PC Build for World of Warcraft on Ultra (Legion)

[crwomans]

Hi,
I am trying to create a build so i can run WoW on ultra settings, and preferably future proof it for the next expansion.

My current build is:-

CPU: Intel Core i7 4770k Quad core (3.50GHz
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VI Impact
Cooling: Corsair Hydro H100i with 3x Corsair Air series AF120-LED
Primary HD: Kingston 240GB SSD 2.5" V300 SATA 3
Secondary HD: WD 1TB WD10EZEX
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series
RAM: 2x Corsair Vengence 8GB DDR 3
Case: BitFenix BFC-Pro-300-KKXSK Prodigy Mini-ITX (found it a little small so was thinking of upgrading to a Corsair Crystal 570x ITX mid tower)

also my PSU is ok, but recommendations are more than welcome.

Could someone please have a look at my spec and see if i could make some improvements, also having a few issues with my motherboard so any decent upgrades will be greatly apreciated.

Many Thanks,

Matt

 

[EpIckFa1LJoN]

CPU could use work but will be okay for the time being. It will NOT allow you to play on Ultra quality, you will need to turn down the environment sliders, and particle density a lot to maintain 60fps.

Recommended for BFA is 4770, which means the 4770k is just barely better than that.

GPU needs an upgrade most of all. Minimum for BFA is HD7850, so just to even make it playable will require a GPU update.

If you upgrade any further than your current CPU, you will need to upgrade to DDR4 RAM. The 4770k is the best CPU that can utilize DDR3, there are faster overall CPU's out there but for WoW you want the fastest clock speeds. BFA might change that but it's a stretch.

Other improvements can be made across the board, most likely including the PSU, which no one can say is good or not since you didn't include it.

Also depends on what your budget is.

 

[EpIckFa1LJoN]

This is just a suggestion based on nothing other than the fact you said you want to run ultra quality:

CPU: 8600k (8700k if you like to multi-task a lot, almost anything in addition to WoW will drain heavily on the game itself, some things more than others obviously) Most people would recommend Ryzen, but strictly speaking performance, Intel still has them beat for gaming performance. Cost/performance ratio is still favoring Ryzen but specifically for WoW, faster clock speeds = higher FPS, assuming no limitation on the GPU. I would be tempted to go with a Ryzen 5 2600x over an 8700k just because of the price point though. With a good OC the 8700k and 8600k are going to be about 20-25% faster than a 2600x with an overclock, but the 2600x being $30 cheaper than an 8600k and a whopping $100 cheaper than the 8700k. With heavy multi-tasking I would also expect the 2600x and 8600k to perform similarly, but the 8700k will be noticeably faster than either during heavy multi-tasking, again with a decent OC.

MB: Any solid Z370 board (Intel), of those:
MSI Z370-A Pro: Highly underrated board, great offering at a fantastic price
AsRock Z370 Extreme 4: Very good midrange board
MSI Godlike Z370: Best of the best, but huge and has it's share of issues.
Asus ROG Maximus X line: Any of these will suit you well, they are a great line of MB's, I personally have the Max. X Formula
GPU: The 1050 Ti was capable of keeping 50-60fps on Preset 10 at 1080p in Legion. With the changes in BFA i'm going to go ahead and say you will probably want a 1060 6GB or equivalent to do Preset 10 at 1080p 60Hz. Without knowing what you play at it's hard to say for sure.

SSD: Investing in an SSD is optional but it will help greatly with load times, especially if you have an already slow HDD.

PSU: With a 1060 6GB and an 8th gen i7 with a decent OC you will want a 450-500W PSU that is reputable and actually delivering the necessary wattage. Again can't really say without knowing what yours is.

RAM: Nothing much to say other than you will need at LEAST 8GB of DDR4 RAM, speeds only help so much. The difference between $100 2133MHz RAM and $150 3466MHz RAM is a couple fps max.

 

[crwomans]

CPU could use work but will be okay for the time being. It will NOT allow you to play on Ultra quality, you will need to turn down the environment sliders, and particle density a lot to maintain 60fps.

Recommended for BFA is 4770, which means the 4770k is just barely better than that.

GPU needs an upgrade most of all. Minimum for BFA is HD7850, so just to even make it playable will require a GPU update.

If you upgrade any further than your current CPU, you will need to upgrade to DDR4 RAM. The 4770k is the best CPU that can utilize DDR3, there are faster overall CPU's out there but for WoW you want the fastest clock speeds. BFA might change that but it's a stretch.

Other improvements can be made across the board, most likely including the PSU, which no one can say is good or not since you didn't include it.

Also depends on what your budget is.

To be honest, i didn't include it because i do not know what it was. and couldn't be bothered to open up my tower.

I could spare about £1k maybe more but would like to do it for as little as I can but with a bit of future proofing if possible. was hoping i could salvage some of my current build but that is not a massive issue.

Do you have a build in mind that you would think may be good enough?

Ignore, just seen that you had added info

 

[EpIckFa1LJoN]

I've got three proposed with that in mind.

First build is 8600k if you DO NOT do a lot of multi-tasking (say watching YouTube or Netflix or streaming while playing)
Second build will be if you DO multi-task and want to lower the cost
Third build, cost is no option, you want the best performance, at or around 1,000 pounds.

Of course, there is always wiggle room, you can choose another motherboard, or a different brand of GPU, but that's about the specs you want if you want to run at Preset 10 (assuming 1080p 60Hz, anything more you will need a better GPU)



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£199.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For £0.00)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£88.79 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£97.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB ARMOR OCV1 Video Card (£258.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £705.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-17 20:30 BST+0100



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£185.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For £0.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - X470 AORUS ULTRA GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard (£127.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£97.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB ARMOR OCV1 Video Card (£258.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £730.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-17 20:33 BST+0100



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (£282.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For £0.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£218.79 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£170.35 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card (£274.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£88.79 @ Aria PC)
Total: £1035.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-17 20:36 BST+0100

 

[crwomans]

I've got three proposed with that in mind.

First build is 8600k if you DO NOT do a lot of multi-tasking (say watching YouTube or Netflix or streaming while playing)
Second build will be if you DO multi-task and want to lower the cost
Third build, cost is no option, you want the best performance, at or around 1,000 pounds.

Of course, there is always wiggle room, you can choose another motherboard, or a different brand of GPU, but that's about the specs you want if you want to run at Preset 10 (assuming 1080p 60Hz, anything more you will need a better GPU)



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£199.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For £0.00)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£88.79 @ Aria PC)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£97.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB ARMOR OCV1 Video Card (£258.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £705.25
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-17 20:30 BST+0100



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£185.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For £0.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - X470 AORUS ULTRA GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard (£127.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£97.50 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB ARMOR OCV1 Video Card (£258.98 @ Ebuyer)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £730.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-17 20:33 BST+0100



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (£282.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (Purchased For £0.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£218.79 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£170.35 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card (£274.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£88.79 @ Aria PC)
Total: £1035.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-17 20:36 BST+0100

thanks for the ideas. Seen this build, thought it was quite impressive, but ive only built a couple of computers so far, so not really an expert.

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: MSI - X470 GAMING PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Mini Video Card
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[King Dranzer]

What is your budget for the build?

 

[EpIckFa1LJoN]

thanks for the ideas. Seen this build, thought it was quite impressive, but ive only built a couple of computers so far, so not really an expert.

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: MSI - X470 GAMING PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Mini Video Card
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

The 2600 is okay but for the price there is no reason to not go with the 2600x. In addition, WoW is known to favor Intel, so you're almost automatically going to get more performance on a comparable Intel chip. But like I mentioned earlier, the price-to-performance heavily favors AMD. But if you have room in the budget and are comfortable spending a little bit more, there's no reason to not go Intel.

I am unfamiliar with Team- Dark so I can't say if the RAM is quality or not.

I would not get a Zotac Mini. Those are more for Mini-itx builds where full size cards are impossible to use and the OC on them is either non-existent or very small, and with the lack of sufficient cooling it will be almost impossible to push it farther. I would recommend getting a card with better cooling.

And that PSU is actually better. I made the mistake of recommending a Corsair CX series (had to go back and look it up again). Those are the ones you want to stay away from. I'm not a fan of any Corsair PSU so I keep getting them mixed up, but I've heard excellent things about the TX. So TX are supposed to be really good and CX are awful, I got them mixed up so, my bad.

 

[crwomans]

thanks for the ideas. Seen this build, thought it was quite impressive, but ive only built a couple of computers so far, so not really an expert.

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor
Motherboard: MSI - X470 GAMING PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Mini Video Card
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

The 2600 is okay but for the price there is no reason to not go with the 2600x. In addition, WoW is known to favor Intel, so you're almost automatically going to get more performance on a comparable Intel chip. But like I mentioned earlier, the price-to-performance heavily favors AMD. But if you have room in the budget and are comfortable spending a little bit more, there's no reason to not go Intel.

I am unfamiliar with Team- Dark so I can't say if the RAM is quality or not.

I would not get a Zotac Mini. Those are more for Mini-itx builds where full size cards are impossible to use and the OC on them is either non-existent or very small, and with the lack of sufficient cooling it will be almost impossible to push it farther. I would recommend getting a card with better cooling.

And that PSU is actually better. I made the mistake of recommending a Corsair CX series (had to go back and look it up again). Those are the ones you want to stay away from. I'm not a fan of any Corsair PSU so I keep getting them mixed up, but I've heard excellent things about the TX. So TX are supposed to be really good and CX are awful, I got them mixed up so, my bad.

Cheers for all your suggestions. I was probably going for the 2600x I only saw that after. But a good shout there.
As for the graphics, yeah see what you mean. I have found a gtx 1080ti on a quick search but I’m sure I can find a normal gtx1070 ti. Gonna research the memory, but initial look was it was rated well.

Thanks for your help in this

 

[EpIckFa1LJoN]

Yeah I wouldn't get a 1080 Ti waste of money for you. Those will play 200Hz plus Ultra at 1080p on any game. It's way too much GPU for WoW. I play at 3440x1440 on Ultra I get 150-200fps in WoW barring CPU bottleneck. It doesn't even come out of idle most of the time (over 30% usage).

1070 Ti will be more than plenty for a long time with ANY game at 1080p.

 

[crwomans]

Yeah I wouldn't get a 1080 Ti waste of money for you. Those will play 200Hz plus Ultra at 1080p on any game. It's way too much GPU for WoW. I play at 3440x1440 on Ultra I get 150-200fps in WoW barring CPU bottleneck. It doesn't even come out of idle most of the time (over 30% usage).

1070 Ti will be more than plenty for a long time with ANY game at 1080p.

Yeah found a 1070ti amp version. Think that will suffice. I was thinking of changing my ram to Corsair vengeance ddr 4 as I like the vengeance ddr3 I have currently. I am not sure hitch spreed to go for though.

 

[maxalge]

Yeah I wouldn't get a 1080 Ti waste of money for you. Those will play 200Hz plus Ultra at 1080p on any game. It's way too much GPU for WoW. I play at 3440x1440 on Ultra I get 150-200fps in WoW barring CPU bottleneck. It doesn't even come out of idle most of the time (over 30% usage).

1070 Ti will be more than plenty for a long time with ANY game at 1080p.

Yeah found a 1070ti amp version. Think that will suffice. I was thinking of changing my ram to Corsair vengeance ddr 4 as I like the vengeance ddr3 I have currently. I am not sure hitch spreed to go for though.

even a lowly i5 8400 is better than the 2600x at gaming
the i5 8400 bang for buck is the king

for wow I would go i5 8600k

2666 ddr4, faster if it is only a couple bucks more

 

[crwomans]

Yeah I wouldn't get a 1080 Ti waste of money for you. Those will play 200Hz plus Ultra at 1080p on any game. It's way too much GPU for WoW. I play at 3440x1440 on Ultra I get 150-200fps in WoW barring CPU bottleneck. It doesn't even come out of idle most of the time (over 30% usage).

1070 Ti will be more than plenty for a long time with ANY game at 1080p.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (£282.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£218.79 @ Alza)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£161.99 @ Box Limited)
Storage: *Kingston - A400 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£90.11 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: *Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K4000 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£60.06 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB AMP Extreme Video Card (£412.47 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Corsair - Carbide Series 275R (Black w/Tempered Glass) ATX Mid Tower Case (£67.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: *Corsair - TXM Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (£63.21 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1357.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-19 09:09 BST+0100

Ive tweaked my build, using mainly what you’ve said, what you think to this one

 

[crwomans]

Yeah I wouldn't get a 1080 Ti waste of money for you. Those will play 200Hz plus Ultra at 1080p on any game. It's way too much GPU for WoW. I play at 3440x1440 on Ultra I get 150-200fps in WoW barring CPU bottleneck. It doesn't even come out of idle most of the time (over 30% usage).

1070 Ti will be more than plenty for a long time with ANY game at 1080p.

Yeah found a 1070ti amp version. Think that will suffice. I was thinking of changing my ram to Corsair vengeance ddr 4 as I like the vengeance ddr3 I have currently. I am not sure hitch spreed to go for though.

even a lowly i5 8400 is better than the 2600x at gaming
the i5 8400 bang for buck is the king

for wow I would go i5 8600k

2666 ddr4, faster if it is only a couple bucks more

Thanks after looking at it I think intel might be the way to go, was thinking i7 8700k

 

[logainofhades]

Yeah I wouldn't get a 1080 Ti waste of money for you. Those will play 200Hz plus Ultra at 1080p on any game. It's way too much GPU for WoW. I play at 3440x1440 on Ultra I get 150-200fps in WoW barring CPU bottleneck. It doesn't even come out of idle most of the time (over 30% usage).

1070 Ti will be more than plenty for a long time with ANY game at 1080p.

Yeah found a 1070ti amp version. Think that will suffice. I was thinking of changing my ram to Corsair vengeance ddr 4 as I like the vengeance ddr3 I have currently. I am not sure hitch spreed to go for though.

even a lowly i5 8400 is better than the 2600x at gaming
the i5 8400 bang for buck is the king

for wow I would go i5 8600k

2666 ddr4, faster if it is only a couple bucks more

Actually not much difference between the two. In real world use, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. I would rather have the 2600x for better multithreaded support, and future socket compatibility.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-coffee-lake-ryzen-2,5615.html

 

[EpIckFa1LJoN]

Except that WoW prefers Intel and the extra threads don't matter at all. Once BfA releases and the requirements go up, you're looking at the difference between being able to keep a stable 60fps or not.

Really only if you want to stream is the 2600x better in terms of performance.

With an OC the 2600x would be on par with the 8400, while the 8400 would be substantially cheaper.

 

[maxalge]

Except that WoW prefers Intel and the extra threads don't matter at all. Once BfA releases and the requirements go up, you're looking at the difference between being able to keep a stable 60fps or not.

Really only if you want to stream is the 2600x better in terms of performance.

With an OC the 2600x would be on par with the 8400, while the 8400 would be substantially cheaper.

even with an OC on the 2600(x) the 8400 is faster by 7 - 9 fps on average

wow does indeed prefer intel, so an 8600k is the best choice



all you are going to get on am4 is ryzen 2, and chances are it is not going to be much better than ryzen+ is ( i.e. 2600x ) ...

 

[logainofhades]

The i5 coffee lakes are great gaming CPU's, but the 2600x is simply a more well rounded offering, imo. To be honest, the OP's 4770k, with a decent overclock, would probably still work quite well. I would probably go with a beefy GPU and at least a 1440p monitor, if still using 1080p, over a new build. Coffee lake really isn't all that much faster than Haswell, IPC wise.