Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone!

I’m thinking of upgrading from this Macbook Pro (2013) to an actual desktop PC. In order to do so, I raised $1,000 (note I’m in college and that was not an easy task) to use to build this new pc. I want to be able to run GW2 at high settings and be able to start streaming if I wanted to as well. Does anyone have any suggestions for parts (importantly, the video card, CPU/GPU, etc) that I should buy?

I’ve been looking at the GTX 760 for a Video card, but I have no idea for CPU. Also, I would prefer to be SSD because I’ve heard its basically night and day between SSD and the old system.

Any suggestions would be awesome, and if I need to spend more more, just let me know so I can start saving more!

Thanks everyone!

Did this setup for someone else,
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2IWVf

That build being shown, it does not have an SSD and I do not know your space requirements in regards to how much you need. The 1TB hard drive I included should provide a baseline, then you can scrape together about $100 and purchase a Samsung 840 Evo 128GB,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247

That will give you an SSD for operating system and core programs with a 1TB hard drive for everything else.

If you happen to live near a MicroCenter, they have great in-store only deals on processors.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/413251/Core_i5_4670K_34GHz_Socket_LGA_1150_Boxed_Processor

Would HIGHLY recommend getting the cpu from MC if you have one near.

Assuming that you don’t have a monitor:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Kgxr

I went with a 7850 2 GB because it runs the game fine and I couldn’t quite get a 760 in. You could definitely get a cheaper monitor, but that one’s a pretty nice 1080P IPS panel. It’s too bad, that mobo was $50 yesterday when I had first put the build together…

Assuming you do have a monitor:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KguM

Alternates if you have a monitor:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KgCk i7+660
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KfSX – i7+760

I’m not sure if the i7 will really help with streaming; it’s a matter of having the additional CPU power required beyond what the game takes. Someone who has tried streaming on an i5 would be able to help you out more here. Any of these could be switched over to the CX500 for a PSU if you felt the need, but the CX430 will be fine if you’re planning on sticking to a single card.

Edit:

Did this setup for someone else,
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2IWVf

You can save enough with a cheaper mobo to get an SSD or Windows. Also, that PSU is a bit on the excessive side.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Kg5l

LOL, I forgot about the OS. :/

If you grab the NV card, you don’t have to use your CPU to stream, so…. I stream via Twitch and record my gameplay via my GPU for example using NVIDIA ShadowPlay. No performance hit ;D

Sample recording via GPU:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/p6NwJOiKYRU?vq=hd1080

All of the above builds are rock solid. But, No matter the choice, Stick to a Z87 Motherboard and the i5-4670K.

sirsquishy.8531:

All of the above builds are rock solid. But, No matter the choice, Stick to a Z87 Motherboard and the i5-4670K.

Depends on the price. There’s not enough of a gap atm, but if you can get a Z77 mobo for like $40-50 less then a Z87 one (you’re looking at ~$20 gap right now), getting a 3570k might be a good idea.

Looks like things are pretty well covered here. All of those builds are more or less the same as what I got a few days ago, except I have GTX 660, sits there in between of the suggested ones. Just tried it out in WvW and I got pretty solid 30 fps or even more in quite large zerg fights (maybe around 80 ppl total, hard to guess). At lowest it dipped to 24. Out in the open world it rises to 80-100 fps and above. That 760 (and even my 660 for that matter) is a bit more than required for GW2 at 1080p, but I don’t know how much streaming draws performance so I’ll leave that to the other guys.

All the above builds seem solid.
For a GW2 gaming rig u definably want a 4670k or 3570k with appropriate Z series motherboard. You will also want a aftermarket cooler so u can get some kind of Overclock going as GW2 benefits from that.

GPU wise, for GW2, any low-mid level ‘gaming’ GPU will suffice. So a 7870/260x/660ti/760 something along those lines.

If u need parts outside those that are inside the case, like a monitor, keyboard mouse speakers etc ..then $1000 is a tight budget.

Its easy to build a good gaming rig for $1000 that is capable of running GW2 to pretty much the best that can be done atm, but I for one always leave out the cost of the OS, its software so check the internet.

While an SSD is something no1 ever goes back on once they have experienced using one, its not something that actually increases in-game performance, so if ur budget is tight, don’t get one right away… just deal with longer loading times and spend your money more wisely on the core components.

finally the PSU, hardware is getting more power efficient, so if ur going to stick with a single card rig for the life of the core (socket type), then a 500w will do and allow room for overclocks and if u ever want to replace the GPU u get now for a higher end one in the future.

EDIT: oh do think if ur ever going to want to take ur PC with u if u ever need to move out (like to University), if so u will want to build a Lan gaming rig based on a M-ITX or M-ATX motherboard and case so its size is portable enough for the move and uses up less space.

Thanks for responding so fast!

I’ll definitely look into this, and bring up all of these builds with my suite-mate, who’s actually going to put the computer together with me. Regarding the monitor, I don’t have one, but I do have a keyboard and mouse so that should be around another 100 bucks total I think. However, I’m sure I could scrap up that money to do so.

As for space, I prefer to have a smaller case, as I do live in an university so I’ll take that into thought with these builds as well.

And for the Operating system, I think my School’s engineering department gives me a free copy of Windows 8 for all of the engineerings (Chemical Engineerings FTW) but I’m not totally sure for that. However, if the entire computer (just the internal parts) costs less than 1000 dollars, I’ll definitely be fine.

I also realize that 1000 dollars is not that high of a budget, but at least the computer I build will be better than getting my new Macbook Pro (2000 dollars) up to 80 degrees Celsius every time I start GW2 ahah. I’d rather spend 1000 than break a 2000 dollar computer you know?

Anyway, thanks for the answers! If anyone comes up with more solutions possibilities or new builds, please send me PM’s or post on this tread and again, thank you so much for being so quick and helpful!

Aznspeed.6730:

Thanks for responding so fast!

I’ll definitely look into this, and bring up all of these builds with my suite-mate, who’s actually going to put the computer together with me. Regarding the monitor, I don’t have one, but I do have a keyboard and mouse so that should be around another 100 bucks total I think. However, I’m sure I could scrap up that money to do so.

As for space, I prefer to have a smaller case, as I do live in an university so I’ll take that into thought with these builds as well.

And for the Operating system, I think my School’s engineering department gives me a free copy of Windows 8 for all of the engineerings (Chemical Engineerings FTW) but I’m not totally sure for that. However, if the entire computer (just the internal parts) costs less than 1000 dollars, I’ll definitely be fine.

I also realize that 1000 dollars is not that high of a budget, but at least the computer I build will be better than getting my new Macbook Pro (2000 dollars) up to 80 degrees Celsius every time I start GW2 ahah. I’d rather spend 1000 than break a 2000 dollar computer you know?

Anyway, thanks for the answers! If anyone comes up with more solutions possibilities or new builds, please send me PM’s or post on this tread and again, thank you so much for being so quick and helpful!

Being a student, you can buy the Educational software from your Local campus Book store. You can get Win7 pro for 79.99~, Office 2010 Pro for 119~…ect. Thats what it costs here anyway.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KlGY

This is roughly $950.
It does NOT include a monitor, I find VDU’s to be a personal choice, look at them in store, test them see which one looks ok to you. I for one could buy a monitor based on stats and reviews and find I cant stand the ghosting effect u can get on slower screens, or those that have bad viewing angles like a lot of TN panel based screens have. So I never tend to suggest a specific monitor.

It also does not include the OS, or kitten.

The CPU cooler is a AIO water cooler due to the rig being designed for portability. You don’t want a big tower heat sink bouncing around during transport possibly busting your motherboard. You other choice is to buy a mid range air cooler like the ‘Cm 212 Evo’ which wont be as good with cooling but plenty for a moderate overclock, ull just have to make sure to remove it before you think about transporting the rig.

A final note on the case. Bitfenix do 3 ITX cases all relatively the same size, so any are fine, though I do recommend the black ones as the front has better airflow as its perforated, the white models have a solid front for better ‘looks’ and thus more restricted airflow.
The 3 cases are:
Prodigy M / Phenom M / Colossus Micro

SolarNova.1052:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KlGY

This is roughly $950.
It does NOT include a monitor, I find VDU’s to be a personal choice, look at them in store, test them see which one looks ok to you. I for one could buy a monitor based on stats and reviews and find I cant stand the ghosting effect u can get on slower screens, or those that have bad viewing angles like a lot of TN panel based screens have. So I never tend to suggest a specific monitor.

It also does not include the OS, or kitten.

The CPU cooler is a AIO water cooler due to the rig being designed for portability. You don’t want a big tower heat sink bouncing around during transport possibly busting your motherboard. You other choice is to buy a mid range air cooler like the ‘Cm 212 Evo’ which wont be as good with cooling but plenty for a moderate overclock, ull just have to make sure to remove it before you think about transporting the rig.

A final note on the case. Bitfenix do 3 ITX cases all relatively the same size, so any are fine, though I do recommend the black ones as the front has better airflow as its perforated, the white models have a solid front for better ‘looks’ and thus more restricted airflow.
The 3 cases are:
Prodigy M / Phenom M / Colossus Micro

Given the cost and that he needs a monitor, I would suggest this

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Kmgw

Drop the GPU down to a HD7790 (PLENTY of power for GW2) and go with stock Cooling (I dont see him OC’ing to be honest, and if he wants to he can get that after market cooler later on).

I suggest a standard LED 1080P monitor. You can get them for about 119~ if you look around. If you have a frys electronics near by, watch the Friday ads for monitor deals (They had a 23" 1080P Samsung on sale for 129.99 last week).

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KmH6

I’d suggest something along the lines of this. It’s a little bigger, but I’ve honestly found that to not be an issue at all, even considering that I pack my PC back into the case box for transport. Even in my dorm the 912 is small enough- the only advantage of it being smaller would be it fitting on my desk, where I’d honestly rather cram another monitor.

If you want to go a little smaller:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KmAt

Or you could spend a little more for a Bitfenix or other nicer mATX case from the first build in this post.

sirsquishy.8531:

Drop the GPU down to a HD7790 (PLENTY of power for GW2) and go with stock Cooling (I dont see him OC’ing to be honest, and if he wants to he can get that after market cooler later on).

You’re losing out on power unnecessarily both ways. Anyways, a better GPU will come in handy if he ever decides to play anything besides GW2, and a 7790 will really hurt from that, especially since it’d only be a 1 GB card. I honestly wouldn’t go below a 2 GB 7850 at this point in time.

Fermi.2409:

You’re losing out on power unnecessarily both ways. Anyways, a better GPU will come in handy if he ever decides to play anything besides GW2, and a 7790 will really hurt from that, especially since it’d only be a 1 GB card. I honestly wouldn’t go much below a 2 GB 7850 at this point in time.

And yet, I have not had any issues with ANYTHING I have thrown at my HD7790. You guys walk all over that card, and you really shouldn’t.

It’s still a lower-end card from the last generation. It’ll do well, sure, but it’s far from the best option, especially when you have the budget for more. Also, games are already chewing over 1 GB of vram, so it’s hardly a great choice.

Fermi.2409:

It’s still a lower-end card from the last generation. It’ll do well, sure, but it’s far from the best option, especially when you have the budget for more.

^ This, the 7790 is NOT a bad card by any means, but if he plans to play any other games the 7790 is pointless as GW2 @ 1920×1080 uses over 1GB for VRAM, unless you have the game settings turned down :/
Example: http://www.youtube.com/embed/JF2ICUz-IK4?vq=hd1080

Considering his thoughts were turned on to a GTX 760, I would say he wants more performance since a 760 has about double that of the 7790.

sobe.4157:

Fermi.2409:

It’s still a lower-end card from the last generation. It’ll do well, sure, but it’s far from the best option, especially when you have the budget for more.

^ This, the 7790 is NOT a bad card by any means, but if he plans to play any other games the 7790 is pointless as GW2 @ 1920×1080 uses over 1GB for VRAM, unless you have the game settings turned down :/
Example: http://www.youtube.com/embed/JF2ICUz-IK4?vq=hd1080

Considering his thoughts were turned on to a GTX 760, I would say he wants more performance since a 760 has about double that of the 7790.

Then to include a monitor he will need to budget 1100-1200 to complete the build.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KmH6

$1030 with a nice 23" IPS panel. Was $1015 until I decided to swap the PSU for a semimodular one. It’s really not that hard. It could be brought right on-budget with a TN panel, but eh. IPS is worth it imo, so that’s what I’m recommending.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2KnNL

If it really must be $1k, but getting the slightly bigger monitor is good@1080P, and getting an IPS panel is nice as well.