The Super Value Computer

[Kripparrian]

It seems that most people who visit the computer forum wants the best system for the lowest price.
So I'm going to post what I think is the cheapest system that will:
(a) run WoW+Cata on ultra and manage ~40 fps at 1080p during 25man raids
(b) have the lowest possible price tag.

Advice, and suggestions are welcome as I am sure many people browse this forum looking for this exact information.
Also feel free to come up with your own ultimate value configuration


Here's what I had in mind:
Intel Core i3-550 Clarkdale 3.2GHz - $114.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115065
ASRock H55M-LE LGA 1156 Motherboard - $64.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157190
GeIL Value PLUS (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 RAM - $45.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820144461
MSI N460GTX Cyclone 768D5/OC GeForce GTX 460 - $149.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814129163
XIGMATEK ACXTNRP-PC502 500W 80+ Bronze- $44.95 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817815008
Linkworld 313-06-C2228 Blue/ Silver Steel Case - $19.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811164093
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320GB - $42.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136075
ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW - $16.99 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827135204

Total price tag = $520.87

You should be able to overclock the CPU to at least 4 GHz

[Moobious]

Wow runs on ultra at 1080p with a 5770.
The 6870 is overkill for wow unless you are playing at some ultra high resolution and reallu feel the need to have AA and MSAA all the way up.

Unlocking and over clocking a phenom 2 isn't very optimal. Using the ACC function to unlock the cores kills the on die temp sensors making it very difficult to monitor the actual temp the CPU is reaching. It's much better to get one of the phenom 2 x3s and over clock from there. Not to mention the x3s are Black edition processors with an unlocked multiplies and cost less.

It's also highly unlikely that you will be able to get a very high over clock with the board you listed. My board has the same CPU power regulation circuitry at the board you listed and I can't give my processor more than 1.5v which tops my OC out at 3.5ghz.

[Kripparrian]

I was considering the AMD Phenom II X3 715. The 3 core ones don't cost less than the dual cores, but I guess having an unlocked multiplier is worth the extra 4 bucks.

As for the gpu, I assume those that want ultra settings will also want 4xAA at least. There arent that many benchmarks but mabe a 5770 or a 460 is enough for that.

Ill look into the motherboard issue

edit: I will probably change the cpu to a x3 740 over the 715 to keep the DDR3 ram

edit2: edited first post. changrd cpu to x3 740, motherboard to MSI 870-G45, and gpu to 5770 (still unsure about this one).

I feel the 3.8 GHz estimate is reasonable with the changes.

edit3: changed power supply to one with lower watts since 650 is no longer needed with the the new gpu

[H3ll]

AMD Phenom x2 545 is a nice choice, to bad that it is really hard to get these days, in holland for example it isnt available anymore for atleast 2 months now.

Also i would advice to get an intel i5 760, they are more expensive, but still worth it.
If you want a setup for as cheap as possible than AMD is the way to go, but if you prefer a more stable pc (especially after OC'ing) i would advice an Intel.
And yes, i do realize that AMD isn't sucking like it used to a few years ago, but their life is still lacking a lot compared to intel, that's an fact.
Last year @ work i've only seen one 'broken' intel cpu, while i saw around 10-15 AMD's, that while roughly 80% of the sold pc's contain an intel cpu, go figure

People just want the cheapest possible with hardware that is just on the edge, investing one time in an high quality pc that will last a lot longer is just as expensive as buying 2 setups or slowly upgrading the pc, but with the 1st option you'll have a high performance pc for some time while with the other 2 options you don't.
Human ignorance... it is a bad thing

[Dethh]

The title did you read it H3ll? This is like the ultimate budget build. Suggesting the i5 760 is counter productive to what Kripp is trying to do.

[vesseblah]

Without overclocking that setup will run 25-man raids in heavy aoe or broken rooms (Marrogar) at 5-10fps at best in 1080p resolution and ultra settings. With overclocking it can do slightly better. When doing "more whelps" achievement at Onyxia, it will drop drop below fps and start doing "seconds per frame" instead.

[Kripparrian]

as far as cpu's go, I dont feel there is a $110 difference between a phenom 2 chip and an i5 760. A fully overclocked phenom x3 chip with an excellent cooler will perform about as well as any overclocked phenom x4 or x6 as far as WoW is concerned.

as for the gpu, as I mentioned earlier, I'm not sure if a 5770 will bottleneck at 1080p + ultra. It will def not hold at 5-10fps though.

[H3ll]

The title did you read it H3ll? This is like the ultimate budget build. Suggesting the i5 760 is counter productive to what Kripp is trying to do.

it is just the way you look at a 'budget build', on a short term or a long term. On a short term the AMD Phenom x2 545 might be a nice option, but it will get outdated soon, a lot faster than the i7 760, that's for sure. The i7 760 will last much longer before it gets outdated, which means that on the long term it will be roughly just as expensive as the amd, while by investing a little bit more right now and spare more in the future you will have a higher performance pc for the first few months/years

[Dethh]

Depends if the i5 is running at 4.0g+ its gonna out perform, is that performance worth $110.00 is the question. Intel OC's better than AMD. The x6 is a bad choice for wow more cores running idle doesn't = performance increase coupled with lower clock speeds. I think Vess's numbers are on the low side of things but I agree with him as not to expect a good gaming experience on the original rig listed.

---------- Post added 2010-11-16 at 09:59 PM ----------

it is just the way you look at a 'budget build', on a short term or a long term. On a short term the AMD Phenom x2 545 might be a nice option, but it will get outdated soon, a lot faster than the i7 760, that's for sure. The i7 760 will last much longer before it gets outdated, which means that on the long term it will be roughly just as expensive as the amd, while by investing a little bit more right now and spare more in the future you will have a higher performance pc for the first few months/years

I agree but in doing so it isn't the "Super" value build anymore. To me the "Value build" would be OC'ing the i5 imo you get best bang for buck even over AMD in future proofing and price vs performance.

[Kripparrian]

a phenom chip at 3.8 will perform about as well as a i5 760 around 3.2-3.3 GHz. Im not sure why you think an i5 760 is so much more future proof?

edit: do you guys think the gpu is lacking? Because the cpu is def not lacking, and most people believe ultra is smooth on an i5-760.

These benchmarks are a bit out of date but are still relevant to the cpu debate: http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,6...e-i5/Practice/

you can see in that link how the i5/i7's compare with the phenom chips

[OneQuickSS]

Hey I was looking to do a major upgrade on my computer before Cataclysm, this thread is right up my alley. But I have a question. My current computer was my first ever home build and I used and OEM copy of Windows XP, if I upgrade my MB, CPU, and GPU can I still reuse my current copy of windows? I'm unsure of the rules governing this sort of thing with MS. Thanks!!

[Dethh]

I don't understand this sentence "a phenom chip at 3.8 will perform about as well as a i5 760 around 3.2-3.3 GHz. "
In the benchmark you listed is the i5 at stock speeds? It shows the 920 over clocked but didnt list i5 speeds unless I didn't see it.

[Kripparrian]

@OneQuickSS you will be able to reuse that oem windows copy. If you run into any issues call intel and they will help you out.

@Dethh i5 760 and i7 920 have the same performance when turbo boost is disabled. edit: when clocks are the same of course edit2: you will not be using turbo boost when overclocking that high

[Deleted]

5770 for WoW isn't lacking at all, you'd be saver with a GTX 460 but the 5770 would do just fine.

[Dethh]

@OneQuickSS you will be able to reuse that oem windows copy. If you run into any issues call intel and they will help you out.

@Dethh i5 760 and i7 920 have the same performance when turbo boost is disabled.

Ok. the whole point of buying the i5 is to OC it to the limit which on good air cooler is around 4g stable. When I talk about i5 I am referring to it at this speed.
Turbo boost is terrible.

[Deleted]

a phenom chip at 3.8 will perform about as well as a i5 760 around 3.2-3.3 GHz. Im not sure why you think an i5 760 is so much more future proof?

edit: do you guys think the gpu is lacking? Because the cpu is def not lacking. These benchmarks are a bit out of date but are still relevant to the cpu debate: http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,6...e-i5/Practice/

you can see in that link how the i5/i7's compare with the phenom chips

The i5-760 is undeniably the current price/performance king at the moment. In terms of out of the box performance and overclock potential. On the latter point, you will need a decent motherboard, CPU cooler and case/mods to achieve the performance games that most enthusiasts look for, which is the crux of the matter, since you're a user looking for a budget PC.

The AM3 Platform you have is fine, infact you could go for the ASROCK M3A770DE, which has similar features to the MSI board you've linked and has been used in other recommended budget builds from credible website reviewers, will save you $15 and has OC'ing capabilities. It is certainly something you should consider, but if the brand name puts you off, then by all means stick to what you have. Other than that, I guess you have your desired budget build.

[H3ll]

a phenom chip at 3.8 will perform about as well as a i5 760 around 3.2-3.3 GHz. Im not sure why you think an i5 760 is so much more future proof?

an i5 760 can be oc'd to 3.8-4 without to much trouble with air cooling, which means it will outperform the amd anytime, also the amd is more risky and unstable to oc than an intel, i know that from personal and professional experience. i've repaired pc's for 5 months 40h a week for internship and now almost a year as a part time job, and oc'd quite a few pc's over the past few years, so i know where i'm talking about.
Lets not start an intel vs amd war or this is better than that chat, so i'd like to end it with a suggestion
Why not split the budget into the cheapest as possible and higher quality/more futureproof option.

the 5770 for example can run wow just fine (wow really doesn't utilize the gpu well) but by spending just a little bit more and getting a 6850 you get a slightly better gpu, but when you need more graphical power in the future you can just get another one and put it in crossfire. of course, you can do that with the 5770 as well, but by spending just a little bit more you get a card that scales much better in crossfire as wel. on short term the 5770 is cheaper, on a long term the 6850 is a better choice, and that is the point i was trying to make with the cpu's as well

[Kripparrian]

Took your advice on the motherboard. Thanks

[OneQuickSS]

Thanks Kriparrian for answering my question. I'm learning a lot from this thread, thanks all....

[Kripparrian]

I updated the original post to cut cost a bit more. Got it to $472.40 so far.

The main change I made was going from the 5770 to the gts 450. With the new drivers, the gts 450 is pulling ahead in most games and its $25 cheaper.