Buying a new computer

[Deusx454]

Hello,

This weekend I was planning to go to Best Buy to look for a new computer. I don't really know what to get though to suit my needs. I thought about just asking a sales rep but they would most certainly try to sell me one that is overpriced. I was hoping to stay under the $1000 range but need it mostly for everyday use. HDMI a plus since I use my TV as my monitor. I don't play a lot of games on it but I do play World Of Warcraft and stream Netflix. I thought about getting a laptop but read they are usually under powered compared to a desktop. If anyone has any advice on what to look for it would be greatly appreciated. I'm not a very knowledgeable computer person on these types of things Thank you

 

[logainofhades]

My advice, build your own. Prebuilds, especially ones at best buy, tend to have low quality components inside, especially power supply wise. This would have no trouble with what you want to do. Upgrading to a GTX 1060 3gb, vs the 1050ti wouldn't be a horrible idea either.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($197.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Pro4 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($87.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($134.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 275GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($97.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Toshiba - Product Series😀T01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($154.98 @ Newegg)
Case: DIYPC - Zondda-S ATX Mid Tower Case ($40.88 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($92.99 @ B&H)
Total: $917.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-31 20:06 EDT-0400

 

[assasin32]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JY4nRG

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($70.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B250M-HDV Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($115.88 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - FireCuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($90.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($154.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Zalman - Z3 ATX Mid Tower Case ($32.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $674.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-31 22:41 EDT-0400

A more budgeted approach, I don't play WoW but some say go high end for CPU others say the intel I put in is more than sufficient. I know I built one for someone with this pentium and a 1050gtx (not TI, which is faster) and I have not heard a single complaint from them.

Realistically the downgrade in memory I did will be neglible, the swap from the faster SSD and HDD combo he did to a hybrid hard drive (HDD with small SSD to speed things up) while slower will be easier if your not manage if your not too tech savy yet and maintain as you can keep everything on one drive instead of worrying about filling up the 275gb SSD and moving things over to the slower HDD. Case swap was purely because I worked with a Zalman Z3 before and it's cheap in build quality but excellent in cooling just rip out the foam dust filter inside the front panel as it's a pain to take off to clean and call it a day.

A different approach to building a computer to game WoW. The above build will outperform this one if you wanted the best performance for the money you have, that would be a good start.

Though if my memory serves me correct FPS on your TV may be limited to a max of 30fps depending on your TV specs which may be worth looking into. If so getting the best FPS out of the build isn't a concern than it should be maintaining a smooth FPS, whether it's 30fps or higher. There is also the question of what resolution is your TV, playing at 720 or 1080p is far different than on a 4k screen if you are trying to max out your setting and play at the highest resolution.

And as a quick sidenote, these are awesome for lounging around and using a TV as a computer monitor.
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-920-007119-Wireless-Keyboard-Connected/dp/B014EUQOGK/ref=sr_1_9?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1501556489&sr=1-9&keywords=logitech+wireless+keyboard

 

[TrAAst]

WoW only uses 1-1.5 cores, so an Intel Pentium is a probably the smartest choice. Definately go Intel for the better IPC.

 

[logainofhades]

WoW can make use of more than that, but not by much. It made pretty good use of my old 3570k's cores.