What do you WoW on?

[Anjanti]

I thought I would make this thread to go along with the other thread, "Where do you WoW?" Post your rig if you're so inclined!

I'll be the first to admit that I no next to nothing about computering. But, I thought it might be fun to try and build my own gaming computer and did so early last year. It was a great learning experience and I'm glad I tried. It wasn't quite as hard as I thought it was going to be. I pretty much nailed it putting it together as well as the installation of the OS and drivers.

The one thing I didn't do a good job at was making it look pretty. I recently did a search for "my gaming rig", and came up with a ton of photos and forums. The first thing I noticed looking at other computers was the lack of wires and cables crisscrossing all over the place. Jeeze, the inside of my computer was ugly and embarrassing. I found they call this tidiness inside a computer case "cable management". Imagine that. So I decided to study up on that and see how it could be done. I found a few good videos and soon had my computer looking nice and tidy inside. I was pretty impressed with myself and thought I would share a photo.



Here's a list of what's inside.

CPU - AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Box Edition
Mother Board - ASUS M4A79T Deluxe
Memory - Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC3-10600 4GB X 2 (CMX4GX3M1A1333C9)
Graphics Card - XFX Radeon HD 5870 1024MB
PSU - Corsair CMPSU-850AX
CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Geminii S
Main HDD - Western Digital WD1500HLFS (150GB SATA300 10000)
2nd HDD - Western Digital (1TB SATA300 7200)
Optical Drive - Liteon IHAS324-32
PC Case - A piece of crap 3R SYSTEM R470
Keyboard - Logitech G15
Mouse - Razor Naga Molten Core edition
Monitor - iiyama ProLite B2712HDS 27" LCD

I think I made a couple mistakes with this build. First, I don't need a 6 core CPU. Second, when I first built this machine I only had the one 150GB HDD, way not enough space. Third, I thought a case was a case and any case would do as long as it was the right type. I found that cheap cases are cheap cases and you really should spend a few bucks on the them. While trying to tidy up the cables in mine, I found there was pretty much no space to do it. All the videos I've seen say there should be a space behind the mother board, but there isn't any behind mine. I ended up using part of the HD bays to hide my cables.

So that's the machine I WoW on at the moment. While I was tidying up the cables I also cleaned out a lot of dust that had build up on my CPU cooler fins and fan as well as the graphic card fan. I think I'll have to put up a schedule on my calendar for cleaning my machine. There was quite a bit of dust build up.

I don't know how my machine would hold up to other actual gaming machines, but it handles BF3, MW3, and WoW like a champ. The only time I feel a drop in frame rate is the fight during Beth'tilac in Firelands when we all bunch up on her ass at the end. It doesn't get choppy, but I notice a slight drop in frame rate.

I'm thinking of making a new machine soon so I've been putting together a part list. I'll post that list when I get it a little more reformed. Obviously I didn't know what I was doing when I first build this machine. Any advice would be welcome.

[robdamage]

I won't go into the piece of tripe machine I currently use but here's what I'm about to build (ok I won't do it myself but I've done a billion builds over the years so I'm copping out on that one) :

Here's an example of what i'm after :

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K $215
MB: ASUS P8Z77-V-Deluxe $279
Case: Fractal Design Define R3 Black USB 3.0 $159
Cooler: Antec Kuhler Flow $59
RAM: Corsair Vengeance CML8GX3M2A1600C9W 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 $75
PSU: Seasonic M12D 750W Modular $205
SSD: Crucial M4 128G SSD $205
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB $129
GPU: Sapphire HD7870 2G $399
OD: LG CH12LS28 12X BD-R Blu-ray DVD Combo Drive $65

My core requirements are :

1. I don't have to build it. Bugger that. I want it built prior to me getting it
2. It comes with a 12 month warranty
3. It plays my games (SC2, Diablo 3, WOW) like a mofo on Ultra graphics settings.
4. It will handle any games I chuck at it for the next couple of years.

Interested in other peoples builds too

Cheers

Rob

[voodoo]

I don't know how to find out the complete info without pulling the thing apart and hoping the parts are labelled but by what boxes and bits and bobs we've got around the place I've been able to put some sort of list together, not complete (so don't laugh if I've listed something silly because I grabbed the wrong name ):

MY PC (older then Craig's, just means I'm next in line for an upgrade! one day...)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz
Mother Board - ASUS P5Q Pro
Memory - (4 x 2GB) OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500/1066 MHz Reaper RAM
Graphics Card - Gainward GeForce GTX285 1024MB GDD43
PSU - Speed Power ATX800
CPU Cooler - ?
Main HDD - ?
Optical Drive - ?
PC Case - Cooler Master RC692


CRAIG'S PC
CPU - Intel i7 930 2.80GHz
Mother Board - ASUS P6T
Memory - (3 x 4GB) 1333MHz DDR3 Kingston
Graphics Card - GTX
PSU - Speed Power ATX1050
CPU Cooler - ?
Main HDD - ?
Optical Drive - ?
PC Case - Cooler Master RC692

[Anjanti]

Do you and CJ have sound cards? I don't know much about them. I just use the build in one on my mother board.

[voodoo]

yep, but I don't know what kind, I don't think they're too fancy.

[Anjanti]

How do your machines perform? Do you guys have any kinds of difficulties with WoW? Also, how do your machines compare to each other? As I said, mine slows down just a bit at the end of the Beth'tilac fight when we bunch up, but it's nothing too serious. I just notice a slight drop in frame rates.

[Anjanti]

OK, so I've been searching around the interwebz trying to decide on components for the new machine I want to build. I came across a nice site that seems legit enough that gives you some ideas on how to build gaming machines.
www.build-gaming-computers.com/

They claim they keep their information up-to-date, but I still think it all comes down to a matter of opinion in the end. On the other hand, they probably have a lot more experience than me so I thought I would give a look at what they advise.

I was looking at their recommended mid range gaming computer build and decided to go along with that or something close to that. Here's what I've come up with so far.

CPU - Intel Core i5 2500K
Mother Board - ASUS P8Z68-V LX
Memory - Patriot G2 series Sandy Bridge 3DDR-1600 (4GB x 2)
Graphics Card - EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked 01G-P3-1563-KR [PCIExp 1GB]
CPU Cooler - Corsair H60
HDD main - Western Digital WD1500HLHX [150GB SATA600 10000]
HDD second - Seagate ST1000DM003 [1TB SATA600 7200]
Optical Drive - Sony AD-7280S High Speed DVD RW Drive (24x)
PSU - Scythe SoLID PoWER Bronze 650W
PC Case - Cooler Master HAF 912 Advanced RC-912A-KWN1-JP
Monitor - Samsung S27B350H 27" Rose Black
OS - Window 7 Home Premium

I've already did some searching for these products and made a price list. Including the monitor and OS, it's still a rather cheap build. I was thinking of going with a SSD for my main, but they seem just a bit expensive still. The thing that I always get hung up on the most is choosing a mother board and compatible memory. How do you decide what a good mother board is and then deciding on memory? I understand that different mother boards take certain kinds of memory and speeds, but how do you go about choosing from all the different makers? Do you just go by reading reviews? I'll keep researching for the moment I guess.

I'm probably going to start ordering these parts within the next week. My older Intel iMac's graphics card has gone haywire for the second time and I'm not going to get it fixed this time. iMacs are great, but not for long term gaming.

[robdamage]

While motherboards / RAM / CPU can be the trickiest bits to perfect, the general rule (for gaming of the sort you will be doing) is just throwing the most money at the following things, in this order :

1. Video Card
2. Video Card
3. Video Card
4. RAM

CPU and Motherboard are interesting, but in terms of importance when talking about gaming frame rates, a better cPU / Mobo may give you 2-3 fps more. A better Video Card will give you 30-40 fps more. I'm genericising, but this has held true for many years.

So to summarise, any spare money you have it, throw it at getting a better video card. Make sure a) your PSU can handle the Vid card and b) your mobo can handle the size of it. Make sure you have at least 8GB of RAM and you should be sweet.

Looking at your build above you are going for the GTX560 Ti - might be worth checking out the vid card i've suggested above if you have the cash :

www.hwcompare.com/12209/geforce-gtx-560-ti-vs-radeon-hd-7870/

EDIT : Oh and if you can afford an SSD definitely get one. Won't make a lot of difference to frame rates but load times will decrease significantly. Putting Windows and your most used games on an SSD will make a huge difference in wait times Just be sure to get a quality one, you get what you pay for with SSD's generally.

Cheers

Rob

[siliah]

CPU - AMD Phenom II 720 Triple Core CPU Black Edition
Mother Board - Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
Memory - Kingston 8GB(4 X 2GB) DDR3-1333
Graphics Card - Asus Radeon HD6950 2GB
PSU - Vantec ION2 620W
Main HDD - Seagate SATAII NCQ 1TB 7200RPM
2nd HDD - Western Digital SATAII 2TB
Optical Drive - Pioneer DVR218L DVD
PC Case - Lian Li Lancool First Knight PC-K9
Keyboard - Something cheap and ASUS-y
Mouse - Logitech G500 Gaming Mouse
Monitor - Asus 24" LED (primary)
Monitor - Asus 24” LCD (secondary)

I've got a bit of a FrankenPC, I built it in 2009 so some of it's quite old and I'm replacing bits as I get the money and time. The major bottleneck at the moment is the CPU (and by extension motherboard), both in need of an upgrade. I did the video card first because I wanted to be able to watch HD movies on my second monitor while farming herbs/ore/rep without my computer locking up... (and so that I could play Arkham Asylum!) PSU needs an upgrade too... and I need another hard drive, if I can fit it in somewhere.

[Anjanti]

I found this gem for about 100 bucks more.

[a href="SAPPHIRE HD7870 GHZ EDITION 2G GDDR5 PCI-E HDMI/DVI-I/DUAL MINI DP OC VERSION [PCIExp 2GB]"]SAPPHIRE HD7870 GHZ EDITION 2G GDDR5 PCI-E HDMI/DVI-I/DUAL MINI DP OC VERSION [PCIExp 2GB][/a]

Thinking about that.

Edit: Oh, and I found the same SSD as you for about 10 bucks more than the HHD I chose. I thought it would be more expensive.

Crucial m4 CT128M4SSD1

[robdamage]

awesome. im looking to get my rig built by the end of the month so if you can wait that long i can let you know how it performs

cheers

rob

[voodoo]

On MMo-Champion about every 1-2 months do a set up of the month which some guy lists 4 different computer builds. Thought it may be useful for you Anj if you're interested in seeing what other people use. All the links to the items aren't too useful though because they're all Amazon links. I don't know about you, but I'm fine with ordering books and the like from Amazon, but I'm not exactly keen on buying computer parts online and receiving them via the mail o.O So the prices might vary quiet a lot from looking them up with your local stores, I know they are more expensive here when I google these items.

It's the last topic in this link, so scroll down for the pc talk:
www.mmo-champion.com/content/2764-Fishing-The-Anglers-Blue-Posts-Setup-of-the-Month-Poll


We didn't build our PCs a 'friend' built them who turned out not to be a friend... So some things like the power supply, dvd player etc I'm not surprised if they're some generic pieces of crap. The PCs run fine for wow, I think it's more our internet provider when our gaming starts to go slow, and mine being the older machine runs new games on it fine such as Diablo 3 and GW2 which would have much higher specs then WoW.

Neither of us are confident enough to buy the parts and put a PC together ourselves. So live and learn we will next time buy a PC that a store can build for us and just research pricing online with other stores to making sure we're getting a good deal price wise and from a store so we can get a warranty on the items is the best we can do.

All this PC talk is making me want to go out and buy a new PC, lol.

I did happen to upgrade my monitor and keyboard today
Monitor: Asus 25'' VE258Q LED
Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow.

[Anjanti]

Fantastic Voodoo. Building a PC isn't that difficult. I didn't know anything when I built mine last year and I nailed everything the first time. Not really that difficult in my opinion. It's fun and it gives you a certain amount of pride in your machine knowing that you built it. I recommend building your own. It's a great experience.

[robdamage]

It's a great experience the first time. Maybe the second... after that - not so much

I would rather poke my eyes out with hot needles than build another PC

[voodoo]

After this post and mumble last night, I think I've been convinced to build my next PC! Not right now however
I've decided to make it a reward for finishing my Diploma of Accounting, that way I've got a reward to help keep me on track for completing it, because I have started to waver a bit lately, it is a bit hard doing it at home, plenty of distractions to get in the way, and I got up to a part I didn't understand straight away recently and easily pushed the books to one side and haven't picked them up again :/, and with D3 right around the corner I really WILL need a motivator to pick those books up again! So with my little distraction soon from D3 that's hopefully a new PC early next year.

[Anjanti]

GET TO THE BOOKS NOW!!! sister. lol

[leonidas]

I'm upgrading my Video Card for the imminent D3 release. Time to hand down the GTX570 and move to a GTX670 or GTX680, both of which use a lot less power and are a lot quieter to run than the other cards with similar performance.
One day soon, I'll post the rest of my Rig, and a couple of photos, too!

[Dakhan]

Do you and CJ have sound cards? I don't know much about them. I just use the build in one on my mother board.

And that's all you really need. Onboard sound cards are pretty damn good these days, most are 7.1 at least. You really only need a separate sound card if you're doing audio production, or are really really picky.

This is my current PC:



This is the first PC I've ever had that I didn't build myself, and that's just because I acquired this during the company purchase. I did however add to it and modify it's build as soon as I got it

CPU - Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67GHz
Motherboard: EVGA X58 SLI LE
RAM: 6x Super Talent 2GB DDR3 PC3-10700G (12GB total)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 260 896MB
Sound card: Onboard + M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496
PSU: Unsure (haven't pulled it out yet)
HDDs:
- OS: 2x Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB SATA in RAID 0
- 1x Seagate ST31000528AS 1TB SATA
- 1x Seagate ST3750330AS 750GB SATA
Optical: LG Dual Layer Lightscribe DVD Writer
Case: Cooler Master HAF X
Keyboard: Steelseries ZBoard Merc + Razer Nostromo Keypadthing
Mouse: Microsoft Sidewinder X3
Monitors: 1x 24" Acer S243HL LED, 2x 22" Samsung SyncMaster 2232BW LCD

Here's a closer look at the innards:



I'm gonna replace the video card shortly with a GTX 560, mainly so I can run all 3 monitors at once - the 260 doesn't have enough outputs for what I want). And I'm greedy.

The case is actually a lot quieter than I thought it would be, given how huge it is and how many fans it has. It's quieter than the PC it replaced.

In addition to this PC I have the Q6600 / 8800GT PC it replaced currently on the workbench downstairs and a Core 2 Duo / 9400GT PC acting as a HTPC attached to the 32" LCD TV in the lounge. Plus assorted other devices spread around the house. I'll post photos of the rest of the place once it's a bit tidier, it's actually quite cool

[tull]

Hey Anj, I would heartily recommend an SSD and putting Windows and WoW on it. 60GB would be enough for that unless you plan to put programs on it or use it for video production. Make sure the SSD is SATA III.

650W power supply is plenty for the setup you listed. You'd only really consider a higher wattage if you had two graphics cards.

[Anjanti]

I'm not disagreeing with you Tull, but there are advantages to having a larger PSU than what you actually need. Obviously as you stated about upgrading your system, it's better to have too much than too little.

I've also read in several places about "clean power" and not utilizing your PSU above 80%. Most of the resulting issues with using your PSU above 80% are mostly heat related. By not going over 80% you get a cleaner signal and also reducing the wear and tear giving your PSU a longer life. I'm no expert. This is just what I've read in a few different forums about choosing the correct PSU for your system.

[voodoo]

Update: CJ has a new keyboard, my day old Blackwidow! lol. I didn't like it, Razer and LG kept turning up as top keyboards when I was googling them, and when we were at the shops I asked CJ if he'd use it if I didn't like it, and he's answer was "Hell yes" so I bought it without too much thought. The key's just feel like I have to press them down further then normal keyboards, and call me anal but the font on the keyboard did my head in, since when does this look like an 'R'?

(Didn't get the backlight version, just the first pick I found)

I did find out I can play wow quiet well on my laptop last night Handled a 25 man better then my pc :/ It's my first laptop I've owned which I got myself last year, and it is overkill for a word processor (cj was whispering in my ear at the shop to get the better model so it's all his fault! )

It's an Asus and it's running:
Processor: Intel® Core i7 2630QM 2Ghz (Turbo 2.9G)/6M
Memory: 12GB DDR3 Ram
Storage: 1.5TB (750GB 7200rpm * 2)
Optical Drive: Bluray Writer
Screen: 17.3 Inch LED HD+ (1600 x 900)
Video: 2GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GT540M
Connectivity: Wireless 802.11 b/g/n, Lan 10/100/1000, Bluetooth
Built in Devices: Chipset Intel® HM65, Built-in speaker;Built-in microphone ;Bang & Olufsen ICEpower®;SonicFocus, Battery 6 Cell / 4400mAh, Webcam 2.0Mpixel, Weight 3.40 KG, Dimension 42.6(W) x 29.0(D) x 3.80 ~ 3.93 (H) cm, Card Reader SD、MMC、MS、MS Pro, 1x USB 3.0 3x USB 2.0, 1x Microphone-in jack;1x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF);1x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert;1x VGA Port (D-Sub);1x HDMI, Wave Keyboard (Numeric Keypad)

[treeline]

Agreeing with Rob.

1. The most important thing in a gaming PC is your Card.
2. SSD are now essential for relying traffic faster, i would get at least a 120Gb to cover all your games plus expansions. I also found that my HDD would be my restricter for performance on my PC, so the SSD's are the step forward to bring all the components into line.
3. I wouldnt go with less than a 750W PSU, as i stick a lot of peripherals running and generally use my inboard SATA connections. I also have 3 onboard HDD's and 2 external's.
4. What the heck throw a i7 in there, you wont need to upgrade it for a long time and its a nice boost on the i5
5. Again just throw as much RAM as you can in, its cheap as chips.

Anything else is irrelavent apart from a x64 OS

Oh and you dont need all this for WOW, but other games will need the specs being thrown around.