Building First Gaming Computer - WOW specific

[TheDettigs]

Hello all!

Budget $600-$650

Need Operating System: Yes

Need Monitor: No

Need Keyboard and Mouse: No

Website for parts: Newegg, etc

Part Preference: Best bang for buck obviously

I am getting into WOW a little more hardcore now. Casual raider.

 

[dgingeri]

I'm a fellow WoW player. I'll give you want I know works best:

1. make sure and get an Intel processor. AMD processors work horribly with WoW for some reason. I'd say look into the Core i5 4430 ($190) or a Core i3 4340 ($160.)

2. NVidia video cards are preferable. AMD video cards have some performance issues with WoW, but they are usable. In the same price range, you'd get 80% of the performance from the AMD card compared to the NVidia card. A GTX 650 ($120) would probably be good, or a GT 640 ($100) if you really need to keep the cost down.

3. a small SSD is useful for storing the game. It loads up zones a whole lot faster than a regular hard drive. 32GB SSDs are a little too small, but a 60GB drive would work well. The game is 25.7GB right now, and that's if you delete the patch files after they've been applied. Transfer rate doesn't matter that much, so using an older tech 3Gb SATA SSD is a valid choice. These can be found for about $50-60.

Overall, try these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116895 (CPU)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131986 (MB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148544 (memory)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130827 (GPU)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227961 (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339 (main HD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353008 (case)

That might exceed your limit a little, though, and doesn't include an optical drive. Play around with other choices, but I'd recommend avoiding Foxconn, ECS, or Biostar motherboards if at all possible.

 

[TheDettigs]

Much appreciated dgingeri