View Single Post
10-15-10, 02:06 PM   #16
Rpruden
A Defias Bandit
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 3
Post Wrong!

Originally Posted by MidgetMage55 View Post
Cant say much about the vid card as I'm not terribly well versed in Ati cards. However I would highly recommend at least the core i5 if your going for gaming. The i3 was designed for very casual computer users. Web surfing, watching movies and occasional multitasking. It'll run wow but your not going to get reasonable performance if ultra is your goal.

Ideally since wow is a more CPU intensive game an i7 would be what you want but they can be a bit prohibitive cost wise. This is of course if you plan to go only Intel. You might also consider looking at some of the AMD chip sets if your looking to save a few dollars.
You are really completely off base with this. It seems as though you are spouting off information that is not backed by any real research. The Core i3 and i5 (dual core) processors are actually the same exact processors. They are clocked at different speeds and have minor differences. The main differences is that the i3 does not support Turbo Boost, which is a technology that allows the processor to automatically overclock one of the cores to squeeze out extra performance if you need it. (With the right motherboard, you can just manually apply the overclock yourself and keep it running at a higher speed all the time anyways) Other than that the i5 includes new SSE instructions aimed at accelerating encryption and decryption with the AES algorithm. This is only used for business which need encrypted data. There is one type of i5 processor that is different. It is essentially an i7 but without hyper threading. It is the only processor of the i series that does not have hyper threading but it has 4 cores. One may think this would be better for wow, but there is really no need for a processor beyond the i3 unless you are planning to do other sorts of gaming. WOW, it's self will only utilize 2 cores/threads right now anyways so 4 cores will give you no benefit. As far as AMD goes, sure they are cheaper, but Intel beats them in almost EVERY benchmark. Spend a couple extra dollars and get an Intel processor. Currently the low end i3 processor runs at 2.93Ghz and is priced around $115. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

OP, if you'd like some help building your own custom rig, I can help you pick out some low cost components. My friend just did an upgrade to his current system for about $450. You need a modern dual core processor, good RAM, and a good video card. That's about it.