Guild Wars 2

As stated above, about to finish off my new build before I buy in All the parts! comes in at less than £500 without peripherals; if anyone else can think of a better build for Guild Wars 2 on a similar budget, please let me know!

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: Tonight

Budget Range: (e.g.: 300-400) Before / After Rebates; Before / After Shipping: £500 all inclusive, unless you can give me a big boost for less than £100 more

System Usage from Most to Least Important: MMO Gaming, Strategy Games, FPS, Watching Netflix, General browsing

Are you buying a monitor: No

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: (e.g.: PC Part Picker UK (Amazon, ebuyer, etc.)

Location: Leeds UK

Parts Preferences: No preference, although seem to get more for AMD for the price

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 1280 × 1024

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Max out guild wars 2

PCPartPicker part list: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/MDi1
Price breakdown by merchant: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/MDi1/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/MDi1/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor (£99.98 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard (£50.39 @ Aria PC)
Memory: G.Skill Value Series 8GB (1 × 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£26.60 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Toshiba 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£48.48 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: Club 3D Radeon HD 7870 XT 2GB Video Card (£171.62 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Xigmatek Asgard II Black ATX Mid Tower Case (£28.58 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£34.15 @ Aria PC)
Total: £459.80
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-27 21:59 GMT+0000)34.15

It is a pretty solid setup for the money, u will be able to OC that CPU right out the box to 4ghz without tweaking any voltage settings, due the unlocked multiplier, it will make a huge difference in MMO games.
That CPU offers best bang for the buck u will get right now, the GPU is also very very solid for single monitor configurations up to 1080p, u will be a happy gamer, games like crysis 3 would run amazing on that thing for less than £500 it is about the best u can get, u could consider a 600W power supply tho, it should be arround £20 extra, and a good coolermaster 212EVO CPU cooler for £30 it will make the CPU run very cool and quiet i highlly recomend those 2, they will give u great benefit at low cost.

Looks like a reasonable build for your budget. I have a few thoughts, here’s the build with my small adjustments: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/MK2G

First, I changed the graphics card from the Club 3D 7870XT to the Sapphire one. The 7870XT is without a doubt the best option in that price range, but I think the sapphire version is worth the extra money. It has a much better cooler, and should run significantly quieter.

The other change I made was bumping up the PSU to 500W. 430W is cutting it fairly close for my taste, I’d recommend getting at least 500W.

I didn’t change it, but I’m not a huge fan of the Xigmatek case. A lot of it is personal preference though, and it certainly isn’t a terrible case like some that are out there. My suggestion would be the Corsair 200R, but it would add even a bit more to your budget (~£20).

My only other suggestion is to be certain you will not want to go for a full overclock on this build in the future (i.e. anything that requires a voltage increase). If you think you may at some point, I’d suggest upgrading the motherboard to the GA-970A-UD3, since it will handle voltage increases much better than the DS3.

It’s still overkill to buy that graphic card to play on a resolution of 1280 × 1024.
It’s not even HD…
Maybe you can even save some money by not taking a computer case. If you really want a cheap pc, use your old case (or one who a friend trow away :p)
I would pick a better PSU. That GPU requires minimum 550W …. I have some questions on how well the pc will run when the card is running at full speed. (Or maybe i’m looking at the wrong version of the one you suggest)

Computer cases are important – if you don’t have enough room for cable management it can lead to overheating. Not to mention the air flow and cooling in the case in general. Unless you already have a high-quality case for a custom build I wouldn’t skimp on that. And once you have one it will serve you well into the future.

hoegarden.4287:

It’s still overkill to buy that graphic card to play on a resolution of 1280 × 1024.
It’s not even HD…
Maybe you can even save some money by not taking a computer case. If you really want a cheap pc, use your old case (or one who a friend trow away :p)
I would pick a better PSU. That GPU requires minimum 550W …. I have some questions on how well the pc will run when the card is running at full speed. (Or maybe i’m looking at the wrong version of the one you suggest)

Just because he’s currently using a lower resolution monitor is no reason to take a crap GPU. Then he’ll be stuck with the exact opposite problem if he decides to get a new monitor in a year or two (well, might as well stick with a low res monitor, my crap GPU won’t handle it). Better to get a quality card while you’re at it, considering it’s primarily a gaming computer and all that. He could save a bit on the GPU and get a better CPU to improve performance in crowded GW2 events, but to get good performance even with a $200+ CPU requires overclocking.

Minimum power supply for the 7870XT is 500W. If it were me I’d get a higher wattage than 500, but 500 will do it for this system. When it comes down to it, the “required” power supply numbers given by GPU manufacturers are just estimates, it’s much more meaningful to add up your power consumption and see what you’ll be using (as pcpartpicker does for you).

basketcase.3894:

He could save a bit on the GPU and get a better CPU to improve performance in crowded GW2 events, but to get good performance even with a $200+ CPU requires overclocking.

Would do this, personally. Especially since it would be easier to upgrade in the future instead of the likelihood of having to get a new motherboard, too.

IMO OP.
Since ur running at old school resolutions i would drop the 7870XT (as good a GPU as it is, specialy for the money).
U can easily save between £40and £80 if u went down to a 650ti boost or 650ti respectivly and ether will run GW2 perfectly fine at ur resolution. Infact u could likely go down even further to a AMD 7770 saving an additional ~£15.

That saving could then go into changing from an AMD FX6 series to a Intel build with a 3570k.

Ontop of that some other thigns u might want to change.

PSU get at the very least 500W.
RAM, get the correct number of sticks for the CPU u get, in most casses they r Dual Channel so u want 2×4 or 2×8gb.
Finaly , what CPU cooler u gunna get ? Stock r realyl crap so u want to spend some money on atleast a mid range aftermarket cooler. Like the CoolerMaster Evo 212 which is usualy around ~£30.

Anyway Somthing along the lines of this.
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/N6jN