Guild Wars 2

I’ll try and keep this brief!

So I finally have enough leeway and spare cash to build a decent gaming computer. Before I begin, let me list off some examples of games I’d love to play on higher settings, if not Max.

- World of Warcraft (I know it doesn’t take a super computer, but believe you me I need a new processor to do any kind of high player count content nowadays)

- Guild Wars 2 (More or less meaning WvWvW in the “What upgrade would let me play this” department)

- Planet Side 2

-Final Fantasy XIV

- Other future MMO’s, I’m just looking to be safe for a good few years so I don’t have to upgrade any time soon

- Single player games, just for comparison considering I rarely play any outside of rpgs, modded skyrim, bioshock infinite, crysis 2, etc

Now, as for parts, I recently got a Seasonic 520w PSU and a GTX 650 ti (non boost) GPU for free and I would prefer to not upgrade those just yet if possible, though you can bet I’ll be getting a new video card at some point in the next couple months!

And, my budget is about $600-700 but would prefer to spend as less as possible. Buuuut as for stuff I need…

A new case, Mobo, CPU with a non-stock heatsink (though I have a good heatsink in mind so no worries about that) , Ram and a 1TB harddrive.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1FmcM

Here’s what I had in mind minus the Harddrive/heatsink and the other parts I currently own listed above.

Would I be okay for the games I’d like to play for the most part? I know my GPU is kind of budgety but as stated I’ll be upgrading in the future to something a bit more up there in quality. Thanks for any and all help and suggestions!

or.. I could go with this.. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1FmbY

that includes the same cpu I think but it can be overclocked as well as the heatsink, but to be honest, yes, I’d rather save money but being able to play WvW and 25man raids on WoW would be lovely.

edit: I am still slightly iffy about that case due to the price on newegg so I’m taking advice on what to get there especially, too, thanks again for any help!

You can go with a pretty cheap tower, but bear in mind – higher end ones can be designed for a more fluid airflow, preventing malfunctions and/or damage to hardware. Your GTX 650 Ti will do great. I run GW2 on Best Appearance with no problems with kitten Ti. The 520W might be a little low. A higher end one, 750W, power supply is better, as having a defective power supply can physically damage your hardware.

So we’re gonna say our tower is $40. You can find a decent processor for about $100, throw in a $75 mobo (ask the sales associate which combos would go together). They should come with pretty nifty heat sinks. Next up is memory, 8GB at the very least for future games. I found 4 GB DDR3 chips for $30 each at Microcenter (www.microcenter.com – they should ship). Throw in a $20 DVD-ROM drive to install Windows (which would be another $100). A 1TB HDD would run about $50.

Tower: $40
Mobo: $75
CPU: $100
RAM: $60
HDD: $50
DVD: $20
Win: $100

Total: $445

Make sure you have a salesperson with you making sure everything will be compatible.

Thank you for the post but I’d feel much safer purchasing online than in a store like best buy and what not.. bad experiences there and the prices are insane. I’ve asked elsewhere and had people give me reassuring answers on power supply with what other parts I linked but.. now you have me worried.

giving this a bump!

My only advice, as someone who built a new gaming rig over the last 9 months, is this…

No matter how attractive the price is, do NOT NOT NOT get a motherboard/CPU for an AMD processor.

In regards to GW2, Intel processors will smoke the hell out of any comparable AMD processor. GW2 is just not optimized for AMD processors.

I built mine with an AMD processor and I am kicking myself in the tale everyday since I learned how bad GW2 is when it comes with performance and AMD processors.

Sudden.8729:

My only advice, as someone who built a new gaming rig over the last 9 months, is this…

No matter how attractive the price is, do NOT NOT NOT get a motherboard/CPU for an AMD processor.

In regards to GW2, Intel processors will smoke the hell out of any comparable AMD processor. GW2 is just not optimized for AMD processors.

I built mine with an AMD processor and I am kicking myself in the tale everyday since I learned how bad GW2 is when it comes with performance and AMD processors.

Understood, I know that CPU is intel (obviously, ahah)

But.. that Mobo..?

Also asking around I don’t think I need a new PSU after all, 520w seems okay if I go for the CPU that can’t overclock. But I’ll be getting a new one in the future when I upgrade further!

Heroshi.8754:

Thank you for the post but I’d feel much safer purchasing online than in a store like best buy and what not.. bad experiences there and the prices are insane. I’ve asked elsewhere and had people give me reassuring answers on power supply with what other parts I linked but.. now you have me worried.

I wasn’t referring to Best Buy, but there are many stores that specialize in computers (like Microcenter that I described above. That specific store is in only a handful of states though), rather than specializing in general electronics. 50% of their store is build-your-own-PC stuff, 30% PC accessories (cabling, etc), 10% software, 10% TVs/monitors. The people at these types of stores are generally much more knowledgeable than Best Buy. I would never suggest going to Best Buy or its ilk for building your own PC. Geek Squad may sometimes know their stuff, but it’s too easy for just anyone to get a job there as long as they can identify the USB symbol.

I didn’t mean to worry you, and I wasn’t saying using the power supply you have now would damage your computer. What I meant was if you try to draw more power than it can provide, usually by throwing in lots of other add-ons (wireless adapter, extra sound card, SLI video cards, etc), the power supply unit can eventually malfunction. If this happens, THEN it can damage your components, and you’re out even more money than just a new PSU. I suggested the 750W only so you would have plenty of room for these other types of hardware in the future.

EDIT: I stressed the power supply situation only because it’s happened to me before, and was quite costly.

His Seasonic can put out 480 of it’s 520 rated watts at 12 volts. That is way more than is needed for his parts selection. If he choices to add in all the things you suggest then he can worry about upgrading it but right now the money is better spent and getting a strong set of core components.