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What can I do to a Optiplex gx270 to make it WoW-friendly?

Discussion in 'Other Hardware' started by teddyzaper, Sep 19, 2011.

  1. teddyzaper Newcomer, in training

    just found a really epic youtube series by newegg that shows everything that i was asking :D now i just gotta watch it and chose my parts XD... here is the link if u want to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw
  2. Route44 TechSpot Ambassador

    I love the Samsung SyncMaster as well. It is all I run.

    That Phenom quad core system that Arris linked you to will do you fine. And if you do decide to scrimp and get yourself an AMD3+ so much the better.

    When you decide on the parts give us the list.
  3. ---agissi--- TechSpot Paladin

    You dont need a very expensive computer to play WOW, and there are plenty of expensive parts so I'd hate to see you spend more then you need to. WOW isnt very demanding given today's technology improvements.

    I would try to reuse as many parts as possible to save money. ie. The case, hdd, powersupply, cdrom.

    The optiplex 270 takes a mATX motherboard. That stands for micro ATX. There are two main sizes for motherboards, mATX and ATX. ATX is full size, mATX is mini. Then theres ITX which is new and really, really small.

    If you use your Dimension 9100 it may take an ATX size motherboard.

    See if you can get one of AMD's new chips called the Fusion, with the GPU built in so you dont add extra strain on the powersupply and spend additional money on a videocard+having to upgrade a powersupply or perhaps burnout your videocard or powersupply because it cant handle the powerdraw of a card you add in there.

    So you after: AMD motherboard with the correct socket for a Fusion chip to fit into. I forget what socket it is. Socket F1 or ?

    Correct speed memory to go with the Fusion CPU. It probably takes DDR3 1333 or 1600. Get the cheapest memory you can, dont be fooled into paying more. Lower CAS latencies wont give you any real benefit.

    And the AMD Fusion chip. That has a videocard (GPU/graphics processing unit) built into it so no need for a VC. You should be able to do that for under $300 I hope. 2GBs of memory will get you by on Win7, it will wonderfully on WinXP. If your using Windows 7 aim for 4GBs if you can, it'll cost twice as much though. Remember if you get a motherboard with 4 slots you can always get 2GBs now and add 2GBs later if you feel like it. Or if the motherboard only has 2 memory slots (called DIMM's) get a single stick of 2GB DDR3 1333/1600 for $25 or whatever they are today you'll still have room for another 2 or 4GB stick later.

    Checkout the combo deals on newegg, they might have a Fusion CPU/mobo/memory combo with a discount. However even so you may be able to find a better deal sorting through the cheapest parts in mobos & memory.
  4. teddyzaper Newcomer, in training

  5. Arris TechSpot Evangelist

    This is a very common misconception. It isn't that WoW isn't demanding, it's just that it scales very well depending on graphical options and resolution allowing it to run on many different classes of computer systems. Running at Ultra settings with everything possible maxed at 1920x1200 I get less than 30 fps in cities(large population of players characters around) on my machine (2 x 5850 1GB cards in crossfire). Saying that I do get over a hundred most of the time in general play in WoW. But with a single 5850 I was seeing under 60 FPS(this usually is what people look for as often monitors have a 60Hz refresh rate so you can use Vsync so you don't get visual tearing and other problems. Human eye shouldn't be able to tell the difference between 25 FPS and 60 but it is smoother and does make a difference in computer gaming) in raid/battleground enviroments at these settings. Crossfire is overkill for this game but it's not the only game I play.

    You don't need an expensive computer to play WoW (For example I'm about to try installing it on a £270 netbook with AMD E-350 Fusion APU with lowest settings to see if it can run) but I wouldn't like to have to play with the very minimum settings. Plus buying the cheapest system you can now means the next time a game is released that you think "Ooo I'd like to try that", you probably won't be able to. Best investing a little more for the longevity of the system.

    I suggest having a look through http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm-directx-11-performance,2793.html

    We have considered that possibility already, but still a good suggestion :)