Guild Wars 2

This isn’t the devs’ fault—it’s mine; so I’m not here to complain about low FPS rates. I’m only asking this on this forum simply because it is the best place to ask.
Even on the lowest graphics setting and the lowest screen resolution, my FPS is only 10—15 if I’m lucky. I know what the problem is: my GPU. I was never a serious gamer until GW2 released, that’s why I don’t have a gaming desktop. I need suggestions on cheap GPUs (preferably single cards only) that can handle medium to high graphics setting.

Here are my hardware specs:
*OS: Windows 7, 32-bit
*Memory: 4gb RAM
*CPU: AMD Phenom 8450 Triple-Core
*GPU: ATI Radeon HD 3200
*300 Watt Power Supply

I’m not an expert on computer hardware nor with their associating terms and jargons. I can play WoW (sorry if some of you think it’s inappropriate to bring that up here) on low-medium settings just fine. I’m only looking for a GPU that costs around 50-80 dollars in retail. Any suggestions? And if you notice that any of my other hardware is inferior that may be causing low FPS, can you point that out too? Thank you for taking your time reading and replying.

Couple quick things.. you run on an AMD so you are a bit in trouble from the start. AMD just does not run near as well as Intel systems GW2. If you are looking for high settings, you really need something like a GTX560 which is going to set you back like $180, of course keep in mind when upgrading your card, your power supply. While you dont need 850W or anything, 300W is pretty low.

Resolution will also make some difference.

Great article on testing the game on different rigs and settings here

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/guild-wars-2-performance-benchmark,3268.html

If you want Medium/High settings unfortunately you’re going to need a new rig. The CPU, the 300w power supply, the GPU and the 32bit OS are all not capable. You need to upgrade all four of those to get there… most likely including your motherboard.

In theory, depending on your motherboard (PCI-Express x16 slot?) you could drop $60 on a new GPU such as the Radeon HD 6670 which only has a TDP of 66watts. This would be more consistently playable with Low settings but not consistently playable with Medium/High settings – certainly not in very busy situations.

I’d second the Radeon HD 6670 recommendation. My friend has that in his computer and it performs extremely well for a budget card.

Tan.4508:

This isn’t the devs’ fault—it’s mine; so I’m not here to complain about low FPS rates. I’m only asking this on this forum simply because it is the best place to ask.
Even on the lowest graphics setting and the lowest screen resolution, my FPS is only 10—15 if I’m lucky. I know what the problem is: my GPU. I was never a serious gamer until GW2 released, that’s why I don’t have a gaming desktop. I need suggestions on cheap GPUs (preferably single cards only) that can handle medium to high graphics setting.

Here are my hardware specs:
*OS: Windows 7, 32-bit
*Memory: 4gb RAM
*CPU: AMD Phenom 8450 Triple-Core
*GPU: ATI Radeon HD 3200
*300 Watt Power Supply

I’m not an expert on computer hardware nor with their associating terms and jargons. I can play WoW (sorry if some of you think it’s inappropriate to bring that up here) on low-medium settings just fine. I’m only looking for a GPU that costs around 50-80 dollars in retail. Any suggestions? And if you notice that any of my other hardware is inferior that may be causing low FPS, can you point that out too? Thank you for taking your time reading and replying.

Adding a new GPU won’t make a different on your current system. I’m sorry, pretty much you need to toss that PC elsewhere. Maybe leave it for media home server.

Your whole system will bottleneck your GPU if you upgraded, other hardwares are unable to keep up the performances.

Secondly you’re on 32bit, if you get 64bit OS which is recommended today (2012). You need a min of 4GB RAM+

To run the game at Med to High, good luck finding $50-80 GPU. To run those settings you need to invest $150+ min on GPU alone. Or second hand GPU.

I’ve recently built a friend a PC Intel Core i5 3570k with 16GB DDR3, $1000 includes a second hand HD6970 from me $200 sold it to him. His PC is able to run the game between Med and High only. ~45-70 FPS on average.

Do you see the costs? Yup. btw mine costed $6000.

Best place to build a custom PC around $800, look up Overclock.net and ask. Many people will help you find the cheapest budget build to handle GW2.

I would suggest you look at Tom’s Hardware System Builder Marathon articles for very good systems with different budget limits:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/How-To,4/Tweaking-Tuning,17/

Yeah, I was afraid this was the case. I’ll be getting a new pc in nov. so I’ll have to wait some time. Borderlands 2 in the meantime
anyways, $6000?? I didn’t know any gaming pc build can go up that high? I assume it can run on ultra then?
Another question: I have no idea how to build my pc—installing all the hardware into the chassis’ motherboard; so does anyone know a reputable site that sells you custom hardware parts but also build it for you before they ship it? Thanks a lot again guys.

We’ve had good luck with cost effective builds from ibuypower.com and newegg.com.

http://www.guildwars2forum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1699&d=1348081745

You’ll need to buy an OS ontop of that configuration… such as Windows 7 64bit for roughly $90.

My main concern is actually building the pc. I have 0 knowledge in that area. Will either of these two sites build it for me…? pretty please?

Tan.4508:

Yeah, I was afraid this was the case. I’ll be getting a new pc in nov. so I’ll have to wait some time. Borderlands 2 in the meantime
anyways, $6000?? I didn’t know any gaming pc build can go up that high? I assume it can run on ultra then?
Another question: I have no idea how to build my pc—installing all the hardware into the chassis’ motherboard; so does anyone know a reputable site that sells you custom hardware parts but also build it for you before they ship it? Thanks a lot again guys.

Including monitors, keyboard and mouse. Yes. CPU, Monitors and GPUs are the most expensive alone. If you want to know the system tower cost. Not to be frank. $3000. I didn’t invest $6k one shot lol. It’s over a 2 years period of getting parts to finalize my PC. $6k is just a SUM of everything I have on my desk.

To be honest, decent FPS for GW2 is $800 min without tax and ship. You can get some Core i5-3570K + 660Ti builds and I assume you have monitors and keyboard already.

oh i see. didnt mean to be presumptuous. do monitors affect framerate substantially? i have a 1680 × 1050 widescreen on with VGA input/output. when you say decent, how decent is it? like for gaming, what FPS is considered decent? 30?

The monitor will not hamper the FPS but it may enhance the experience of course. Not critical imo but it depends on the person.

Tan.4508:

My main concern is actually building the pc. I have 0 knowledge in that area. Will either of these two sites build it for me…? pretty please?

Yes, they build it for you. Or you could ask a friend or a friend of a friend to build it and get a considerably better machine for the same cost. Offer them dinner or something… :b

The thing I’d be afraid of for you is getting a build set up, and then have crashes issues like 1/8th of the GW2 population. Although as someone else said, building a computer is cheaper than buying a pre-assembled one, and can be funner as well.

Just a note, you don’t need a separate key for 64-bit windows – just use your existing key and download the iso.

Be careful with ibuypower and their sister company “cyberpower”. They’re perfectly okay with throwing a crappy power supply in your machine – one that can’t handle the components and that will fail and fry your computer – leaving you with no computer and out that money you spent. They have the dubious “award” of “least reliable” desktop manufacturers.

I’d recommend asking a friend to help, or learning how to on your own. It’s not very hard – it’s LEGOs for grown-ups.

I just built my first computer – it was $550 (including monitor, but excluding Win7 as I was able to re-use), i5-3450, ASRock B75 motherboard, HD 6870, 8Gb DDR3 1600 RAM, 1Tb HDD, 520W Antec PSU, HAF 912 case.

Budget build, yep. But I happily get a steady 55-65fps on highest settings (except reflections) in GW2.

I’d looked up everything beforehand, but the booklet that came with the motherboard even included photographs of how to set it up! It will walk you right through it.

It’s intimidating, sure, but less complicated and less expensive than some of the luxury LEGO sets, even.