps gains really, it comes in build quality and looks.

Now, as you’re upgrading the CPU you have to upgrade your motherboard as well. Remember to check the compability with the CPU you choose. For example, those 4th Gen Intels (i5-4xxx) go together with Z87 chipset and H87 chipset boards. 3rd Gen goes with Z77, H77 and so on. Z-series are for overclocking and you might wanna do that as you’re playing WvW and want the bets out of your CPU. Also, the K-versions of the CPU’s are the overclockable ones (such as 4670K, 3570K, there are regular 4670 and 3570 out there too).

Last thing you wanna look at is your PSU. as it’s a prebuilt budget computer it probably has 300-400W unit. You want ~600ish for gaming computer and please buy one from a reputable brand, such as Corsair (I personally have their CX600 600W PSU). The last thing you want is your PSU failing and frying all of your hardware with it. Trust me, it’s not that rare for untrusted PSUs.

Your HDD (if it has enough space for your needs) and the case can be reused if you wish.

Hope this clarifies anything, just ask if you need more info, even a build suggestion or evaluation if you want to look at the components first.

EDIT: Just so you know, you’re looking at $800-900 investment if you wish to get the most out of your WvW experience.

Also, some useful links:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html – here you can see the per core performance of each CPU. As you can see, the first AMD is pretty far away from the top.
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html – HD 7790 is at 3000 point mark. You want to look at GPUs around or above that.
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/ – you can use this tool to select your components and see their total cost and show us what you have chosen. It also shows if there are compatibility issues.

If you’re talking about upgrading that Compaq, I don’t think it’d be worth it. The Athlon line presented in it seems familiar but I think finding a better CPU along the line would prove costly. As for GPU, to get a game capable one for GW2 and install it, let alone even use it would likely also prove costly because you’d likely have to upgrade the power supply in it, whiiiiich could further lead to having to replace the motherboard if for example it’s all using proprietary BS.

However I will provide some nice starting specs for a very budget friendly build on a new tower for GW2.

For Guild Wars 2 you’d want, on a budget system made for WVW,
an i5 3450 for H77 or i5 4430 for H87 platform.
6 or 8 GB DDR3
GTX 750 or GTX 750TI.

These three key components, the processor for the 3450 and 4430 are both quad core desktop processors. They’re relatively the same thing in speed, just one is newer and more up-to-date. That would be the 4430. they’re not the highest end i5 so that also saves some money.
The H77 and H87 are the basic chipset Intel platforms providing essential features to the user if for say they were not planning on overclocking. It can still be used in a gaming computer of course.

RAM is self explanatory…
GTX 750 is a very low power consumption high output graphics card. In my opinion, it is by far the best bang-for-buck graphics card because it can be run on very low power systems (300-350 watt) without external connections.
GTX750 TI is a step up, faster than the regular unit of course, a little more pricey but for guild wars 2 should get the job done.
For WVW, depending on what kind of FPS you may want to also consider GTX 660 and GTX 760.

Other parts you’d want is a 450 watt power supply for the previously listed specs and let’s just say 320 GB hard drive because I’m talking budget here.
Then you’re also adding in the cost of Windows 7 or 8 or 8.1 whichever you want.

you essentially need a brand new everything if you wish to upgrade to the recommended i5 cpu for wvw. The only thing salvageable from that old pc is the dvd drive, the case itself and possible the hard drive

There’s a few things to understand. Motherboards are not all the same, they are built with sockets to fit specific cpu families and only those families. Yours has a AM2 socket and no chip maker makes a cpu that uses that socket anymore. You cannot stick a modern cpu from either amd or intel into that motherboard (which might not even accept any upgrades due to proprietary bios and power circuitry).

So if you wish to change your cpu, then you need to change your motherboard, which also means new ram as your current ram is going to be too slow. More importantly, changing your motherboard also means a new copy of windows, becasue the one that came with your presario is a special version locked to that motherboard and is non transferable.

As for your old 9400gt, there is no use for it as the integrated video chips that come with intel i5 are significantly faster

So depending on your budget and other factors, you are looking at something like this part list (i threw this together super quick picking the cheapest “decent” parts so they arent the best choices by any means):

PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 × 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series:DT01ACA 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 ($98.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $560.22

I am not sure your old case can even use a micro atx sized motherboard (proprietary stuff is very common on prebuilt systems)so i added a case and a bigger faster hard drive (your old one has a pretty slow connector). The cost of doing this build is almost the same as a similar prebuilt system (such as this asus which has no discrete gpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220447) but you get a more powerful system with higher quality parts

Fine. Layman’s terms, your screwed. Computer technology ages faster than dogs. That PC uses a CPU Socket that was abandoned over 5 years ago and a memory standard that’s just as old.

According to the specs (Google “Compaq Presario SR5710y”, the specs are at HP support for those interested) you have the 3 MB of DDR2-800 memory, the fastest speed supported. Your CPU runs at 2.3 GHz but the fastest support by that system board runs at 2.5GHz, so not much of an increase. And good luck finding a 5+ year old CPU. It can’t be fitted with a quad core, none were available for that socket and the power requirement is beyond that system board.

That system comes with a 250 watt power supply. That’s woefully minimalistic. That extremely limits what video cards can be used. It is important to note that the PCIe spec supported on that system board is V1.0. Maybe a GT 630 could replace the 9400GT you think you have without blowing up the power supply. It is several times faster than a 9400GT and in theory using the same amount of power.

But that’s it. You can’t go to quad core, you can’t go beyond 4GB of memory (only two slots with 2GB maximum per slot) and without a power supply transplant you are very limited in what video cards you can use.

This isn’t Overhauling, simply technology has bypassed you and you would be better off saving up $500-600 and then look at a basic modern system, which would likely blow away what you currently have while allowing an easier upgrade path for the next few years.

Sorry.

In short. You need a whole new rig. You can maybe re use your HDD’s if they are Sata, your optical drives, if u still use them..but that’s about it, everything else inside the case and likely including the case, will have to be replaced at the same time.

Up to $1000 / £1000 for a good rig for all games. ~800 if u just want it for GW2, as you don’t need a expensive GPU for Gw2. For a basic modern system ~600 but it wont have a top notch CPU so GW2 wont run as good as it would with say a i5 4670k CPU.

Honestly sometimes I wished I could lock myself out of posting just before crashing. I might have read the OP and understood he didn’t want an upgrade of his current system. Sorry.

http://techreport.com/review/26082/tr-february-2014-system-guide/9

This goes through various parts and the reason for their choices, I linked you directly to the sample configurations. They are without a copy of the OS, which costs about $100 on top of that.

The i5-4440 in dodgycookies parts list would be better than the i3-4130 of course, four cores Vs two cores plus two fake cores.

OP – pcpartpicker.com Build starting from an i5-4000 series that is clocked at 3.0Ghz or faster. K series is unlocked for Overclocking and requires a Z series MB to accommodate.

Then build down from there.

GPU; HD7790 is the best bang for the buck right now and can be got for 99 bucks still.
Buy your ram in Pairs, so if you want 8GB buy a 2×4GB Kit

But you ARE looking at a completely new build.

And put aside 650-950 for that build.
Buy your windows OEM from Newegg, you only need home premium (Win7) or Home (Win8.1) and both are about 99-119 bucks.

sirsquishy.8531:

GPU; HD7790 is the best bang for the buck right now and can be got for 99 bucks still.

I think the GTX 750 just took that spot. It’s extremely power efficient and does not require an external power connection. It can run on low power (300-350) systems.

Avelos.6798:

sirsquishy.8531:

GPU; HD7790 is the best bang for the buck right now and can be got for 99 bucks still.

I think the GTX 750 just took that spot. It’s extremely power efficient and does not require an external power connection. It can run on low power (300-350) systems.

And I have not seen a 750 for less then 149. 750Ti starts at 179 (Local retail, since im not buying a GPU have not looked online)

sirsquishy.8531:

Avelos.6798:

sirsquishy.8531:

GPU; HD7790 is the best bang for the buck right now and can be got for 99 bucks still.

I think the GTX 750 just took that spot. It’s extremely power efficient and does not require an external power connection. It can run on low power (300-350) systems.

And I have not seen a 750 for less then 149. 750Ti starts at 179 (Local retail, since im not buying a GPU have not looked online)

http://kotaku.com/battle-of-the-150-video-cards-geforce-gtx-750-ti-vs-1525383934

Also, the 750 and 750Ti are NOT that much faster then the 7790.

7790 still takes it at 99 bucks.

If the 750 and 750TI were priced that low then they would be the obvious contenders, but at 149+, forget it.

They are new too so I’d imagine with further driver maturing it will get faster.

Avelos.6798:

They are new too so I’d imagine with further driver maturing it will get faster.

I hope so, but for the price they have to compete with AMD’s 7850 and 7870’s (7850 at Frys is 159 on the shelve, the 7870 is 179 on the shelve).

sirsquishy.8531:

Avelos.6798:

They are new too so I’d imagine with further driver maturing it will get faster.

I hope so, but for the price they have to compete with AMD’s 7850 and 7870’s (7850 at Frys is 159 on the shelve, the 7870 is 179 on the shelve).

180 on shelf for 7870! Hot dog! I want two!

Avelos.6798:

If you’re talking about upgrading that Compaq, I don’t think it’d be worth it. The Athlon line presented in it seems familiar but I think finding a better CPU along the line would prove costly. As for GPU, to get a game capable one for GW2 and install it, let alone even use it would likely also prove costly because you’d likely have to upgrade the power supply in it, whiiiiich could further lead to having to replace the motherboard if for example it’s all using proprietary BS.

dodgycookies.4562:

you essentially need a brand new everything if you wish to upgrade to the recommended i5 cpu for wvw. The only thing salvageable from that old pc is the dvd drive, the case itself and possible the hard drive

There’s a few things to understand. Motherboards are not all the same, they are built with sockets to fit specific cpu families and only those families. Yours has a AM2 socket and no chip maker makes a cpu that uses that socket anymore. You cannot stick a modern cpu from either amd or intel into that motherboard (which might not even accept any upgrades due to proprietary bios and power circuitry).

You two both seem to know what you’re talking about, so I’ll take your word for it. I assumed it’d be a simple matter to just get new parts to upgrade the computer, but I suppose things are never that simple, especially when it comes to technology.

I don’t have a tight budget or anything but I’m not made of money either. I’ll take a look at all the info posted here and do some research regarding all the linked components to see what’s best for me. I don’t want “top of the line” stuff just yet; I’d like to get a system that at least allows me to play WvW with my friend, and upgrading further can happen over time.

Thank you, everyone, for your detailed and constructive responses. I really appreciate it and have some info to work with now.

For wvw I think the spec list I provided with the CPU and the GPU should let you do that. Keep in mind though that is far from the best, but is even further from being the worst.

dodgycookies.4562:

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($174.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-P33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 × 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series:DT01ACA 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB Video Card ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 ($98.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $560.22

After reading through all the info posted here and comparing prices for parts and whatnot, this one fits my budget best. I can certainly afford some of the more higher quality/higher price components listed here but yours sits most comfortably with me. I don’t need the best right now; that can come later. Will this build allow me to play WvW and GW2 on the whole with reasonable smoothness?

Avelos.6798:

For wvw I think the spec list I provided with the CPU and the GPU should let you do that. Keep in mind though that is far from the best, but is even further from being the worst.

Approximately how much would your build cost? Do you know?
I assume it’s reasonably close to dodgycookies’s list in terms of price and performance, since you’ve both kindly listed for me budget systems that still perform well enough to fit my needs.

Well, I didn’t list everything but there’s a lot of price variations on the numbers I listed without specifying a specific product so possibly anywhere from the same price to 900 I’d have to reckon.

the 7770 is sufficient for medium graphics settings@1080p (high if your monitor resolution is lower like a 900p or 720p etc), if you want to see more eye candy for1080p, use a card at the 130-180 range like r7 260x r7 265 or a gtx 750ti.

the i5 will give you decently smooth wvw experience if you use the right settings reflections: terrain+sky/none , shadows: low/none, character model limit: lowest/low with everything else on med or high depending on which graphics card you end up using and your monitor resolution.

You can turn these settings back up for solo/small group play.

lastly newegg has a pretty good 3 part guide on building a pc:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/partlist/ is also a very usefulsite when building a pc to comparison shop and check compatibilites

R7 260X is great for the price… but if you overclock go with R7 265 / 7850 – this is an overclocking beast!

7850 stock core clock is 860 while it goes to 1300+ core clock
THAT is 51% OC+
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18389760

if you play only GW2 get R7 260X or 7790 – cheaper one.

If you go for GTX 750 Ti or R7 265 and you like to use 4-8x msaa in games -check this out
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-ti-memory-bandwidth-anti-aliasing,3283-11.html