1. #1

    Wink Great WoW computer, low price ($620)

    I recently upgraded my four year old HP computer ( Dual core 2.5GHz, 2gb ram, 500gb hard drive, 9800gt card) and was searching around for a good price tag for constant 60 FPS in open world and ~40 in 25m raids. I was getting around 40 open and 20 raids with my old set up and it was just time to upgrade.

    I started looking at sites like alienware and decided pretty early on that it was out of my price range, so I looked into building my own performance PC to achieve a low price tag but cop'd out at the last second on the grounds that changing hard drives and switching power supplies got me bent out of shape, couldn't imagine sitting down for an hour or two putting everything in my case.

    I decided to look at commercial computer sites (I know, everyone says they're terrible gaming PCs) like Dell, circuit city & Bestbuy and that I would just stick my old 750w power supply in it and buy a new graphics card. Turns out, this is a pretty good combination;

    AMD Athlon™ II x4 3.0GHz - 4 GB Ram - 1 TB Hard drive - Windows 7 premium($465) & A GeForce GTX 460 SE 1 GB ($153) (SE is a slightly toned down version of 460 for $60 cheeper)

    I got the FPS I wanted (1920x1080) - Max settings, 60 open world & ~40 in raids

    I would highly recommend this to anyone who is considering upgrading their set up but is limited by a budget and, like me, doesn't want to have the parts coming in the mail one by one and having to assemble it yourself. However, the power supply that comes with the computer is a measly 250w and won't be able to support the Video card, but the HP case is extremely simple to open and maneuver in, even if you have no computer experience. Sadly I couldn't post links as this was my first post, but you can PM me and I would gladly send you links and if you're serious, help you pick a power supply and set it up with your new card and tower.

    In the end, I will probably upgrade computers like this for the rest of my life; buy a good base from a place like Bestbuy, grab a $200 card & slap it in along with a power supply that can support the card; 5 Mins to put the card/power supply in, 5 mins to set up OS, 2 min to update card drivers? Yes please.
    Last edited by Marrowwind; 2011-02-15 at 05:28 PM.

  2. #2
    What size monitor/resolution you using?
    Current System - Ultra Budget <$550 (Reused: 19" monitor, KB and mouse)
    Case: Xion Echo $50 PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA-500D $50
    Win 7 OEM: $99 HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 250GB 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s $45
    CPU/MB Combo: MSI 880GMA-E45 / Phenom II x3 720 2.8 (OC 3.5) $150
    GPU: MSI R5670 CYCLONE 1G Radeon HD 5670 $89
    Mem: G.Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB 1333 (pc10666) $45
    DVD Burner: Asus 24x $18
    - update: 2/16/11 added Hyper 212 CPU Cooler $30

  3. #3
    I'm using a 23" at 1920x1080, got it a couple years back, no monitor was included with the retail computer.

  4. #4
    Legendary! llDemonll's Avatar
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    define max settings. a SS of your video options menu would do
    "I'm glad you play better than you read/post on forums." -Ninety
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  5. #5
    $620 can get you a more powerful machine if you are a regular custom builder which means you already have a monitor/os/keyboard/mouse/speakers and all you are looking to do is put together a new PC.
    [23:43:22] [P] [85:Bowsjob]: If its between 2 holy pallys its gonna be a gear fight most likely

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by llDemonll View Post
    define max settings. a SS of your video options menu would do

    Everything except shadows (good) as high as possible and vertical sync on.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Marrowwind View Post
    In the end, I will probably upgrade computers like this for the rest of my life; buy a good base from a place like Bestbuy, grab a $200 card & slap it in along with a power supply that can support the card; 5 Mins to put the card/power supply in, 5 mins to set up OS, 2 min to update card drivers? Yes please.
    In the 12 minutes you setup your PC, most people that have put together a PC before could have all the parts in and be working on installing their OS.
    For the 20 minutes you saved, you got some lesser parts and spent an extra ~150$

  8. #8
    Let's say I pieced out my parts;

    Motherboard - 75
    Case - 25
    i3, about equal to my processor - 120
    heatsink - 25
    4GB ram - 40
    1TB hard drive - 50
    Windows 7 home - 50
    dvd drive - 25

    =410, no tax, no shipping and I undershot most of the prices. For Roughly the same set up. Except my parts come in the mail, one by one, and I can't use it until they're all here.

    I don't think I'm undervaluing piecing parts out, I think you're undervaluing store bought computers.

  9. #9
    Legendary! llDemonll's Avatar
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    if you order from the same place, they come at the same time. heatsink isnt needed as the cpu will normally have one (unless you're overclocking)
    "I'm glad you play better than you read/post on forums." -Ninety
    BF3 Profile | Steam Profile | Assemble a Computer in 9.75 Steps! | Video Rendering Done Right

  10. #10
    I'll concede that if I could have probably bought the normal 460 GTX instead of the SE if I had built my own, but to state that I could've payed 150 less for BETTER parts overall is 100% wrong.
    Last edited by Marrowwind; 2011-02-15 at 07:22 PM.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Marrowwind View Post
    I'll concede that if I could have probably bought the normal 460 GTX instead of the SE if I had built my own, but to state that I could've payed 150 less for BETTER parts overall is 100% wrong.
    It's not entirely wrong, but for around the same budget, you can build a slightly more powerful build if you already have an operating system.
    [23:43:22] [P] [85:Bowsjob]: If its between 2 holy pallys its gonna be a gear fight most likely

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by nwo View Post
    It's not entirely wrong, but for around the same budget, you can build a slightly more powerful build if you already have an operating system.
    I was running XP 32 bit and my 500gb was almost full, since I had skipped vista, I decided the jump to win7 would be worth it. 2-3 years from now I'll probably just keep the 1TB I have right now and put it in some Octa-Core 3GHz with 16GB ram that will cost like $500, heh.

  13. #13
    Legendary! llDemonll's Avatar
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    except that to do so, you'll have to buy a whole new computer and by that time the HDD will be obsolete so in 1-2 years you'll be buying an entire new system again
    "I'm glad you play better than you read/post on forums." -Ninety
    BF3 Profile | Steam Profile | Assemble a Computer in 9.75 Steps! | Video Rendering Done Right

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