Cheap Mini Itx for Wow on high

[GreeKFire020]

I have a dedicated desktop for most of my gaming needs, but I also travel around a lot. Rather than shell out excessive cash for a laptop, I've considered going mini itx.

Max budget would be between $700-800, but in this case cheaper is better since I already have a desktop I use when I am home.

Thanks!

 

[DeadGraphics]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($180.94 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Seidon 120V 86.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($83.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Tri-X Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.98 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($86.43 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $801.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-25 13:36 EST-0500

I Think this should be a great gaming itx build, it's a bit over $800 but well worth it

 

[mdocod]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI H97I AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.97 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($132.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Lian-Li PC-TU100A Mini ITX Tower Case ($91.59 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Silverstone 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply ($58.65 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $785.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-25 15:41 EST-0500

Nvidia's implementation of DX11 is going to produce better FPS in congested conditions in WoW.

 

[logainofhades]

A 660 is not going to beat a 280x, give it a rest already.....

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.64 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 280X 3GB Tri-X Video Card ($214.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 130 Mini ITX Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($13.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($86.43 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $782.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-25 15:47 EST-0500

 

[mdocod]

Give what a rest? No amount of GPU rendering performance in the world can untangle an API/Driver bottleneck. Buying the biggest AMD card you can fit into a build for WoW is bordering on retarded. The FPS minimums are going to be the same whether you use an R7 265 or R9 290. AMD's implementation of DX11 is simply not as good as Nvidia's right now. When the bottleneck transitions to the CPU (which it inevitably does in WoW), having the big powerful GPU with the poor DX11 implementation is pointless.

Minimum FPS in 25 man raids will also be the same whether you're running a GTX660 or GTX980. If the GTX660 winds up with the same performance as the GTX980 under these conditions, then yes, it will outperform even an R9 290 in these conditions due to the differences in the DX11/driver workload.

How many times, and how many ways does this have to be explained for this to sink in?

 

[logainofhades]

How many times do I have to tell you that Blizzard changed the engine for WoD? It is less CPU bound than it was in previous expansions. You have been proven wrong in other threads, with this same topic. So yes, give it a rest. It is clear you are an Nvidia fanboy. While I would love a GTX 970, I have no need of it. My HD 7970 runs ultra, @ 1080p, with ease. Hell, even my HD 5850's are still doing well in WoW, on good settings. A 280x > a GTX 660, even during MoP.

 

[mdocod]

Showing GPU bound benchmarks performed in no-traffic areas is meaningless. However, the fact that the GTX680 pulls ahead of the R9 290X in that "meaningless" benchmark should be a clue pointing to a larger hidden discrepancy.

I have not been "proven wrong" in ANY of these threads. Throwing up basically "single player" bench-marking sequences does absolutely nothing to prove squat regarding WoW performance in congested conditions. Nvidias driver literally does a better job spreading the workload of draw calls out onto multiple threads. This reduces the compute bottleneck experienced in (often) poorly threaded but compute intensive games like WoW, SCII, WOT, Arma/DayZ, etc. I've tested the impact of this sort of software level technology. Heck, you should see SCII running on wine's D3D implementation. It's the same sort of "advantage." SCII becomes a game that can use all 8 cores of my FX-8350 when running under Wine. You don't think that sort of MASSIVE discrepancy in software optimization might have an impact on performance in a game that is known to be compute intensive? Nvidia is doing something similar with their driver and DX11 implementation here and it can have significant effects on performance in compute intensive conditions.

I am certainly not a fanboy of anything. If anything, it's obvious that logain is trying to rationalize his GPU choice by getting others to repeat it.

 

[logainofhades]

We are talking 280x vs 660. That is my point I am making here. the 660 is not better than a 280x, period. The 290/290x were probably thermal throttling during this test. Also there have been driver improvements, since they were released.

 

[mdocod]

Explain, in detail, how a stronger GPU can solve a bottleneck that is NOT on the GPU.

Higher peak FPS is pointless. Any well informed gamer knows this. It's always the minimums that bug people.

When was the last time someone got on here, started a thread complaining about how their maximum FPS isn't high enough? It doesn't happen, it's never the issue. Yea, sure, buy the 280X if you want more maximum FPS in empty rooms or while staring at a wall in WoW. If you want the best performance (FPS) possible in the toughest conditions in compute intensive DX11 games, use nvidia. If you want the most visual quality possible for the money, use AMD.

 

[logainofhades]

Explain, in detail, how a stronger GPU can solve a bottleneck that is NOT on the GPU.

Again, the engine is different for WoW now. GPU actually matters now, and will more so in the future, as said engine evolves further.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/15936285/engineer%E2%80%99s-workshop-engine-evolution-in-warlords-of-draenor-9-17-2014

 

[mdocod]

Increasing graphical detail does not in any way imply that they will be reducing compute workloads. You're reading into this something that hasn't been said. Inevitably, games evolve to demand more and more resources, not less.

Go read the WoW forums. People who do 25man all say the same thing. Doesn't matter if they are running a GTX460 or a GTX780, they are getting the same FPS on raids.

Read: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1602169-AMD-vs-Nvidia-in-WoW

 

[logainofhades]

And I call BS, on gtx 460 vs 780.

 

[mdocod]

Both get CPU bottle-necked to ~20-30FPS on 25man raids. The GTX460 will be at like 75% utilization, while the GTX780 will be at like 20% utilization. The bigger GPU just winds up with more idle cycles.

The thing that's really sad about this, is that this is well established information you can find repeated in WoW forums everywhere. Yet here you are, standing in defiance of this very useful information, basically ruining another build thread for WoW with your from-the-hip conjecture about how computers work.

 

[logainofhades]

Hmm, I always seem to do more than that, in 25 man raids. I play WoW, I do not experience this 20-30fps bottleneck. I am generally around 40-45. Only outdoor world bosses did my system suffer. But those generally were more than 40 people at once. The new outdoor world PVP, Ashran, I have not suffered the same kind of performance hits I did during MoP, in the Ordos world boss encounter.