GPU Memory for WoW

[Zych]

Over the last couple weeks I've been looking into building myself a new PC for WoW & the future. Most of the decisions have been fairly easy, and these forums have been extremely helpful, but I'm stuck on the video card.

I want to be able to raid 25s with stupid amounts of addons running (like Recount & a heavily modded UI) without fps spikes. I realize that WoW is processor dependant, but I'm curious if it would be more worthwhile to get an older 2GB card vs. a newer 1GB model.

You can view my newegg wishlist here:
secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=13041909

But basically it's an i5 2500k system that I'll hopefully be running at 1920x1080. I'm already over budget so any dirt cheap recommends would be greatly appreciated (US buyer).

Thanks!

[phenix]

Theres a lot of stuff you could tweak.

Case. You can get away with a mid size. Something like Define Fractal R3 for 99$

MoBo. P8Z68-V LX for 129$ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131781

PSU. You'll need something with more watts. 550-600W for 70-100$

SSD. I see an SSD but no HDD. If you plan on reusing your HDD fgrom another computer....Consider dropping the SSD and upgrading the GPU. Youll get more out of the system. Then plug in an SSD when you get more cash. And 120GB wont fit a lot of stuff. Win and WoW will take half.

Keyboard-Mouse. You can alays drop them and re-use your old. Look for better deals during x-mas.

Win7. Dont forget if youre a student you can get it for cheap.


With some changes you can get a GT560ti / 6950 (very good for 250-300$) or GT580 / 6970 (350-500$)

Edit.
Have a look at http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...-Sample-Builds for more inspiration.

Personally i just got a MSI Twin Froz 560ti with a 2500k on a Z68 MoBO and its pretty kickass.

[Xuvial]

No, 2gb is pointless for WoW. Even 1gb will never come close to getting used up. The need for 2gb only occurs with GPU-heavy games (like BF/Crysis) at very high resolutions.

[Deleted]

For your GPU I would go for a 6870, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102924
$50 more but it simply is a lot better.
Like Phenix said, your PSU is definitely not powerful enough, but there are definitely some good deals on a better one. I am not home at Newegg since I am from the Netherlands so I am kinda struggling to find the right things there!
Also watch out that WoW is a 32 bit game, so to many addons will always screw with WoW, however good your computer is.

EDIT:

I would also recommend to just drop the SSD to save money, it won't matter in your fps, just loading speeds, the money that frees up there can be used for a better PSU and GPU.

[Zych]

I used this site to calculate power needs:
extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

Are there any others? I hate to buy a 500W if I really don't need it.

I snagged the $55 1TB seagate deal from best buy so I fixed my wishlist, SSD is gone.

[Xuvial]

I've always looked at the PSU as something you can carry onto consequent builds, unlike mobo/cpu/gpu/ram which keep advancing. While 350w will suffice for a 2500K + 6770 build and the Seasonic is always nice, it's not a very futureproof decision and greatly limits what video cards you can add/replace in the future. For 1080p I'd probably grab a 450-500w PSU and an HD6850.
Your processor is going to last a long time and is by far the best component in your system, why not give your build overclocking+expansion room?

[phenix]

Are there any others?

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html


And yes I'd go for a 600w minimum (since your getting a unlocked cpu and room to upgrade gpu....dont cheap out on a good PSU). And you can usually get pretty good deals on PSU. Im sure this friday will be no exceptions.(for ppl in N.A.)

[Wries]

if you like running two WoW clients or custom ground clutter/spell detail settings together with 8x MSAA, 1GB VRAM won't suffice. But other than those enthusiast scenarios it's OK.

[Zych]

Wow thanks for all the replies everyone.

My only concern about power at this point is getting too much - I was under the impression that you 'waste' alot of the efficiency if you use a unit that is so much larger than what you really need/use. I'm about 99% sure I'll never add another card (yay single card solutions), and about 90% sure I'll never overclock. I only went with the 2500k because I figured it'd be nice to have the option.

Does overclocking the processor significantly increase power usage? By how much?

Edit: wishlist updated for 450W PSU

[phenix]

Wow thanks for all the replies everyone.

My only concern about power at this point is getting too much - I was under the impression that you 'waste' alot of the efficiency if you use a unit that is so much larger than what you really need/use. I'm about 99% sure I'll never add another card (yay single card solutions), and about 90% sure I'll never overclock. I only went with the 2500k because I figured it'd be nice to have the option.

Does overclocking the processor significantly increase power usage? By how much?

Edit: wishlist updated for 450W PSU

Honestly there's no 'getting too much' (unless you go for like a 1000 to 1500W). Maybe its just personnal preference but you can get like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171038 for 10$ extra....at least for me...why take the chance.

Also since your getting an ASUS Z68 with a 2500k, overclocking is as simple as opening the UEFI, and selecting FAST under the performance menu(turbov). You ll have a moderate OC to 4.0-4.2 which should run on air fine unless you live in a hot climate. 2500k i think is something like under 150W stock and 200-250W OC'd (under 4.9ghz)