£500-750 budget PC for Rift and WoW

sharingan_sasuk · 21 Mar 2011 at 03:47

Hi all, I'm looking to build a new gaming PC for the above two games. I plan to run it at 1920x1080 on a 22" monitor, at High/Ultra settings if possible with a smooth 40-60fps framerate.

I need all of the following: CPU, CPU cooler (unless the retail is just as quiet) motherboard, case, RAM, and graphics card. The hard drive, OS, DVD-RW and monitor I've already got, while I have an OCZ SXS 500W already but if it can't handle it, then it would have to be included too.

I'm hoping to play at stock speeds and thus have no plans to overclock.

Atm, I'm thinking either an AMD Phenom II X4 setup with, I dunno maybe a Radeon 5770 if I go for a lower end of the budget spec, but I'm not sure which card matches that CPU best without one bottlenecking the other.

To use up all of my budget, then I was thinking more of an Intel I5 2500K with a Radeon 6950 (flashed to 6970) or GTX 480 which will last a big longer. But please bear in mind all I play is Rift and WoW. I don't how their requirements compare to other games that I can play on my XBox 360 instead.

I was initially thinking of getting a mini-ITX build around a Sugo SG07 but wasn't sure what motherboard and graphics card would go with it, considering many are dual-slots! If it can still be done, then that would be even better, but I'm not too bothered if it cannot.

I plan to order after I get paid at the end of the month if that helps. So any advice would be much appreciated thanks.

sharingan_sasuk · 22 Mar 2011 at 01:59

Bearing in mind I already have the hard drive, OS, DVD-RW and monitor sorted, I should be able to afford some of the specs provided so far no problem.

Seems like I'm all set apart from deciding whether paying more for a Intel i5 2500K over an AMD Phenom X4 is worth it for these 2 games, and of the two £200 cards, GTX 480 and Radeon 6950, which is best?

And sorry, I do realise now that while I should be able to get up to 60fps easily in most places in RIFT, it will obviously drop a lot when it comes to group events and rifts. As long as it's playable at say 25fps or so, and I can heal with lag, then I'm fine with that!

Finally, I'm sure I won't overclock because I just don't have the time and I want to be able to play out of the box.

sharingan_sasuk · 22 Mar 2011 at 14:37

While the XF/SLI options sound great for my budget, I can't help but think it's overkill for my needs. I'd rather buy a single 6950 or GTX 480 brand new and keep it simple.

Right now I'm leaning towards the 6950, but still don't know whether an i5 2500 over a Phenom II X4 is worth it for WoW and RIFT?

sharingan_sasuk · 22 Mar 2011 at 14:38

So, I've got 2 builds atm, one for the lower end of my budget and another for making the most of it:

What do you guys think? I'm not sure about the motherboards and the important differences between them other than if they are the right socket or not.

sharingan_sasuk · 22 Mar 2011 at 17:16

Cheers Rexton for those links. It seems like the GTX 480 is at least on par with the Radeon 6950/6970 and even beats it quite well in some tests. But then the trade off is more power consumption, temperature and noise levels!

In that case, looks like I'm firmly set on the Radeon 6950, and besides, I've always been a fan of Radeons as I've had a 9700 Pro and 4850 in the past which have served me well.

In terms of the CPU, I think the extra £100 will be definitely worth it because even the older i5 non-SB chips outperform the Phenom II X6s!

Oh and I've played MMOs for about 5 years now so I understand I won't always get full smooth framerates when it comes to congested areas, but as long as it ain't a slideshow, then it's good enough for me. I usually have Shadows on low or even off because it massively helps framerates, and I'm not bothered about shadows to be honest in a MMO!