Can anyone offer advice on a minimum spec machine for MMORPG?

Demontec · 4 Jul 2010 at 21:31

Hi guys,

What feels like many moons ago I used to love building computers & playing PC games online.

Over the last 8 years my interest in IT has reduced to nil but I would now like to look at getting back into PC gaming, specifically MMORPG games like WOW.

However, I do not want to get back into building complex computers and ideally just want a small, quiet machine that I can connect to my 40" LCD TV & play WOW on.

What is the minimum spec machine I can get to do this on? Can anyone recommend a barebones to base this on? I assume the main issue here will be graphics performance in a small unit that I want to be quiet?

Can anyone estimate the likely cost of getting a machine of this spec more likely than not on the 2nd hand market? The cheaper the better

And if anyone has the time to actually spec me an exact, best value machine for this task then that would be really appreciated.

PraxxtorCruel · 4 Jul 2010 at 21:37

I think the pro's here can get you a good system for £400-500.

BigBruiserAl · 4 Jul 2010 at 22:24

Heres a middle of the road AMD build you can always mak it cheaper however parts selected will see you playing most MMO for the next 2-3 years without much bother and this platform will be open to easy upgrades

olivier renault · 4 Jul 2010 at 22:28

just an example

Probably something built around a 5770. That excluding vat (around £460 total).

but yeah, you can go lower if you need too. second hand dual core, with a 9800gtx / 4870 or some such should cope ok with wow.

olivier renault · 4 Jul 2010 at 22:47

or this.

"Primo Oren" AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 440 3.00GHz DDR3 System

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-258-OK&groupid=43&catid=1078&subcat=

System Specification
- Case: Xigmatek Asgard - Black
- Power Supply: OCZ 500w II StealthXStream
- CPU: AMD Athlon II X3 Tri Core 440 3.00GHz (Socket AM3)
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78LMT-US2H AMD 760G (Socket AM3) DDR3 Motherboard
- RAM: OCZ Gold Low Voltage 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache
- Graphics Card: Onboard integrated ATI Radeon HD 3000 GPU
- Sound: ALC888B 8-channel High Definition Audio CODEC
- Optical Drive: LG GH22NS50 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter

Service Package
- Full 12 Month collect and return warranty
- Each specification is assembled from handpicked components for compatibility and stability
- Telephone, web note and forum technical support

add the HIS 5770.

olivier renault · 4 Jul 2010 at 22:58

note that an obvious upgrade (if so you choose later) is a hexacore 1055T. But as is, should handle wow without breaking a sweat.

Mason- · 4 Jul 2010 at 23:24

just a suggestion from a intel side.
The i3 processors have a built in GPU in the CPU so they are good there are videos of people playing crysis and Dirt 2 on these on youtube search it.

olivier renault · 4 Jul 2010 at 23:51

I would think on par with the onboard ATI HD 3000. Still, a dedicated GPU will be a few orders of magnitude better, especially at higher resolutions (1080p?).

Mason- · 5 Jul 2010 at 00:55

indeed nothing beats a dedicated graphics card, im just saying i3s are great for onboard graphics

arknor · 5 Jul 2010 at 02:06

Mason- said:
indeed nothing beats a dedicated graphics card, im just saying i3s are great for onboard graphics

yea they are awesome! if your upgrading from a radeon x800 .....

anyone who built a pc in the last 6 years i3 onboard is crap