51 replies to this topic

[Delusiv]

Hi,

I need to buy a computer, and i would like to be able to play GW2 on it.

I want to be able to run GW2 smoothly with high FPS and decent settings. I need the computer to have a decent graphics card processor etc.

My budget is around £800 (can go just over if theres a good one)

Please give me some suggestions and links to computers that i can look at. (Only trustworthy sites like PC World etc)

Thanks so much,

Delusiv.

[Quaker]

Basically, what you want is something with an i5 processor (any Ivy Bridge model) and a decent video card - GTX-660, HD7850. You might not be able to get that for 800 pounds though.

This with a better video card (HD7850/7870) is worth considering:
http://www.overclock...rodid=FS-247-OE

Edited by Quaker, 12 January 2013 - 07:19 PM.

[Zerk2012]

http://3xs.scan.co.u...p?SystemID=1511

Make a few changes to it change the processor to  the 3570
Cooling to the artic 13
select no Nvidi card and click on the 7870 GPU
select the 1TB HDD
Should be like 801 inc VAT

Edited by Zerk2012, 12 January 2013 - 10:32 PM.

[Delusiv]

Quaker, on 12 January 2013 - 07:06 PM, said:

Basically, what you want is something with an i5 processor (any Ivy Bridge model) and a decent video card - GTX-660, HD7850. You might not be able to get that for 800 pounds though.

This with a better video card (HD7850/7870) is worth considering:
http://www.overclock...rodid=FS-247-OE

Hey thanks for your reply anbd suggestion, i was browsing and this looks ok to me? http://www.pcworld.c...392818-pdt.html

Its got the Nividia GTX 660 and is an i5 processor?

Let me know what you think?
Cheers.

[CaptainPlax]

You really shouldn't buy windows 8 yet it's too new and i'm not sure if Guild Wars 2 works with it yet.
And you could also skip the keyboard and mouse unless you don't have one already ofcourse.
I have: AMD X3 3.3GHz 3 core CPU and GTX650 Graphics card 4GB RAM and it runs pretty well for me.
(I will get a SSD harddrive and a larger HDD and also some more RAM though)

[Quaker]

Delusiv, on 14 January 2013 - 10:28 AM, said:

i was browsing and this looks ok to me? http://www.pcworld.c...392818-pdt.html

It's not bad, but it's not as good as the ones I and Zerk linked (and more expensive).

[cobalt]

I play GW2 with a AMD phenom 955, 8GB of ram and nvidia 460 gtx.... both are fairly aged components but the game runs very well. My point is the needs for GW2 are very flexible so don't sweat it too much, pretty much anything new shouldn't have any issues running it. I also run windows 8 and it is totally compatible with GW2( and should be since win 8 is built off win 7). I really don't understand the hate for this OS, yes it has a learning curve but the really didn't change all that much. If you know your keyboard shortcuts its a very easy OS to use. Also the Start screen isn't much of a change from a start button. to each their own.

[Quaker]

cobalt, on 14 January 2013 - 05:44 PM, said:

If you know your keyboard shortcuts its a very easy OS to use.

That's a big IF. You've got this touch-enabled GUI with a mouse, and you want to use keyboard shortcuts?! You may as well just use DOS.
The only keyboard shortcuts I know (without looking them up) are ctrl-c and ctrl-v, and that's only because GW wouldn't accept copy & paste. (Oh, and I guess I know ctrl-z from undoing Freecell moves)
Win 8 is just the new Vista - yes you can get used to it, but who wants to.

Edited by Quaker, 15 January 2013 - 05:17 PM.

[cobalt]

Quaker, on 15 January 2013 - 05:14 PM, said:

That's a big IF. You've got this touch-enabled GUI with a mouse, and you want to use keyboard shortcuts?! You may as well just use DOS.
The only keyboard shortcuts I know (without looking them up) are ctrl-c and ctrl-v, and that's only because GW wouldn't accept copy & paste. (Oh, and I guess I know ctrl-z from undoing Freecell moves)
Win 8 is just the new Vista - yes you can get used to it, but who wants to.

DOS... really, a better insult would have been Linux... the win 8 is on my aging desktop where i don't care about touch enabled.

Win 8 has its good and bad qualities.. the touch enabled part just doesn't matter on a desktop, touch enabled is better on tablets and phones. Security and speed wise the os seems better... it also makes better use of multi core cpus. If you don't like win 8 thats fine but its hardly vista.

[Quaker]

Vista wasn't really all that bad, but people did avoid it. Windows 8 is not all that bad either, but many people would also like to avoid it. My comparison between the two was just to say that people will tend to avoid Win 8 until the next cycle - Win 8se or Win 9 just like they avoided Vista until Win 7.

And speaking of Linux - due to the success of other OSes like iOS, Android, etc, people are less adverse to trying something other than Windows. It's possible that Linux could become a major player in the games arena - especially if Steam goes Linux on a 'Steambox'.

EDIT - just to clarify something without making a new post - my 'objections' to Win 8 are not based upon the 'Metro' interface or touch input. It's the piss poor PItA method of controlling Metro with the mouse that is the main problem. (For myself and most mouse/keyboard users I've heard from.)
I have no problems with MS wanting to unify their interface, but they shouldn't punish mouse/keyboard users while they're at it. It should be relatively easy to make better mouse based controls.

Edit#2 - And, I forgot to mention, it's, therefore, given the PItA, not worth upgrading from Win 7 to WIn 8, imho.

Edited by Quaker, 01 February 2013 - 03:34 PM.

[typographie]

Quaker, on 15 January 2013 - 05:14 PM, said:

Win 8 is just the new Vista - yes you can get used to it, but who wants to.

We may not get much of a choice. If you don't want to get used to it with Windows 8, you'll likely just have to get used to it with Windows 9 instead. Whether objective evidence and sales figures back it up or not, Microsoft seems pretty married to unifying their platforms with a touch UI.

I don't think voluntarily upgrading is worthwhile, but if you're buying a new license anyway I don't see any point in paying the same price for Windows 7 today with Windows 8 on the market side by side. I am completely unconvinced that its worse, even if it isn't much better.

[Eon Lilu]

PC Specialist are very good, I got my pc from them and have had zero issues with it, they do very extensive testing after it's built. Although it's higher spec. There support online and phone is also quick and good.

This is as close as I could get to your budget, you should easily get medium-high settings at 1920x1080 res. Come with good warranty, they have finance options, it gives you lots of upgradability later on and you can choose to overclock later. You can also choose to have a second graphics card later.

Only 80-90 pounds over your budget.

Only thing I would do if you can afford it is add an SSD, GTX 670 instead and more case fans but you don't really need it, is more of a want thing. Maybe also a bigger case if you later want a 2nd graphics card. I would also add a 22-24" HD Monitor but that will be another 100+ pounds.

Here is unique configuration URL if you want to play around. http://www.pcspecial...-pc/OKqDqYBeC5/

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD7850 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable
Memory - 1^st Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
1^st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (£59)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 60 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 2010 Professional Edition
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £887.00 including VAT and delivery.

Edited by Eon Lilu, 17 January 2013 - 08:49 PM.

[Inraged Twitch]

^^ i'd ditch that intel and get the new AMD FX 8350 and then upgrade the 7850 to 7870 instead.  you will be much happier.

[typographie]

Inraged Twitch, on 17 January 2013 - 08:49 PM, said:

^^ i'd ditch that intel and get the new AMD FX 8350 and then upgrade the 7850 to 7870 instead.  you will be much happier.

I wouldn't be making any CPU concessions in a PC specifically for GW2. An HD 7870 isn't going to make much difference if its hamstrung by the processor when performance really matters anyway.

Even for other games, I'm skeptical that that trade-off is worth it. If you need a new video card, not such a big deal. But I wouldn't want to be stuck with AM3+ these days.

Edited by typographie, 17 January 2013 - 09:29 PM.

[Elder III]

Intel destroys AMD in CPU intense games and GW2 is a CPU intense game.  Get an Intel i5 or i7 by all means.

[The Comfy Chair]

Inraged Twitch, on 17 January 2013 - 08:49 PM, said:

^^ i'd ditch that intel and get the new AMD FX 8350 and then upgrade the 7850 to 7870 instead.  you will be much happier.

No, they wont. Not in this game, not in any game.

At best they'll be as happy as they would with the i5, at worst they'll hate you forever for screwing them over The problem with the AMD CPUs is that although they're on par when all 8 cores can come into play, they're really bad in comparison when they can't (most of the time), and will bottleneck even a hd7750 in some games.

Edited by The Comfy Chair, 21 January 2013 - 07:10 AM.

[Delusiv]

Zerk2012, on 12 January 2013 - 10:12 PM, said:

http://3xs.scan.co.u...p?SystemID=1511

Make a few changes to it change the processor to  the 3570
Cooling to the artic 13
select no Nvidi card and click on the 7870 GPU
select the 1TB HDD
Should be like 801 inc VAT

Im thinking of this... the website doesn't look trustworthy though.. im really cautious dont want to get scammed or anything, but if i choose this should i get the Windows 7 Home premium? I've got it on my old Laptop is simple to use but im not sure if Win8 makes it better? Not sure if i can be bothered to get used to it haha.

[Quaker]

I'd say get Win 7 (64-bit) if you can. Gaming-wise, there's no real advantage to Win8, so why make life harder.

[Elder III]

Delusiv, on 21 January 2013 - 03:20 PM, said:

Im thinking of this... the website doesn't look trustworthy though.. im really cautious dont want to get scammed or anything,

Scan is trustworthy... so are overclockers uk and aria, as well as some others that I can't think of at the moment since I'm not a Brit myself.

[Delusiv]

Thanks alot guys i think ill go with this.

[Zerk2012]

Delusiv, on 22 January 2013 - 11:13 AM, said:

Thanks alot guys i think ill go with this.

If you make the changes I listed you will really like that PC. Stick with the windows 7 (64bit)

It does not come with mouse, keyboard, pad, or speakers but these are decent unless you wish to get a gaming mouse or already have them.
Mouse and keyboard. http://www.scan.co.u...cal-mouse-black
Basic speakers. http://www.scan.co.u...w-rms-uk-retail
Better sound. http://www.scan.co.u...-system-15w-rms
Mouse pad. http://www.scan.co.u...-and-dust-proof

Edited by Zerk2012, 23 January 2013 - 10:32 PM.

[Delusiv]

Zerk2012, on 23 January 2013 - 10:03 PM, said:

If you make the changes I listed you will really like that PC. Stick with the windows 7 (64bit)

It does not come with mouse, keyboard, pad, or speakers but these are decent unless you wish to get a gaming mouse or already have them.
Mouse and keyboard. http://www.scan.co.u...cal-mouse-black
Basic speakers. http://www.scan.co.u...w-rms-uk-retail
Better sound. http://www.scan.co.u...-system-15w-rms
Mouse pad. http://www.scan.co.u...-and-dust-proof

Thanks for the info! Will use turtlebeaches for epic Guild wars sound But will most likely need to buy a keyboard and mouse, cheers!

[Delusiv]

Zerk2012, on 12 January 2013 - 10:12 PM, said:

http://3xs.scan.co.u...p?SystemID=1511

Make a few changes to it change the processor to  the 3570
Cooling to the artic 13
select no Nvidi card and click on the 7870 GPU
select the 1TB HDD
Should be like 801 inc VAT

Hi Zerk,

So just to make sure this is the only stuff i tick,

Intel Core i5 3570, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache (£134.15)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 - Performance CPU Cooler (£18.13)

2GB XFX Radeon HD 7870, 1000MHz GPU, 1280 Cores, 4800MHz GDDR5 (£147.78)

1TB Seagate Barracuda, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 64Mb Cache (£45.79)

It comes to £811

http://3xs.scan.co.u...p?SystemID=1511

[Elder III]

^ looks good

[Zerk2012]

Delusiv, on 25 January 2013 - 03:04 PM, said:

Hi Zerk,

So just to make sure this is the only stuff i tick,

Intel Core i5 3570, Ivy Bridge, 3.4GHz, Quad Core, 6MB Cache (£134.15)

Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 - Performance CPU Cooler (£18.13)

2GB XFX Radeon HD 7870, 1000MHz GPU, 1280 Cores, 4800MHz GDDR5 (£147.78)

1TB Seagate Barracuda, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 64Mb Cache (£45.79)

It comes to £811

http://3xs.scan.co.u...p?SystemID=1511

Yes that's it you could stick with the stock cooler and save $18 but I always replace the stock ones to run everything nice and cool.

[Delusiv]

Zerk2012, on 25 January 2013 - 11:43 PM, said:

Yes that's it you could stick with the stock cooler and save $18 but I always replace the stock ones to run everything nice and cool.

Thanks so much mate, just wondering (probably being stupid...) does it come with a monitor?... as it says TFT monitor at the bottom which says not required, and i was wondering what a TFT monitor was? xD

[typographie]

Delusiv, on 29 January 2013 - 11:14 AM, said:

Thanks so much mate, just wondering (probably being stupid...) does it come with a monitor?... as it says TFT monitor at the bottom which says not required, and i was wondering what a TFT monitor was? xD

TFT is the technology used in ordinary, low-to-midrange LCD monitors, in contrast to more preferable and expensive IPS. On that site "Monitor Not Required" just means they will ship it to you without a monitor if you don't need/want to include one in the order. It only comes with one if you pick one.

Edited by typographie, 29 January 2013 - 01:35 PM.

[Delusiv]

Hi guys,

I done some digging and found a considerably cheaper alternative but just wondering if it can run GW2 well:

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-8500/pd

I'm looking at either the £649 or £699 ones, there are specs underneath each, only thing im wondering is if the graphics cards are too weak for the game? Im not sure at all and would love it if you guys could advise here, can either of these run GW2 smoothly on medium or even high settings? (Medium is fine)

Please get back to me ASAP thanks guys.

[typographie]

Delusiv, on 29 January 2013 - 01:35 PM, said:

I done some digging and found a considerably cheaper alternative but just wondering if it can run GW2 well:

Those machines have the classic problem pre-built machines usually have: they for some reason chose an unnecessary $300 processor and paired it to a bargain discrete video card so Dell can advertise it as a "gaming PC." Neither the HD 7570 or GT 640 used in those machines can even come close to the HD 7870 in performance—I don't think either will handle gaming at 1080p in general.

The £699 machine would run GW2 at low/medium detail on a small-ish monitor, but the machine you put together before is a much better system. If you need it to be cheaper, I'd rather see you make intelligent, targeted cuts to that machine rather than buy an imbalanced pre-built with no options.

Edited by typographie, 29 January 2013 - 01:45 PM.

[Delusiv]

Can anyone build something using this website that's under £900? (That runs GW2 Smoothly in Medium/High settings)

https://www.vibox.co.uk/build-your-own