Marest's Sample Builds

[dahawk]

Extreme Budget Gaming 400 would that build be able to handle wow on lets say good settings and have good fps in 25's

[Deleted]

The 400 build should be able to handle WoW extremely well in solo and 5-man content. It will do alright in 10-man content - shadows turned completely off and particle effects dialed down. For 25-mans, I would probably estimate that you would need to dial it down to a mix of good and high settings to maintain 40-50fps average (during fights).

This all assumes a low amount of add-ons, 1080p resolution and multi-sampling turned off. Anything that will eat a significant portion of the CPU power (add-on) will most likely result in a fairly substantial reduction to the effective minimum framerate (25-mans).

[dahawk]

The 400 build should be able to handle WoW extremely well in solo and 5-man content. It will do alright in 10-man content - shadows turned completely off and particle effects dialed down. For 25-mans, I would probably estimate that you would need to dial it down to a mix of good and high settings to maintain 40-50fps average (during fights).

This all assumes a low amount of add-ons, 1080p resolution and multi-sampling turned off. Anything that will eat a significant portion of the CPU power (add-on) will most likely result in a fairly substantial reduction to the effective minimum framerate (25-mans).

and windows 7 would run pretty good on this as well correct?

[terrih91]

hmm these look pretty damn good actually thanks for sending me here.

[DeltrusDisc]

and windows 7 would run pretty good on this as well correct?

Windows 7 would run fine on I would say all of the machines.

[dahawk]

Windows 7 would run fine on I would say all of the machines.

thank you for the help

[JJ Alex]

Hello guys, and girls, me again...

I'm having a problem finding the Radeon 6870 here in Boston, and buying online is not an option at the moment, so I was wondering if the GTX 550Ti or GTX 560 would be good replacements. Is there a big performance gap between these 2? I just play WoW and D3 and I can't spend more than US$200.00. Is there any other GPU in this price range that you guys recommend?

Thanks!

[DeltrusDisc]

I would avoid the 550 Ti, the 560 however is a decent GPU and if you can't really get anything else, then it is not a bad option.

You could also just opt for a 6850 and perhaps try and OC it a bit. Hope this helps!

[Hethor]

Nice list. I'm eyeing the Gaming 1600 setup. Would switching to the geforce 680 and a HAF X case be viable? Also should that be enough for Diablo at max settings? Would Gaming 1200 be enough? I'll probably just be running Diablo 3.

[Xuvial]

Nice list. I'm eyeing the Gaming 1600 setup. Would switching to the geforce 680 and a HAF X case be viable? Also should that be enough for Diablo at max settings? Would Gaming 1200 be enough? I'll probably just be running Diablo 3.

The $450/$550 builds can max out D3 easily at 1080p. The $1200/$1600 builds are aimed at maxing out heavyweight games like Crysis 2 and BF3....if you're just going to play D3, those builds would be completely wasted.

Oh and HAF-X is a great case, sure you can swap to it

[Deleted]

Nice list. I'm eyeing the Gaming 1600 setup. Would switching to the geforce 680 and a HAF X case be viable? Also should that be enough for Diablo at max settings? Would Gaming 1200 be enough? I'll probably just be running Diablo 3.

Getting a $1200 gaming computer for a game such as Diablo III would be short of a waste. Even the 450 build has enough raw power to run a demanding title such as Battlefield 3 at medium/high settings at 1080p. I have a friend who does just that.

What I would recommend though if you have some extra money and want a good computer that will last for a while (without spending a fortune) is the following:
- i5 2500k, no reason not to get an unlocked CPU and bring it up to 4.0-4.4GHz.
- 8GB of RAM
- A 500GB storage HDD of sorts.
- 128GB SSD
- GTX 460, Radeon 6870, GTX 560 Ti (at $220), Radeon 7850

Should cost between ~$700-950 depending on what GPU you get, excluding Windows. I find that the 800 build + a SSD is what I would recommend to most friends as a good, modern gaming PC.

As Xuvial said though, if you are getting this entirely for Diablo III, get the 450 build, add a SSD (if you want to) and you are good to go.

[Hethor]

Thanks for the advice, i took some parts from the 800 and 900 build. This is what i was able to make up
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/a3gW
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/a3gW/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/a3gW/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($142.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1066 Memory ($41.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.00 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($249.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 600T White Graphite ATX Mid Tower Case ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($75.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1086.78
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-06-13 13:29 EDT-0400)

The case is probably a bit excessive but i don't mind paying the premium for such a sleek case. Will all the components work together?.. This is my first build so i'm unsure if the parts will be compatible or not.

[Deleted]

Yep looks good, you're good to go.

[Hethor]

Ok, thanks a lot. One more question... should i get a CPU cooler or should I be fine without one?

[Deleted]

If you intend to overclock then yes you should get one.

If you're looking for a cheap decent option I recommend this:

XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 - $30

A step up from that (air) would be something like this:

NZXT HAVIK-140 - $60

Noctua NH-C14 - $70

Corsair H80 or H100 is good too (closed liquid loop) but they're also ~$90-113 + custom fans if you prefer.

[DeltrusDisc]

I would like to see more people getting the NZXT Havik-140, great CPU heatsink for sure!

[YouTube1080p]

I would like to see more people getting the NZXT Havik-140, great CPU heatsink for sure!

I love the performance and quietness of the Noctua NH-D14 I have, but I love the looks of the H100 (which I'm heavily considering next build). Just sucks that I'll probably have to replace the fans.

[BicycleMafioso]

I love the performance and quietness of the Noctua NH-D14 I have, but I love the looks of the H100 (which I'm heavily considering next build). Just sucks that I'll probably have to replace the fans.

Replace the fans with Noctua fans!
I don't care what y'all say, they are gorgeous! (but could perform better and be quieter)

[YouTube1080p]

Replace the fans with Noctua fans!
I don't care what y'all say, they are gorgeous! (but could perform better and be quieter)

I would but I'm going with a red/black theme (hence the H100 over NH-D14), I wish Noctua made black fans even though that tan/brown is like their signature.

[Deleted]

Interesting, if it's good you might have something to add to the mouse suggestions, we'll see it's scheduled for July.

Logitech Unveils the G600 MMO Gaming Mouse