Upgrading from Craptop for WoD

[Jimjam38]

As requested, I moved this into its own thread. I'm upgrading from a laptop I got in 2009 for $900 -_- My birthday is in early October so my 'funds' will be fully available by then, so I'm happy to wait to buy certain items if its a better idea. Mainly want it ready for WoD. I saw the 'Setup of the Month' post on the homepage, its a great idea, keep it going. I assume most of my setup can be based on the unicorn/narwhal build?

Important Points: Where I live has pretty bad coal dust problems and my previous laptops/computers have typically become very choked with dust a LOT faster than most people's would. It has been particularly bad with my current laptop, as whichever moron designed it made it very difficult to access the fan. As a result I would be wiling to spend a bit more than most on the cooling system and/or case if it can help solve this problem. Either something designed for easy, regular cleaning or something that wouldn't be affected by dust problems, liquid cooling or something, idk.

Budget - $1500 AUD ($1400 USD)

Resolution - Need to buy a new monitor, but want to run wow on max settings?

Games / Settings Desired: Priority - WoW; Ultra graphics for 25man (20man Mythic) Raiding running combat logs and some possible recording (but probably no streaming). Other games include HoTs and stuff i buy on steam and might play one day if the blizzard servers are down xD. Mostly just WoW but I want it to be nice for WoD and into the future.

Any other intensive software or special things you do: Occasional video encoding and math software like MATLAB etc. Nothing major really.

Country: Australia

Parts that can be reused: lol nope

Do you need an OS? Yes

Do you need peripherals: Yes
Monitor (quality over dimensions pls and i sit facing towards a window (monitor facing away from window) so glare could be an issue for glossy screens?)
Mouse (with cord, inexpensive but not shit, some extra buttons (2-4) but no Razor Naga bullshit)
Keyboard (preferably a small one since I'm used to my laptop, and i don't like highly raised keys either.)
Speakers not necessary but a decent headset would be nice.

Internet Connection Speed: STRAYA (average 200 ms on wow at best, US Realm)

If there's anything else you guys need to know please ask

[Fuzzykins]

Hnng, shit is really expensive in Australia. This is relatively difficult.

Check my peripheral guide and either post here or there with the peripherals you decide on to have someone look over it.
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...amp-Discussion

I mean, you're really down to like $1100 AUD after buying peripherals and OS. Monitors are stupid expensive over there, so are quality PSU's.

[Cyrops]

Hnng, shit is really expensive in Australia. This is relatively difficult.

Check my peripheral guide and either post here or there with the peripherals you decide on to have someone look over it.
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...amp-Discussion

I mean, you're really down to like $1100 AUD after buying peripherals and OS. Monitors are stupid expensive over there, so are quality PSU's.

I agree with @M0cha, quality monitors are around $300AUD, OS is $115AUD and then around $50AUD for each peripheral (headset + mouse + keyboard), totaling 560AUD, leaving you with less than $1000AUD for the actual PC.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4360 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($169.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($135.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($99.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.00 @ CPL Online)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 280X 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($329.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: Silverstone RL01B-USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($115.00 @ CPL Online)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($115.00 @ CPL Online)
Monitor: Dell P2414H 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($279.00 @ CPL Online)
Keyboard: Razer DeathStalker Essential Wired Gaming Keyboard ($47.00 @ CPL Online)
Mouse: Corsair Raptor M45 Wired Optical Mouse ($55.00 @ CPL Online)
Headphones: Corsair Raptor HS40 7.1 Channel Headset ($55.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $1536.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-27 16:24 EST+1000

The monitor is the one I would suggest, the other peripherals are there only as fillers for price.
This would get you beafier GPU, and the i3 with that clock will handle WoW nicely.
But here is OCable system with i5, with weaker GPU:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($266.00 @ CPL Online)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($58.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($99.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.00 @ CPL Online)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($219.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: Silverstone RL01B-USB 3.0 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($115.00 @ CPL Online)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($115.00 @ CPL Online)
Monitor: Dell P2414H 60Hz 23.8" Monitor ($279.00 @ CPL Online)
Keyboard: Razer DeathStalker Essential Wired Gaming Keyboard ($47.00 @ CPL Online)
Mouse: Corsair Raptor M45 Wired Optical Mouse ($55.00 @ CPL Online)
Headphones: Corsair Raptor HS40 7.1 Channel Headset ($55.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $1575.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-27 16:29 EST+1000

Even though the second system has weaker GPU, I have the chip r9 270x myself and it runs wow on SUPER ultra and only has around 55% GPU usage in 25mans, so there is still room for WOD to keep the settings at max without any issue.

[Deleted]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($266.00 @ CPL Online)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Respire T40 68.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($39.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($141.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: Kingston Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($95.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($82.50 @ Centre Com)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($62.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 270X 2GB Double Dissipation Video Card ($219.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: Cooler Master K280 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Mwave Australia)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($98.00 @ CPL Online)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($115.00 @ CPL Online)
Monitor: AOC i2367Fh 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($198.00 @ CPL Online)
Keyboard: Razer DeathStalker Essential Wired Gaming Keyboard ($47.00 @ CPL Online)
Mouse: ROCCAT Kova+ Wired Optical Mouse ($49.00 @ CPL Online)
Headphones: Genius 31710043101 Headset ($61.12 @ Mwave Australia)
Total: $1522.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-28 01:39 EST+1000

- - - Updated - - -

Damn those prices, you loose alot from the peripherals. Would be nice to fit a better monitor/case in there.

[Jimjam38]

Thanks so much for the advice guys. Aside the monitor, maybe i can shift the other peripherals towards xmas instead xD

I'll probably go with the A4-Tech X7 for a mouse, its the kind of shape I prefer and, well if its only $20 I've got nothing to lose.
Mic and headphones I'll deal with later, but good to know there's a thread where I can find your recommendations.
Keyboard... keyboard. I was hoping to find one that was a bit more compact and less raised than most to make keybind's easier to manage and just to be a bit more like what I'm used to (i've been using a laptop keyboard for 5 years now). Eh I'll deal with the keyboard later, like you said on that thread, you can't recommend what I'll find comfortable.

Like I said, dust, cleaning and overheating (30-40 °C summers + dust ends badly in my experience) are my main concerns outside of 'can it play wow super pretty?' so with that in mind, are there any cases (or other parts) you'd recommend putting the extra money into?

I take it that beefier GPU>beefier processor for gaming? Does that mean the first build would be better? Or just cough up the extra $$$ and get both?

[Deleted]

So just to clarify , you are asking how you can improve the setup by using all 1500 without including any peripherals?

[Jimjam38]

More or less, yes. Maybe still include monitor costs. I think I also have a copy of Win7 somewhere that I can use.

Mostly what I mean is that IF there is something like a particular case or cooling system available that would help with the dust/overheating problems I have (my suburb is near a coal port and we get all the coal dust, the struggle is real) then I'd be willing to sacrifice peripherals for it. But if spending more on those things won't really make a difference then I'd rather not spend the extra.

[Deleted]

Mostly from the setup above and dust would be a better case, thats it. I'd say a Fractal Design R4,Fractal Design Arc Midi R2,Corsair 330R etc should do the trick. Don't worry about temps, i get those here too they aren't something special to worry about.

[tielknight]

In regards to dust, one way to do that is by getting cheap pairs of stockings/pantyhose and put them over the fans and they will help keep dust out fairly well and be a hell of alot cheaper than buying dust filters. Thinking of doing that myself since we got cats and all that.