Ultra budget WoW graphics at 1920x1080?

[TheInternal]

Hey all,

My girlfriend wants a desktop computer for under $500 bucks that will run World of Warcraft (WoW) and have it be playable (doesn't have to be max settings or anything... just playable / able to run around Dalaran without lagging out, ideally). I'm hoping to either find a system for her buy, or will build one myself if one can't be found.

The main problems I have to overcome: the $500 budget, the fact that her LCD is a 1920x1080 resolution, and her disinterest in justifying the cost of a higher dollar graphics solution.

I'm wondering if the integrated Radeon 4200 / 4290 would suffice for running WOW at acceptable framrates, but can't find any benchmarks at 1920x1080. Hybrid crossfire support that the chipset apparently has is also appealing since I have a spare MSI R4350 MD512H I got on sale and never used.

Does anyone know if WoW is playable on the integrated 4200 /4290? Would I be able to do hybrid crossfire with the MSI R4350, and if so, would it provide significantly better performance? Is there a better integrated solution?

Additional thoughts:
I'm mainly looking at AMD x3 systems that are socket AM3 based for the price/performance. My girlfriend insists on 4 GB of RAM as well, so that's $80-$100 of the budget right there. I don't have to get any peripherals. Just a functioning system for her to WoW on.

I'm considering the Dell Inspiron 570 MT http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...=DDDOBJ1&s=dhs, but all the sales people I've talked to thus far says it can't do hybrid crossfire (and frankly, I don't think they even know what hybrid crossfire is)

The Acer http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883103267 also has some appeal, though I've yet to find much out on the integrated Geforce 9200... I'm guessing it's about the same ballpark performance as the radeon 4200?

 

[v8envy]

The integrated graphics are not very powerful, and the 4350 is by far not a gaming card. If you're not allergic to rebates you can find GT240s for around $35-40 AR/abing.

Don't worry about hybrid crossfire -- while it would boost the performance of the 4350 in benchmarks adding even 20% to nearly nothing is still nearly nothing. Even working together the two will still be less than 1/4 the gpu firepower found in a low end gaming card like the GT240 (which is essentially a 9600GT) or 4670.

Integrated graphics are fine for 800x600 or even 1024x768 resolution using low-ish settings in older games. It's going to choke hard at 1080p.

Our local microcenter has a $99 quad core with free mboard. $80 for ram leaves nearly $320 of the budget for PSU, gpu, case, optical and hard drive. I'd say the $22 AR/abing corsair CX400, $50 antec 300, $22 samsung dvd and $54 500 gig hd would leave you around 150 for the gpu -- so even a 5770 is possible to squeeze into the build IF you have a local microcenter. If not, figure out how much budget you'll have left for video after all the other components and choose one of 4650, 4670, GT240, 9800GT, 4850, GT250, 4870, 5770, 4890, 460 in order of performance and likely increasing price.

Oh, one last thing: the self-built box won't have an OS license. You can run WoW fine under Linux, but *ONLY* with an nvidia card. If a windows license is needed then you'll need to eschew all ATI hardware. Later generations ATI driver compatibility with Linux is awful.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130535

I suggest looking at cheap 9800GT cards. They are clearing out stock now so you can usually get good deal on the (after rebate usually though).

Might not be the best bang for your buck but it will be perfect for WoW.

EDIT

Be careful for those low clocked 128 bit memory version of the 9800GT. They aren't much cheaper but they are clearly inferior cards(I had linked one by accident and edited to change the link).

 

[Anubis]

at the absolute minimum you are going to want a 8800GT or equiv card at that resolution as well as a quad core CPU. The CPU is much more important TBH

my old rig was running a C2D E8400 @ 4GHz and going from a 8800GT to a GTX285 OC netted me less then 10 FPS running @1680x1050

Going from that same C2D to a I7 920 @ 4GHz with the same GTX285 was a 80FPS upgrade @1680x1050

 

[blanketyblank]

I've built pretty decent budget gamer builds before. The key is to purchase parts at different times when they are on sale and have rebates. You can get cases and psus for $20 or less as well as keyboards and mice. RAM prices vary, but you can knock down a lot off the price there as well so 4 GB with a good deal is like $80. Here's what I would try to get each component at.
$20 case
$20 PSU
$20 DVD-drive
$80 memory
$150 CPU + MOBO (fry's combo)
$50 hard drive
$10 keyboard + mouse

Should cost about $350 or so before video card which means you can get a 5770 for about $130 to stay under $500 with $20 wiggle room. Upfront costs are higher though since a lot of the prices will depend on rebates.

 

[alkemyst]

My 8800GTX was able to run it maxed out with a 3 core Phenom at 3.6GHz

 

[MagickMan]

buy a used 9800GT?

 

[maevinj]

I've built pretty decent budget gamer builds before. The key is to purchase parts at different times when they are on sale and have rebates. You can get cases and psus for $20 or less as well as keyboards and mice. RAM prices vary, but you can knock down a lot off the price there as well so 4 GB with a good deal is like $80. Here's what I would try to get each component at.
$20 case
$20 PSU
$20 DVD-drive
$80 memory
$150 CPU + MOBO (fry's combo)
$50 hard drive
$10 keyboard + mouse

Should cost about $350 or so before video card which means you can get a 5770 for about $130 to stay under $500 with $20 wiggle room. Upfront costs are higher though since a lot of the prices will depend on rebates.

You forgot to include the OS in your pricing

 

[blanketyblank]

You forgot to include the OS in your pricing

Use linux or buy a cheap key off of e-bay.
Personally I get copies from conferences often enough that it's not an issue for me.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

Use linux or buy a cheap key off of e-bay.
Personally I get copies from conferences often enough that it's not an issue for me.

I don't know how well WoW runs in Linux emulation. I think I remember WINE supporting it a couple years ago.

But seriously I doubt his girlfriend would tolerate linux. Non power users don't understand what an OS is and if you try and make them use something different they just won't even want to try and adjust to it.

 

[kalrith]

A used 9800GT or 4850 can be had for $60 or less. Win7 is $30 for students, and WinXP is $30 or less on the FS/FT forums (I can sell you a copy of WinXP Home for that price). $400 should buy you the rest of your components.

Since gaming is the goal, skimping on the video card is the worst place to do so.

 

[v8envy]

I don't know how well WoW runs in Linux emulation. I think I remember WINE supporting it a couple years ago.

But seriously I doubt his girlfriend would tolerate linux. Non power users don't understand what an OS is and if you try and make them use something different they just won't even want to try and adjust to it.

Have you SEEN Linux Mint? It's a close clone of XP. Seriously. Windows users quickly find the bits they need where they expect them. Colors are a bit wacky, but other than that it looks and more importantly works much like a themed XP. It's less of a change than win2k to winxp. So far every non-techie user I've had on our guest PC reacted with "Oh, so this is Linux? I don't see what all the fuss is about..."

WoW runs great under Wine, no tweaking necessary. Something like Mint would do all the heavy lifting for you, just shove in the install media, wait for it to patch and go. Now, all the .net and other third party helper apps might take some massaging to work.

 

[TheInternal]

I'll be buying a legal copy of Win 7 Home Premium.

 

[kalrith]

I'll be buying a legal copy of Win 7 Home Premium.

How much will that remove from the $500 budget? Are you open to buying used parts?

 

[Seero]

option a) tell her it isn't enough.

option b) you fill up the rest.

The new expansion is coming, which means another jump in performance. As of now, a 8800GTS 640 along with I7-920 stock can withstand the load (around 30-40 FPS during raids at max settings.) It is okay to use AMD Athlon II X3 435 retail + MSI 870A-G54, which is about 200 bucks and you can OC it a bit for the performance. If she have an old pc that keyboard, mouse, and whatever drive is still usable, then recycle them. If not, that will be 50 bucks. PSU, (please don't go cheap on this) 50 bucks for 500watt. RAM, 100 bucks. Recycle the OS if it is XP and above, else 100 bucks. HDD, 50 bucks. Case, 25 bucks. So:

CPU and MB (including HS) : 200
Misc : 50 - recyclable
Case : 25 - recyclable
PSU : 50 - recyclable
RAM : 100
OS : 100 - recyclable
HDD : 50 - recyclable
Video card : 180

Total : 755, minus all possible recyclables, 480.

catch 101 : take her 500 bucks and buy her a new case and misc and put your PC inside and buy a new PC for yourself at your own $$. BAM, happy GF and happy you.

 

[DaveSimmons]

It should be mentioned that just because the native resolution of the monitor is 19x10 does not mean WoW must be run at that resolution.

 

[OCGuy]

9800gt

Or maybe look at OEM systems.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Tpk=83-227-241

If she is willing to up the budget just a little, this 5450 is better than the integrated that you posted in the OP.

 

[Voo]

Wow is much more CPU dependant than GPU dependant and also only optimized for 2 cores - not sure how that'll change with the next expansion, but at the moment it's rather useless to spend another 35$ (I'm guessing from EU prices, not sure how big the difference is over there) for a X3 over a X2, especially since the former are lower clocked and would be slower..

And if you know any CS student with an MSDNAA account.. we get OSes in the dozens - especially if you're fine with a server version as well (and able to install a chinese/taiwanese version before installing an language package - hey where'd be the fun otherwise?). Otherwise students get a standard version for 30€ or something..

 

[alkemyst]

I think after 16x12 the 8800/9800 may get a bit taxed with everything maxed.

 

[jchu14]

will you consider refurbished systems? Do you mind waiting for rebates?

Refurbished oem systems will be the way to go at that price range unless if you have a fry's/microcenter near you and have access to student windows license.

Here's a refurb HP machine at tigerdirect for $430. There is 15.2% bing cash back right now (it's a rebate, google bing cash back for more info). Those is no way for a self-built machine to beat that price unless you catch slickdeals/good used deals for everything.

$364.64 after bing cash back, you get
-AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz
-6GB DDR3
-750GB HDD
-DVDRW
-Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

There is an empty pci-express 16x slot and comes with a 300watt power supply which should be enough power for a ATI 5670. This 5670 is only $75 after rebate.

 

[ModestGamer]

I was playing dirt 2 on onboard 4250 with a bit of overclocking. ran at low detail in the high 20's. fix your resource hogging OS.

 

[RedShirt]

I'd suggest going with a barebone kit from TigerDirect + Bing Cashback. It's at 15% right now (just search for video card on bing).

I'd probably go with:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...6490&CatId=332

You'd get 76 bucks back with bing.

You could also get 15% off Windows 7

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...932&CatId=4622

Remember, bing cashback ends at the end of this month.

That'd put you right around 500 after cashback.

Edit:

The videocard may not be fast enough for what you are looking for. There are several other bundles that don't include video that are cheaper.

 

[RedShirt]

More Ideas:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...124&CatId=2405

That seems to be a really good deal at 430 bucks. You'd get nearly 70 back from bing as well.

The Core2Quads are still really good for gaming.

You could then pick up a videocard such as:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...258&CatId=3670

With Windows 7 you'd be a tad over 500 after bing.

Edit:

After Bing + Rebates + Shipping, you'd be be under $510 (total to my area is $666.50 shipped minus $98.80 bing minus $60.00 rebates = $507.70)

Edit2:

Doesn't look like this one comes with a fan for the processor, so you'd have to pick that up too.

 

[RedShirt]

will you consider refurbished systems? Do you mind waiting for rebates?

Refurbished oem systems will be the way to go at that price range unless if you have a fry's/microcenter near you and have access to student windows license.

Here's a refurb HP machine at tigerdirect for $430. There is 15.2% bing cash back right now (it's a rebate, google bing cash back for more info). Those is no way for a self-built machine to beat that price unless you catch slickdeals/good used deals for everything.

$364.64 after bing cash back, you get
-AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz
-6GB DDR3
-750GB HDD
-DVDRW
-Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

There is an empty pci-express 16x slot and comes with a 300watt power supply which should be enough power for a ATI 5670. This 5670 is only $75 after rebate.

This also seems like a good deal! They have a 650 watt Ultra power supply on sale for 50 bucks too:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Sku=ULT-LSP650

So if you were worried about power you'd be able to get that + a 5670 and still probably be under budget.

 

[Carcass]

Back in the day I ran a Q6600 @ 3.0ghz with an 8600GT(S? whichever was faster) at 1920x1280 as a temp measure and it was OK. Once I got the 8800GT I was on high settings (not crazy AA) and only experienced slowdowns in 40 person raids. The strong CPU was obviously pulling me through there though.....

So I'd agree with the motion that an ATI 5670 is fine.