Need to pick a MB and CPU, confused...

[Bubblehappy]

Hi all,

Well, if you see my thread in Video Cards, you know I've been having problems with video on my current box that I just purchased used. I've been messing with this thing for 4 days now and I'm throwing in the towel and building a new box.

I've built plenty of machines in the past, but not for a very long time, so I'm a bit confused about what's available today in terms of best bang for the buck.

I'm not a "power user", but I do want to build a machine that will hold up to most of today's gaming, as I do game from time to time and winter is coming. I play WoW more than anything, and like FPS'ers.

I'd like to stick with an Intel processor, but I'd consider AMD. I'm assuming their i7 is current top of the line, but I'm not sure I need it. I'm putting a nVidia 460 (1GB) it in for graphics. As far as motherboards, I've had good luck in the past with Intel and Asus (I'm not an overclocker), but again I'm open to suggestions. The only requirement I would like in the motherboard is it to have built-in wireless LAN, but even then I have a card for that.

So I'm looking for the best bang for the buck in terms of CPU/MB, what say you fellow anandtech'ers?

Thanks.

 

[Skiprudder]

Hey there Bubble-

I'm a fellow WoW player so I thought I'd help you out with a few links and suggestions. The first general tip is that WoW has slightly different hardware demands form most games is that because it's an MMO and has to manage all the other people in raids or places like Dalaran one gets more value from money spent on a CPU. Your chosen 460 is more than fast enough for WoW, you could post 60 fps easily with a $150 or less card for that matter so you're covered there.

If you look at Anand's lovely bench results for WoW here:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/62
You can see that most CPUs do very well in the game. Obviously an i7 is the fastest but I think it's overkill in this case. If you want to stay the Intel route go for the excellent i5 760. It lists for around $200 or so.

Take your extra money and then but an SSD and install Win7 and WoW on that. An SSD makes a massive difference in WOW performance, especially in the major cities. You'll load into Dalaran in 2-3 seconds with one. Currently one can get by with a 60GB SSD for Windows and WoW, but what with Cataclysm coming soon I would go with an 80GB or larger SSD just to be safe, and a 120GB if you can afford it.

As I said WoW is a littel different from most games in that the priority is more on CPU and SSD than GPU and once one goes past 4870s, 260s one doesn't see much gain in real world game play, and you can get by with a good deal less than those. Hope this helps!

-Skip

Hi all,

Well, if you see my thread in Video Cards, you know I've been having problems with video on my current box that I just purchased used. I've been messing with this thing for 4 days now and I'm throwing in the towel and building a new box.

I've built plenty of machines in the past, but not for a very long time, so I'm a bit confused about what's available today in terms of best bang for the buck.

I'm not a "power user", but I do want to build a machine that will hold up to most of today's gaming, as I do game from time to time and winter is coming. I play WoW more than anything, and like FPS'ers.

I'd like to stick with an Intel processor, but I'd consider AMD. I'm assuming their i7 is current top of the line, but I'm not sure I need it. I'm putting a nVidia 460 (1GB) it in for graphics. As far as motherboards, I've had good luck in the past with Intel and Asus (I'm not an overclocker), but again I'm open to suggestions. The only requirement I would like in the motherboard is it to have built-in wireless LAN, but even then I have a card for that.

So I'm looking for the best bang for the buck in terms of CPU/MB, what say you fellow anandtech'ers?

Thanks.

 

[davidbond]

I liked the Game Crysis and Crysis WarHead so much but the fact is that I was not able to play it in full graphics. I have 4 GB of RAM and XFX 9600GT graphics Card installed in my PC. I am using Windows 7 operating system. So can u suggest. What configeration would be good for playing CRYSIS and CRYSIS WARHEAD. Please do reply me.

 

[Linflas]

Hey there Bubble-

I'm a fellow WoW player so I thought I'd help you out with a few links and suggestions. The first general tip is that WoW has slightly different hardware demands form most games is that because it's an MMO and has to manage all the other people in raids or places like Dalaran one gets more value from money spent on a CPU. Your chosen 460 is more than fast enough for WoW, you could post 60 fps easily with a $150 or less card for that matter so you're covered there.

If you look at Anand's lovely bench results for WoW here:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/62
You can see that most CPUs do very well in the game. Obviously an i7 is the fastest but I think it's overkill in this case. If you want to stay the Intel route go for the excellent i5 760. It lists for around $200 or so.

Take your extra money and then but an SSD and install Win7 and WoW on that. An SSD makes a massive difference in WOW performance, especially in the major cities. You'll load into Dalaran in 2-3 seconds with one. Currently one can get by with a 60GB SSD for Windows and WoW, but what with Cataclysm coming soon I would go with an 80GB or larger SSD just to be safe, and a 120GB if you can afford it.

As I said WoW is a littel different from most games in that the priority is more on CPU and SSD than GPU and once one goes past 4870s, 260s one doesn't see much gain in real world game play, and you can get by with a good deal less than those. Hope this helps!

-Skip

Great thread, I am looking to finally upgrade my P5K E8400 system and have some of the same confusion. Do you think the specs for WoW carry over to other MMORPG's like EQ2? I was thinking of replacing my long in the tooth 8800 GT with a 460 as well along with an I7-930 and an X58 MB.

 

[Rifter]

I liked the Game Crysis and Crysis WarHead so much but the fact is that I was not able to play it in full graphics. I have 4 GB of RAM and XFX 9600GT graphics Card installed in my PC. I am using Windows 7 operating system. So can u suggest. What configeration would be good for playing CRYSIS and CRYSIS WARHEAD. Please do reply me.

Good luck, i have a 460 overclocked to 900Mhz and i still cant play it at 1080P maxed out, im thinking when i go SLI then i will be able to. I would recommend either 460's in SLI or a 480 to play crysis maxed.

 

[Skiprudder]

Hey Linflas,

Sorry for the slow reply I was on vacation (and on vacation from the Internet!) for the past few days.

And I thought it was hard finding current hardware info for WoW, but it has nothing on EQ2! That said, although the engines are radically different, I think you're right in that we can safely assume that a computer playing either game has much of the same type of data it must process--although the graphical interpretation of each game will be different.

Right now you meet the recommended GPU specs for Sentinel's fate, and undoubtedly next year's Destiny will be a bit mroe demanding, so I think you're right in wanted to replace your GPU (who wants 'recommended' anyway, right? We want better!). Teh 460 should be more than adequate to handle the next several expansions, and it's pretty well priced. You could even do very well from a cheaper card like the Radeon 5770 if you need to save some change.

As for the CPU, I think for EQ2 I would almost certainly go a bit cheaper here for a few reasons - namely pick up an Intel i5-760. Not only does it cost $80 less (and the motherboard are also a good deal cheaper) but it operates at the same frequency as the I7-930. It doesn't have hyperthreading, but it does have a MUCH more aggressive turbo mode than the i7-930, so in a less threaded game, like EQ2, you should actually have higher framerates with the i5-760. Unless you're getting into some video editing, you don't need those extra threads at the moment, but you will see a boost from the higher turbo frequency.

The other reason I suggest going with the Lynnfield i5 right now is that we have two major architectural changes and motherboard socket obsolescences coming in the next 6-9 months in the form of Sandy Bridge and Bulldozer. Upgrading a motherboard you buy today won't likely be appealing in light of coming faster and cheaper CPUs, so not worth spending the extra money for an X58 right now since you don't plan on using SLI or Crossfire, and you won't be likely to upgrade the CPU. As I suggested on the WoW build take that extra money and buy a good SSD as a boot/EQ2 drive.

Hope this helps!

 

[Skiprudder]

Hey David-

Sorry for the late reply, I was out of town. Crysis will pretty much kick the butt of anyone's computer, and part of that is bad optimization, so it's not your fault! That said, your card is definetly getting long in the tooth, and you would see a big boost from almsot any modern card. As Rifterut pointed out though, unless you are prepared to drop some serious money on a high powered Crossfire/SLI setup, you're are simply not going to be able to run at full 1080p with all settings maxed. If you go over to Bench:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU/88
You can see that the fastest single GPU in the world can only manage 50fps at the sort of settings you are talking about. Basically if this is your favorite game, you want to buy the best card you can afford, because it will tax anything.

That doesn't mean should should despair however! Any solid mid-range card like the nvidia 460, or the Radeon 5770, or 5830 will give you a MUCH better performance level than you're getting now with your older card if you can't afford the high end cards. You won't be able to max out your settings, but you'll be able to up them a ton and have a smoother playing, prettier looking game. I would refer to Tom's August list and pick out the best card in your price range:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU/88

And as already linked Anand bench specifically includes Warhead, so you can look and see how specific gpus do with the game.

One last point, you don't mention your current CPU, but this is important. As you can see from Bench Crysis really likes quad-core CPU, and highly clocked ones to boot. Do make sure your CPU is up to snuff as well, it would be a shame to have a new graphics card held back by a slow cpu.

 

[Linflas]

Hey Linflas,

Sorry for the slow reply I was on vacation (and on vacation from the Internet!) for the past few days.

And I thought it was hard finding current hardware info for WoW, but it has nothing on EQ2! That said, although the engines are radically different, I think you're right in that we can safely assume that a computer playing either game has much of the same type of data it must process--although the graphical interpretation of each game will be different.

Right now you meet the recommended GPU specs for Sentinel's fate, and undoubtedly next year's Destiny will be a bit mroe demanding, so I think you're right in wanted to replace your GPU (who wants 'recommended' anyway, right? We want better!). Teh 460 should be more than adequate to handle the next several expansions, and it's pretty well priced. You could even do very well from a cheaper card like the Radeon 5770 if you need to save some change.

As for the CPU, I think for EQ2 I would almost certainly go a bit cheaper here for a few reasons - namely pick up an Intel i5-760. Not only does it cost $80 less (and the motherboard are also a good deal cheaper) but it operates at the same frequency as the I7-930. It doesn't have hyperthreading, but it does have a MUCH more aggressive turbo mode than the i7-930, so in a less threaded game, like EQ2, you should actually have higher framerates with the i5-760. Unless you're getting into some video editing, you don't need those extra threads at the moment, but you will see a boost from the higher turbo frequency.

The other reason I suggest going with the Lynnfield i5 right now is that we have two major architectural changes and motherboard socket obsolescences coming in the next 6-9 months in the form of Sandy Bridge and Bulldozer. Upgrading a motherboard you buy today won't likely be appealing in light of coming faster and cheaper CPUs, so not worth spending the extra money for an X58 right now since you don't plan on using SLI or Crossfire, and you won't be likely to upgrade the CPU. As I suggested on the WoW build take that extra money and buy a good SSD as a boot/EQ2 drive.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info. I was just reading the preview of Sandy Bridge on the main site so I think for now I will just buy a GTX-460 and hold off on the MB/CPU. I am going to look into your idea of switching my OS drive over to an SSD, I have not really paid much attention to the SSDs and didn't realize the performance gains were so significant.

 

[stevech]

SSD here (Western Digital 64GB. Programs only. Data on rotating disk). Wow. Wow. I chose the WD drive as it has internal TRIM for running XP. I did that. Now I'm using Win 7. Lots and lots of programs, office, C compilers, etc. Still half full.

Which CPU? I always, for many years, buy AMD so there's less chance of a monopoly by Intel. What would CPUs cost if not for AMD?

I've always been pleased with AMD CPUs and ASUS motherboards. Never had an issue in over 10 years and 4 or so successive motherboards. I buy miniATX and use miniTower cases. I'm not a gamer. One I have uses RAID 1 and has run 24/7 for years (server in garage).