Guild Wars 2

I have recently purchased my first gaming computer but it does not seem to be doing so well. I wanted to ask if this was a good setup for this game.

GPU: GeForce GTX 770
CPU: AMD FX 4130 Quad-Core Processor
Memory: 8.00 GB RAM
OS: Windows 7

Sometimes it feels like my old laptop is running at the same speed as this computer.

I know it is not the best but am I expecting too much? I thought this game would run well on max settings with this computer.

It is a good setup. As it is mostly common, there are circumstances you will have issues at some points, especially with that AMD cpu but I don’t think that you will be bothered most of the time

Gizmo.9178:

I have recently purchased my first gaming computer but it does not seem to be doing so well. I wanted to ask if this was a good setup for this game.

GPU: GeForce GTX 770
CPU: AMD FX 4130 Quad-Core Processor
Memory: 8.00 GB RAM
OS: Windows 7

Sometimes it feels like my old laptop is running at the same speed as this computer.

I know it is not the best but am I expecting too much? I thought this game would run well on max settings with this computer.

Change out the CPU for an i5 on Haswell (Socket 1150) and youll be good to go.
Dont buy AMD CPU’s if you are building for GW2. You will not be happy with the performance.

The reason ur seeing performance issue’s is because of the CPU. AMD CPU’s don’t have the single thread power to handle GW2’s optimised mess of a game engine.
Technically nether does Intel’s CPU’s, but they do a better job than AMD at least.

To be clear, AMD CPU’s are NOT crap, they just are not great for programs that require fast single cores/threads, GW2 is one of those programs.

you have a very unbalanced system, too much money spent on gpu and not enough on cpu.

Funny thing was that I was told to get an amd instead when I was originally going to get an i5… omg i feel kind of cheated now.

Does this mean my computer is not very good? I can’t afford to change anything.

Well then you were kind of cheated to be honest. You don’t have a bad computer, it just doesn’t work well in GW2. If it is pretty new one you could ask the shop if you could replace the AMD parts for something Intel. If it’s not possible you will just have to live with low fps in GW2.

Gizmo.9178:

Funny thing was that I was told to get an amd instead when I was originally going to get an i5… omg i feel kind of cheated now.

Does this mean my computer is not very good? I can’t afford to change anything.

that doesnt mean your PC isnt good.

You will have to adjust CPU settings when Playing Single threaded games VS Multithreaded games for the best performance though.

I HIGHLY suggest disabling the 2nd core per module on your FX. When playing GW2. While you should not expect more then 65FPS, you should be able to get better lows while playing in Zergs if you OC your CPU and disable that 2nd core per module.

Make sure you have the FX Core Leveling Patch install in windows, and disable Core Parking. So that while you will want to enable the 2nd core per module for multithreaded tasks, you need your OS to handle it properly.

Even with those tricks, I could not get my system to work well with my FX8350 (that CPU/MB is now in my media center), so I ended up swapping that system to an i3 to be closer in performance to my i5 (Jealous wife wants to steal my PC, I say NO!).

I would suggest searching around on ebay/Craigslist for a 2nd Hand i3-2120+simple Motherboard (Dell). And ultimately swapping out the FX for that in the end. But thats me :-)

It’s not that it’s not good, there are factors at play here.

GuildWars 2 is a game specifically, that enjoys higher single core performance over all else, something of which NO AMD cpu can properly provide. Intel gets the closest in that respect.

Also, whoever helped you with that build, should have aimed you at least at an FX-6300 for a more modern gaming setup.

if gw2 is your primary game then you should have gotten an i5 but would have been more expensive

As for your system it will play most games decently, but not mmos as they are mainly cpu intensive and run on older software.

A FX 4000 series cpu is priced lower than and i3 not because AMD wishes to be kind to people with budgets. The performance of the chip in current software warrants its lower price.

This is why I said your system is imbalanced. You have a low end cpu that is being overworked and a top end gpu that is not being fully utilized.

Sounds like I screwed myself then…. ugh

All this darn research I did and I still managed to mess up

Gizmo.9178:

Sounds like I screwed myself then…. ugh

All this darn research I did and I still managed to mess up

Like I said, 2nd hand an i3/i5 from a 1150 socket on Craigslist/eBay and then swap and sell the FX system (or build another system?).

I found plenty of i3/i5-2000 series CPUs on Ebay between 50bucks and 190 bucks. So you have a wide range to work with.

As for the Motherboard, it doesn’t really matter. You can get a high quality Asus, MSI, or Biostar from 59.99 to 129.99 new. If you decide to go unlocked then you are looking 2x’s the base cost. But I dont take you for an overclocker.

As for switching from AMD over to Intel, its easy peasy. Just make sure your SATA controller is using the ‘standard AHCI Adapter 1.0’ in the device driver control applet. and you can easily migrate your windows install (and all apps) over to a new MB/CPU with much issue.

However, I Highly recommend against going back to whoever you bought that system from. You opted for an i5 and they talked you out of it. THERE is no good reason for someone to do that on any front. Esp an i5 down to a FX4300. Makes NO sense.

well OP has a few options. Im assuming you didnt build it yourself and bought your system (which means an oem copy of windows most likely)? Can you return it for a full refund?

Or there are other options:
You can replace your cpu with a FX 8350 and get decent performance for around $200
You can switch to a intel i3 or i5 cpu + basic mobo + a new copy of windows for around $275-350.

I had the store owner build it for me. He is also the one who suggested using amd instead of the i5. This was my first time and he said that the computer would run better with the amd.

I originally had a list of parts that I wanted(I had help from TomsHardware). The store owner who built it for me explained why I should make the changes that he suggested.

Now it seems like I made a huge mistake. I don’t really have the money for new parts which is why it took alot of explaining from the store guy to convince me to change what was on my list. Now I feel silly.

Gizmo.9178:

I had the store owner build it for me. He is also the one who suggested using amd instead of the i5. This was my first time and he said that the computer would run better with the amd.

I originally had a list of parts that I wanted(I had help from TomsHardware). The store owner who built it for me explained why I should make the changes that he suggested.

Now it seems like I made a huge mistake. I don’t really have the money for new parts which is why it took alot of explaining from the store guy to convince me to change what was on my list. Now I feel silly.

I would promptly return it saying the Business did not have the customer in mind during your time with their system builder. If they refuse, contact the BBB and maybe your local news station.

I would then get parts online and build it myself.

End point – the owner outright lied to you. He took your i5 chip and turned it into a low class AMD bargain bin chip. And he still probably charged you the same.

Gizmo.9178:

I had the store owner build it for me. He is also the one who suggested using amd instead of the i5. This was my first time and he said that the computer would run better with the amd.

I originally had a list of parts that I wanted(I had help from TomsHardware). The store owner who built it for me explained why I should make the changes that he suggested.

Now it seems like I made a huge mistake. I don’t really have the money for new parts which is why it took alot of explaining from the store guy to convince me to change what was on my list. Now I feel silly.

What suggestions did he give? I would really like to know if you can remember, as the AMD CPU he gave you is low end, even in other games the i5 would destroy it, even in multi threaded apps/games it would not even be close.

I would also take it back and tell them that the suggestions and changes they made to your build were wrong and that the system builder gave bad advice without any thought to its given use.

I disagree about disabling the 2nd core on each module sirsquishy. He only has 4 cores to start with and any positive impact of disabling the 2nd core in each module is seriously offset by the decrease in total number of cores. The game really likes more than two. I would agree with that tactic on an FX-6xxx or FX-8xxx for this game but not on an FX-4xxx quad.

And yes OP you did get taken sort of. The FX-4130 was 1st generation Bulldozer and if this is a new system someone was clearing out inventory because the FX-4300 is 5-10% faster at the same clock speed.

Also even against the relatively old i5-2300 the FX-4130 20% slower in games. But since the FX-4130 is much cheaper than any of the i5 line, if you were a stickler on cost then the trade off would likely have been a lower end video card by about $60 which would have hurt performance in other games.

Now in a lot of other games the performance wouldn’t be as much of an issue because most FPS shooters are GPU limited and not CPU but with this game it can be troublesome at time and seriously cut into frame rate.

Its a bit late now, but in the future OP… Never NEVER take advise from a sales person ..ever. Doesn’t matter the subject, be it computers, cars, houses, what ever, NEVER listen to advise from som1 in sales. Always go online, ask trusted friends and family members in the know.

Yes the internet can lie, but if u go to forums and ask the questions, u will likely get a bunch of responses and u can take the most common and/or best backed up and proven advice and have a much higher chance of it being correct.

In the case of the PC build, u had the list, u shouldn’t have budged from it. If u bought it recently, go get ur money back, I don’t know the law where ur from, but here in the UK if something like that happened, u would have a solid case to get ur money back or the system replaced for what u originally wanted.

SolarNova.1052:

Its a bit late now, but in the future OP… Never NEVER take advise from a sales person ..ever. Doesn’t matter the subject, be it computers, cars, houses, what ever, NEVER listen to advise from som1 in sales. Always go online, ask trusted friends and family members in the know.

Generally I agree with this, at least question what they say, but what I don’t quite understand is why the owner would suggest a CPU half the price of that i5. Maybe only if his Intels were selling so great they didn’t need marketing and he feared those FX-4130’s were gonna be left on the shelf. Who knows, but I would go back and ask what’s the deal here.

It all depends on the store. I went into Microcenter, and the salesman asked me what I was looking for, and helped me find it. He then asked me what I was trying to accomplish, and made suggestions. They get commission on anything they sell, so they don’t care if you buy AMD or Intel.

I was going to go with the I5-3570K, and he asked a few questions, and suggested the Haswell 4670K, which I ended up buying. Overall a good buying experience.

If you were to confront someone about this and wanting a return, you’d better offer factual statistics on documents to prove such. On top of that, the store owner may not accept the return of said goods, and would require a lawsuit to do such, which would require hard evidence, including your original list.

Not saying it’s not worth a try, but be prepared for that scenario.

In the US, you can usually file through the local small claims court. No lawyers allowed, minimal fee, quick resolution but only for claims up to 5k ish.

sobe.4157:

If you were to confront someone about this and wanting a return, you’d better offer factual statistics on documents to prove such. On top of that, the store owner may not accept the return of said goods, and would require a lawsuit to do such, which would require hard evidence, including your original list.

Not saying it’s not worth a try, but be prepared for that scenario.

Or he could just take it back to the store without having physically modified the machine.
Get a full refund like that.

I have a feeling it’s a smaller store, which is why I think it may be more difficult than that. Could be wrong of course, MicroCenter, TigerDirect, etc. may certainly go through without hassle, but I’m assuming it’s more of a mom and pop type of computer shop.

Thanks for all of the responses. I am just gonna let it go because I do not really understand most of this. I learned my lesson though and I will have to make better decisions in the future.

It wouldn’t hurt to go see the store owner, after all, it IS your hard earned money.