Guild Wars 2

Hi,
So I am doing my first major overhaul in…5-8 years. I wanted to get some feedback.
Currently I have:

Motherboard: MSI (I think…I’ve switched it so many times I cannot remember, it is around 4 or 5 years old)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4ghz q6600 (overclocked to 3.0ghz)
GFX card: Nvidia GTX 460
Memory: 8 gigs DDR2
HDD: Western digital black 7200 rpm 600gb
OS: Windows 7 x64

I have ordered:
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000
GFX Card: Keeping the Nvidia GTX 460
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 × 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200)
HDD: Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
OS: Window 7 x64

I think I should be good for any event in GW2, regardless of the amount of ppl and spell effects(im talking about the meta events, the southsun instigator champions, WvW)…as well as other resource hogs like Rift(should I ever return to rift). However, I wanted to get some thoughts. Currently during meta events with a lot of people, my fps drops to 7 or 9 fps. The rest of the game is normally fine, nearly on Max settings.

What do you think my performance gain might be?

Bumpity bump
Need some input before the orders are processed!

The GTX 460 will probably keep you going for a little longer so you’ll get away with keeping that. However I would be trying to get 2 8GB memory sticks incase you decide at a later date goto 32gigs since ram these days is dirt cheap. Finally I would be more inclined to go 2TB min since games and programes in todays day and age can quickly fill 1TB.

Apart from that the rest of it seems good. After saying all that tho, if you are willing to wait abit longer I’m pretty sure the next gen intel processors are due to come out which will be a different socket again.

I have the same processor and motherboard. the motherboard while playing gw2 runs around 40C at hot day. i73770 runs around 50-60C on hot day. which are fine temp for this cpu since tcase of i7 is 66C. i have 16GB patriot ram, forgot the name. I have nzxt phantom case(the full tower) which is really roomy for everything.

overall processor is nice choice over K model since i never overclock b/c 3.4 speed is enough…and heat kill the cpu no matter what other say.

i will say spend extra to get ssd which i have os and gw2 on.

edit-
@saravok- yah, i would also go for 8GB but it depends on usage. I think i ran games fine with 8GB. Also, i7 will come with new model but i dont think it worth the wait because currently i7 is serving me the best and the new one will be expensive when it comes out.

EDIT: DONT BUY THE VERSION WITHOUT K AT THE END. IT’S TERRIBLE TO OC AS IT HAS LOCKED MULTIPLIER.
go for 3770K if you’re sticking to Ivy Bridge

Wait until June and get 4670K ? or 4770K if you need HT.
SSD just go put games on it ? 256GB one should do.
Thats what I’m gonna do. I don’t want to buy stuff thats gonna be old in a month.

Wait, Haswell is right around the corner, no reason to buy a CPU at EOL when you can get a new gen from the next Tock refresh. Also, as others said, the K CPU is best, as you can OC with it, and they are often only $5-10 bucks more than the non-k. The RAM is over kill, unless you are getting a good deal on it or you run programs that make use of lots of bandwidth, stick with some cheaper 1600 speed RAM, 8GB is more than enough for a gaming rig, though 16GB is often times not much more and wont hurt.

The WD black drive you have is more than fast enough and you wont see any gain from the new 1TB drive unless you need the extra space, so what you save from getting cheaper RAM and not getting a new HDD, I would put into a K line CPU from Haswell and a better mobo like the V PRO line, as GW2 loves OC’s. If you don’t want to OC then I would still save the money on those parts and put it to a new GPU or just pocket it. You also said nothing about PSU you have or what new one you will be getting, don’t over look the PSU, it is one of the most important parts in a build.

cesmode.4257:

Bumpity bump
Need some input before the orders are processed!

Shoot first, ask later?

1) make sure it’s a i7-3770K if you intend on serious overclocking (as oppose to fixing it just at 3.9GHz).

2) I would suggest a 3rd party CPU cooler, a CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO is nice and inexpensive. As long as you aren’t planing to push the clock speed beyond 4.4-4.5 GHz.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5763/undervolting-and-overclocking-on-ivy-bridge

3) Memory is overkill in regards to speed. I refer you to this article, bottom of page.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/memory/display/ivy-bridge-ddr3_4.html#sect0

The two games tested, with a non-overclocked CPU (blue bar chart) shows only a 2-7% improvement between -1866 and -2400 memory. Plus you don’t have to push the memory voltage to 1.65V to achieve 2400MHz stability.

I would go with these, -1866 Cas 8 memory.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231539

Edit: spelling and anti-kitten measures.

Dont upgrade now. Wait till June 2nd when Intel releases haswell. Then get a 4670k (4core 4 thread) or a 4770k (4 core 8 thread) along wiht the appropriate motherboard. I sugest a Gigabyte board as the new Asus ones ‘look’ horrible from a visual standpoint.

Also as has been mentioned, get a K verison for overclockability and make sure ot get a aftermarket cooler that fits Haswell (LGA 1150).

SolarNova.1052:

Dont upgrade now. Wait till June 2nd when Intel releases haswell. Then get a 4670k (4core 4 thread) or a 4770k (4 core 8 thread) along wiht the appropriate motherboard. I sugest a Gigabyte board as the new Asus ones ‘look’ horrible from a visual standpoint.

Also as has been mentioned, get a K verison for overclockability and make sure ot get a aftermarket cooler that fits Haswell (LGA 1150).

From a visual stand point for some maybe, but performance wise ASUS has been kicking kitten . Though both are very good brands.

I’ve been bitten to often jumping onto the bleeding edge of components. I would wait at least 30 days after Haswell CPUs and motherboards are commonly available to see what SNAFUs happen. We already know that there are USB3 problems in the new motherboard chipsets.

Get the K series of 3770 dont be cheap you will not regret when its time you wanna overclock it.. My room mate runs gtx 460 (asus version) on an 1st gen i7 and gw2 does not seem to be running that well on WvW but should be better with the newer i7.

I would cancel those orders, but I imagine its far too late for that now. Haswell is just around the corner and even with the USB 3 problems, all you have to do is unplug and replug the device back in. No data loss occurs. I’m itching to upgrade too since I have a 930, but I might hold out until Ivy Bridge-EX or even Haswell-EX debuts so I can hop on the 2011 train since its a-kin to the 1366 train I’m on right now.

If you can sell that 460 to someone then I would upgrade, otherwise I would just keep it for now and run that sucker into the ground. Overclock that bad boy and get all she can give you.

Brands of motherboards I love/trust: ASUS and Gigabyte.

If you don’t want to overclock then the non-K 3770 is for you. However, overclocking now a days is so simple that there is little reason to not do a little research and give yourself a boost. When you can go from 2.66 to 4.2 Ghz as I have seen some people on the forum have with their 920’s, you can achieve similar results with the newer processors as well. I hear going from 3.4 to 4.5 isn’t a difficult task, just make sure you have an aftermarket cooler and you’re set.

That is some speedy RAM you have picked out, but I feel like the money spent there could go towards more performance noticeable items like a ‘K’ version of your processor and a nicer after market cooler to boot. Perhaps even a smaller SSD to drop your operating system on. Believe me once you experience an SSD, you’ll never want to go back. My work laptop doesn’t have one while my desktop does and its a night and day difference when either one boots up.*

My work laptop I have full administrative rights over and has no encryption so I have optimized the thing to boot as fast as the hardware allows because I’m impatient with it.

CPU is very important on this game. You don’t want to go wrong with that. GTX 460 is decent for this game, you can keep it if you like. DirectX 9.0 game anyways.