New computer advice

[Gloryfool]

Hi guys,
Im looking to upgrade my computer but its been ages and i dont have a clue what to get, i dont have alot of money £250 ish so any advise would be great. i have an 8800 gtx oc graphics card so i wasnt looking at upgrading that as i think it is more than capably of running wow.
im looking at a new MB cpu and memory and possible a 1- 1.5 tb hard drive i saw this and wasnt sure if its any good
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu .... 78&subcat=

cheers

 

[Lebuff]

The hardware in that package is very dated and there isn't any room for upgrades (the MB sucks). IMHO you would be better off buying fewer but newer components.

 

[Croga]

Glory;

Ask yourself:
- Is the case still okay?
- Is the optical drive still working?
- What kinda memory do you currently have?
- What kinda harddisk do you currently have?

I built a computer two weeks ago from:
- Case I still had
- PSU I still had
- DVDRW I still had
- Memory I still had
- Harddisk I still had
- EUR 65 motherboard
- EUR 50 CPU

In your case you'd probably need motherboard, CPU and memory, maybe a new harddrive.
If you go for:
- Cheapest AM3 800-series motherboard
- Cheapest Phenom-II processor
- Cheapest DDR3, 4GB kit
- Cheapest 1TB harddrive
You'd pay about GBP 285 at Overclockers.co.uk. That would set you up with a system that's pretty fast and pretty expandable as well.

 

[Gloryfool]

Cheers croga
Im basically after;
a new case (mines old and shafted)
New MB ( mines old chipset original AMD 64) single core :0
New CPU
New memory
1x small HDD
1x 1TB hard drive
basically i want my operating system on say a 250 gig HDD and the large drive for storeing movies tv and pics etc

What i have;
an nvidia 8800gtx oc which i got off pog ill wing him some cash for.
An 600w ATX - 600jsp PSU also off pog which ill have to sort him out for.
my memory is just DDR so its crap
i have a DVD writer

im also looking at getting windows 7 if possible, budget has gone up slightly to £300 maybe £350

im hoping ill get something decent for that but tbh anything is better than what im using and the hardest thing it will have to do is play wow.
and maybe some graphical encodeing.

 

[Croga]

hmmm....... I'm not sure you'll get anything decent for that kinda money at overclockers to be honest; it does look like they're pretty expensive

Personally I'd advise against the dual-harddrive setup. The 250G drive will be slower then the 1TB drive and in the past I haven't found much use for separate drives unless you make the OS drive a really fast one (like a Raptor or SSD) but that'll set you back GBP300 for the SSD alone Also; for the price of that second harddrive you can upgrade the 1TB to a 1.5 or 2 instead; even more bang for the buck.

Cheapest combination I can make at Overclockers of this all would be about GBP400 and include:
Patriot G Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel (PGS34G1333ELK) £88.99
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £84.99
AMD Phenom II X2 Dual Core 545 3.00GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail (means: including cooler) £69.99
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G (Socket AM3) microATX DDR3 Motherboard £68.98
Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £56.98
Coolermaster Elite 335 Case - Black £29.99

If you can find a supplier that has more decent prices then you should go for:
- Cheapest AM3 motherboard you can get. I personally like AsRock as they standardize better then most so less driver trouble (although Win7 solved a lot of those already). I have never had any complaints about their quality.
- Cheapest Phenom-II processor you can get. Just about any processor is fast enough for WoW as it leans heavily on RAM (and Cata on graphics card).
- Cheapest set of 2*2GB DDR3 memory
- A case to your liking
- Win7 Home Premium 64-bit (depending on how many PCs you want to install you could have a look at the "Family" edition; 3 licenses for about 1.5 times the price)
- A harddisk to fit your budget The 2TB are best value at the moment so if you can spare the 100 quid then go for it.

Also; you could up your budget a bit by convincing Pogg that you're Dutch........

 

[Chirrad]

Cheapest combination I can make at Overclockers

Overclockers isn't always the cheapest, and you'll probably get lower-end kit cheaper from dabs.com or ebuyer.com.

Cheapest AM3 motherboard you can get. I personally like AsRock as they standardize better....

We use loads of low-end motherboards at work here, and have used AsRock for the latest batch (a few hundred). Had fewer problems with these motherboards than previous ones (used Asus in the past), though we still refuse to use the onboard network ports and buy cheap Intel network cards to go in them instead. YMMV.

Just about any processor is fast enough for WoW as it leans heavily on RAM (and Cata on graphics card).

I'd disagree with this. WoW simply needs "enough" RAM so that it doesn't need the pagefile (4GB will be fine). CPU is actually very important. I've been running WoW from dual SSDs, with plenty of memory (and pagefile disabled). I upgraded the graphics card first to something pretty top-end, and this didn't make a massive improvement to my frame rate. I then replaced the motherboard and CPU, and that made a massive difference. Your 8800GTX will probably do fine with a reasonable CPU (though you won't be getting all the fancy effects, especially in Cata).

 

[Croga]

I'd disagree with this. WoW simply needs "enough" RAM so that it doesn't need the pagefile (4GB will be fine).

heh Listen to yourself Chirr....... "simply needs enough 4GB will be fine"....... Yeah.... when I started playing WoW we were all very happy to have 512MB of RAM, hence the "WoW leans heavily on RAM"
Actually; 2GB should be more then enough but seeing as RAM is cheap as peanuts now I tell everyone to go for 4GB and leave room to expand.

CPU is actually very important. I've been running WoW from dual SSDs, with plenty of memory (and pagefile disabled). I upgraded the graphics card first to something pretty top-end, and this didn't make a massive improvement to my frame rate. I then replaced the motherboard and CPU, and that made a massive difference. Your 8800GTX will probably do fine with a reasonable CPU (though you won't be getting all the fancy effects, especially in Cata).

My experience is different..... WoW runs fine on my spare-rig (PentiumD, 2.66Ghz) as long as I keep at least 2GB in it. It'll run fine with the built-in nVidia GPU (6150 or something). At low detail it will get a decent framerate. Enter the HD4850 and it will get a decent framerate at almost full detail. The processor has no bearing on that at all (although I must say I've never done raids on that rig; it might b0rk there.)
I don't think you'll notice the difference between the cheapest PhenomII and the most expensive one.

 

[Chirrad]

Listen to yourself Chirr....... "simply needs enough 4GB will be fine" ....... Yeah.... when I started playing WoW we were all very happy to have 512MB of RAM, hence the "WoW leans heavily on RAM"

Windows has never been fine in 512Mb RAM - should always be able to open Windows and see it using less memory than you have physical memory available - if not then your machine IS being slowed down by swapping stuff to/from disk. And 4GB isn't much as far as I'm concerned, but I'm not really a typical user!

(although I must say I've never done raids on that rig; it might b0rk there.)

And there you have it. My old computer was absolutely fine with full detail at 60fps (capped with vsync) doing questing etc. It's the raids that require the power!

 

[Joy]

Totally agree with Chirrad. WoW is NEVER limited by your graphics card, I always had monitors running during raids and whatnot. You only need enough RAM, and after that, getting a CPU that overclocks well (if you want to, it's really nearly riskfree nowadays), and SSD's are brilliant for the loading WoW does at the most annoying times, and the instant startup of everything.

 

[Croga]

and wow @ my time travelling skills

 

[Chirrad]

and wow @ my time travelling skills

Just noticed that too - forum seems to be putting replies together with whoever you quote, rather than at the actual time you post.

 

[Gloryfool]

i think i may just go for a more basic system similar to the one i linked, but try and get as much bang for my buck.
it will be far faster than what i have now (single core athalon with 1.5g mem)
and tbh i wont be upgrading for a little while, im hoping that windows 7 will also help.
ill see what deals come up over the next week or so as i wont have the money fro at least a week.
on a plus note with overclockers they tend not to sell cheap shit, unlike ebuyer and some others ive bought from.

 

[Gloryfool]

Stupid question inc :
Im looking at also buying a laptop aswell as upgrading my computer i have about £500 to spend on a laptop maybe £600 is there any laptop i can get for that that will have a nice big screen and be capable of running wow at a semi decent rate. (obviously ill primarily run wow on my desktop once its upgraded) but i wouldnt mind having a laptop that was capable also.

 

[Croga]

Stupid question inc :
Im looking at also buying a laptop aswell as upgrading my computer i have about £500 to spend on a laptop maybe £600 is there any laptop i can get for that that will have a nice big screen and be capable of running wow at a semi decent rate. (obviously ill primarily run wow on my desktop once its upgraded) but i wouldnt mind having a laptop that was capable also.

For about GBP 550 you should be able to get a 17" Acer laptop with a less-then-decent graphics card (Aspire 7740 or 7551 for example). Don't expect to raid with it or be able to do anything in Dalaran but it's good enough to do leveling/grinding. Just make sure you get the one with the separate graphics card and NOT the Intel embedded crap.

It does depend a bit on the store though. Acers are reputed to have quality issues (although I can't speak from experience here!) and their own service department is reputed to be a bit slow. So it could be useful to get some kind of extended waranty with it. The bang for the buck is unparalleled though.