New PC for 1440p WoW

[Biomega]

It's about time I got myself a new gaming PC, and this time I want to make the transition to 1440p. I'm currently running my laptop through peripherals, but it's just not quite cutting it (only about 30-40 fps in WoW at 1440p, with settings level 7).

My budget is about $1,500 - $2,000 depending on how much I need to run things I want to run, the way I want to run them.

My goal is 1440p at 60+fps. I already own a 1440p monitor I'm happy with (2560x1440, 144Hz, with G-Sync).

The games I play are about 75% WoW and 25% pretty RPGs in the vein of Witcher III or Skyrim (and irrelevant old games that run on a toaster). I like fidelity, and I like 60+fps. I do NOT play shooters or racing games, so something like 100fps madness is unlikely to matter.

I also do NOT do video editing or rendering, but I do like to run Twitch in the background on Chrome. I am considering buying a second monitor sometime down the line for an additional non-gaming screen (so probably 60hz).

I live in the US and I the only existing parts I will be using is my peripherals (including the monitor). I'd need an OS as well, but I'm guessing it's just going to be Win 10 Home (64) so that's easy.

I've been considering something like this PCPartpicker list, but that's by no means a totally informed setup or anything, just what I could piece together from browsing these forums and a cursory look over the component ratings. Feel free to suggest any and all changes, I'm not married to anything - what counts is performance. That being said, from personal experience I try to stay away from AMD - I simply have had nothing but trouble with them, frying two of their CPUs over the years and having a graphics card run hotter than the sun, while Intel/nVidia have not given me any problems at all.

Here's some things I'm particularly unsure about:

• CPU - I know that WoW is a CPU-heavy game, and that I should probably overclock for best performance. That's fine. I don't know what CPU is best for that, though, and also works well with my other pretty games when I want to play them; some future-proofing in that respect would be a consideration I suppose. I also like running Twitch in the background, and it's so far turned out to be an absolute resource glutton, so I don't know how important the CPU is for that, too.
• RAM - I am a little confused about the RAM speeds, and how much they really add to everything. Given that it can mean a $/GB ration twice as high, I'd appreciate some clarification, advice, and/or recommendations in that respect.
• SSD - Apparently there's all sorts of interfaces for these now, like PCIe or M.2? Is this something to worry about? Should it be significantly bigger than the usual ~250GB or am I just going to run the OS on there and not much else?
• Power Supply - How do you even get to the Wattage you need with this? Eyeball it? 650W-one-size-fits-all?
• Cooling - Noise is a minor concern, I suppose, but the main problem I've always had with my machines since like the 1990s has been that they've just run quite hot. I want to avoid that this time. If I'm overclocking, is a water-cooling system a must, or are the fans good enough these days? Will I end up with a blow-drier level of noise as a result?

Any help is appreciated! And of course feel free to ask any questions.

[Ashkaandi]

CPU - If you can wait a little longer, new Intel chips are about to launch. October I think. Otherwise I would recommend 8700k as you have on the list.

RAM - While not as important for Intel as it is for AMD, just due to how the two architecures work. What you have selected should be fine. All I know when it comes to memory is the faster it is the more frames per second it can equal.

SSD - An m.2 ssd does use the pci-e lanes. So it can rob a little performance from graphics card but usually not enough that you will notice in games. Size, really up to you and what you want to have on it. I use 2 standard ssd in my machine. The odd thing I think about with m.2 vs ssd is m.2 you won't have to run any cables since it hooks directly into the motherboard.

Power Supply - For a system like this 650w should do fine. However, I would recommend say 750-850w for overclocking. Maybe even 1000w but I'm not too sure what the comfortable minimum would be in that situation.

Cooling - Depends on preference partly. Case is a big factor. You can do airflow and overclock with things like a Noctua cooler on your list. I use Corsair liquid coolers simply because they are easier to install and I don't have to worry about the height of an air cooler. I had a pump fail on me once but that was after 6 years of continuous use. Air will last longer and easier to change a fan. Air will also cool down faster after a session. You can make things run pretty quiet these days even with overclocking. I have a Phanteks Evolv TG with liquid cooler mounted in front with 2x 120s for pull (pulling air through radiator). Then 1 140 fan at the back. It gets a bit hot but not easy bake oven hot. This case is generally bad with airflow and I have spaced out the front panel and cut the dust filter up on the front.

My rig is a 1440p g sync as well. Anyway hope it helps, perhaps others can fill in where my info gaps.

[Kagthul]

CPU - If you can wait a little longer, new Intel chips are about to launch. October I think. Otherwise I would recommend 8700k as you have on the list.

RAM - While not as important for Intel as it is for AMD, just due to how the two architecures work. What you have selected should be fine. All I know when it comes to memory is the faster it is the more frames per second it can equal.

Not really. For intel, the difference between the fastest and slowest DDR4 in games is within the margin of error. 1-3fps.

SSD - An m.2 ssd does use the pci-e lanes.

Uhh.. no. m.2 is simply a connector type. m.2 can be SATA III, AHCI, or NVMe. SATA m.2 will not use any PCIe lanes. NVMe does (usually 4x) but it wont affect the performance of any single-GPU system, as not even a 1080Ti saturates PCIe 3.0 8x, much less 16x. Im not sure if AHCI uses chipset PCIe lanes or CPU lanes, but its super uncommon anyway.

Just get SATA SSDs. The performance difference for NVMe is not noticable in daily driver tasks or gaming, at all. While yes, it is quite a bit faster than SATA, you're unlikely to notice the difference between a 6 second loading time and a 5 second loading time. And considering how much more expensive/GB NVMe is, its a waste unless you're doing something that needs the IO speed.

So it can rob a little performance from graphics card but usually not enough that you will notice in games. Size, really up to you and what you want to have on it. I use 2 standard ssd in my machine. The odd thing I think about with m.2 vs ssd is m.2 you won't have to run any cables since it hooks directly into the motherboard.

Power Supply - For a system like this 650w should do fine. However, I would recommend say 750-850w for overclocking. Maybe even 1000w but I'm not too sure what the comfortable minimum would be in that situation.

Dear god no. 650W is fine for any single-GPU system, even overclocking. My system (i5 8600K @ 4.9Ghz and a GTX 1080Ti FTW3) draws a whopping 350W under load.

Cooling will depend on your case, how the airflow pattern is, how quiet you want it to be, etc. Any good 240mm AIO water cooler or large air cooler (like a Noctua or BeQuiet!) will easily cool an overclocked 8700K.

If you can afford to wait, though, i'd wait. the 9700K (8 cores/no Hyperthreading) is actually posting some beastly numbers in leaked benchmarks and stock turbos to 5Ghz, as well as having a soldered IHS for much better thermals.

- - - Updated - - -

This is an example build within your budget (about halfway between the minimum and max).

Its fairly basic (no RGB RAM or anything).

Consider getting the RTX 2080 instead of the 1080Ti, as they will be about the same price, and if the RTX is available when you're building, it will perform the same or better, have the RTX capability, and use less power (and therefore generate less heat).

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8NfpV6
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8NfpV6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG Strix Z370-H Gaming ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($158.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB STRIX GAMING Video Card ($749.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case ($97.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - EVO Edition 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.90 @ B&H)
Total: $1776.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-09-19 02:22 EDT-0400

[Temp name]

We're getting new CPU's from Intel in a month or so, and new GPU's from Nvidia tomorrow, and in 8 days (The 2080ti is delayed slightly). So just wait a month if you can, and if you can't, at least wait a week so you can get the newest generation of GPU's, since from leaks and press release (take with a grain of salt) they both look to beat the shit out of the current top-end line up.

As for your questions:
CPU - the 8700k is perfectly fine. It can OC quite well, and has plenty of cores. But as I said, the 9000 series is launching soon and it looks like the 9700k will beat it in pretty much everything.

RAM - 3000 or 3200MHz is fine. Faster RAM performs slightly better, but not worth the price unless you're running Ryzen, and even then probably not.

SSD - You have 3 main choices when it comes to connections. SATA, This is your standard SSD. PCIe, this is an expansion card like a GPU, and needs a PCIe slot. M.2, this is a small little stick (About USB-thumb drive sized), that needs a dedicated slot on your MOBO. You can also get PCIe cards with M.2 slots on them.
You have 2 main choices when it comes to protocol (how fast it'll be). SATA, or NVMe. You can get PCIe and M.2 SSD's that run the SATA protocol, but if you're going to get any, make sure they run the NVMe protocol. NVMe is much faster, but the drives using it are more expensive.

Power Supply - As long as your PSU has enough juice for the system, it's fine. That said, most PSU's have a load capacity where they're the most efficient, typically 60-80%, so try to aim your PSU purchase so your build falls in that range.

Cooling - A must? No. There are some air coolers that are better than AiO's (What you'll likely get if you're buying water coolers.), and some that aren't. You don't need a super beefy cooling system to OC well, but you need something good. Another problem with AiO's is that they're way more expensive. The CPU cooler you found is ~60 USD, the H100i v2 (which is a decent AiO) is about 100. The NH-D15 Kaghtul recommends is about the best air cooler on the market, and it's 80.
That said, some people (myself included) like the look of water cooling more, or find the *SLIGHTLY* quieter performance to be enough of a reason to buy them.

As for a system: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/C4QRq4
Replace 1080ti with 2080, should cost the same. If you decide to wait a month, replace 8700k with 9700k for a small bump in price, but probably much better performance. I believe they use the same socket, so no problems there.

Quick edit: As for windows, do a quick google search and find a cheap windows key sold by someone reputable. You can find them kinda cheap (About half price) if you want the sellers to be reputable, or as low as 10-20% if you're fine with a bit of sketch


Not-so-quick edit (Like, an hour later): the NDA on the 2000 series GPUs have launched and the 2080 performs about evenly with the 1080ti, at somewhat of a markup. That said, this doesn't take into account any of the DLSS games, or Ray-tracing games, because THEY'RE NOT OUT YET.. Maybe hold on a bit before buying a 2080

[Biomega]

Thanks for all the great info so far!

I was aware of the new cards coming out, but not aware of them coming out quite so soon - I think in terms of future proofing, a 2080 might be worth the investment, especially since it's not an amazing amount of extra money from what I can tell.

For the CPU, that might just be a bit too far off in the future. But perhaps waiting is worth it, and I shouldn't rush things. I'll think on it. I'm not going to buy this today or tomorrow, that's for sure. Hm.

[Temp name]

Thanks for all the great info so far!

I was aware of the new cards coming out, but not aware of them coming out quite so soon - I think in terms of future proofing, a 2080 might be worth the investment, especially since it's not an amazing amount of extra money from what I can tell.

For the CPU, that might just be a bit too far off in the future. But perhaps waiting is worth it, and I shouldn't rush things. I'll think on it. I'm not going to buy this today or tomorrow, that's for sure. Hm.

the 2080 is a decent upgrade over the 1080, but does about the same as the 1080ti, and currently costs quite a bit more

[Biomega]

What about 2080ti vs. 1080ti? Or is it just that new cards on release will always be overpriced for their performance gains?

[Temp name]

What about 2080ti vs. 1080ti? Or is it just that new cards on release will always be overpriced for their performance gains?

Founders edition cards are always 1-200 USD more expensive on the high-end, and offer no advantage over the AIB cards, like the ones from MSI or whatever, except coming out sooner.

2080ti looks like it's ~20-30% better than 1080ti, at about 60% price hike at the moment.

[Kagthul]

the 2080 is a decent upgrade over the 1080, but does about the same as the 1080ti, and currently costs quite a bit more

the MSRP on the 2080 is 700. the 1080Ti is about 700. More for aftermarket coolers.

Theyre roughly the same price, which is logical since the 2080 is the replacement in the product stack for the 1080Ti.

- - - Updated - - -

Founders edition cards are always 1-200 USD more expensive on the high-end, and offer no advantage over the AIB cards, like the ones from MSI or whatever, except coming out sooner.

2080ti looks like it's ~20-30% better than 1080ti, at about 60% price hike at the moment.

Remember the 2080Ti is replacing the Titan, not the 1080Ti.

Its roughly the same price as the Titan (not counting the FE upcharge) - about 1000$.

And this time, also remember that the FE cards are binned by nVidia to be the better chips and are factory OCed several hundred mhz.

[Temp name]

the MSRP on the 2080 is 700. the 1080Ti is about 700. More for aftermarket coolers.

Theyre roughly the same price, which is logical since the 2080 is the replacement in the product stack for the 1080Ti.

- - - Updated - - -



Remember the 2080Ti is replacing the Titan, not the 1080Ti.

Its roughly the same price as the Titan (not counting the FE upcharge) - about 1000$.

And this time, also remember that the FE cards are binned by nVidia to be the better chips and are factory OCed several hundred mhz.

But the 2080 replacing the 1080ti makes no sense since they're about the same performance.. The 2080ti is about the performance increase over the 1080ti you should see for a new generation.

[Kagthul]

But the 2080 replacing the 1080ti makes no sense since they're about the same performance.. The 2080ti is about the performance increase over the 1080ti you should see for a new generation.

Which has nothing to do with reality.

Does that mean that nVidia didn't provide a compelling performance increase? Yes. Then again, the entire point is RTX, so meh.

But reality is (and nVidia released a press release LAST YEAR about this) that Titan was outright removed from the consumer stack. It is its own product category, even on their website.

The stack used to be:

x50/Ti
x60/Ti
x70/Ti (-rarely-)
x80
x80Ti
Titan (halo product, often less than 5% faster than the x80Ti, or in many cases not faster at all)

It is now:
x50/Ti
x60/Ti
x70/Ti (rarely? well have to see this go-round)
x80
x80Ti (Halo product)

the MSRPs reflect that.

1080 was 500. 2070 is... 500
1080Ti was 700..... 2080 is... 700
Titan was 1000... 2080Ti is... 1000.

[Biomega]

So I guess a 2080 would be a decent enough card to offer 1440p at 60+fps while also future-proofing for the next few years for pretty games? The leap to 2080ti does seem quite steep.

[Kagthul]

So I guess a 2080 would be a decent enough card to offer 1440p at 60+fps while also future-proofing for the next few years for pretty games? The leap to 2080ti does seem quite steep.

Since it performs like a 1080Ti... yes. I have a 1080Ti and use it for 1440p (144hz Gsync monitor) and it averages well over 100fps in every game ive thrown at it (except for CPU limited situations in WoW). 2080 should perform just about exactly the same.

[Thunderball]

CPU: Wait for 9600K, 6c6t. Plenty for 1440p, also should be able to clock a little higher compared to HT enabled CPUs. You might settle on 8600K but you're at least getting +200-300 MHz and better VRMs on Z390 boards on average.

RAM: 3200 CL14 should be ideal.

SSD: Just to clear the confusion here. M.2 is the form factor (several of them actually, based on length), SATA and NVMe (using PCIe lanes) are interfaces. So M.2 SSD can be working through both SATA and NVMe interfaces. SATA 250-500GB, depending on how many games you want to fit on your SSD should be plenty for a gaming build. Another option is getting 120-250 NVMe M.2 SSD for system and SATA SSD (either 3.5 inch or M.2) for games, but it's obviously more expensive, but getting more affordable with time as entry level NVMe SSD getting pretty close to SATA counterparts.

PSU: That's correct, a good 650W should be plenty, unless you go for 2080Ti + 8 core.

Cooling: For overlocking 6-8 cores - yeah, pretty much a must.

[simonlvschal]

It's about time I got myself a new gaming PC, and this time I want to make the transition to 1440p. I'm currently running my laptop through peripherals, but it's just not quite cutting it (only about 30-40 fps in WoW at 1440p, with settings level 7).

My budget is about $1,500 - $2,000 depending on how much I need to run things I want to run, the way I want to run them.

My goal is 1440p at 60+fps. I already own a 1440p monitor I'm happy with (2560x1440, 144Hz, with G-Sync).

The games I play are about 75% WoW and 25% pretty RPGs in the vein of Witcher III or Skyrim (and irrelevant old games that run on a toaster). I like fidelity, and I like 60+fps. I do NOT play shooters or racing games, so something like 100fps madness is unlikely to matter.

I also do NOT do video editing or rendering, but I do like to run Twitch in the background on Chrome. I am considering buying a second monitor sometime down the line for an additional non-gaming screen (so probably 60hz).

I live in the US and I the only existing parts I will be using is my peripherals (including the monitor). I'd need an OS as well, but I'm guessing it's just going to be Win 10 Home (64) so that's easy.

I've been considering something like this PCPartpicker list, but that's by no means a totally informed setup or anything, just what I could piece together from browsing these forums and a cursory look over the component ratings. Feel free to suggest any and all changes, I'm not married to anything - what counts is performance. That being said, from personal experience I try to stay away from AMD - I simply have had nothing but trouble with them, frying two of their CPUs over the years and having a graphics card run hotter than the sun, while Intel/nVidia have not given me any problems at all.

Here's some things I'm particularly unsure about:

• CPU - I know that WoW is a CPU-heavy game, and that I should probably overclock for best performance. That's fine. I don't know what CPU is best for that, though, and also works well with my other pretty games when I want to play them; some future-proofing in that respect would be a consideration I suppose. I also like running Twitch in the background, and it's so far turned out to be an absolute resource glutton, so I don't know how important the CPU is for that, too.
• RAM - I am a little confused about the RAM speeds, and how much they really add to everything. Given that it can mean a $/GB ration twice as high, I'd appreciate some clarification, advice, and/or recommendations in that respect.
• SSD - Apparently there's all sorts of interfaces for these now, like PCIe or M.2? Is this something to worry about? Should it be significantly bigger than the usual ~250GB or am I just going to run the OS on there and not much else?
• Power Supply - How do you even get to the Wattage you need with this? Eyeball it? 650W-one-size-fits-all?
• Cooling - Noise is a minor concern, I suppose, but the main problem I've always had with my machines since like the 1990s has been that they've just run quite hot. I want to avoid that this time. If I'm overclocking, is a water-cooling system a must, or are the fans good enough these days? Will I end up with a blow-drier level of noise as a result?

Any help is appreciated! And of course feel free to ask any questions.

you need atleast a i7. and a gpu for wow does not matter to much. but a 1070 Minimum i would say. or RTX 2070 when it comes out. other then that 16gb of ram etc.

[Kagthul]

you need atleast a i7. and a gpu for wow does not matter to much. but a 1070 Minimum i would say. or RTX 2070 when it comes out. other then that 16gb of ram etc.

You do not need an i7 for gaming. Only reason i went with the 8700k was because he had the budget. In WoW and almost all triple-A games, an 8600k will perform exactly the same. The only difference between the two is Hyperthreading.

[Deleted]

I have a 1080Ti and a 8700K (OC'd to 5 Ghz) and play at 1440k as well, let me tell you that smooth 60 FPS will not be possible in raid situations. Otherwise, outside world I do average around 200-250 FPS and this is all playing on the highest settings possible.

Raids can dip to 35-50 FPS in certain situations.

[Biomega]

I have a 1080Ti and a 8700K (OC'd to 5 Ghz) and play at 1440k as well, let me tell you that smooth 60 FPS will not be possible in raid situations. Otherwise, outside world I do average around 200-250 FPS and this is all playing on the highest settings possible.

Raids can dip to 35-50 FPS in certain situations.

That's as expected, I don't think anyone in the world can run steady 60+ in raids on 1440p. I have no illusions about the optimization of the WoW engine

The only thing I'm pondering now is whether I want to wait on the 9000-series CPUs. I'm aware of how CPU-heavy WoW can be, but how much of an improvement is it going to be, really?

[Deleted]

Personally I'll doubt you'll see much. Outside raid settings you won't notice any difference, and due to the poor optimization you will probably not see much (if any) inside. Unless you plan on streaming or buying future proof games, I wouldn't bother going for the best of the best.

I currently limit my FPS to my refresh rate (165 hz) because I get screen tearing at 200+, so there's that.

[simonlvschal]

You do not need an i7 for gaming. Only reason i went with the 8700k was because he had the budget. In WoW and almost all triple-A games, an 8600k will perform exactly the same. The only difference between the two is Hyperthreading.

well keep saying that. but u do