Cousin wants to play....

[Muddbutt]

So, my cousin has been fiddling lately on my computer playing SC2, a bit of D3 (during the Beta Weekend) and he was saying he might want a computer so we could play together. Now our issue is we are on a VERY tight budget so cost is definitely an issue. However if he decided to pick up and try out GW2 down the road we would rather it not be much of an issue, any possible "oh we will need to upgrade that before we play this" situations would be greatly appreciated to be AVOIDED.

so what i was thinking is getting a i5 2500k? but would that be overkill?

tldr; need a cheap comp build that will play GW2 on decent graphics with no issue (this game should cover graphics requirements). other games that might be played would include; SC2, D3, GW2, WoW, Civilization, AoE 2/3, CnC. that should cover it. also thinking of using our 39" tv for a monitor, would possibly look at an actual desktop monitor in the future.

[noteworthynerd]

Moved to build help.

Because the games you mentioned are more CPU intense than they are GPU intense, you can probably afford a PC based around the 2500K. I'd still say it's gonna cost you at least $800 USD if you've got nothing to recycle and need an Operating System.

I suggest copy/pasting these questions to this thread and answering them, so we can better help you.

[hapylol]

This is what I would recommend for the $800 range. If you want to go lower you will probably have to drop back a generation in CPU's.

Part list permalink / Part price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($117.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.70 @ Amazon)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($95.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 6870 1GB Video Card ($185.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Gamma Classic (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: OCZ 600W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($43.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $835.18
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated 2012-04-23 09:11 EDT-0400)

[Muddbutt]

so it would seem that hapylol's build is pretty much what i need to get/work on. i was thinking of a bit more oomph out of a gpu, will the 6870 be enough? chances are the pc will be running off a 39" HDTV for the first little while, until we decide if were gonna get a monitor or keep with the TV

[hapylol]

Well I didn't have a budget to work with Muddbutt you just said budget was tight. The card should be able to handle GW2 but it is definitely not the best card out right now.

If you have more room just up the Video card. It goes - AMD 6870, Nvidia 560TI, AMD 7850,7870,7950,7970.

[Tehterokkar]

so it would seem that hapylol's build is pretty much what i need to get/work on. i was thinking of a bit more oomph out of a gpu, will the 6870 be enough? chances are the pc will be running off a 39" HDTV for the first little while, until we decide if were gonna get a monitor or keep with the TV

I suggest getting a monitor, TV's are not designed for gaming, also because it is a 39'', it will drain A LOT, A LOT of power from your GPU.

[rhandric]

I suggest getting a monitor, TV's are not designed for gaming, also because it is a 39'', it will drain A LOT, A LOT of power from your GPU.

Size doesn't matter, a 1080 monitor will always have the same number of pixels (resolution) which is all that matters

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

You could get an i3 2100 or i3 2120 instead of the i5 2500K, would save you around 100 bucks.