$800 Desktop (mostly for WoW)

[Aeriedk]

Hi all... asking for some help with a first time DIY desktop.

Budget - $800 (give or take $50 or so)
Resolution - 1920x1080
Games / Settings Desired - The biggest thing I want is to play WoW on ultra at 60 fps if its possible.
Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc)
Country - United States
Parts that can be reused - Nope currently using a laptop
Do you need an OS? - Nope
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? - Already purchased.

If a SSD can fit in the budget without lowering my WoW settings that would be nice, but it certainly isn't a high priority for me.

I appreciate everyone's feedback and help. Sorry I can't post a build of my own as I haven't done it before and am still learning.

This would be the minimum I'd go with, add $90 for Windows 8.1 64bit if needed.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.78 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($76.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($56.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 270X 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $812.67
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-03 20:52 EDT-0400)

An SSD isn't an absolute must have but highly recommended so add that to the cost if you can afford it:

Crucial MX100 256GB $110

Spending a little extra on the GPU might be worth it too but an absolute must:

XFX Radeon R9 280X 3GB Black Edition $280 after $20 rebate

- - - Updated - - -

That was a build recommended to me the other day. If anyone sees any major problems with it let me know!
Thanks!

[Polite]

I would dump the CPU, CPU cooler, and Mobo and go with an AMD solution. No reason to buy Intel if you're mostly gaming.
newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130679
newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286

The stock cooler is more than enough. Everything else will work fine.

[tielknight]

I would dump the CPU, CPU cooler, and Mobo and go with an AMD solution. No reason to buy Intel if you're mostly gaming.
newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130679
newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286

The stock cooler is more than enough. Everything else will work fine.

Just no.
AMD is crap for WoW, period. If you have a choice, always go with Intel for WoW. The build quoted is fine, albeit the prices have changed a bit.

Adjusted it a bit and threw in a SSD. Price is right around $850 before rebates. After rebates, it gets down to the price shown below. If thats too much for you, you will be fine with just the HDD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($83.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.81 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB PCS+ Video Card ($162.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Azza CSAZ-206 ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $787.69
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-06 02:25 EDT-0400)

[Aeriedk]

Just no.
AMD is crap for WoW, period. If you have a choice, always go with Intel for WoW. The build quoted is fine, albeit the prices have changed a bit.

Adjusted it a bit and threw in a SSD. Price is right around $850 before rebates. After rebates, it gets down to the price shown below. If thats too much for you, you will be fine with just the HDD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($83.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($69.81 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB PCS+ Video Card ($162.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Azza CSAZ-206 ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($44.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $787.69
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-06 02:25 EDT-0400)

Awesome! Looks like it has the seal of approval so I'm gonna go ahead and start ordering some parts! Thanks for the help.

[tielknight]

Just remember to never EVER defrag that SSD

[Polite]

Just no.
AMD is crap for WoW, period. If you have a choice, always go with Intel for WoW.

Have any hard evidence for this, or is this a wild general statement? Because I know firsthand that the processor I linked is more than enough to run WoW at max without bottle necking any other component. There is no reason to spend $100 extra for processing power that you will NEVER use. Or you can. OP's choice.

[tielknight]

They are playing mostly WoW. Intel steals AMDs lunch money, gives it a wedgie, and then leaves it hanging from the plag pole in regards to WoW performance.
Feel free to look at the various threads on these boards or the hundreds of benchmarks available online that prove it, I am not going argue what is common knowledge(that Intel is much better for WoW than AMD and better for gaming in general aside from some rare cases).
And if you think that "extra processing power" will never be used, you haven't seen how brutal WoW's engine can be(to this day, it is still impossible to get a constant 60+fps at maximum settings with no drops with any processor in 25M raid situations) due to it's age.

[Deleted]

Both Tielknight's build and Notarget's builds are fine and will ran wow at ultra. The difference is Notarget's has more quality parts. Those are better quality mobo,gpu,case.

Also talking about wow ultra, you will see 60+fps but not during raids (hc's). You will still go down to 20fps during a fight like malkorok hc. You will have to overclock that cpu to go higher.

[Deleted]

I would dump the CPU, CPU cooler, and Mobo and go with an AMD solution. No reason to buy Intel if you're mostly gaming.
newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130679
newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113286

The stock cooler is more than enough. Everything else will work fine.

Can you please stop spreading this misinformation. Go dig up some actual reputable tests where AMD comes even close to Intel's performance in gaming without costing more or requiring water cooling.

[Deleted]

800$ desktop... for wow... a 10 year old game.

wow, what a joke

User was infracted for non-constructive post.

[Deleted]

800$ desktop... for wow... a 10 year old game.

wow, what a joke

So constructive, much edgy, muey trieste.

OP get an i3 dual core instead of the i5 since its overkill.
Then u also dont need a cpu cooler.
Get the 770 gtx. Get a 120gb ssd.

[zealo]

Have any hard evidence for this, or is this a wild general statement? Because I know firsthand that the processor I linked is more than enough to run WoW at max without bottle necking any other component. There is no reason to spend $100 extra for processing power that you will NEVER use. Or you can. OP's choice.

What kind of content are you running when you are playing the game at max?

An AMD CPU will do fine for solo content but in group content and raids you definitely want an intel due to the higher IPC and single core perfomance, WoW is an old game and only uses around 2-3 cores.

[Aeriedk]

Both Tielknight's build and Notarget's builds are fine and will ran wow at ultra. The difference is Notarget's has more quality parts. Those are better quality mobo,gpu,case.

Also talking about wow ultra, you will see 60+fps but not during raids (hc's). You will still go down to 20fps during a fight like malkorok hc. You will have to overclock that cpu to go higher.

Thanks for the reply. I suppose I'll have to look into overclocking once I get it build. Is overclocking an option with the computer I'm going to try and build either Tielknights, Notarger's, or both?

[Arbiter]

Both are possible for overclocking. The only statement made about the difference between the two was just the quality of parts. Better reviews and more reputable brands more or less. These guys wouldn't generally give you a processor that is overclockable and not give you the proper hardware to do it with.

And yes, the guy who recommended AMD for you doesn't know what he's talking about. Just another AMD fanboy who is still in denial and probably just looks at clock speeds when comparing processors. While WoW won't use 100% of that processor, it wouldn't use 100% of the AMD one either. It only supports 2 cores and will use 100% of those 2 cores. You won't regret the extra money. Better for literally any situation I could imagine you'll run into.

[Faithh]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($233.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($55.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB TurboDuo Video Card ($154.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID ATX Mid Tower Case ($19.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $807.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-06 10:23 EDT-0400)

- Didnt see the point of such an expensive board, the only interesting feature the gigabyte has is SLI but since you're going with an AMD card crossfire is possible because they don't require x8 lanes.
- Swapped that Corsair case with a cheaper one
- Fitted a 240GB ssd in there
- The powercolor 270x was 50$ cheaper than the MSI one
- Took cheaper ram saves you another 20$

[Aeriedk]

Thanks for the reply Arbiter! I'm looking forward to building my new desktop and eventually overclocking it. And I am going to get with the intel i5.

- - - Updated - - -

Nice build Faith. I would really like to get the SSD in there within the budget. Whats the difference between the motherboards besides price?

[russ555]

Personally I would put any SSD funds into a better GPU and/or CPU (depending on what the options would be) and save for a bigger SSD as your first upgrade.

Just remember to never EVER defrag that SSD

I've heard that before but what happens if you do?

[Deleted]

If you are referring between the 2 MSI ones, then the Z97 is the newest supporting the latest gen intel proccessors. Other than that nothing.

Between the Z97 MSI and Gigabyte one the difference is mostly of all quality as a product. Same as you would expect from going to 110bucks to 160bucks. One supports Xfire only the other supports both Sli+Xfire. Better overclocking stability. MSI Z97/Z87 PC mate series is like the entry mobo, the cheapest you can get. Personally i treatas what it is. Cheap but not good quality wise. Its there if you must have a Z87/Z97 just to hook your proccessor there and nothing more.

- - - Updated - - -

I've heard that before but what happens if you do?

You will ruin it if you do. Win7/Win8 got defragment off for ssd's by default. The equivalent of defragment of hdds, is called TRIM for ssd's.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks for the reply. I suppose I'll have to look into overclocking once I get it build. Is overclocking an option with the computer I'm going to try and build either Tielknights, Notarger's, or both?

I'd reckon if you want a decent overclock, and since you're going for nice little setup there, dont cheap out on mobo like most ppl do. Its what holds everything together afterall.

[fernotao]

when the new direct X is out multi Cpus from AMD will have a 20% increase in power if not more

[Arbiter]

when the new direct X is out multi Cpus from AMD will have a 20% increase in power if not more

Going to need proof that this will be the case. Especially if you are implying that Intel wouldn't receive the same benefit.