Build of the Month
Recent Blue Posts
Hunter adjustments -- April 23
Crests in Season 4
Recent Forum Posts
What would you expect the AVERAGE wow player clear in a raid for a season?
Diablo 3 - Calculator Build Contest Starting Soon, Blue Posts, Beta ScreenshotsPatch 4.3.3 on Live Realms (probably) this Week
The final version of Patch 4.3.3 (Build 15354) hit the Blizzard download servers and it means the patch will most likely go live this week. This build seems to be the right one (unless something terrible happens, as usual, but it almost never does).
This patch doesn't really have anything interesting for players, it's mostly a bug fix patch with a way to consolidate most of the Patch 4.3 hotfixes into the game files to display them properly.
If you are testing the 64-bit client, make sure to remove it before the patch, as it blocks the update from working correctly. You can find the full list of files to remove in the support article. There is no new 64-bit client uploaded yet, so you will have to make do with the old 32-bit client until an update is released.
The only significant change is the refinement of the Scroll of Resurrection interface. The new strings hint at the 5 unused invite limit being changed into a daily limit, along with the newly listed 100 limit in Account Management.
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
- SOR_DEFAULT_MESSAGE - "Remember the good times in WoW? I do, so it's time to come back!"
- SOR_DISABLE_CHOOSE_A_TARGET - "Select someone to send the invite to."
- SOR_DISABLE_NO_INVITES_LEFT - "You cannot send any more invites today."
- SOR_INSTRUCTION_EMAIL - "Enter an E-mail address:"
- SOR_INSTRUCTION_SELECT - "Select a friend or guild member:"
- SOR_NUM_REMAINING - "Invites left today: %d"
- SOR_SUCCESSFULLY_SENT - "Your Scroll of Resurrection has been sent!"
Computers - Setup of the Month (by chaud)
Each month or every 2 months, depending on the hardware evolutions, the lovely chaud will work on a couple of hardware setups for those of you who are thinking of upgrading their computer!
This month
Hard drives remain expensive, so now is still a good time to buy a SSD, as the next generation is a while away and the current prices are fairly flat, with sales bringing the cost very close to $1 per gigabyte.
New Ivy Bridge CPUs from Intel are rumored to be released in April still, so if you are not in a hurry they will be a nice upgrade from Sandy Bridge. The current motherboards should support the new CPUs.
The new 7970 GPU from AMD has been released and can be had for ~$580 if you can find it in stock. The 7950 is ~$450 and the 7770 is ~$160 and overpriced for the performance. The more interesting GPUs, 7850 and 7870, should be here soon as well. New GPUs from Nvidia likely won't be here before April or May.
Make sure to keep your AMD and Nvidia drivers up to date.
Don't hesitate to post any feedback in the comments of that news post, and don't forget to visit the Computer Forum for any extra questions! If you are interested in Folding@home, take a look in our team's thread.
Peripherals/Monitors
| Component | Puppy | Dolphin |
|---|---|---|
| Monitor | ASUS VW224U 22-Inch Widescreen - $134 | ASUS VW246H 24-Inch Widescreen - $216 |
| Keyboard | Microsoft Digital Media Keyboard 3000 - $23 | Cyborg V.5 - $50 |
| Mouse | Logitech G400 - $37 | Razer Deathadder - $51 |
| Speakers | Logitech S220 2.1 Speaker System - $23 | Logitech Z313 Speaker System - $43 |
| Component | Narwhal | Unicorn |
| Monitor | ASUS VE276Q 27-Inch - $260 | HP ZR24w 24-inch (IPS Panel) - $368 |
| Keyboard | Logitech G110 - $80 | Razer BlackWidow (Backlit)- $70 ($112) |
| Mouse | Logitech G500 - $59 | Razer Naga (Buttons on the Side) - $68 |
| Speakers | Creative Inspire T3130 2.1 Speaker System - $45 | Logitech Speaker System Z523 - $81 |
Puppy and Dolphin
Overclocked Puppy will outperform Dolphin when multiple threads are in use (Not WoW) and come close in most other cases.
Mix and match anything but the CPU/Motherboard combo between Puppy and Dolphin. Mix and match anything between Dolphin and Narwhal.
Overclocked Puppy will outperform Dolphin when multiple threads are in use (Not WoW) and come close in most other cases.
Mix and match anything but the CPU/Motherboard combo between Puppy and Dolphin. Mix and match anything between Dolphin and Narwhal.
| Component | Puppy | Dolphin |
|---|---|---|
| Case | NZXT GAMMA Classic - $50 | NZXT GAMMA Classic - $50 |
| Power Supply | Corsair CX500 V2 - $57 | Corsair CX600 V2 - $69 |
| CPU | AMD Phenom II X4 960T Black Edition- $132 | Intel i3-2100 - $120 |
| Heatsink | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - $24 | Corsair Air Series A70 - $42 |
| Motherboard | ASUS M5A97 AM3+ 970 - $95 | Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 - $118 |
| Memory | 4GB PNY Optima DDR3 10600 - $21 | 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws F3 12800 DDR3 - $41 |
| Graphics Card | XFX 6770 - $95 | XFX 6870 or EVGA GTX 560 - $160 / $170 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB - $86 | Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - $145 |
| DVD | Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $21 | Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $21 |
| Total | $581 | $766 / 776 |
Narwhal and Unicorn
All of these parts can be mixed and matched to create a build between Narwhal and Unicorn. SSDs are always optional.
All of these parts can be mixed and matched to create a build between Narwhal and Unicorn. SSDs are always optional.
| Component | Narwhal | Unicorn |
|---|---|---|
| Case | Cooler Master HAF 912 - $60 | Cooler Master HAF932 - $130 |
| Power Supply | Corsair 650TX V2 - $90 | Corsair 750HX - $144 |
| CPU | Intel i5-2500k - $225 | Intel i7-2600k - $330 |
| Heatsink | Thermaltake Frio - $55 | Noctua 6 NH-D14 - $85 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 - $154 | ASUS Z68 P8Z68-V/GEN3 - $180 |
| Memory | 8GB G.Skill DDR3 12800 - $58 | 8GB G.Skill DDR3 12800 - $58 |
| Graphics Card | XFX 6950 1GB OR EVGA GTX 560 Ti- $225/ $230 | XFX 6970 2GB OR EVGA GTX 570 - $330 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black - $146 | Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black - $146 |
| SSD | Crucial 128 GB m4 (Review) - $150 OR Corsair Force Series GT 120 GB - $171 | Intel 510 Series 120 GB (Review) - $244 OR OCZ 120 GB Vertex 3 (Review) - $150 |
| DVD | Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $21 | Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $21 |
| Total | $1034 - $1210 | $1574 - $1668 |
Fan Art Update
The World of Warcraft Fan Art Section has been updated with eight new pieces of fan artwork.
MMO-Report
The MMO Report has The Secret World, Guild Wars 2, and Uncle Casey's Mail Bag this week!
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