Guild Wars 2

Only thing i dont like about LCD bassed tech is the high probability of dead pixles. Just 1 dead pixel would aggrivate me to no end. And with the Korean monitors, they can have a good handfull of dead pixels as the panels r A- not A+. If u can i highly sugest paying extra for ‘pixel perfect’ which is a service some places offer..they test the screen and garauntee 0 dead pixels for the 1st year..if u use ur computer alot that 1st year will pritty much show up any weak pixels.

Asus boards should have an XMP profile for RAM settings. Simply choose the correct preset that matches ur RAM and u should be good to go.
Double check the settings it sets though under RAM timings and such, as some RAM kits may come at 1866mhz but may be CL10 or CL11 if the XMP profile sets them at CL9 they may not work. Check the RAM Voltage also.

Well height isnt an issue on the narrower single tower coolers like the Evo212 as they dont overhang the RAM, so u could get that.

Some people just cant stand screen tearing.. which happens even when ur fps is under the refresh rate unless Vsync is on.

Bassicaly u need a new rig. becouse the main part to play GW2 good is the CPU. In ur case a CPU good enough for GW2 means u would need a new motherboard due to the chipset ..also new RAM as we now use DDR3 not DDR2.
Your powersupply may also need changing..then u need a better grpahics card becouse the GTX 250 although can run GW2 isnt exactly a good card. In the end its a whole new rig, u can salvage parts from ur current one to reduce cost but only if ur willing to build the rig urself.

As Jaz said, if ur interested in building or buying a new rig we can help give u recommendations on parts to buy, or where to search for a prebuilt ..though most people would advice to build it urself as u can save anywhere from $100 to $300 doing it urself depending on how high spec u go. We would need a budget though..and remember ..building a rig for gaming isnt cheap ..and building a rig aiming to play GW2 is even lesss cheap as it requirs a beafy CPU.

The price for new lower profile RAM + a NH-D14 would easily = cost of a good water cooler..say $40 for G.Skill RAM and $80 ofr a D14 ..its roughly same price as a Corsair H100i which is ~ £120 iirc.
So i sugest u get a mid range air cooler. One that will fit tall RAM. You will have to search around and check the dimensions.

The Coolermaster Evo 212 ..it can just about handle mid range OC’s if ur ok with that. If u tweek voltages as much as possible i dont see why u couldnt get a 4.5ghz OC on a FX8XXX or even a Intel Ivybridge i5.

Im personaly waiting on 120hz Super-HD(1440p/1600p+) screens to become available at 32" or 37" sizes ..i cant go any smaller ..im running a 42" atm and going down to a 32" would be painfull enough even with the better PPI :P
Still u can get a 1440p 90-120hz 30" monitor atm .but they cost a pritty penny.

Indeed the CM Evo 212 is not the best by any means but for shear price : performance ..its the best there is ..cant complain about its performance for $30-$35.

Next step after one of those is bassicaly top of the line Air cooling like the Noctua NH-D14, costs alittle over twice as much ~ $80.

After that ur into High end water cooling costing around $110..

After thats its custom water loops. cost ..many many $‘s/£’s :P

Buying anything inbetween those is imo a waste, those are pritty much the best performance points to aim for in terms of cooling.

TIM wise ..well i personaly used the stuff (NT-H1) that came with the NH-D14 as it was reviewed and for an inclusive compound it did really well. Still if u want those few extra degress u cant really beat the liquid metal componds.

Yes reflections on All is perfectly possible if u have enough GPU power (like SLI) ..but i personaly and many others ether have to have them off, or turned down, due to having inadequate GPU strength ..or prefer having them turned down for the same issue u mentioned about camera turning.

Relfections .. SuperSampling ..And Ultra Shaodws r all massive hogs of GPU power and also to a lesser degree CPU. For LA so long as ur CPU is OC’d it safe to say that u can have them all maxed if ur GPU is up to par. WvW however is an other issues …u need as much CPU power spare as u can so turning them down is a good idea even if it only spares a frame or 2 of performance from the CPU.

Most monitors nowerdays come in 2 formats 60hz and 120hz.

FPS wise what that means is ..if u run a game that ur computer can get say 100 fps out of ..if u leave VSync OFF on a 60hz screen ..u will get all 100fps ..but ur screen will tear like a ****** ..Bassicaly what it looks like is as if u took a picture ..ripped it in half and then ofset the to halfs slightly ..top and bottom half of the screen dont line up and thats becouse the screen is showing a portion of the next frame instead of all of the 1 whole frame.

If however u turn Vsync ON u cap the FPS at 60 and also syncronize the frames being pumpedo ut of ur computer to the refresh rate of the screen ..so each screen refresh gets a frame from the computer at the exact same time so u odnt see any screen tearing.

So what this means is, if u cant stand screen tearing and want higher than 60fps both of which r really needed for heavy FirstPerson Shooter gamers, then u want a 120hz monitor that can use Vsync and as such acheve 120fps without any screen tearing.

As for a system ..wel lfor GW2 there is none .. GW2 has such bad performance from its game engine that u could have the best consumer CPU and GPU layout currently available and u would still drop into the 30’s in WvW battles.
For other games however, u would want a top of the line Single GPU graphics card like a 680 or a 7970 along with a good CPU like a FX 8350 or Intel 3570k or 3770k..or even a 3930k. better yet would be 2 of the above grpahics cards in SLI, so u can run games at top quality and stil lacheve 100+ FPS a lthe time ..thus getitng the most out of a 120hz monitor.

TBH LA isnt that bad. Atleast for me. i usualy run around at 60 fps somtimes drops to around 50-55fps like around the mystic forge and thats only becouse my GPU is maxing out.

So long as ur on native sampling ..reflection on terrain and sky and shadows on high u should be able to have simular FPS as me with that card asuming the CPU isnt bottlenecking.
Now the FX 8120 is a good ways behind the 3930k so it may well be a CPU bottleneck but 60fps stable is indeed possible in LA.

I sugest u build one urself tbh.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DADu

Now i presumed u needed a HDD and optical drive since it seems like u dont have an old one to salvage. Anyway this rig will play GW2 very well with settings at a mixture of medium and high. WvW wont be problem aslong as u OC the CPU, the cooler in the list can handle a good OC so u just need to setup the OC itself which u can find guides on online.
The case isnt the smallest in the world but its got brilliant cooling/airflow. you can go smaller but for a good quality small box u tend to pay more.. like the Lian-Li cases nearly all r in the region of $100 or more.

WvW will strugle, pritty much any CPU, aside from Top End AMD’s like the FX 8350+OC, and Intel CPU’s like the 3570k+OC and 3770k+OC, will end up chugging along at 20 or so FPS in big battles.
PvE wise the CPU is fine.

Graphics wise a 650 non ti will likely handle medium only if u want consistant high fps.
You will also want 8GB RAm ..4 is on the low side nowerdays.

This a prebuilt ?
If so then ur unlikely to be able to find everything u want in one so go with it if its all u can get.

If u can build one urself or customize options of ap rebuilt then u can easily build a small rig size wise and have really good gear inside it. LAN gamers have proper high end rigs packed tightly inside cases small enough for them to carry in their travel bags..so its perfectly possible.

New intel CPU’s r expected* early june, thats a good time to upgrade. .immediatly after new tech release. last thing u wanna do is upgrade just b4 or between 2 release times.

*i say expected becouse its not ‘officaly’ confirmed.

My last CPU lasted me 4 years thanks to a small OC (3ghz to 3.66ghz), now its been passed down to another family member who is still using it..granted it cant really play GW2 very well but its still usfull .. my current one will also likely last 4 years.. infact b4 i even replace it i will upgrade my cooling to a custom water loop and OC even further up to 5ghz, extending is usefullness another year probably. So OC’ing can be very usefull and cost efficient. getting a OC’able cpu and the cooling to do it may be expensive i the short term but is cheaper in the long term

CPU: QX6850 3.0ghz (3.66ghz OC) < Quad Core
GPU: 460 OC

WvW 3-10 (in battles)
PvE 25-40

Settings Medium/ High mix. 1920×1080.

GPU never maxes out. Tis bottlenecked by CPU.

Im probably wasting my time here considering u dont seem to see the obviose problem with that bench test on those cpu’s that were linked in the 2nd post….but.

CPU wise GW2 will run much better on a 2550k/3570k or 2700k/3770k or even a 3820 or 3930k.. over any AMD. However the FX 6XXX and FX 8XXX can give playable performance with GW2 so long as u dont intend on doing WvW to much. If ur a WvW player then the AMD cpu’s will drop below 30fps even when OC’d. If ur OK with 20-30 FPS in heavy WvW battles then a FX6 or FX8 will be fine so long as its OC’d.

Its all down to the single thread performance. Intel CPU’s r faster per thread, and as such GW2 performs better on them. Take a gander at this list to see where each cpu comes in hierachy for single thread performance. ignor those CPU’s that cant really be OC’d ..like Xeon chips, as all the scores would increase with a OC .. said Xeon chips dont OC well so will drop down the list when compared to the other OC’ed CPU’s.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

Note: You shouldnt throw around the ‘fanboy’ term at the start of the thread, sends the wrong message, if i was a less logical person i would asume u were a fanboy straight of the bat with that kinda talk. Ether way facts and figures always speak louder than personal ‘opinions’

As others in the GW forums have found out, build a entire new rig for $400 capable of playing GW2 is next to impossible.

However if ur PSU is 400W+, your case ATX compatable, ur HDD and Optical drive r Sata …then u could potentialy do it for $500. U would need a new CPU, Mothebroard, RAM, and GPU ..sqeezing that into $500 will be tight but doable if u get rebates and good deals.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DhVt

Well since u already bought the gear i wish u luck ..but in all honesty i doubt it will net good performance. Then again its all down to personal opinion on ‘good performance’

So long as that CPU is OC’ed (~4.5ghz) u will very very rarely see sub 30 FPS.

When recording u will likely see an overall reduction in FPS but i wouldnt expect it to be by much. Dont worry about the TIM issues, worst case scenario u will have to pop the lid (very carefully) after the warrenty runs out and replace the TIM with better stuff.

Anyway u will be pleasently surprised with the performance asuming no hitches with sofware specialy after playing Gw2 on ur laptop. have fun

OP, as above. .u shouldnt upgrade. .ur should rebuild.

A good budget currently is roughly $800 for a self built rig. That will net u a GPU good enough for high setting in GW2 and a CPU good enough to play GW2 as best as can be done atm, it would require OC’ing though.

If u so desire i can put together a rig list on PCpartpicker if u set the budget. Dont try to go to low, absolute lowest i would sugest is $600.

Budget points for self built gaming rigs

Low $570
Mid $750
High $900
Top $1200+

For prebuilt u can realisticly add $100 to $300 on those figures, the higher the figure the more u generaly add.

OK so this topic has gone on for a while now soooo.

If ur thinking of buiilding it urself then this is what i recommend. its as cheap as i could go whilst keep the CPU top notch and the GPU good enough to handle medium settings.
What u will also need is the CD/DVD player AND ur hard drive from inside ur current computer. Oh and ur Windows operating system can be transferred over/ reinstalled so u dont need to buy another copy.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DbuF
Price is roughly $570 ..for that price u will NOT find a computer anywhere near this good. A prebuilt system with that CPU and graphics card will be around the $800 mark ..so ur saving a bunch building it urself.

I would say between $100 and $200.

A rig selling for $1000 prebuilt u could build for $800.
A rig selling for $750 prebuilt u could build for around $600.

A Geforce 610 is nowhere near good enough for Gw2. Its Nvidias slowest card they do.

You could do them, but it would have a lower FPS in the busy events…similar to what would happen in WvW.
How low i cant really say, it depends on the number of people…probably between 15 and 30 fps.
But to be honest if u dont want slow down in those big temple events and in WvW u need to spend around $700-$800 on a rig becouse it would need to have a Intel i5 CPU like a3570k or a 2550k. Then it would need OverClocking, which some places can do for a small fee. Then u would almost never see any fps below 30. averaging 45-60 fps.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1EVMDC

AMD rig, lowest i would go honestly. it wont do WvW, or large Events very well… but is alot better than what u got.

I completed the survey. Good luck with ur work.

ur current rig is not better no.. But the new $550 u linked is by no means a gaming rig, so u would likely see very very little imporvment if any due to the individual parts..the CPU may be better but the GPU is still just as bad.
The one u just linked also isnt very good. the CPU is really slow and the GPU is also very old.

Here take a gander at these lists.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html
The CPU needs ot score above 1350 to be of any real use in GW2.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/index.php
Click on high end video card chart.
The graphics card needs ot score atleast 1300 to be of any use.

NO u wont…that comes with Window 7 already…but that also only runs an onboard HD2000 GPU which is to low for GW2, it will likely not even allow installation due to detecting that GPU, GW2 just to install needs a HD3000 InternalGPU, but even that will run like crap.

8/10

Its a pitty u went the LGA 2011 and didnt get a 3930k, but i understand the costs.
The 3820 can and should be OC’d but as others have said its not as easy to do as its not a ‘k’ chip. Do what u can and get the OC as high as possible, the multiplier stops at 43x meaning u can do a standard OC to 4.3ghz, above that u need to use the base clock frequency, standard is 100.0 but it should be able to go up to 125. Anyway ull have to adjust voltages and such aswel land other setitngs via the BIOS of the mothebroard, i sugest u look up some indepth OC’ing guides for that particular CPU. 43x 105 to get 4.515ghz OC or if u can only choose between 100 and 125 then 36x 125 would get u exactly 4.5ghz, again theres more to it than just chaning those 2 figures.

OC’ing is needed to stay above 30fps in WvW battles (BIG battles), 4.5ghz is a good recommened OC to aim for as its doable under air cooling with most chips, specialy sandybridge.

If u get the OC then that rig will be 9.5/10, for GW2.
Only way it woulda been beter is with ether a 3930k or a 3770k. 3930k for the extra cores and easier OC’ing, the 3770k for the faster clock for clock speed.

With ur current CPU a new graphics card will do little to improve fps. It may well improve the visual quality but the FPS will still be capped by ur CPU.

In all honesty ur computer is at the end of its life gaming wise and needs a complete overhaul/replacement.

So in a week or so u would have $700 MAX.

For that u can build a new rig salvaging ur current HDD and Optical drive from ur old one.
Here is the list.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CVTM

It will run GW2 on Medium/high settings. For All high setting u would need a better Graphics card but for now the most important part for a GW2 rig is the CPU.

So yea if u got those parts in that list and then put them together, then took ur hard drvies and DVD/CD player from ur old rig and put them into the new one. You would have a very nice little gaming rig.

Locked Disc regions r an old concept. There is plenty of software players, patches, hacks etc that can make a DVD/CD player region free/unlimited region change. No need to worry about regions when it comes to DvD’s games or movies.

The one and only thing u need to worry about it time zones. If ur ok with going to bed late then u shouldnt have a probem even then. I personaly live in the UK and usualy stay up till about 2:00AM, which allows me to play during US peak hours if im playing on a US server.

if ur bringing any hardware over then the power leads wil likely requir a adaptor but they aint expensive. NTSC/PAL wise u only needo t owrry about that with old screens, most/all modern screens are universal.

If u can find one.. get a laptop with a Intel 3840QM and a 7970m or 680m GPU. That pritty much the best u can get and should fall in the ~$1500 price range.

Above that ur looking at the XM CPU’s which r Intel ‘extreme’ range meaning they pritty much double in price (~$1000 in the PCU alone) with a SLI GPU setup. These r super high end Laptops, rather bulky for cooling purposes.

Ether will run GW2 great BUT as they dont OC the CPU’s WvW will still dip below 30fps in the BIG battles.

The New GPU’s (Nvidia Maxwell – 700 series) r likely to be released in April at the earliest.
The New CPU’s (Intel Haswell) r likely to be released in June at the earliest.

These r both the desktop varieties so expect the laptop versions ‘around’ those dates.

Somthing like this if available where u r would be what ur looking for.

Chassis & Display
Dimensions (W x D x H) 419mm x 293mm x 39.3~49.7mm
Vortex Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920×1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Extreme i7-3940XM (3.00GHz) 8MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 × 8GB)
Graphics Card
2 x NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M – 4.0GB DDR5 Video RAM – DirectX® 11
Memory – Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
4 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
2 x Vortex Elite Series 8 Cell Battery (89.21WH) (One Spare) (£69)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 300W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 – inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 60 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 2013
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY – FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Intel Anti-Theft Technology
FREE 90 Day Intel Anti-Theft Trial – Prevent Data Access upon Theft
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build – Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,660.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/vortexIII-Elite/XXQGv0UzgG/

For the US i found this place in the below link. U can customize a gaming laptop to around the $2600/$2700 price range with a 3940XM CPU and a 7970m or 680m GPU along with 16gb RAM and a SSD & HDD. MSI/Asus/Sager. Pick a $1200 laptop on the gaming list and customize it. like above.
http://www.xoticpc.com/index.html

Lisamee ..those 2 computers linked run a 6450 GPU ..waaay to underpowered for GW2.

Its a much more logical choice to save up more money becouse trying to build a, or buy a prebuilt, rig for $400 to play GW2 is gunna give u a rig that will barely last a year b4 needing a whole new one again, and wont run GW2 very well to boot.

It ‘might’ have been Windows Update…. it can be a bit of a PITA somtimes, it will secretly download and install updates wihtout u knowing slowing down ur computer ..even when u tell it not to.

but what ever it was ..its sorted ..so ..have fun

To do what u want to do in WvW, specialy on high settings ur gunan need these 2 things.

GPU: Nvidia 660ti / AMD 7870 XT / AMD 7950

CPU: Intel i5 3570k/ Intel i5 2550k / AMD FX 8350 (All OC to ~4.5ghz)

Those are NEEDED, anythign less and u wont be ‘smooth’ in WvW .. hell even the AMD would buckle in BIG wvw battles ..by that i mean it wil ldrop under 30fps. The Intel will keep u above 30 FPS but they do cost a fair chunk more.

The FPS figures are for intenses high population WvW battles, bassicaly the worst GW2 can throw at u.

Highly recommend u build the rig urself as it will save u a bunch and ensure high quality parts. Cost wise ur looking in the region of $800.
Example: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CQ4Y

For ~$600 thats a fine build. Only things i would change is the make of the RAM to G.Skill , slightly cheaper same great quality, and the case to the good ol Coolermaster HAF 912.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CPTY

Not really gunna be able to afford a SSD for around $60. If u did want to go over budget for a SSD u then would have to consider getting a 3770k CPU as an alternative to a SSD as the increased cost of that CPU would be equal to a SSD.

Well a $1000 is enough for a good Intel rig so i highly suggest u go that route, and ‘high’ is easily possible.

Ether a Ivybridge setup with a i5 3570k or i7 3770k
or if u dont like the whole TIM issue.
a Sandybridge setup with a i5 2500k/2550k or i7 2600k/2700k
Ether will be better than a AMD setup and will fit within $1000 along with a good GPU like a Sapphire 7870XT. Anyway ualready got the pcpartpicker link i made earlier in the thread and since u said u dont need that monitor in that list as u can get a freebe, then u can use some of that $250 from the monitor to go up to a 3770k, along with the SSD u said ur gunan add. So all in all u can use up ur $1000 budget with a VERY good rig.
Regarding this link btw.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C0AU

With the changes it would look something like this.
Ivybridge: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CLGz
Sandybridge: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CLJ3

Well if ur worried about the Ivybridge TIM issue (which tbh u shouldnt worry about, its more a worst case,horror story, kinda situation) then u can still get a Intel with almost identical performance with a i5 2500k/2550k or a i7 2600k/2700k.

Alternatively u could go the AMD route, which is cheaper, but would sacrifice some performance. Ether a FX 8350 or other 8XXX CPU.

Aye it does depend on expectations of performance. For example i woudlnt use Torchlight 2 as a game to benchmark how well a rig is performing since its a very lightweight game, however if those types of games r the norm for the person using said rig, then thats perfectly acceptable.

I try to be as conservative and ‘worst case’ as i can with performance without being to extreme. Its best to be harsh and have the person be surprised with higher than expected performance, than to be to ambitous and have a person be disapointed with lower than expect performance.

I just tried to make the cheapest rig i possibly could that would play GW2 and its still over $400 and requirs the HDD and optical drive from an old rig. And ofc its self built.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CEOs

Seriosly OP .. save more money ..you will be MUCH better of.

EDIT: just to give u an idea of how little $400 will get u in the computer gaming world ..My CPU alone is worth over $400 and it isnt even an extreme edition.

Indeed if ur FPS figures u mentioned are from WvW or LA then thats likely just down to ur CPU.

if its in PvE then its likely the setitngs ur using. Reflection on All is VERY taxing so is super sampling ..and arguably so is shadowson ultra.. if any of those r on it could be the cause of ur FPS issues.

Run some monitoring software to measure ur GPU usuage and FPS using an OSD (on screen display) so u can see the figures whilst playing the game.

5 years minimum ? ..thats ambitous there.
$700 rig would last 2 to 3 years with GPU upgrade half way thru, asuming u get a good CPU to begin with.

A $1000-$1200 rig would last 3 to 4 years again asuming u upgrade the GPU at some point
.
Anything above $1200 would likely be a SLI rig so would last possibly 5 years, by which point the CPU will likely be ready to upgrade along with the whole rig.

I’ve spent $1500+ on a SLi rig about 5 years back, was a GTX 8800 Sli with a Intel Extreme Quad core wiht OC, along with Raid Drives and all the trimmings, it was prebuilt (my 1 and only prebuilt computer iv owned) so cost a little more than it should but that lasted just about 4 years b4 i replced the SLi GPU’s with a 560ti (the one i have now) then about 6 months later i replaced the whole rig with my current one (which isnt finished yet, getting a new GPU when the new ones r released).

So yea ..$700 rig lasting 5 years i very ambitous. But ur point stands. Spending more now is better than spending little every year ..its cheaper in the long run to spend more now and have it last longer.

For the US most people browse Newegg first.

Then u could go onto ibuypower.com and cyberpowerpc.com and customize a rig.

Problem is although $800 would be enough for custom built rig, for a prebuilt u wont get as good specs. But it ’should still be enough for GW2.

I have looked and i sugest u take a look at the cyberpowerpc.com website and customize one of the rigs there. Start of with a 3570k CPU and a 650ti Grpahics card and change the other options to fit ur budget.

Again it will be more expensive than building it urselfand thus u may have to comprimize on some parts, but it will still be enough for GW2 so long asu stick to the core components (CPU & GPU) as sugested.

Read what the OP said, he cant build it himself. Meaning its got to be prebuilt. trying to find a prebuilt computer for $400 with a good neough CPu and GPU is ‘near’ impossible.

Most ether run onboard graphics or a old/low end media card both of which will only manage low settings, and wont hold up very well. Dual cores r not enough for GW2 as it runs 3 main threads, so a 3 core is the absolute minimum. Bassicaly u need a qaud core.

OP try moving/reposting this thread in the tech forums, ull get more advised responses from more people.

I was just looking on newegg (seems like the most used place for people in the US …im from UK so :P )

Unfortunatly for $400 there really isnt anything i can find that would make GW2 playable ..cheapest i found is $540
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229285

Theres nothing in the $400-$500 price range on newegg that has a good enough grpahics card tbh.

If u cant build it urself it will cost even more, and u will likely have to comprimise on the specs.
A $400 prebuilt computer will be very low end but i would expect better performance than what ur getitng now. Maybe 20-40 FPS on Low settings in LA/Dungeons/PvE, droping below 10 in WvW.

What r the specs of ur current system ?

Not really no. Even with low settings using a cheap graphcis card u would still need a good CPU to ‘not lag’.

The CPU + Motherboard + RAM + Cpu cooler, alone would cost in the region of $400.

You could go with a AMD rig but it would still have FPS drops in Cities and WvW below 30 fps which isnt desirable.

A more realistic budget would be $700. Then u could afford a good CPU with the motherboard RAM and cooler and the rest of the money ~$200 would go towards a low end Graphics card and likely a new PSU and/or PC case.

Add another $100 ontop and u would be able to run GW2 with High settings (by getting a better graphics card).

So anyway: For GW2

Mid End : ~$650 (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/C2Zl) HDD+Optical used from old rig.
High End : ~$800 (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CuzA) HDD+Optical used from old rig.
Top End : ~$1100 (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CuDO) HDD+Optical used from old rig.

Im not saying it cant be done for $400, i just honestly dont think it would be worth it, WvW battles would stil be a slide show and populated cities and pve events would ‘strugle’.

Check ur windows performance settings ..make sure ur running on high performance.

Run some monitoring software to check ur temperatures on ur CPU and GPU.

Since ur running 306.97 i sugest u stick with it if its working. I’ve heared mixed reports from 310.XX drivers tbh. I use 306.97 myself and i wont be changing anytime soon.