LF Computer upgrade assistance

[Sanji]

Hello,

My guild has gone to 25man raids this week and i've noticed that my computer can't handle it. I'm just lagging like hell in terms of FPS, especially at pull with lust. In addition i feel that my computer in general has slowed down a bunch and it is just not the way it used to be. I dont think my RAM can handle this any longer, i just checked and i was running at 95% RAM all the time (with WoW active that is). Now that i have closed the majority of my tabs and a few other processes it works decent again.

Anyhow i'm planning on upgrading specific parts of my computer. My budget will probably be around €300,-. I would greatly appreciate any help, tip or advice as to which parts i should upgrade to get the most out of WoW and my raiding environment. Thank you in advance for your time! Below you can find my computer specs. Also i'd like to add that my case is a Midi Tower.

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Operating System
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

CPU
Intel Core i5 650 @ 3.20GHz 40 °C
Clarkdale 32nm Technology

RAM
4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard
Packard Bell FIH57 (CPU 1)

Graphics
EVGA NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti

Hard Drives
625GB Western Digital WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B2 (SATA) 34 °C

Power Supply
Cooler Master GX Lite 600W

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[Fuzzykins]

What's the actual name of your case? And power supply?

I'd do something like this...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.14 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£22.49 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£77.36 @ More Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £322.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-18 00:41 BST+0100

[Sanji]

I have to check the name of my case, to be honest i have to do that tomorrow as the package in my storage. You were probably already on the topic by the time i had editted my power supply into my OP. Also, the price of the components you posted are €100 above my budget. I really cannot afford that . It feels like you are hinting me to buy a new pc as you named so many parts to be upgraded

[Fuzzykins]

<American>
The fuck is the difference between a € and a £?
</American>

Anyway, PcPartPicker doesn't have a Euro price option, just UK and a very limited selection of AmazonDeutschland. You'll have to find someone European-ish to help you.

[Sanji]

You won't be buying an entirely new PC at 300.

I know and that was not my point. I'm simply wondering which part or parts i should be upgrading to get the most out of my budget.

@M0cha; I actually thought it was Pound :s I'll look into it, thanks for your effort.

[Lektrik]

I know and that was not my point. I'm simply wondering which part or parts i should be upgrading to get the most out of my budget.

As someone suggested before, upgrading your CPU and RAM will give the biggest performance increase. In order to upgrade the CPU you also need a new motherboard. If an i5 is out of your budget, maybe go for something like the i3 4130 and an h81 motherboard.

[Sanji]

I'm actually totalled suprised my CPU is the one that should be upgraded. Is it seriously worse than the i3 4130? I'll do some more research on it. I'll definitly buy the RAM today. However i'll save a little bit more before buying the other parts. If its not too much asked though, would i be able to get significant better parts if my budget was €300 for only the motherboard and CPU parts? Excluding the RAM, which i'll buy today.

[Krasuss]

there is no point buying 1300Mhz ram for this pc unless you can get it really cheap(second hand or something), because you will be throwing that away when you save enough to upgrade CPU and other parts since the new RAM speed will be like 1600MHz atleast(2x4GB sticks).

i would save up more and get atleast i5 as M0cha suggested, the performance boost will be significant and you will love it. get the i3 only if you cant wait, else save up as much as you can

[Lektrik]

I'm actually totalled suprised my CPU is the one that should be upgraded. Is it seriously worse than the i3 4130? I'll do some more research on it. I'll definitly buy the RAM today. However i'll save a little bit more before buying the other parts. If its not too much asked though, would i be able to get significant better parts if my budget was €300 for only the motherboard and CPU parts? Excluding the RAM, which i'll buy today.

Not sure where you're from, but you should be able to get the i5 4690k and a z97 motherboard with that much money. The i3 would still be an upgrade over your current CPU, although not as much as upgrading to a true quad core like the new i5. The main thing is that your CPU does not support 1600mhz ram, which is the standard today and much faster than what you have, so upgrading your CPU is pretty much necessary for you to see any real performance gains in WoW.

P.S. - Remember you can overclock the i5 decently with a cheap aftermarket cooler and get even more performance out of it.

[Sanji]

there is no point buying 1300Mhz ram for this pc unless you can get it really cheap(second hand or something), because you will be throwing that away when you save enough to upgrade CPU and other parts since the new RAM speed will be like 1600MHz atleast(2x4GB sticks).

i would save up more and get atleast i5 as M0cha suggested, the performance boost will be significant and you will love it. get the i3 only if you cant wait, else save up as much as you can

I was actually almost ready to go out and buy that 1600 MHz RAM to install it directly with my current configuration. I guess that is not a good idea haha. I'll set my focus on getting a new CPU then. I'll assume that if i want to get any of the new CPU of todays standard, that a upgrade in my motherboard is also required.

Here is more of my computer spec information.

Computer case:
Aerocool X-Warrior Devil Red Edt. ATX

Power Supply
Cooler Master GX Lite 600W

Is the recommendation that M0cha the most optimal? It's roughly €100 above my budget so i have to really make sure that it's the best possible upgrade i can have for around that budget.

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

What country are you from and is there a website we could look at for you to check prices?

[Sanji]

I'm from the Netherlands. I think the best website to look at the prices would be at http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/. I really appreciate the effort, thank you all again.

[Lektrik]

I can't post links, but on that site it looks like the i5 4690k and a mobo like the ASRock z97 Pro 3 will put you at around 290 euros.

[Sanji]

What's the actual name of your case? And power supply?

I'd do something like this...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£163.14 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£22.49 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£77.36 @ More Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£59.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £322.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-18 00:41 BST+0100

I've done some research on M0cha's proposal and it really seems like the 4690k is the best i can get for WoW. Although people also mentioned overclocking it. Would that be a sensible move for me to do aswell? Would i then need to upgrade PSU too?

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

Intel 4690k €202
Gigabyte Z97p-D3 €80

This would be the choice for prices obtainable there. You should get RAM also, the suggestion being:
Crucial Ballistix 2x4GB €70

You can add an aftermarket cooler to OC the CPU. Something like:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO €29

This would be the upgrade that would be the cheapest to get the most optimal performance. If you already have the RAM, cool.

[Sanji]

Intel 4690k €202
Gigabyte Z97p-D3 €80

This would be the choice for prices obtainable there. You should get RAM also, the suggestion being:
Crucial Ballistix 2x4GB €70

You can add an aftermarket cooler to OC the CPU. Something like:
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO €29

This would be the upgrade that would be the cheapest to get the most optimal performance. If you already have the RAM, cool.

What would be the difference between the Gigabyte Z97p and the ASRock Z97? I have raised my budget to €400,- now with M0cha's suggestion.

Also to what extent does the CPU Cooler influence the CPU's performence? I mean i checked out some recommendations on various threads and on most of the threads the intel i5 4690K is recommended. However the CPU Cooler varies huge in prices where the cheapest i saw that was recommended was 29 euro while the most expensive would be

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£64.90 @ Amazon UK)

[Lektrik]

What would be the difference between the Gigabyte Z97p and the ASRock Z97? I have raised my budget to €400,- now with M0cha's suggestion.

Also to what extent does the CPU Cooler influence the CPU's performence? I mean i checked out some recommendations on various threads and on most of the threads the intel i5 4690K is recommended. However the CPU Cooler varies huge in prices where the cheapest i saw that was recommended was 29 euro while the most expensive would be

There only real difference is the brand, they're both budget motherboards.

Between that Noctua cooler and the cheap Hyper 212 evo recommended to you, there won't be much of a difference. The only thing you really need an aftermarket cooler for is overclocking, and both coolers will perform decently. I personally use a Hyper 212 evo with my 4690k and it works great.

[Idrinkwhiterussians]

The bigger, and more expensive, air coolers will perform a lot better than the one suggested. (212 EVO) The bequiet! Dark Rock 3 is a great choice and is a bit cheaper than the D14.

Also, the MB is not going to be a huge difference. I went for the cheaper option (by only a couple €)


Edit: by "perform a lot better" I mean they will allow higher overclocks at lower temps.

[Sanji]

I felt bad bumping this topic to top but i would like to give my thanks and my respect one more last time. I have confirmed the parts i'd like to buy and i appreciate everyone's help who has helped me with my issue. Thank you all.

[Deleted]

There is so little difference between ram speeds.