Critique my WoW PC config please!

[ImageOC]

Critique my WoW PC config please! (Updated 5/28)

5/28 EDIT (as per 8th post below):

Okay, I've revised my build based on your guys' suggestions and on what parts are available near me. Can you guys help me narrow down the options and let me know if you see any flagrant bottlenecks?

MOBO:

ASUS A8N-SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - $160
OR
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe ATX AMD Motherboard - $175

CPU:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor - $154
OR
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor - $203

MEMORY:

Kingston HyperX 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - $157
OR
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - $188
OR
OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - $171
OR
crucial 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM System Memory $85 x 2 = $170

GPU:

ASUS EN6600GT/TD/128 Video Card - $178
OR
eVGA 128-P2-N368-TX Video Card - $159 (may not be available in my area)
OR
Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card - $169
OR
Any other really good 6600GTs from large manufacturers that might be available internationally? I'm guessing that the ASUS will be easiest to get hold of, so I'm hoping for favorable reviews from you pros.

HD:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA 160GB Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - $93
OR
The ASUS A8N-SLI mobos have a couple of RAID controllers built in, apparently. Would it be worth it to get two 80GBs ($66 x 2 = $132) and set it up as striped?

Burner:

LG Black IDE DVD Burner Model GSA-4163BK - $53



Monitor, case, and PSU are things that are priced very differently over here, so I'll just have to wing it on my own without recommendations from you guys. I'm gonna assume that I should stick with at least a 400W power source, right?

Assuming $150 for monitor, and $150 for case + psu (as per Dragon's suggestions), we're looking at $1095 with all the cheapest options listed above, which is just about at my limit. However, if one of the costlier options listed above would drastically improve performance by eliminating a bottleneck, please let me know; I'm willing to dig a little deeper in order to stretch the longevity of the system.

Thanks again, very much
_______________________________________

Original stuff:


hey guys -

I'm a newbie to DIY computer stuff, but I wanted to start out with building myself a PC exclusively for WoW. I've been reading up here and on other sites, notably AnandTech's WoW article, and I have put together a preliminary build.

But I'd really like to get some of you pros to critique it before I take the plunge and order parts.

Goal: Minimize bottlenecks. Price is, unfortunately, an issue, but I'd like to be able to run it well at 1280x960 and be able to alt-tab out to browser windows without it complaining too much.

Here's what I have so far, with approximate prices from Pricewatch:

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 540 3.2GHz - $190
(Could/should I go down to 530 or 520 without affecting performance much?)

MOBO: AS Rock America 775V88 - $60
(Couldn't find much info about mobos, could really use advice on this part)

MEMORY: 1GB
(This is the place where I know experience helps -- and I don't have any. DDR400? PC3200? Brands? Four sticks of 256? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.)

GPU: GeForce 6600 GT 128MB AGP - $180
(Is 256MB needed to not bottleneck the 3.2GHz CPU and 1GB RAM? If so, what card do you recommend? I couldn't find a 6600 GT model that is AGP and has 256MB memory, only PCI Express. AGP > PCI Express, right?)

Hard drive: Not going to be storing any media files, or really anything besides my games, so don't need much space. How important is empty space for virtual memory to WoW's performance? Is it worth it to try and get RAID set up to speed up load times? I was thinking SCSI since SATA uses some of the CPU's capacity. Again, any advice from seasoned vets would be great.


So far we're at $430 for the stuff I listed, which doesn't include 1 GB RAM ($150?), hard drive(s) ($50-100?). Then case, fans, cables, probably another $150 or so? And finally, and quite important, a monitor; 19", maybe $150?

So we're looking at about $1k, which was my target, but I feel like there's a lot of room for optimization in there.

Thanks very much in advance

 

[RedDragonXXX]

Since your going to use this for gaming I would recommend going with AMD 64 and for your budget you cen get a good setup.

CASE: ASPIRE X-Dreamer $49
PSU: Fortron Blue Storm 500W $91
MOBO: DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D $132
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice/RETAIL $155
MEMORY: TwinMOS 1GB (2 x 512MB) $86
GPU: eVGA Geforce 6600GT PCI-Express $159 after rebate
HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA NCQ $94/160GB
DRIVE: LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM $22
MONITOR: AOpen F90JS Black 19" 16ms LCD Monitor $249 after rebate

TOTAL: $1036

or to reduce cost you can also do this:

HD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA 80GB $64
MONITOR: ENVISION EFT-920 Silver 19" Pure Flat CRT $141

TOTAL: $899

With this setup you will be able to go all out on WoW

 

[darkknight187]

the p4 would probably hiccup less switching apps but the a64 will give you better game performance the only changes i could think of would be to maybe go to gskills value ram, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...Category=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=4&Go.y=25 at 100$ and cas 2 you may find it worth it, also depending on if you plan to OC you may be better off bumping up to a 3200+ venice.

 

[ImageOC]

Thank you!

Dragon, that response was awesome. Thank you.

However, if possible, I'd like some suggestions for P4 systems, because I'm actually overseas on business for the next three months and I don't know if AMDs are very gettable around here. I'll definitely try though.

Thanks again

 

[Sentential]

Intel 540J / 550 / 640
Intel 915 / 925XE / 955X
Geforce 6600GT PCI-E
2GB of cheap DDR2

are your best options for future upgrades. If you truly want a vcard with 256MB of RAM I would look at the x700PRO

 

[Panzerknacker]

if possible, I would go with a AMD system, because when the dual core comes out they'll work in the same mobo. And for gaming, the AMD will outperform the P4. Switching apps doesnt hickup lol, no difference at all from the P4, cuz HT doesnt work that way. Anyway u can't really go wrong.

 

[TheGreySpectre]

I would go with AMD64 also since if you want to run dual boot with winxp64bit then some games are starting to support 64bit, and you will se a large performance boost, esp with the new venice and sandiago cores that overclock like crazy, just make sure you get some good ram that OCs well

 

[ImageOC]

New and improved build

Okay, I've revised my build based on your guys' suggestions and on what parts are available near me. Can you guys help me narrow down the options and let me know if you see any flagrant bottlenecks?

MOBO:

ASUS A8N-SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - $160
OR
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe ATX AMD Motherboard - $175

CPU:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor - $154
OR
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor - $203

MEMORY:

Kingston HyperX 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - $157
OR
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - $188
OR
OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - $171
OR
crucial 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM System Memory $85 x 2 = $170

GPU:

ASUS EN6600GT/TD/128 Video Card - $178
OR
eVGA 128-P2-N368-TX Video Card - $159 (may not be available in my area)
OR
Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card - $169
OR
Any other really good 6600GTs from large manufacturers that might be available internationally? I'm guessing that the ASUS will be easiest to get hold of, so I'm hoping for favorable reviews from you pros.

HD:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA 160GB Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - $93
OR
The ASUS A8N-SLI mobos have a couple of RAID controllers built in, apparently. Would it be worth it to get two 80GBs ($66 x 2 = $132) and set it up as striped?

Burner:

LG Black IDE DVD Burner Model GSA-4163BK - $53

Monitor, case, and PSU are things that are priced very differently over here, so I'll just have to wing it on my own without recommendations from you guys. I'm gonna assume that I should stick with at least a 400W power source, right?

Assuming $150 for monitor, and $150 for case + psu (as per RedDragon's suggestions), we're looking at $1095 with all the cheapest options listed above, which is just about at my limit. However, if one of the costlier options listed above would drastically improve performance by eliminating a bottleneck, please let me know; I'm willing to dig a little deeper in order to stretch the longevity of the system.

Thanks again, very much

 

[darkknight187]

the first thing i would cut money back in is the RAM you can get a gig for nearly 100$ these days, and the performance hit an a64 takes from running async is minimal, meaning if you plan to overclock you'll just need to use a divider, thats almost 50$ for something else, also prices for monitors and cases arent going to really change, this is stuff you NEED i suggest it to be your first purchase that way you don't cut it too short and have to wait to be able to afford those necessities

My suggestion to add in for the hdds would be to not run raid, it will get you a performance boost but it doubles the chances of losing your data.

 

[AzNaLaN15]

might want to look into the 7200.8 sata drives cuz those come with NCQ enabled

 

[bLack0ut]

By WoW do you mean World of Warcraft? just wondering

and btw, do NOT get a generic psu, the quality of the PSU is very important. Stick with fortron, it's a nice stable brand.