I’m looking to buy a new desktop (hopefully) before Shadowlands…but I’m not very computer savvy. I’m obviously looking at premades and I’d love to stay under $800.
I’m a casual player (I don’t raid/do mythic+ or anything)–I level and do the silly stuff -shrug- I love taking screenshots as I go and really enjoy playing with better graphics levels when I can.
I only occasionally dip a toe in LFR. WoW is really the only game I play, the rest of the computer use is mostly internet browsing/playing in a really old version of photoshop, and that kind of thing. (I already have a monitor/keyboard/mouse…so I think I only need the tower?)
I was looking at the Best Buy computer tower options (though it won’t let me link any of them I was looking at… ) Most seem to be refurbished, which is fine for me?
But I’m clueless and any help would be appreciated <3
Would you consider assembling your own?
Nervously?
My current one my brother built. He built his gaming computer, his friend’s gaming computer and his wife’s gaming computer…all no issues. Mine? We’ve blue screened at least once a day for the last four years (since the first week it was built). No one has been able to figure out why. Leaves me a little a gunshy 
It’s pretty easy. Lots of resources available on youtube, as well as message forums for troubleshooting. Members here, as well as on places like reddit, LTT forums, etc., all can help.
The benefit of assembling your own is you know exactly what is going into it, and know that you aren’t limiting yourself or cutting any corners (that you don’t already know about).
For under $800:
PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jjgFL2
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($167.00 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA SU635 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB BLACK GAMING Video Card ($233.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P300 ATX Mid Tower Case ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $793.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-04 11:51 EDT-0400
If you can stretch it out to $900, you’ll get much better system:
PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/62YmZf
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor ($167.00 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Best Buy)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($67.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card ($279.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P300A Mesh ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($71.85 @ B&H)
Total: $881.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-04 11:46 EDT-0400
Big jump in performance between the 1660 super and the 5600 xt, but if you’re at 1080p/60 it won’t really matter. Bottom one has much faster storage.
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Alternatively, pre-builts:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpowerpc-gamer-master-gaming-desktop-amd-ryzen-5-3600-16gb-memory-amd-radeon-rx-5600-xt-1tb-hdd-500gb-ssd/6400451.p?skuId=6400451
this is probably the only one i am seeing right now that makes sense
i’d avoid anything with only 8gb of ram.
Compared to the roll your own, it has a worse PSU, slower storage, slower RAM, and an unknown quality motherboard. The Tomahawk MAX is likely to be able to support pretty much anything you throw at it in the future, and it will even manage the 12-core 3900x.
If you live near a microcenter, they do offer some pretty decent prebuilts, but I believe its in store pickup only.
https://www.microcenter.com/product/615138/g162-gaming-desktop-pc-lt;span-class=-quot;descsmall-quot;-gt;-amd-ryzen-7-2700x-processor-37ghz
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Thanks you guys! Where would you suggest one look for troubleshooting? I’m trying to figure out…if I’m going to do my own build…should I upgrade what I already have?
And if so, how do I troubleshoot what isn’t playing nice with the current build. 
Or is it safer to just roll with a recommended build like what Salestria has so awesomely given me above?
Well, what do you currently have, and what are the issues you’re having?
You can try us here on this forum, or reddit, or linus tech tips forums are good places.
I will have to grab the details tonight when I get home from work. Thank you SO much for the help you’ve given so far!!!
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Not at all. And if for some reason we can’t figure it out or give you bad advice, try those other places. You might want to try them anyway. Doesn’t hurt to get more opinions and they’re free
reddit builds:
https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/
reddit tech support:
https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/
LTT new builds:
https://linustechtips.com/main/forum/18-new-builds-and-planning/
LTT best place to get fast responses on troubleshooting, despite there being an actual troubleshooting forum
https://linustechtips.com/main/forum/5-cpus-motherboards-and-memory/
I’m pretty active on LTT, but not really reddit.
Okay (Kerberus here, for some reason it wont switch characters atm)
But this is what I’ve been able to figure out on my current computer (so it might be more worth it to just buy all new anyway):
PCU: Intel® Core ™ i5-4590 CPU @ 3.30GHz
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
Installed RAM: 16GB
Windows 7 Ultimate
64-bit Operating System
Motherboard: ASUSTeK Computer, INC B85M-E
As for the issue I have with this one…is since the day it was built (or at least the first week)… it blue screens normally at least once a day, though I do have good luck strings where I can go a week or two. I have never been able to figure out what triggers it. It’s been an ongoing thing for 4 years, that I’ve just lived with because no one I knew or help I’d been able to find at the time could fix it. We never could reliably recreate it. Originally it was thought to be the game, reinstalled, talked to tech, it always worked fine on other computers so that notion was tossed out. I remember the screen says something about memory (it’s fast, maybe up for a few second and then the computer shuts off, I’ll have to try and keep my phone handy to see if I can catch a picture). Another person thought graphics card (we switched out to a different one, same deal). Thought it was Nvidia drivers for awhile, none of that ever fixed it.
i’d give upgrading to windows 10 (should still be free, if you use the assisted devices trick) and completely reinstalling the OS a try.
it’s possible your memory is having some problems, run memtest86 to see if they pass the test.
the 4590 isn’t amazing, but it should handle WoW and your stated uses fine. The 960 is a bit long in the tooth, but again at modest settings it should work.
try running the memory test and report back. DDR3 is pretty cheap and if the memory is faulty then you can just replace that as a stop-gap.
you’ll want windows 10 anyways since windows 7 is losing/lost support.
this thread shows could be your storage media error.
https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/the-blue-screen-of-death.2020731/
perhaps update your BIOS to see if that helps, too.
Really dumb question here… how do I run memtest86? Is it a program I need? (I see a .com and a .org with that name)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e2ISV0728w
taking the dog to the vet, will be back later. good luck!
I want to say power supply, maybe you have some loose connections. Could be the memory as well.
Hope the dog is okay! Life got crazy on me, but nothing came up in the memory tests. I’ll check connections. Is there a test to do for power supply?
Routine shots. All is well, thanks for the concern.
Have you upgraded to W10 yet?
I did! And at the moment I’m on a string of days with no crashes so -fingers crossed- I’m hoping it was something not playing well with W7… 
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If you find it to be stable, you could consider upgrading your GPU - something along the lines of a 1660 Super would still get you some benefit and still be usable once the next generation Ryzen chips launch.