Returning to WoW. New Computer/Accessories Advice

[Nxt0154]

• Budget:

1200-1500 USD ideally.

• Resolution:

1080p or 1440p (If you think that is the better priceerformance ratio)
I honestly don’t know if I could tell the difference. I don’t think I played on a 1440p monitor.

• System Purpose:

Accounting WFH and for WoW (mostly 5 man mythic pluses and LFR)

• If a gaming system, what games and settings are desired?

I’d like to play near max, but I am not sure what my budget would allow.

• Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc)

Ideally I would like to record myself playing, but I don’t know how intensive that would be on the system.

• Do you plan to overclock?

Not immediately. I never overclocked my previous i5-2500k.

• Country

New Hampshire, USA.
*Microcenter is about 2 hrs away, but in MA. Rather not have to pay sales tax.

• Preferred Stores / Sites

No preference; whatever is the best price.

• Parts that can be reused:

I have no parts from the previous computer.

• Do you need an OS?

Yes. I guess I would prefer Windows, since that is what I am most familiar with. Open to recommendations!

• Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)?

ALL THESE NOT INCLUDED BUDGET

Monitors:
I do need two monitors as I need to look at multiple excel workbooks at one time for school and work. I am not sure how intensive it would be to keep open a few tabs for youtube, music, etc plus discord. Pretty lost on the intensity of negative effects that would have on in game play.

Headset:
I do need a headset with a mic. When I did play, I found a wired one to be annoying, so I’d prefer wireless. If there is a good wired headset, I could just put it on for the higher keys and deal with it. Not a dealbreaker.

Keyboard:
A keyboard recommendation would be nice. Preferably with a wrist pad. I have one of the razer keyboards but it’s about 8 years old, one key is missing/broken, and maybe I just need a new keyboard. I still like my Naga mouse.

Speakers:
I didn’t think about speakers, but do this matter if I just plan to play with a headset on for like 90 percent of the time? The desktop will be in a common area for a while, so unfortunately can’t be blasting music.

Thanks!

Edit:
There is this build (that someone was kind enough to do) that is a bit over budget but includes the OS and a headset.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU Cooler: Deepcool GAMMAXX 400 Blue 74.34 CFM CPU Cooler

Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 AORUS ELITE ATX AM4 Motherboard

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory

SSD: Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive

Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB KO GAMING Video Card

Tower: Phanteks Eclipse P300A Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular
ATX Power Supply

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit

Case Fan: Corsair AF120 (2018) 52 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack

Headset: Kingston HyperX Cloud II 7.1 Channel Headset

Total Price: $1595

I have never dealt with AMD and only Intel processors. Is the difference pretty negligible with a similar Intel processor? Any recommendations?

Thanks

[Temp name]

https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...-build-Read-me!

If you could just quickly format your post like the above thread, that'd be a huge help.

All the info seems to be there, but having to hunt around for it is rather annoying

[Thunderball]

Ability to upgrade in the future if needed

That's not really possible right now. AMD is going to change sockets and switch to DDR4 after Ryzen 4000, Intel is most likely doing the same after Rocket Lake (11th gen).

[Nxt0154]

I have reformatted for easier reading. Hopefully I remembered to include everything in this edited post!

Thanks!

- - - Updated - - -

Ok. That is good to know. Guess I would have to put some money aside to do a completely new system within a few years?

[Thunderball]

I have reformatted for easier reading. Hopefully I remembered to include everything in this edited post!

Thanks!

Let me make it clear: are those $1500 for the whole thing or just the build excluding all peripherals?

Ok. That is good to know. Guess I would have to put some money aside to do a completely new system within a few years?

That depends on your performance requirements. But your upgrade options are going to be pretty limited with whatever you can buy at the moment.

[Nxt0154]

Let me make it clear: are those $1500 for the whole thing or just the build excluding all peripherals?

Let's just make it easy and say this is for the build excluding peripherals. I'd prefer to stay with Intel.

Also I've heard to just wait for the GTX 30X0? Is that just the smart move to do?

If that's the case, how would a build look to include this card?

Thanks.

[Nxt0154]

1200-1500 for the build excluding peripherals. I edited the original post to reflect so.

Would prefer to stay Intel over AMD.

Would it just be better to wait until the new GTX 30X0s come out? If so would there be a build recommended to include one?

Thanks.

[Thunderball]

Would prefer to stay Intel over AMD.

You have to be overclocking for Intel to make sense price-wise. Otherwise it's just better to buy AMD and spend the money elsewhere.

Would it just be better to wait until the new GTX 30X0s come out? If so would there be a build recommended to include one?

Given the budget - yea.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: upHere AC12BE CPU Cooler ($21.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 AORUS ELITE ATX AM4 Motherboard ($149.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Elite 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400A ATX Mid Tower Case ($70.98 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($78.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $536.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-18 12:28 EDT-0400

CPU: Wait for Ryzen 4000 series. If it doesnt give you a CPU for your build it might bump the prices down. Since you're waiting for a GPU might aswell wait for a CPU aswell.
GPU: 3070 should be your pick given the budget. 2070S would do too considering you're playing WoW only but it feels stupid buying it right now for $500 given that a replacement is right around the corner.

Monitors: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/wXR...itor-27gl83a-b A pair of these would be good if you can afford it. Alternatively just get the cheapest 1440p monitor you can find that would go well visually with whatever you choose. ASUS VG27AQ is also a valid choice for a primary monitor but it's imo too expensive to buy two of those. I'm not sure how much you're willing to splash for monitors but with the kind of GPU you can afford with that build budget I'd look into 1440p.

Headset: Headsets are not an optimal choice by any means (I'd take mic+good headphones any day if there's an option) but otherwise I use HyperX Cloud IIs and I'm pretty happy with them. If you're looking into wireless that has to be radio wireless, not bluetooth wireless otherwise there's no point imo. And good radio wireless headsets start with pretty much Steelseries Arctis 7 ($150), but take note that those are strictly for gaming, music wont really work with those. If you want to both game and listen to music comfortably you're looking at starting with $200 price point.

Keyboard: I'm totally opposite in terms of what kind of keyboard I go for so I'm gonna pass here.

[Kagthul]

Since you wanted to stick to Intel, its more expensive than a Ryzen-based system would be, but also comes with about ~700mhz-1ghz clock speed advantage over a 3600/X if you OC it.

If you wanted to go with Ryzen, itd probably be ~70$ cheaper.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jCVRf9

CPU: Intel Core i5-10600KF 4.1 GHz 6-Core Processor ($277.50 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Pure Rock 51.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($47.24 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z490M GAMING X Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($74.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($104.99 @ Adorama)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($48.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA B5 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.98 @ Newegg)
Custom: GTX 3070 FE ($500.00)
Total: $1293.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-18 17:46 EDT-0400

Its a bit over, but the 3070 is worth it. Its reportedly going to be about as powerful as the 2080Ti for 500$ vs 1200$+.

Its up to you if the extra performance of Intel (when OCed) is worth the 70-100 more. Its not going to be titanic or anything - about 10-15% at best in most games, with the most significant gains actually be in 1% and .1% lows being more stable rather than max fps. Both an R5 3600/X and the i5 10600K/KF are completely capable of well over 100ps at 1440p in AAA games, so the benefit of Intel might be superflous if you aren't concerned with hitting 144fps in all titles all the time (and better minimums).

As for the rest:

Monitors:
I do need two monitors as I need to look at multiple excel workbooks at one time for school and work. I am not sure how intensive it would be to keep open a few tabs for youtube, music, etc plus discord. Pretty lost on the intensity of negative effects that would have on in game play.

Really need a budget here. There's lots of options, but budget is definitely a must before solid suggestions can be made. Especially if you want 1440p. You can get some basic 1440p IPS/60ha/no frame sync monitors or ~200-250. Theyll be perfectly servicable. But if you want high refresh rates, frame sync (FreeSync or Gsync) etc, prices go up. Sometimes very high.

Headset:
I do need a headset with a mic. When I did play, I found a wired one to be annoying, so I’d prefer wireless. If there is a good wired headset, I could just put it on for the higher keys and deal with it. Not a dealbreaker.

Depends on how much of an audiophile you are. Wireless headsets (even RF headsets) have a definite upper limit on sound quality (there is, after all, a limit on how much sound data can be sent over a wireless signal), but ive found that if you aren't a real audiophile with really good ears... you probably wont notice. My ears certainly aren't that good.

However, i will stand with "dont get a headset" - get a pair of decent cans and a standalone mic - a ModMic if you want to put it on your headphones, or something like a Blue Snowball or Yeti, or equivalent. (Razer's Sieren is decent, and Redragon actually makes a decent set of standalones that are quite affordable).

Much like wireless headsets, there is an upper limit over how good the quality can be over a wirless connection, but if you go with separate units, they aren't sharing bandwidth each other so both will be better. ModMic has a wireless mic, if you want to go that way (and you can get OK wireless headphones) - but stick to RF units, not Bluetooth. Bluetooth is lossy AF and even as a defiite NON-Audiophile even i can tell the difference. If you go standalone desk mic, they are all wired that im aware of.

If you stick with wired, i'd still recommend getting a decent set of headphones and using a ModMic if you need it on the cans. Basically a build-your-own headset.

Keyboard:
A keyboard recommendation would be nice. Preferably with a wrist pad. I have one of the razer keyboards but it’s about 8 years old, one key is missing/broken, and maybe I just need a new keyboard. I still like my Naga mouse.

Again, depends on budget. Razer's boards are back to being pretty OK (they had a few years where whoever they were using to OEM their boards was terrible and they fell apart, but that seems to be solved). A lot of people really like Corsair's lineup (i dont because they mostly come in Reds and Speeds/Clears and i hate linear switches), and i will say their RGB software is by far the best (its VERY programable, people made patters like Pac-Mac chasing ghost across the keyboard, and the settings files are shareable).

If you're on a budget, i'd recommend Coolermaster's CK-series. Theyre "cheap" lineup, they are still solidly built, and use Kailh switches instead of "real" Cherry switches, but ive found no practical difference between my ASUS Claymore (Cherry Browns) vs the CK530 i got for my daily driver (uses Kailh Browns). They also dont need any RGB software, you can actually do pretty robust RGB control with just the keyboard itself. They also work with CM's software (which is average) but since I use it on my Mac, where there is no software support, that ability was nice. They have a higher-end version of that line, the SK-series, that uses real Cherry switches and i believe comes with a wrist rest (that lights up IIRC).

If you just want an extremely solid board with simple RGB capability, Ducky boards are well regarded and built like tanks.

IF you're on a super-budget, Redragon again makes a showing here - their RGB boards use Kailh switches and are quite good for their price (like... 50$ for a full RGB full keyboard).

Speakers:
I didn’t think about speakers, but do this matter if I just plan to play with a headset on for like 90 percent of the time? The desktop will be in a common area for a while, so unfortunately can’t be blasting music.

I mostly listen to audio through my Mac, where i have the Logitech MX Sound speakers. For their price (at least now, they were overpriced when they launched), they are very good. Again, not audiophile gear, but very clear, with good mids and decent bass (no Subwoofer, they have little bass chambers). They also have multiple connection types (wired, Bluetooth) and convenient touch controls built into the speaker face. They have a newer version (they still sell both) that have RGB in them but otherwise are the same. I dont remember what the newer ones were called.

On my gaming PC i usually use smaller speakers in games that dont require "good" sound and a Corsair headset (the VOID Pro) for games where good sound/positional audio is called for). I currently use the Logitech Pebble 2.0 speakers (theyre small, convenient, and only like 30$) for basic gaming. You can add a Sub later if you want, IIRC.

In your position i'd still get speakers (just so if your headset dies you still have sound) but id get something like the Pebbles. They are good enough (they actually sound just fine even turned up loud, at least to my non-audiophile ears) for any daily use.

Ill be swapping my Pebbles (ill probably hand them down to my son) for a pair of the Phanteks Evolv speakers (i have a Phanteks case, and they match the styling of their cases) but those are also not audiophile gear - just basic ~35$ speakers.