35 replies to this topic

[jets204]

hello, I have a PC  that i have played gw2 on already, low graphics but it runs good. what can i do to it to make it even better and with max graphics? My PC specs:

AMD athlon dual core processor 2.6ghz
3070mb ram
ATI radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card.


What do i need in order to play on max graphics(or close to it) while keeping  good fps?

[ulrich mourneblade]

new gpu followed by a new cpu

Edited by ulrich mourneblade, 19 August 2012 - 09:08 PM.

[The Comfy Chair]

You'll need to buy a new PC to hit max.

[Kaaqeli]

If you really want to play on max setting with a bearable fps, you'll pretty much likely need to update your graphics card and processor. Also getting atleast 4gb RAM wouldn't hurt.

[Kendil]

Get a completely new setup. example: z77 + i5 3570k, hd 6870 and 2x4gb ram.

You could buy a really good gpu (hd 7850 or better still) and overclock the cpu, but the cpu would still bottleneck your gpu. And if you buy a new cpu you'll need a new mobo and new ram as well. It's probably a good idea to buy a new psu as well. Then there's not much left of your old pc.

Look at the stickies here and in computer buying and building. If you want more detailed advice you'll have to post information such as your budget, resolution in addition to your goal which you already posted (sort of).

[Happiness Happening]

Yeah you'll have to get a new GPU first of all, anything would likely be an improvement. Unfortunately you are running on near enough minimum specs.

Do you have a budget for any improvements you are willing to make, and can you give us any more information about the CPU (Model, Socket etc), it might be overclockable / upgradeable.

Edit: And any information on other aspects of the system, e.g. motherboard, ram, PSU

Edited by Happiness Happening, 19 August 2012 - 09:21 PM.

[jets204]

i may go for a new pc all together. any good references on good ones with an estimated price ?

[Happiness Happening]

Are you willing to build your own or are you wanting to buy a prebuilt one? But we still need to know how much you are willing to spend, $500? $1000? $2000? (as examples, i have very little idea what a pc costs in $)

[NatasMC]

a 750$ computer will run gw2 at max graphic.

[jets204]

im looking around the 700-900$ price range. if its not max graphics but close to it and runs on a good fps I'll be pleased

[Soylent]

jets204, on 20 August 2012 - 07:37 AM, said:

im looking around the 700-900$ price range. if its not max graphics but close to it and runs on a good fps I'll be pleased

Are you going to build it yourself or do you need a pre-built one?

[Exeon]

Well i wonder what kind of operating system your running and if it's being ran at 32bits which would explain more of the 3GB ram.
With the price range you mencioned you could easely get a new PC, or make one yourself, otherwise there are enough online pages where you can select the components you wish to use and they will make it for you at a cost, which is usually pretty low.

But first of all, do you wish to go for an intel CPU or AMD? Nvidia graphic card or ATI?
Much depends on your choice, personally i alwayes go with intel + Nvidia, anyhow if you need any help with components and how they can run GW2 just mencion it here.

Ex

[Major_Disaster]

Some facts:

• The game is still being optimised, last stress test was best performance yet, but many believe the best is yet to come. I think another 2-5% FPS will be achieved for most people for launch, nothing significant.

• Regardless how much they optimise, you will never be able to  run max settings on an Athlon X2 and you will never be able to run max settings on an HD 2600XT

• You will need at least a quad core CPU for max settings

• You will need at least an ATI 6870 or Nvidia 560Ti for max settings at 1920 x 1080. Higher res displays will need a better card.

• The game runs a lot better on ATI GPUs than Nvidia.

• The game runs a lot better on Intel CPUs than AMD.

Therefore I would recommend a PC with at least an Intel i5 (doesn't matter which one) and at least an ATI 6870.

Max settings on GW2 puts you firmly into the "Enthusiast" category. This means either A: You build the PC yourself, or B: You pay someone about a $500 premium to build it for you.

The cheapest way to attain this would be to use your existing chassis, power supply, hard drives etc and just upgrade motherboard, CPU, graphics card and RAM (if your PSU is not already a good brand, 400W+ model then get one of those too). You can then sell the components you replace on eBay and make a few $ back on the cost.

An investment of about $470 would allow you to buy all of the above (excluding PSU), and would be your cheapest route to max settings.

However, if you don't want to get your hands dirty, it is *possible* to buy a PC with that spec "off the shelf", but not from any of the mainstream retailers. Dell, HP, Sony etc all load their "Gaming" PCs with woefully underpowered graphics cards. For example, the best Alienware I was able to find on the Dell website for under $1200 came with an AMD 7770, which is pretty weak for the price, and won't give you max settings. You're paying a huge premium there for "America's best support", and a pretty weak PC that you will need to replace the GPU anyway (and invalidate warranty / lose all that amazing "support").

Your best "off the shelf" option would be to find a local independent PC store and give them the specs you want. They will most likely charge you between $1200 and $1400 for the privilege, but you would get a warranty and have somewhere to take it back to if it broke.

Alternatively, you could build a whole new system for about $750 at Newegg (just add a case, SSD, hard drive and optical drive to your shopping list), which would trounce the Alienware soundly, but it would need to be put together one part at a time. I don't find building PCs in the least bit challenging, it's something like electronics Lego, but I do understand people who are put off by it, and put off by not having a warranty, or anyone to call when it breaks.

Here is a Newegg shopping list for a system which is assured to play GW2 on max with 40-50FPS:

First 4 items = "Upgrade" path

Motherboard ($71) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131724
CPU ($180) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115089
RAM ($43) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820104231
GPU ($170) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102948

"Upgrade" Subtotal - $464

Next 5 items added to first 4 = "Full System" path

PSU ($60) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139027
Case ($50) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129181
SSD ($95) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820227706
Hard Drive ($90) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822152185
Optical Drive ($22) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827135240

"Full System" Total - $781

Which comes in bang on budget. Actually the Hard Drive I listed is kind of an optional expense, as there's no reason you can't just keep your old HD(s) and format.

I'm assuming here that you already have a monitor, keyboard, speakers, mouse and relevant power leads too. If not, how are you even posting on this forum?!

Strictly speaking, a pure gaming system doesn't really *need* any more than a single 120gb system drive, the 1TB Samsung Spinpoint I listed there is not for gaming, it's for everything else that isn't gaming: Storing your MP3s, Movies and so on. Of course, if you plan on installing more than just GW2 on the system (like some kind of crazy person), a bigger HD will come in handy

In any case, by either by not having a big HD at all, or by using your old HD(s), you could remove the HD from the shopping list and upgrade to a slightly faster GPU for better frame rates and stay within budget.

Inb4 people telling you an SSD is an optional extra and you can run Windows just fine off a HD and save yourself $95. No. Just no.

Since you already own a PC that plays GW2, you already own Windows. I haven't factored Windows 7 64bit into the cost but that is absolutely the OS you should be using. Some people swear by "Professional" but I find "Home Premium" is perfectly fine.

Good luck, and welcome to the "Enthusiast" category

Edited by Major_Disaster, 20 August 2012 - 09:47 AM.

[jets204]

Major_Disaster, on 20 August 2012 - 09:02 AM, said:

Some facts:

• The game is still being optimised, last stress test was best performance yet, but many believe the best is yet to come. I think another 2-5% FPS will be achieved for most people for launch, nothing significant.

• Regardless how much they optimise, you will never be able to  run max settings on an Athlon X2 and you will never be able to run max settings on an HD 2600XT

• You will need at least a quad core CPU for max settings

• You will need at least an ATI 6870 or Nvidia 560Ti for max settings at 1920 x 1080. Higher res displays will need a better card.

• The game runs a lot better on ATI GPUs than Nvidia.

• The game runs a lot better on Intel CPUs than AMD.

Therefore I would recommend a PC with at least an Intel i5 (doesn't matter which one) and at least an ATI 6870.

Max settings on GW2 puts you firmly into the "Enthusiast" category. This means either A: You build the PC yourself, or B: You pay someone about a $500 premium to build it for you.

The cheapest way to attain this would be to use your existing chassis, power supply, hard drives etc and just upgrade motherboard, CPU, graphics card and RAM (if your PSU is not already a good brand, 400W+ model then get one of those too). You can then sell the components you replace on eBay and make a few $ back on the cost.

An investment of about $470 would allow you to buy all of the above (excluding PSU), and would be your cheapest route to max settings.

However, if you don't want to get your hands dirty, it is *possible* to buy a PC with that spec "off the shelf", but not from any of the mainstream retailers. Dell, HP, Sony etc all load their "Gaming" PCs with woefully underpowered graphics cards. For example, the best Alienware I was able to find on the Dell website for under $1200 came with an AMD 7770, which is pretty weak for the price, and won't give you max settings. You're paying a huge premium there for "America's best support", and a pretty weak PC that you will need to replace the GPU anyway (and invalidate warranty / lose all that amazing "support").

Your best "off the shelf" option would be to find a local independent PC store and give them the specs you want. They will most likely charge you between $1200 and $1400 for the privilege, but you would get a warranty and have somewhere to take it back to if it broke.

Alternatively, you could build a whole new system for about $750 at Newegg (just add a case, SSD, hard drive and optical drive to your shopping list), which would trounce the Alienware soundly, but it would need to be put together one part at a time. I don't find building PCs in the least bit challenging, it's something like electronics Lego, but I do understand people who are put off by it, and put off by not having a warranty, or anyone to call when it breaks.

Here is a Newegg shopping list for a system which is assured to play GW2 on max with 40-50FPS:

First 4 items = "Upgrade" path

Motherboard ($71) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131724
CPU ($180) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115089
RAM ($43) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820104231
GPU ($170) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102948

"Upgrade" Subtotal - $464

Next 5 items added to first 4 = "Full System" path

PSU ($60) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139027
Case ($50) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129181
SSD ($95) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820227706
Hard Drive ($90) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822152185
Optical Drive ($22) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827135240

"Full System" Total - $781

Which comes in bang on budget. Actually the Hard Drive I listed is kind of an optional expense, as there's no reason you can't just keep your old HD(s) and format.

I'm assuming here that you already have a monitor, keyboard, speakers, mouse and relevant power leads too. If not, how are you even posting on this forum?!

Strictly speaking, a pure gaming system doesn't really *need* any more than a single 120gb system drive, the 1TB Samsung Spinpoint I listed there is not for gaming, it's for everything else that isn't gaming: Storing your MP3s, Movies and so on. Of course, if you plan on installing more than just GW2 on the system (like some kind of crazy person), a bigger HD will come in handy

In any case, by either by not having a big HD at all, or by using your old HD(s), you could remove the HD from the shopping list and upgrade to a slightly faster GPU for better frame rates and stay within budget.

Inb4 people telling you an SSD is an optional extra and you can run Windows just fine off a HD and save yourself $95. No. Just no.

Since you already own a PC that plays GW2, you already own Windows. I haven't factored Windows 7 64bit into the cost but that is absolutely the OS you should be using. Some people swear by "Professional" but I find "Home Premium" is perfectly fine.

Good luck, and welcome to the "Enthusiast" category

Great thanks alot I'm going to look into building one for myself, my cousin who play WoW(i gotta get him on GW2 i know.) built his computer so I'll ask him to help me out!

[128palms]

Major_Disaster, on 20 August 2012 - 09:02 AM, said:

Some facts:

• The game runs a lot better on ATI GPUs than Nvidia.

• The game runs a lot better on Intel CPUs than AMD.

Nvidea drivers have huge problems and are awaiting the update in the next couple of days to fix major flaws in the drivers currently being used.

The new release driver will be 3.0.5 and will see the do away with the bad performance so it's been said.

[Major_Disaster]

128palms, on 21 August 2012 - 05:58 AM, said:

The new release driver will be 3.0.5 and will see the do away with the bad performance so it's been said.

Mm-hmm. Many people are pinning a lot of hopes on these new drivers. Experience tells me that they should be cautious in their hopes.

I still think ATI will outperform Nvidia in Guild Wars 2 after driver update 3.0.5.The gap will be less for many people, for sure, but it will still exist.

[128palms]

who cares tbh which outperforms as long as the game works ay on max settings and your happy with the fps then it really makes no difference. I have a sapphire hd 5870 and a gtx 470 in my system and i it plays on max at 1920x1080 in actual fact each of the cards work about the same in the game.

[Kymeric]

Major_Disaster, on 20 August 2012 - 09:02 AM, said:

Motherboard ($71) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131724
CPU ($180) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115089
RAM ($43) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820104231
GPU ($170) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102948

"Upgrade" Subtotal - $464

Next 5 items added to first 4 = "Full System" path

PSU ($60) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139027
Case ($50) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811129181
SSD ($95) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820227706
Hard Drive ($90) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822152185
Optical Drive ($22) - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827135240

"Full System" Total - $781

Thanks for the list, Major Disaster.  I've been looking into building for the first time, budget around $750-800 as well, so it was nice to see this setup.

I'm just starting to read up on the process, so I'm a total noob when it comes to building.  A couple of questions:

1) You don't list any kind of cooler.  I know the OP has a comp they might be scavenging for parts, but didn't see it in your full build list. Am I missing something?

2) Can you point to somewhere I can read up more on the SSD issue?  I've seen it mentioned as an optional extra, but you're saying it's necessary.  You mention Windows.  If I was thinking about using Linux for an OS, would that make a difference?

Thanks again.

[Major_Disaster]

1: The CPU comes with the Intel Stock Cooler in the box. It's not the quietest and won't be great for overclocking over 4GHz, but it's more than adequate.

2. Linux is much better at not thrashing the HDD constantly than Windows is, especially if you run a very small distro without a gui etc that can just load the whole OS into RAM. Even still it still massively benefits from being run from SSD.

Although it "works", The performance of Guild Wars 2 under WINE in Linux is complete dogshit. If you're building a system with Guild Wars 2 in mind, then you should be using Windows 7 64 Bit.

I don't know if there's any great articles which really sum up the unmitigated frustration that running Windows from a Hard Drive can cause, or if you can really truly convey the difference between running it from SSD and HDD on paper. It's something you really need to  experience for yourself.

Having said that, Anandtech does a reasonable job of explaining the technical reasons that SSD is simply superior in every respect:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2738/3

Another Anandtech article explains that the reason Intel came into the SSD market when they did was that Hard Drives were simply not up to the job of running a Core i7 system. Business users saw little to no difference in an i7 system running from HDD and a Core 2 Duo system running from HDD. If Intel felt the need to go into an entirely new market just to allow their chips to perform as they should, that should be enough of a hint for you:

http://www.anandtech...10-200gb-review

Games like GW2 with a lot of instancing and teleporting around huge, huge areas really benefit from SSD. You will pop into a zone in 5 seconds, rather than waiting 20 seconds for it to load from HD.

3 years ago, an SSD was a very expensive purchase and these reasons almost did not justify the expense. These days, with 120GB clocking in under $100, you'd be crazy not to.

[Arzalis]

You realize ATI doesn't exist anymore, right? It's all AMD now.

That said, I'm not sure I 100% agree with your assessment in terms of what will perform better, but only time will tell.

Edited by Arzalis, 21 August 2012 - 01:38 PM.

[Major_Disaster]

Arzalis, on 21 August 2012 - 01:37 PM, said:

You realize ATI doesn't exist anymore, right? It's all AMD now.

That said, I'm not sure I 100% agree with your assessment in terms of what will perform better, but only time will tell.

Well shiver me timbers! I didn't realise they'd completely rebranded. I will try to stop my brain saying "ATI", but it does say ATI on the box of my Radeon HD6870

While I'm happy to comment on CUDA cores vs. Steam Processors, I hope these forums don't descend into Red vs. Green willy waving contests like practically every other game forum does.

Nvidia make great graphics cards, ATI AMD also make graphics cards. It just so happens that AMD cards run Guild Wars 2 better than Nvidia. This might change in a future driver update, but it's unlikely. I agree with you that we should wait and see.

I take it from your tone that you are an Nvidia owner. Please don't take this as a personal assault on your sensibilities, I really don't care which brand you own.

[Major_Disaster]

128palms, on 21 August 2012 - 10:07 AM, said:

who cares tbh which outperforms as long as the game works ay on max settings and your happy with the fps then it really makes no difference. I have a sapphire hd 5870 and a gtx 470 in my system and i it plays on max at 1920x1080 in actual fact each of the cards work about the same in the game.

Indeed, which card outperforms which is kind of irrelevant if, like you, you already have a computer which plays the game well. Just play the game and enjoy it.

The one place where it is relevant however is if you are building a system specifically to play Guild Wars 2, and you are asking how to get the best performance for the lowest cost.

Edited by Major_Disaster, 21 August 2012 - 04:05 PM.

[Hiromant]

You'll need to wait for a few years and buy a top of the line PC then. Even the best current PC-s can't run this at 60+ fps in WvW with all settings maxed.

[Hak]

Major_Disaster, on 21 August 2012 - 09:18 AM, said:

Mm-hmm. Many people are pinning a lot of hopes on these new drivers. Experience tells me that they should be cautious in their hopes.

I still think ATI will outperform Nvidia in Guild Wars 2 after driver update 3.0.5.The gap will be less for many people, for sure, but it will still exist.

According to what I read more people have experienced issues on AMD hardware than Nvidia once they use the beta drivers. The drivers yet to be released promise a large improvement for 6 series users and a moderate one for 5 series users. I think in today's stress test AMD users will see significant improvement as they had a driver update recently. Maybe even edge them out ahead of Nvidia however when the new drivers hit i expect 6 series to top it out again.

edited as not to put opinion and general consensus as fact.

Edited by Hak, 21 August 2012 - 05:08 PM.

[128palms]

i dont see point of buying the newer lower cards like the 7770 or the 6670 which cost about same as the 400 and almost 500 series gtx cards which perform way better. But the 7850 and above are decent cards i will say and I would even buy one soon myself and a gtx 670 to last me another 2 and half years.

[Ieldra]

The day AMD/ATi has drivers that enable their products to outperform nVidia high end cards I will eat my hat. Downhill tumble since that shitty HD2XXX series. No offense OP

[Arzalis]

Major_Disaster, on 21 August 2012 - 03:55 PM, said:

Well shiver me timbers! I didn't realise they'd completely rebranded. I will try to stop my brain saying "ATI", but it does say ATI on the box of my Radeon HD6870

While I'm happy to comment on CUDA cores vs. Steam Processors, I hope these forums don't descend into Red vs. Green willy waving contests like practically every other game forum does.

Nvidia make great graphics cards, ATI AMD also make graphics cards. It just so happens that AMD cards run Guild Wars 2 better than Nvidia. This might change in a future driver update, but it's unlikely. I agree with you that we should wait and see.

I take it from your tone that you are an Nvidia owner. Please don't take this as a personal assault on your sensibilities, I really don't care which brand you own.

I used to own a 5850 (they were ATI then still) so I do it sometimes too. Apologies too if the tone seemed like I was being defensive, I was more meaning to say that it's best if we wait instead of try to form opinions on something we have no way of knowing. I did write that after not sleeping for a bit, so I didn't think about how I said what I said, only what the intention was. If that makes any sense.

[Major_Disaster]

Welp. Turns out ATI cards beat equivalent priced Nvidia cards in Guild wars 2 - HANDS DOWN.

There is a new Nvidia Driver coming up in the next few weeks with support for Ambient Occlusion which should help out the Green camp a little, but certainly up to now, Red has been winning this battle decisively.

[Lord Sojar]

Major_Disaster, on 29 November 2012 - 01:29 PM, said:

Welp. Turns out ATI cards beat equivalent priced Nvidia cards in Guild wars 2 - HANDS DOWN.

There is a new Nvidia Driver coming up in the next few weeks with support for Ambient Occlusion which should help out the Green camp a little, but certainly up to now, Red has been winning this battle decisively.

Huh?  Ambient Occlusion support has been there I'm afraid.  

As for any new drivers helping out nVidia, that's false; it's also false for AMD.  Both companies are running GW2 at nearly equal levels and any performance difference varies from setup to setup, wildly in many cases.  There's no "HANDS DOWN" with GW2 at all; the engine is highly erratic and has a lot of optimization issues that appear to be going unsolved.   The ball is in Arena Net's court, and apparently they've decided that apathy is the best policy.  

But, to say AMD GPUs are running the game better than nVidia equivalents hands down?  That's a bit absurd.   In fact, this generation has been interesting, as each company has a card at a price point up to $300 that fits its performance profile perfectly.  There's no specific best buy unless you use really broad monetary ranges.  The cards are separated by no more than 10% per level, and typically separated by about the same in price until you hit that $300 mark.  

There's zero indication of a "hands down" win for AMD, nor is there any such thing as decisive victory for either side.  And, there are no new drivers with any additional support coming; that's 100% verified on my end.

At this stage in buying a GPU, it really comes down to OTHER games people want to play besides GW2.  Either way, you're going to be CPU bound on anything GTX 660/HD7850 or higher.   At the GTX 650 Ti/HD7770 level, you'll be slightly GPU bound, but it's still going to be much more reliant on the CPU.   No CPU in the world can truly max out GW2 in large WvW battles or huge events.

[SuperNova]

I wouldn't say it's a hands-down victory for AMD either.  I think Nvidia really *ed up somewhere with drivers though.  On performance terms it's pretty much as you'd expect now.  A lot of people may be surprised to see the 7970 up with the 680 but fact is that's where both cards are on performance anyway - at least after AMD fixed the drivers for some other games performance (BF3 for example).

Edited by SuperNova, 02 December 2012 - 12:12 AM.