brimstone1392

I was recently asked to build a low budget system for a friend. Now, I've never built a really low budget system before, but here's what I came up with:

ECS LGA 775 Intel 945GC Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz
2GB OCZ Gold DDR2 667 Ram
EXCELSTOR Jupiter Series 250GB 7200 RPM SATA HD
Athena Power Mid Tower Case
BIOSTAR GeForce 8500 GT 512MB Vid Card
Antec Basiq 350W ATX12V Power Supply (not too sure about this choice, to be honest.)
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner
Standard Keyboard/mouse/speakers, and XP 32bit (OEM)

This setup will run about $420 (USD.) That's just barely within my friends price range, and she's happy with the monitor she already has, so that's not an issue. She's not a big gammer, but plays WOW alot. I'm interested to hear from other people who have built low budget systems before and also from you WOW players to see how this system would stack up.

PC_Building_Nub

I'm by no means an expert on such things, but I've had experience with WoW. Virtually anything built with parts from the past 2 or 3 years should have NO PROBLEMS whatsoever running WoW. The most important consideration for MMOs is RAM. 2GB should be plenty for WoW. WoW will run on 8+ year old computers without too much trouble if you put the settings low enough.

Now, in times past, they've brought up the idea of overhauling the graphics engine, but they're about to release the second expansion and it still hasn't happened yet. It wouldn't be anything major, anyway, as Blizzard are the masters of having their games run on every imaginable PC setup.

She should be fine.

brimstone1392

See, that was one of my concerns. She told me they were coming out with a new expansion and wasn't even sure if her old pc would be up to handling it. I figured it wouldn't be a problem, but then I read an article that mentioned how WOW doesn't respond very well to low-end dual core CPUs. Any thoughts?

patriothntr

Okay...lets see...I'll try to squeeze those bucks a lil further...get you a better VGA card.

CPU - 70 :http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116052
ECS mobo - 70 minus 15 MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813135022
minus 15 combo deal

RAM - 37: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141300

Case - 25: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147071

PSU - 37: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...E16817104031&T

GPU - 76 minus 12 MIR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121223

Add a cheapo dvd multi drive for 25 bucks

Total is ~$460 minus $35 MIR...shipping to where im at is 20 bucks.

This is a decent deal for right now...you can shave a few more bucks off by watching sites like slickdeals.net and dealnews.com for better prices on components.

patriothntr

Oops...forgot the HDD link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148230

brimstone1392

Thanks for the reply patriothntr. I ran everything you recommended through newegg. With the the OS, mouse/keyboard/speakers, and a cheap dvd combo, it came out to about 490 (455 after MIR, before shipping.) That's a little more than she's willing to pay, but I'll keep it in mind and definitely keep an eye out on those deal sites!

patriothntr

You can find some real good deals on those sites...recently I saw a 8600gt and 2gb of RAM for 45 bucks at newegg (after rebate). Finding stuff like that really cuts your costs down.

outermon

From what I've gathered, WoW wouldn't run as well on a low-end dual core because it, like most games, only utilizes one core. You might be better off going with a high end (+3Ghz) Single-Core CPU. That should actually cost less than a dual-core CPU. I unfortunately play WoW on a Mac Mini (running Windows XP). It has a 1.6Ghz Dual Core Processor, 512MB of RAM, and Intel Integrated LAPTOP graphics *gags*. I got the thing for free, so I can't complain; if only I could afford the builds I do for other people. Even with those horrible specs, I never lag unless I go to a very crowded area (which is actually very often necessary). I'd say get the best single-core you can and see if you can get a good video card. Probably a +7800 Nvidia card will reduce and possibly eliminate lag in crowded areas with all settings minimalized.

linderman

you had better consider things REALLY carefully


I am working for a WOW customer right now; the mods that wow players end up wanting are resource hogs that are not optimized for crap! make sure this wow player doesnt have any friends that will lure them into using MODS for wow; if so the above spec will be a real drooller !


I have an E6600 / E6850 / E8400 sitting in the shop for my customers to play with ...... this gives me a measuring stick for what they REALLY want without letting price interfere with the spec during demo

I tell them play as looooooong as you want for as many days as you want / load any game you want into these systems / I have found the "bargain" hunters are not satisfied with the E6600 after they have played with it using a 7950GT video card >>>>>


SO PLEASE dont tell me the E2180 is such a great deal ......... thats a perscription for "buyers remorse"

patriothntr

Well, if you have a budget, you do your best to stick to it...buy a nicer mobo and buy a new chip if money later on allows. And if you really want to compare processors, mate it up with something a little nicer than a 7950...a 8600gts can do about the same as that...possibly better depending. You have all those systems running the same setup except for chips? Just wondering if that's an apples to apples comparison...nothing wrong with having different systems set up at different price points...just saying that you might not be addressing the bottleneck (which I think is the VGA with that processor).

The mods will usually eat into the second core and memory...you want to be sure you have plenty of memory (2gb is fine)...and if you have a decent board, you can OC the processor while gaming...get some extra power out of it.

linderman

My demo's are as follows >>>> all three are not the same ........ the spec changes with the budget

E6600 with 7950GT ( I found the 512mb 7950 outperforms the 8600; but not by much)

E6850 has ATI 3870 X2

E8400 has the 8800GTX

all have two gigs of memory >>>>> I throw in an extra pair of matched 512's as requested, but I am not a 4 gig fan with a 32bit OS


I have found, if you allow the customer to use the systems first / without any talk of the system price ................ they NEVER are satisfied with the system their original budget would have allowed

patriothntr

I see where the 6850 and 8400 would be looking at VGA power (apples to apples) but I don't quite get the lower end in there...back to the build at hand:

I agree that spending more is better, but if you can't then search for deals on sites like slickdeals.net and dealnews.com...and build yourself a system that can do most but not all...Heck, I ***** all the time about how I want to upgrade this n that, but I don't...mostly cause I want to save money and spend on other things...

linderman

my point was missed >>>>> and thats innocent enough as the message is somewhat cryptic .......most of the folks that enter my shop have a budget that aligns with a "used E6600" that I value at $100.00 and the 7950 Gt 512mb and 2 gigs of high performance memory with always a quality board >>>>> after a "test drive" that $600.00 customer wants more >>>>>> I instruct him to proceed to station #2 then #3 if need be ??? they sell themselvees ..........

patriothntr

I understood your message...but an extra 200-300 bucks might not be an option...for now or in the next 6 months...that's all I'm saying...

brimstone1392

With the deals Ive been able to find, I've got the price down to $385. I understand that most people want the better system, but cost is the TOP factor in this build. Even at this price point, the lady I'm building it for will have to pay me over time.

As far as the processor goes, if it ends up not being up to the task, I can always throw in some OC'ing. As I understand it, this chip is easily overclockable to some degree.

Oh, and thanks patriothntr. That slickdeals site you recommended comes in handy.