World of Warcraft®

I know people say that WoW doesn't require a brilliant pc but I was thinking of buying one so I can play WoW on a good fps for once, around 60-100fps in raids is what I'm aiming for especially as my husband is a raider but has a major fps drop during some fights on his current laptop.

I've been looking at cyberpowersystems, computerplanet & wired2fire and have come to the conclusion I have no clue what I'm doing. I'm not looking to custom build a machine that is overkill for WoW, but enough for high settings. Any help will be appreciated :D. So what do people think is needed for ultra?

intel I7?
er...
lotsa ram?
a nice high end graphics card?

intel I7?
er...
lotsa ram?
a nice high end graphics card?

heh, I think the op's point was that they dont know which graphics card, processor etc is overkill and which is minimum.

Processor I'd say intel core i5 or i7 depending on your price range.
For ram i believe its merely the more the better, minium of 4gbs I've heard it said. Blizz recommends 2gb but i'd have thought thats low settings.
As for graphics i'm not sure, I'd go for something that's a little bit outdated as WoW doesn't require the best of the best that are available now.

WoW is mostly CPU dependent. Anyways, as long as your computer contains the following, it should be able to run WoW brilliantly:

- Proper processor.
- Mid-range graphics card.
- 4GB ram.

For your processor. The best bang for your buck is the Intel Core i5. You can go higher end than that and get an i7, but the i5's should be -more- than enough. You can go lower end and get an i3, or an AMD, but there's really no point to it, if you're going to spend a bit of cash somewhere, choose the processor. Be sure to pick a second generation Core i5. They have names like: Intel Core i5 2xxx, where xxx is the model number. If the model number is only three digits in total - it's a first gen. These aren't bad, not at all, but there's no point getting them in comparison.
For your graphics card, anything mid-ranged will do. Either a Radeon or a GeForce - The amount of dedicated RAM is pretty insubstantial as long as it's enough to power your resolution. 512MB is enough unless you use multiple screens or more-than-HD resolutions. You don't need to go top end for your video card, WoW doesn't really use it all that well, and the things get very expensive up near the top. Don't go budget, but don't spend too much.
For RAM, just get 4GB. Less than that is a waste, seeing as it's pretty damned cheap nowadays. More than that is a waste, because you won't be using it.

A computer like that is a solid investment, but it should last you for a long time, and should be able to run WoW (And pretty much anything else) more than decently enough.
If you need any help, just post the computer you've found, and ask about that. Ignore people who yell "You need to build it yourself and get at least an i7 and two graphic cards and liquid cooling and 16GB RAM" - It's a waste of cash and you don't need it.

Folks, instead of throwing around cra....*cough* I mean great generalisations try putting a component list together that they can take either online or into a shop for a tech to price and, hopefully, build.

Case
Motherboard
CPU
CPU cooling
Memory
Power supply
Optical drive
Flash card reader
Boot drive
Game drive
Graphics card

optional (depending on how much detail, power, geek-coolness factor you want)
sound card
second graphics card
NIC card
TV card
second optical drive
extra drives for Raid0
Raid controller card
etc



You know something like they do at MMOChampion in "setup of the month":
http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2292-Legendary-Staff-Model-Preview-Setup-of-the-Month-MMO-Report-Artworks

I just want to throw this out there because I see it all the time

You don't need more than 4gb of ram for PC gaming - period. It's nice to future proof your PC but no game uses that much memory.

If you like running 500 programs in the background while playing then sure, go for 8gb but otherwise 4gb is more than enough.

The amount of dedicated RAM is pretty insubstantial as long as it's enough to power your resolution. 512MB is enough unless you use multiple screens or more-than-HD resolutions.

We're getting a 19 ich monitor (1280 x 1024)so a 512MB graphics card would be enough for that?

I'll try and put one together on the previously mentioned sites and post it here to see if I'm wasting money where its not needed or not spending where i should etc. Thanks guys :)

Tell me if I've made a massive mistake or an oversight or something. Here's what I've muddled together. The only thing I'm absolutly not sure of was the motherboard.

Case: Antec three hundred ultimate gamer
CPU: Intel core i5 2300 quad core. 3.3ghz
Fan: Thermaltake Frio gaming cpu cooling fan
Motherboard: MSI P67A-C45 P67 DDR3 Intel LGA1155 DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, SATAIII USB3.0
RAM: 4GB, (2 x2GB) DDR3
Graphics: NIVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 1GB
PSU: 500 watt cool master elite
HDD: 1TB SATA-II
Optical drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE
Sound: On-board, 7.1 audio.

Did I miss anything? Does that go together at all and will it achieve ultra on WoW? I modified the pc called Infinity Achilles SE http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Infinity_Achilles_SE/. And probably not for the better seeing as I made it cheaper :S

What's your budget?

Upgrading that CPU to an i5 2500k and the video card to a GTX 460 would run WoW on ultra no problem on a 1920x1080 monitor.

Is that by any chance from www.cyberpowersystems.co.uk? Looks very similar to http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Cyberpower_P67_configurator/ which i have been considering buying.

Sorry, didn't finish reading your last post before asking that. I'm wondering just how well that would handle soloing, 10 man and 25 man because i was considering changing the gfx card to either the nVidia GeForce GTW550 or 560, i can't remember exactly but i read in CustomPC magazine that one of those is outstanding for value.

Even without any upgrades to that, that system should be able to run WoW, or pretty much anything on very decent graphics, with very decent framerates. Can't think of anything you missed really. Processor is good, GPU is proper, motherboard fits the CPU - The upgrades by Zairah will make it even better, but aren't required.

Is this prebuilt or do you have to assemble it yourself?
If you're going to have to build it yourself, be sure to watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcR8Fl8cwZk

Should explain everything required. It's not hard.

What's your budget?

Upgrading that CPU to an i5 2500k and the video card to a GTX 460 would run WoW on ultra no problem on a 1920x1080 monitor.

I did start with an i5 2500k but then swapped to 2300 after reading May's issue of pc gamer that states "if you want to tweak it's worth going for the more expensive i7 while if you don't it's you might as well go for the cheaper i5 2300" Looking back at the site however there doesn't seem to be a great difference in price so I might swap back after all.

As for budget it currently comes to £633 including VAT and the change from 2300 to 2500k i5. With the monitor we're getting for £77 it comes to £700. Probably say £750 is as expensive as I'd like it to go. I'll take a look at the graphics upgrade mentioned but might not change it.

Thanks all for being so helpful :)

If you do increase your graphics card as suggested to the GTX 460 I believe while it will improve your fps in games you need to consider putting a higher watt power supply to keep your pc stable. It will probably be best on a 600 watt with the GTX 460 configuration. 500 watt is fine if you stay as you are however. I'm not sure how much more that will be in regards to your budget.
I'm not familiar with cyberpowersystems but they may point this out to you when you order anyway. I know some sites do.

I see what you mean. Having upgraded the graphics card to GTX 460 the system info at the side flashes red and suggests a 700watt power supply. Changes the price from £633 to £694. I don't know, is this £61 increase from GTS 450 to GTX 460 worth it?

Absolutely, the GTX460 is a much better card.

700W power supply is overkill though, I use a 750w with an overclocked 2500k and GTX 570 and it's far more than enough.

A 500W would be absolutely fine for a GTX460 and whatever CPU you choose, but I always like to go overkill because I'm paranoid. I'd get a 600w to be 'safe'.