GW2 pc upgrades

[Deleted]

Hi all,

I currently have an ASUS M3N78-CM Motherboard with an AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core Processor 5000+.

I'm planning on buying a new Graphics Card, PSU, and some additional Ram.

Does anyone know if my motherboard and processor will be ok for GW2? As I really don't fancy upgrading them too, (although I know they are quite out-dated).

I want to be able to play GW2 on mid-high graphics with a smooth game play, can I achieve this with my motherboard and processor?

Any recommendations for a GPU would be appreciated. I'm trying to keep it cheap.

[Deleted]

first of all you need to ask about what budget to play with, also a mid end GPU will cost near to a I5 cpu + cheaper end mobo to go with it anyways, which will be a huge boost, the new haswell cpus have a half decent integrated gpu to start with, you can pick up a mid end gpu later

[Deleted]

Well with the new card, psu and ram, I was hoping to spend somewhere between £200 and £300.

Please tell me more about going the I5 cpu route.

[Deleted]

right, gonna assume you play GW2 most of the time, all mmos are more cpu bound above all else, new gpu will boost it for sure, but cpu has greater gains.

will say this, with your old mobo and cpu, i can tell the RAM for it is very expensive or hard to get hold of, i think it was DDR2, which arent made any more.

im also gonna assume you might own a graphics card already

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£151.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H87M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£68.50 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£41.77 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£49.83 @ Dabs)
Total: £312.09
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-26 15:13 BST+0100)

---------- Post added 2013-06-26 at 03:36 PM ----------

if you are adamant for a gpu over the cpu and motherboard

you have the options of from Nvidia 760 cards or AMD 7950 in your price range

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card (£249.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £249.98
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-26 15:27 BST+0100)

for a 760, http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...14&subcat=1830, though thats around an extra tenner for delivery

personally the 760 is fine here

just beware, your current mobo uses DDR2 ram

---------- Post added 2013-06-26 at 03:42 PM ----------

actually swap the psu on there to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Buil...257673&sr=1-21

---------- Post added 2013-06-26 at 04:23 PM ----------

oh almost forgot, if you do intend to use the integrated gpu, you may need to lower the resolution a tad

[Gray_Matter]

right, gonna assume you play GW2 most of the time, all mmos are more cpu bound above all else, new gpu will boost it for sure, but cpu has greater gains.

will say this, with your old mobo and cpu, i can tell the RAM for it is very expensive or hard to get hold of, i think it was DDR2, which arent made any more.

im also gonna assume you might own a graphics card already

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£151.99 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: MSI H87M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£68.50 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£41.77 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply (£49.83 @ Dabs)
Total: £312.09
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-06-26 15:13 BST+0100)

OP was wanting to buy a GFX card so I don't think there is one.

I am personally using a Sapphire HD7750. The 1GB version with DDR 5 is about £80 but I would go for a PowerColor 7770 at the minimum at £89:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/powe...-ax77701gbd5dh

When there are a lot of players on the map in WvWvW then I get some lag but I am playing on a slow ADSL connection and also at 1920 x 1080 resolution. I also get a bit of lag at the very start of the fire elemental. Not sure why. That's with the 7750.

I would replace your CPU with a better one that will fit in the MB if you can. You might be able to get a Phenom II X6 or something like that which will fit. This would more than double your CPU speed. Here is a list of CPU's supported by your MB:

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/M3N78-CM.html

Alternatively, you can get a FX-6300 for £70:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/amd-cpu-fd6300wmhkbox

I use this MB (ASUS M5A78L-USB3) - £52

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus...rd-m5a78lmusb3

My daughter is using this combination (with a 7750) and doesn't have any problems in GW2. She doesn't play WvW though.

That puts the total at £211.

You could then add the PSU and RAM from the post above and come in at £301. Not much of an expert regarding parts, can just tell you what is working for me. I am using the corsair PSU above but corsair value RAM. If at all possible you should try and get a better GFX card for the future.

[Deleted]

Thanks both.

This will be a hard decision for me

[jmt]

The game is very CPU dependent. You're going to want at least a quad core to make it enjoyable.

I'm playing at 1080p with a GTX 660 and an i5-3330 w/ 8 GB of RAM. It plays at ultra around 60 - 70 FPS when I'm alone, and 45 FPS in LA and DEs.

[Deleted]

Cool.

Well looking at these comments, I think I'm going to prioritise a new CPU. I'll also get a new graphics card, and a more up to date motherboard with some additional ram.

Cheers all for your suggestions and comments, appreciated.