So, I’m building my first PC (been using laptops this whole time for WoW) for Shadowlands so I can get back into raiding. So far, I’ve gotten, thanks to my roommate:
Motherboard: P7H55-M PRO
CPU: Intel Core i7-870
RAM: 4x 16GB DDR3 ( https://sta.sh/03b7b0l0hnz for proof of this.)
I have a rough idea as to what I need in terms of hard drive (Looking at a 1TB HDD for general storage, with 250GB SSD for the OS and WoW itself), power supply, and peripherals, but I’m stuck on a graphics card.
Ideally, I want to run a dual-monitor setup (One monitor for WoW, and the other for DIscord, web browsing, and the like), and I’d ideally like the graphics card to be solid for at least the next expansion, but not be bank-breaking in terms of price. I know I can likely get away with the onboard video for the second monitor, but the graphics card for the main monitor is what’s tripping me up, especially since I can’t find the recommended card from Shadowland’s requirements anywhere.
Graphics card, all of them can run multiple displays fine (gaming + other) and right now best values are RX 580 8GB ~$150-160, 1660 Super ~$230, RX 5700 ~$270, 5700 XT ~$380.
The RX 580 8GB will play the game fine at 1080p, but might struggle with newer features in SL and will prob. need some settings tuned down. The rest will be more than competent at higher detail settings at 1080p or higher.
All that said, your 1st generation core processor will be a pretty big bottleneck on anything bigger than the vanilla 1660 in most scenarios. I wouldn’t spend more than that.
If you are on a budget, which it seems you are, a second hand RX 570 or GTX 1060 6gb makes the most sense. Possibly a 1650 Super if it’s cheap enough. All would pair more reasonably with the 1st gen i5.
I’d recommend a larger SSD, at least a 500/512gb. Reasoning is that although WoW and OS may fit on 256, performance is tied to capacity utilized ratio, as well as overall drive lifespan (larger drives live longer).
2TB HDD is an easy recommendation over 1TB, being only about $10 more overall for 100% more storage.
Both of these can be transferred over to a new system once you decide to upgrade from the older i5.
It will probably work, but keep in mind that those CPUs are 10 years old now. Please temper your expectations.
Something like this makes the most sense for your build. Even in the midst of new GPUs, I don’t see the prices on these dropping too much as a result, so I don’t think you’d feel bad about it, and it also would mostly match your CPU.
64 gigabytes of ram is super mega overkill. The community has recently been buzzing about the fact that the new Microsoft Flight Simulator is the first game to ever actually go above 16 gig of usage.
Well, I’m looking at 4 sticks that each say 16GB, so…
So, I won’t need a second card or the onboard video just for the second monitor?
I’m going to ask her what the CPU is, or try to figure it out once I clean off the thermal paste (Need to reapply it in any case just to make sure it’s still good.)
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing myself after seeing the prices on Amazon. That said, do all SSDs come in the 2.5 inch size? Because I may need to get an adapter as well in that case.
I’ve somehow been getting decent performance out of a 7-year-old budget (and yeah, it was a budget one at the time) laptop for the last few expansions. At this point, anything’s an upgrade for me.
I’m just going off of what I was given, and yeah, I know 64 is a bit overkill.
Haven’t booted it up yet, since I still need the case and power supply (Which is the next things on my list), but we should see rather quickly if it boots. That said, my roommate assured me the parts were still working.
Also, before you spend a dime, I’d go onto reddit or somewhere there’s lots of beta players.
First generation core chips support the following instruction sets:
Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
the minimum system requirement for shadowlands is an i5-3450, which is a third generation Intel core chip that supports the following instruction sets:
Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX
I don’t know if WoW uses AVX, but if shadowlands does, it might not work, regardless of performance.
Around 800. I’m literally just buying the parts as the money frees up.
The list is:
Case (Got one picked out)
Power Supply
Monitors x 2 (1080p, 24 inch preferably)
Video Card
Keyboard (Looking at a Razer or Steelseries one)
The big ones are going to be the video card and the monitors, but anywhere I can save money would help.
honestly, and I’m not trying to be a jerk or anything, but with an $800 budget, you could conceivably get better performance from an AMD system using integrated graphics (for now) that would perform better than the first generation i5 for that price range, or an inexpensive graphics card
Okay, asked the roomie, and she thinks it may be this one: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ykphP6/amd-cpu-fd8350frhkbox
I’ll wipe off the thermal paste when I get home from work to make sure. Going to have to wipe it off anyway to make sure the paste is fresh when I do the actual build.