1. #1

    Helping a Friend Build a New Computer

    He is looking to be able to run WoW on ultra w/ or w/o shadows. Is http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...122&CatId=4910 a decent choice?

    Also would anyone suggest the addition of an aftermarket heatsink, or is the stock Intel one alright?
    Last edited by Diabetic Cannibal; 2011-08-26 at 06:57 PM.

  2. #2
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    What's his budget?
    Will he be running any other games then wow?
    Does he want to FRAPS/render videos?

  3. #3
    Scarab Lord
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    Well if you are planning to overclock the i5 2500K that was selected then an aftermarket cooler is strongly suggested. Not sure about the manufacturer Diablotek, not one I am familiar with at all. Everything else looks fine, really no reason you can't run Ultra with the 550 Ti since you are using the i5 2500k.

  4. #4
    Epic! Skelly's Avatar
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    Stock one is alright if you're not OCing. The kit seems pretty solid, aside from the HDD and PSU probably not being the best you can get, but seems like a good deal for that price range.
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  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Platinus View Post
    1. What's his budget?
    2. Will he be running any other games then wow?
    3. Does he want to FRAPS/render videos?
    1. About $650 is the most he wants to spend.
    2. No
    3. No

    I don't see the need for OC, as he just wants to be able to play WoW on ultra and have multiple tabs open in the backround, so I don't think an additional heatsink would be necessary unless you guys think otherwise.

  6. #6
    I think otherwise, WoW is very harsh on every CPU out there. And since you can get the 2500K to 4.5GHz without much effort it's worth it. A heatsink like the CM Hyper 212 Plus only costs like $30 anyway.

    In WoW, a 20% CPU overclock will net you about 20% FPS increase in 25man raids. And a 2500K @4.5GHz is actually 36% overclocked.

  7. #7
    I am Murloc! Fuzzykins's Avatar
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    The package you have picked out is decent. Pick up an aftermarket cooler and you should be alright, AFAIK. Didn't scan that too thoroughly though. Saw 2500k, P67 motherboard, 560ti, and all under $650. That's a great deal actually. >.>

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Asmekiel View Post
    I think otherwise, WoW is very harsh on every CPU out there. And since you can get the 2500K to 4.5GHz without much effort it's worth it. A heatsink like the CM Hyper 212 Plus only costs like $30 anyway.

    In WoW, a 20% CPU overclock will net you about 20% FPS increase in 25man raids. And a 2500K @4.5GHz is actually 36% overclocked.
    He would see better framerates from a GPU OC. I clocked my X4 955 from 3.2 to 3.7 and got like a 5 fps increase... OC'ing my GPU i went from 80fps everything maxed to 100+ all the time. and that was a 20% overclock on my HD 5770.

    i'd like to say WOW is more a GPU intensive game on framerates than CPU.

  9. #9
    I am Murloc! Fuzzykins's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by VenomX View Post
    He would see better framerates from a GPU OC. I clocked my X4 955 from 3.2 to 3.7 and got like a 5 fps increase... OC'ing my GPU i went from 80fps everything maxed to 100+ all the time. and that was a 20% overclock on my HD 5770.

    i'd like to say WOW is more a GPU intensive game on framerates than CPU.
    Not really...

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by VenomX View Post
    He would see better framerates from a GPU OC. I clocked my X4 955 from 3.2 to 3.7 and got like a 5 fps increase... OC'ing my GPU i went from 80fps everything maxed to 100+ all the time. and that was a 20% overclock on my HD 5770.

    i'd like to say WOW is more a GPU intensive game on framerates than CPU.
    What framerate you get when you hide in a corner in the middle of Silithus isn't comparable to true FPS in a 25-man raid environment. It has been proven multiple times that World of Warcraft is indeed more dependent on the CPU than on the GPU. That said, you do need a decent GPU to run the game, but nothing of the latest is required. I believe a GT8800 is enough to close-to max a game like WoW, however, having things like shadows on ultra dead on requires a strong and potent CPU as much of the calculations are done by, you guessed it, the CPU.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by VenomX View Post
    He would see better framerates from a GPU OC. I clocked my X4 955 from 3.2 to 3.7 and got like a 5 fps increase... OC'ing my GPU i went from 80fps everything maxed to 100+ all the time. and that was a 20% overclock on my HD 5770.

    i'd like to say WOW is more a GPU intensive game on framerates than CPU.
    I was talking about 25man raids, not exploring the world. In 25mans the CPU is the limiting factor by far.

  12. #12
    Here's my suggestion (Which is pretty much useless as it's over budget. Didn't see that post until after I'd finished mine. But the vid card is about 30-40% better in this setup so I'll leave it up in case someone else is interested):
    Antec Three Hundred Case (Could go with a 900 if he wants something a bit fancier with some lights to it)
    Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (stock Heat Sink is fine unless OCing)
    Crucial RealSSD C300
    ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3)
    G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB
    EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
    Total: $818 + ~$10 shipping - $30 rebate (+$60ish in Tax if in CA, TN or NJ)

    Oops, forgot the Power supply: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 650W (650W is plenty for the above system unless he plans to add more video cards in the future and do SLI)


    And if it's in his budget, add in a SSD HD. A 64-80GB is about $120 and is fine for running windows and apps. Would probably need at least 120GB if you want to run games from it. Or, get 2 small ones (can sometimes find them cheap on Ebay). I dropped Windows start up to under 20 seconds (from around 90 seconds) moving to an 80GB SSD and gained about 15FPS moving WoW to a 40GB one (will need a new one for WoW when the next expansion hits though as the drive is nearly full).
    Last edited by Ecwfrk; 2011-08-27 at 02:06 AM.

  13. #13
    I am Murloc! Fuzzykins's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ecwfrk View Post
    Here's my suggestion:
    Antec Three Hundred Case (Could go with a 900 if he wants something a bit fancier with some lights to it)
    Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (stock Heat Sink is fine unless OCing)
    Crucial RealSSD C300
    ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3)
    G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB
    EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
    Total: $723.41+ ~$10 shipping - $30 rebate (+$60ish in Tax if in CA, TN or NJ)

    And if it's in his budget, add in a SSD HD. A 64-80GB is about $120 and is fine for running windows and apps. Would probably need at least 120GB if you want to run games from it. Or, get 2 small ones (can sometimes find them cheap on Ebay). I dropped Windows start up to under 20 seconds (from around 90 seconds) moving to an 80GB SSD and gained about 15FPS moving WoW to a 40GB one (will need a new one for WoW when the next expansion hits though as the drive is nearly full).
    Why are people recommending an SSD for a build under $1000? Where's the PSU? How about the ODD? HDD? Sigh. -_-'

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ecwfrk View Post
    Here's my suggestion:
    Antec Three Hundred Case (Could go with a 900 if he wants something a bit fancier with some lights to it)
    Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (stock Heat Sink is fine unless OCing)
    Crucial RealSSD C300
    ASRock P67 EXTREME4 (B3)
    G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB
    EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
    Total: $723.41+ ~$10 shipping - $30 rebate (+$60ish in Tax if in CA, TN or NJ)

    And if it's in his budget, add in a SSD HD. A 64-80GB is about $120 and is fine for running windows and apps. Would probably need at least 120GB if you want to run games from it. Or, get 2 small ones (can sometimes find them cheap on Ebay). I dropped Windows start up to under 20 seconds (from around 90 seconds) moving to an 80GB SSD and gained about 15FPS moving WoW to a 40GB one (will need a new one for WoW when the next expansion hits though as the drive is nearly full).
    For a $650 budget there is absolutely no room for a SSD. Completely wasted as it won't increase performance in any game. Also, never get a second-hand SSD. Just don't, at least not unless you know the person you are buying it from personally.

    For a WoW only computer, I would probably try to stick with the i5 2500k (or i5 2500 if no OC:ing is planned), but you can easily drop the GPU down to a 6850 (or even a 5770). Also, seems you forgot a PSU and HDD.

  15. #15
    The Lightbringer Uggorthaholy's Avatar
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    i5 2500k
    4GB 1600 MHz RAM (2X2GB kit @ 1.5V)
    GTX 560Ti
    Corsair A70 or similar cooler
    Any P67 motherboard will do (pick one around $110-$125, those usually are the bottom line that will allow a SLi upgrade in the future)
    500 or 650W 80+ PSU. 650W to future proof for SLi, 500 for short term.
    any case'll do

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzykins View Post
    Why are people recommending an SSD for a build under $1000? Where's the PSU? How about the ODD? HDD? Sigh. -_-'
    Yes, I forgot the PSU. And I started my post before he posted his budget constraints. I was aiming for his performance desires.
    ODD? I haven't used mine in years. I download everything and stick it on a USB stick if I need to move it around. An ODD is a waste of space in the case.
    And I always pull my old HDD out of my current computer when I upgrade. It's not like a new one is going to be any better than the old one. If I plan to sell the old computer, then I buy a new HDD for it so I don't have to spend 2 days secure erasing my old drive.
    And I recommend an SSD for anyone. Even the old, slow ones are a big improvement over platters. You can often find 40GB SSDs on Ebay or Craigslist for under $40. You save most of that by not buying the ODD.

    Completely wasted as it won't increase performance in any game.
    Any game that often reads the HDD, like WoW does (run process monitor while playing sometime), will see an improvement. You'll also see a marked improvement in just about everything else you do with your computer.

    And 2nd hand SSDs are fine as long as you aren't buying a SLC drive as those were likely used in a server. MLC drives rarely are used in an enterprise situation so they will be very unlikely to have been hit very hard and will have more then enough life left in them to be worth the price. Just make sure it's a new enough model to still be under warranty and they're fine.
    Last edited by Ecwfrk; 2011-08-27 at 02:37 AM.

  17. #17
    I am Murloc! Fuzzykins's Avatar
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    No you won't. The fact that it's constantly reading from the HDD is irrelevant, as WoW with background programs alone isn't enough to saturate the read speed of your hard drive.

  18. #18
    The Lightbringer Uggorthaholy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuzzykins View Post
    No you won't. The fact that it's constantly reading from the HDD is irrelevant, as WoW with background programs alone isn't enough to saturate the read speed of your hard drive.
    This, four times. You will see an improvement in load times between zones, and when first loading into the game, but other than that, nothing for WoW from an SSD. Not like you would from better components. I personally don't recommend an SSD until like the $1,300.00 range (thats including OS and a monitor, etc. without it's like the 1k range)

  19. #19
    the question is, if that package was bought as in the link, would I be able to run with max settings? (excluding shadows)

  20. #20
    Of course, the 2500k at stock with any decent gpu will destroy wow. You don't need a ssd, I have a 7200 rpm hdd and I load in like 3 seconds.

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