1. #1

    Desktop/Netbook combo for Cataclysm

    Hey!

    I am planning on building a new PC for Cataclysm(taking a break from WoW til then).

    So far these are the specs I have considered:
    Motherboard: ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
    CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 955 Black Edition
    Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
    Video Card: XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI-E2.0 x16 Video Card
    Power Supply: OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W Power Supply
    Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
    Reusing my 500GB Seagate HDD and DVD-RW(both Sata)

    Will this setup let me run Cataclysm with Ultra(perhaps lowering shadows, I'd like to keep water as high as possible)? Come Cata I will be raiding mainly 10mans, doing BGs and running heroics with the rare occasional 25man just for kicks. I might also play SC2 every now and then.

    Also, if there is an alternate setup that would be better bang for the buck I'll gladly appreaciate them. ETA on getting all this would be around mid november.

    -----------------
    Secondly

    Since I am in college, I want to get a small laptop to bring to me to class and to surf the web. I was thinking on Asus 1215n which is an ion2 netbook(dualcore 1.8Ghz Atom CPU and nVidia Grafx card). I don't expect this to play WoW well even at medium settings, but for levelling lo lvl alts/questing/doing dailies and running the ocassional 5man will this perform acceptably at even lowest settings?

    I am not expecting much but I would like to know if for trivial things I can use it sporadically while I get the serious gaming(heroics, raids, BGs) on the Desktop.

    Thanks and would love to hear your suggestions.

    -GC
    Last edited by gcrodz; 2010-10-14 at 08:39 PM. Reason: Fixed title typo

  2. #2
    Legendary! llDemonll's Avatar
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    You are setting yourself up for failure by getting a netbook specifically to bring to class to play games with.

    But yes, the desktop will run ultra with medium / high shadows. i would recommend a better video card though, 5850 to match the rest of the system. if you dont plan on OC'ing the CPU, the 5770 will probably do perfectly fine. just saw the best-bang for the buck, stick with the 5770 in that case.

    not being a parent, but in college you will have a ton of free time (unless you do accounting or engineering, but in that case you should already know they will be hard), dont set yourself up for failure by playing games during the small amount of time you do actually need to study/listen/whatever
    "I'm glad you play better than you read/post on forums." -Ninety
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  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by llDemonll View Post
    You are setting yourself up for failure by getting a netbook specifically to bring to class to play games with.

    But yes, the desktop will run ultra with medium / high shadows. i would recommend a better video card though, 5850 to match the rest of the system. if you dont plan on OC'ing the CPU, the 5770 will probably do perfectly fine. just saw the best-bang for the buck, stick with the 5770 in that case.

    not being a parent, but in college you will have a ton of free time (unless you do accounting or engineering, but in that case you should already know they will be hard), dont set yourself up for failure by playing games during the small amount of time you do actually need to study/listen/whatever
    I do really appreciate your advice but I think I must clear thing up a bit...

    I really have no idea about experiences people have at college. I am on my senior year(physics) and while I agree with what you said, I think it is just a matter of having priorities. In my case obviously WoW is a distant third behind college/family. You could say I'm a casual's casual. Id never let WoW affect my RL studies/social interaction. WoW is more of an end of semester/vacation thing for me.

    The laptop I want it for when Im away for checking email, doing class reports. WoW would be a distant bonus for it. I have no intention on playing WoW at classes whatsoever. I just thought that if I ever get a small laptop might as well get an ion one so I can work throughly wth it while having the nice bonus of being able to do trivial WoW activities *if time/college allows*

    Thanks for the advice though, I appreciate it. Just clarifying that not all college gamers are omgnolife people. Some of us have our priorities well put
    Last edited by gcrodz; 2010-10-14 at 11:01 PM. Reason: Spell check

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