Need help with a Gaming setup for GW2!

[Luke Martin]

Hi everyone, totally new to building computers and to forums in general.

Want to build a computer (totally from scratch so no monitor, keyboard, mouse, windows.. (although I do have internet and leads)) that will run Guild wars 2 (release august 28) on high settings with very little lag.

I'm not specifically interested in spending loads on making the computer look 'cool' or spending much on keyboards or mouses, but I have no idea about how much the monitor affects gaming (will only be using one so not triple or whatever).

Not planning on overclocking because I have absolutely no idea what it is.

The minimum requirements for this game are:

• Windows? XP Service Pack 2 or better
  
• Intel? Core? 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3, AMD Athlon? 64 X2 or better
  
• NVIDIA? GeForce? 7800, ATI Radeon? X1800, Intel HD 3000 or better (256MB of video RAM and shader model 3.0 or better)
  
• 25 GB available HDD space
  
• Broadband Internet connection
  
• Keyboard and mouse
  

I have perhaps 800 GBP but I would like to spend as little as possible that would fit these settings.

I don't know how to put it together but I can google it lol.

Also I need a headset with a mic.

Thanks for any contributions!

[neo1911]

Core i5 3450 CPU

Any H77 Chipset motherboard

AMD Radeon HD7850 / Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 or 560

Decent 500W PSU

8Gb RAM

Any 1080p monitor

Keyboard, mouse and BR Rom drive

Use these as guidelines

You don't want something which is outdated tomorrow.

[Luke Martin]

Thanks for the quick reply,

What about the case? Do I need anything special in terms of airflow?

Also how much do you think this would all cost?

[Luke Martin]

bump

[GrayW]

Going along the lines of sanke1:

Intel Core i5 3450 - ?145.41 - http://www.ebuyer.co...r-bx80637i53450

Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H Motherboard - ?79.99 - http://www.ebuyer.co...oard-ga-z77-d3h

Corsair 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz - ?40.00 - http://www.ebuyer.co...z8gx3m2a1600c9r

Western Digital 2TB HD - ?88.89 - http://www.ebuyer.co...-drive-wd20earx

LiteOn IHOS104 Blu-Ray Optical - ?45.46 - http://www.ebuyer.co...-oem-ihos104-06

Gigabyte nVidia GTX 560 1GB - ?135.75 - http://www.ebuyer.co...e-gv-n56goc-1gi

Coolermaster Elite 430 Mid Tower Case - ?38.49 - http://www.ebuyer.co...dow-rc-430-kwn1

Windows 7 Home Premium x64 - ?68.28 (Windows 8 Upgrade ?14.99) - http://www.ebuyer.co...dia-1-gfc-02050

LG E2281VR LED HD Monitor - ?114.62 - http://www.ebuyer.co...itor-e2281vr-bn

Logitech MK120 Wired Keyboard + Mouse - ?13.98 - http://www.ebuyer.co...ouse-920-002552

This comes to ?770.87

Or you could go for a pre-assembled PC - Cyberpower Gaming PC - ?699.99 - http://www.ebuyer.co...ing-pc-ecc01113

Which is pretty similar to the specs there.

Of course you are not limited to purchasing from eBuyer, that was just to give you an idea and I'm sure some of the other guys on here could swap out some of those parts with something that will perform better / same for cheaper.

[neo1911]

I would go for Cyberpower Gaming PC for 699

In future, you could even sell your gtx 560 and upgrade to something current.

That processor is plenty fast for 3-4 years and do not go with AMD on processor. Ignore any AMD fanboys. Intel has won this processor round. You will thank yourself later.

[Arceles]

I would go for Cyberpower Gaming PC for 699

In future, you could even sell your gtx 560 and upgrade to something current.

That processor is plenty fast for 3-4 years and do not go with AMD on processor. Ignore any AMD fanboys. Intel has won this processor round. You will thank yourself later.

As if the processor nowadays were crusial for gaming. Nop, any AMD APU will pretty much last quite a lot of time too.

[Blackhearted]

As if the processor nowadays were crusial for gaming. Nop, any AMD APU will pretty much last quite a lot of time too.

Actually.. depending on the engine being used and the type of game it is, the cpu can indeed be quite important for gaming.

Also, knowing how to spell is crucial for using the internet.

[capr]

If you don't know what you are doing and aren't interested in learning, just get a premade PC. the things to look for in premade PCs:

cpu: anything that says i5 or i7 will be fine for that game

RAM: 4 or more GB is a must. (this is very cheap and easy to upgrade so don't focus on it)

GPU: for both AMD and NVIDIA, the bigger the number the better. So compare your options. NVIDIA you want one of the 600 series. AMD you want the late(higher better) 6000 series or any of the 7000.

Hard drive: How big is your hard drive now? How much of it are you using? do you have external data drives? it doesn't really matter with premade drives. I highly recommend upgrading whatever you get with an SSDs since they are cheaper now days. go for OCZ agility 3.

The rest doesn't matter much! If you buy premade, it will have a warranty and the parts will be good enough. Post what you are thinking of and let us look at it.

If you are set on building you own, some of the guidelines I gave should still be followed. But others are giving you more detailed feedback for that.

Monitor: Buy samsung or Asus. 2ms response time is good buy 5 is fine too. if your room is bright, you want the brightness number to be higher. don't worry about contrast and all that stuff. 1080p is a must now days.

[mattmatik]

Since you are basically starting from scratch with no previous parts or software, I agree with the other recommendations to buy from a manufacturer (OEM).

Having played in the GW2 betas, you don't need a super powerful system to run the game. With the specs in my sig the game ran like a champ and it wasn't fully optimized at that point. I can recommend the Turtle Beach X12 for your headset - comfort is fantastic, the mic works above average, and the cord length is looong so you have options as to how you want to connect it (i.e. rear of PC or front).