New build on the cheap

[orlochavez]

Hello,

I'm trying to build a new computer which I will use primarily to play WoW, watch Netflix and answer email. I currently play WoW on an old HP pavilion a1410n with a GeForce 9400 GT graphics card. I run WoW on fair and I get 50-70 FPS in outdoor areas and cities, but I plummet to 5-10 FPS in raids.

I have an Antec case that I was given by a friend. I do not know the model number, but it's a good size case with 4 fans. It came with a 550W power supply, which I tested about a year ago. I also believe that I can reuse at least the DVD drive from the HP.

Given that, I would like to try to build a new rig for under $300 US that can run WoW on good or high and keep around 30 FPS in raids. This is not counting the OS or any peripherals. Is this possible?

I am willing to sacrifice FPS for price, but not quality. I have had my current computer for 7 years and I would like to get at least 3-4 from this one.

I would post links to the specs for the HP and the photos I have of the case, but I can't since I'm new to the forums.

[Skarsguard]

It's going to be really tough to make a 300 dollar computer that is going to last 4-5 years. I am looking to see what I can come up with thou.
By "last" I mean able to run games with it in 4-5 years decently.

[chazus]

What OS are you currently on? Can you survive on the current hard drive you have? (500gb+?)

[orlochavez]

I'm still running XP. I actually had to downgrade my HDD to the HDD from my previous computer when the one that came with this one pooped the bed. This was about 3 years ago.

I will be upgrading the OS with the new build. I was able to get a copy of Windows 8 for peanuts through a deal at work.

[demonskies]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xOSI for 300 bucks you get that. Using the case, psu, optical drive, and hdd from the system pieces you ahve and os to build a decently upgraded pc that will play on decent settings but dont expect uber amazing settings. OR you can go with an APU setup from AMD.

[chazus]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xOSI for 300 bucks you get that. Using the case, psu, optical drive, and hdd from the system pieces you ahve and os to build a decently upgraded pc that will play on decent settings but dont expect uber amazing settings. OR you can go with an APU setup from AMD.

That's pretty much what I was going to suggest. You can't go over 4gb ram with WinXP (Unless you have 64bit, which nobody does really)

The other option, if you feel you can't use those things, is this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI 760GM-P23 (FX) Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.57 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $356.52
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

I know it says $350, but you can knock about $50 off by using the Win8 Upgrade, installing Win7 without a key, and upgrading to Win8 on a clean install. You'd get better performance from the i3 system, but you're also having to use the old HD. The i3 system would better put you in a place to upgrade later on. The AMD system would be almost reaching it's performance cap with the cpu/mobo as is.

[orlochavez]

Since I need to upgrade the HDD, I was thinking about going with the intel build but replacing the i3 with a dual-core. I can't link but I was thinking something along the lines of Newegg Item #: N82E16819116406. This would free up some budget space for a HDD like the one you linked Chazus.

Would this be limiting the system too much? Would it still leave me in a good position to upgrade the CPU in 2-3 years time?

Your build is attractive though. I got a full copy of the OS from a deal at work for $10, so it effectively removes the cost of the OS from the build. That takes it down well below my budget cap.

[chazus]

If that's the case, I'd probably suggest this.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 3.3GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock B75M-DGS Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($56.97 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($35.57 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: MSI Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $310.51
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Yeah, it's $10 over, but eh. I think with this, it would give you a proper upgrade route later on, and would give you good performance now and for a while. To be honest, I upgraded to my current system about 3 months ago, and the above listed system is slightly better than my old one, and there was nothing 'wrong' with it. I simply came into some money and had the opportunity to do an upgrade. I think this would be a good route to go. If you see a deal on a 7770 video card for like $75 in the next week, I'd say get that if you can.

[orlochavez]

I'll give this one a go. Thanks very much for taking the time!