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Updating GW2 Computer Build


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I’m going to be updating my husband’s GW2 computer build, and I’m not sure what the most meaningful update might be. If my memory serves me, the CPU is most important on GW2, above the GPU. That said the motherboard on this build is a limiting factor for upgrading the CPU, so I may have to upgrade that as well, and I may also update the CPU cooler to a beQuiet, budget allowing.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gYRP6s

Any thoughts? What are the most important things to update?

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@Sindrela.1846 said:if you go dell, dont get a H series

just tried one, it ran game beautifully, but omg the fans get loud and the little fans + small case = kitten it gets hot

i think the OP is going for a desktop though but yeah laptops are usually plagued by thermal issues so the solution is aggressive cooling, which almost always results in loud fans and what not.

@Amawyn.1925 said:why would u buy a cpu that came out 7 years ago? makes no sense.

i mean if budget is an issue, i guess the old top of the line i5's and i7's would still deliver good gw2 performance.

@"ForgottenGold.2306" said:I’m going to be updating my husband’s GW2 computer build, and I’m not sure what the most meaningful update might be. If my memory serves me, the CPU is most important on GW2, above the GPU. That said the motherboard on this build is a limiting factor for upgrading the CPU, so I may have to upgrade that as well, and I may also update the CPU cooler to a beQuiet, budget allowing.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gYRP6s

Any thoughts? What are the most important things to update?

it would be helpful for the others trying to respond here if you post your current system specs so people can see what/which parts are recommended for upgrade

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Yeah, the main one handling the duties are the CPU and Memory sticks. Currently parts are on high demand right now so the prices have skyrocketed even for older parts.A budget price would help out as well so that people can recommend a reasonable upgrade.Is the partslist what he currently has?

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Disclaimer: Tech requirements change and evolve over time. Arenanet (and most other software suppliers) have the right to change their system requirements for their products as they see fit at any time. Your computer build today is not guaranteed to work tomorrow.

With that out of the way, let's talk tech. Rather than provide specific part recommendations, I'll recommend a top-down queue of upgrades that could be made and the improvements you can expect to see:

  1. CPU - GW2 tends to use a single core at any given time, but having more cores will improve general quality-of-life by allowing you to maintain more concurrent applications at once (Ex: Discord, web browsers, etc). Speed can be a bottleneck up to a certain point before shifting to a different part of your rig. General guidance is that bigger is better within a given processor generation, but comparing across different generations is not as straight-forward. Later generations generally perform better across the board compared to their previous generations, but not guaranteed. Specific chip manufacturer is not important for GW2. When purchasing, verify that the CPU interface is compatible with the motherboard you intend to use.

  2. GPU - Improves the visual aesthetic of the game. Not quite as important for GW2 compared with the CPU, but still pretty important. Likely to be the most costly single-component upgrade in your rig. Recommend using the system requirements for other games/applications being used commonly in your rig as GW2 tends to have lower graphical requirements. Improvements here will let you switch to higher graphical settings in the options for GW2 and make use of some of the optional graphical checkboxes. This can be bottlenecked by the motherboard depending on the PCI express version supported by either component.

  3. Internet speed - While not a specific part in your rig, improving this will provide a direct measurable performance boost up to a certain point. Additional bandwidth may be needed to support a larger online footprint (multiple online applications and/or users at once). Connecting via ethernet where possible as opposed to wireless can also provide noticeable gameplay improvements up to a certain point.

  4. Solid-state drive - Having GW2 installed on a solid state drive will allow game files to be accessed quicker by your rig compared to storage on disk drives. This improvement would be for adding a solid-state drive to a system that doesn't already have one. Upgrading a solid-state drive to a newer model probably won't have a significant impact for GW2. As an aside, your operating system should also be installed on the solid-state drive to significantly improve boot times.

  5. RAM - Adding more RAM to your system may not directly impact your GW2 gameplay, but it will accommodate additional supporting applications that players tend to have simultaneously running. Improvements to GW2 gameplay will probably not be noticeable going above 16 GB, but your mileage may vary by user. When purchasing, verify that the RAM type (DDR4, DDR3, etc) + speed is compatible with the motherboard you intend to use.

  6. Motherboard - Assuming all of the above improvements are made, this will likely be your next major bottleneck. Not nearly as important to upgrade so long as it is compatible with the other components listed above.

  7. Power Supply - No direct impact to GW2 gameplay, but something to keep in mind if improving several of the above components at once as it will likely increase your power draw for your rig.

  8. 2+ Monitors - No direct benefit for GW2 gameplay, but will likely impove quality-of-life for using support applications.

EDIT: Added comments to check compatibility between CPU+motherboard and RAM+motherboard.

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There is no reason to invest in a dead platform with DDR3 and either way you go (Intel or AMD) you need new motherboard. I'm assuming what is in the original post is what you have now.

If you don't want to buy an AMD Ryzen 5000 series , you can get a Ryzen 3000 series chip or go with an Intel chip 8th generation or newer if you are going to get a better cooler. Anything older is pointless really as Intel 7th generation is still quad-core and you won't really be able to properly buy a new CPU or motherboard.

With the AM4 platform (AMD) you have greater longevity as it is supported til Ryzen 6000 series comes out whereas if you invest into an Intel platform right now even some of the newest boards don't have PCIE-4.0. AMD CPUs are also more efficient right now and you would be able to use the Hyper 212 Evo on it (see socket support on https://www.coolermaster.com/catalog/coolers/cpu-air-coolers/hyper-212-evo/#specifications ).

If you price it out the pricing is similar for either way:AMD AM4

  • Ryzen 5 3600 ~ $200 , Ryzen 5 3600X ~ $300 (not worth the premium)
  • Ryzen 5 5600X if you have stock at a local Microcenter ~ $300 (average sale price ~$400 right now due to gouging)
  • half decent B550 board ~ $130 (example: B550 PG Velocita on sale right now , TUF GAMING B550-PLUS , B550M AORUS PRO-P , B550M MORTAR)
  • High Midrange B550 board on par with Z490 ~$160 - 200

Realistic total before memory : $350-450

Intel (LGA1200)

  • Cheapest current Intel 6 core (usually i5-10400F or i5-10600KF) ~$150-220
  • Cheapest H470 board ~$140 (no Intel sanctioned overclocking or memory tuning but board manufacturers have power limit OC, see https://www.asrock.com/microsite/2020BFB/ )
  • Cheapest Z490 board ~$160

Realistic total before memory : $300-400

In general make sure whatever board you're buying is using powerstages and not cheap power delivery ; compare the non-audio specifications as well. In addition, if there's not a single heatsink on the board it likely means it is a cheap OEM-oriented product and not fit for any form of mid or high end build (no longevity). If there's a heatpipe on the heatsink it usually means it's an upper tier product as it costs more to manufacture a board with a heatpipe on the heatsink.

The largest gains you would be able to attain in GW2 are with a better CPU in terms of single threaded performance. Due to Amdahl's law of parallelization, there really isn't any point in getting more than 6 physical cores for gaming purposes.

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I just bought a new computer because my 8 year old one died on me. I put a 3070 together with a gen4 PCIE HD 10700K processor and 32 GB of 3600MHz ram, and while it handles new game like butter at 1440p, GW2 simply chugs. The performance difference between my old Dell XPS and this new custom machine isn't that great, except for the load times.

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@Astyrah.4015 said:

@Sindrela.1846 said:if you go dell, dont get a H series

just tried one, it ran game beautifully, but omg the fans get loud and the little fans + small case = kitten it gets hot

i think the OP is going for a desktop though but yeah laptops are usually plagued by thermal issues so the solution is aggressive cooling, which almost always results in loud fans and what not.

@Amawyn.1925 said:why would u buy a cpu that came out 7 years ago? makes no sense.

i mean if budget is an issue, i guess the old top of the line i5's and i7's would still deliver good gw2 performance.

@"ForgottenGold.2306" said:I’m going to be updating my husband’s GW2 computer build, and I’m not sure what the most meaningful update might be. If my memory serves me, the CPU is most important on GW2, above the GPU. That said the motherboard on this build is a limiting factor for upgrading the CPU, so I may have to upgrade that as well, and I may also update the CPU cooler to a beQuiet, budget allowing.

Any thoughts? What are the most important things to update?

it would be helpful for the others trying to respond here if you post your current system specs so people can see what/which parts are recommended for upgrade

H series is a desktop, part of there alienware .. suffers from lack of cooling on cpu and case is to small for airflow. just sent one back :)

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@Sindrela.1846 said:

@Sindrela.1846 said:if you go dell, dont get a H series

just tried one, it ran game beautifully, but omg the fans get loud and the little fans + small case = kitten it gets hot

i think the OP is going for a desktop though but yeah laptops are usually plagued by thermal issues so the solution is aggressive cooling, which almost always results in loud fans and what not.

@Amawyn.1925 said:why would u buy a cpu that came out 7 years ago? makes no sense.

i mean if budget is an issue, i guess the old top of the line i5's and i7's would still deliver good gw2 performance.

@"ForgottenGold.2306" said:I’m going to be updating my husband’s GW2 computer build, and I’m not sure what the most meaningful update might be. If my memory serves me, the CPU is most important on GW2, above the GPU. That said the motherboard on this build is a limiting factor for upgrading the CPU, so I may have to upgrade that as well, and I may also update the CPU cooler to a beQuiet, budget allowing.

Any thoughts? What are the most important things to update?

it would be helpful for the others trying to respond here if you post your current system specs so people can see what/which parts are recommended for upgrade

H series is a desktop, part of there alienware .. suffers from lack of cooling on cpu and case is to small for airflow. just sent one back :)

oh didnt know, for desktops i usually opt to just build your own. so i have no idea about the branded/built units lol good to know though :)

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dang that looks like the way to go for gw2...is there a prebuilt with it in it?

the combo deal is over now, but if you look at your original thread. you should probably just upgrade the " CPU,Motherboard and RAM" and just swap them into your current build. should boost performance and help you wait out the GPU drought,lol

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@"ForgottenGold.2306" said:I’m going to be updating my husband’s GW2 computer build, and I’m not sure what the most meaningful update might be. If my memory serves me, the CPU is most important on GW2, above the GPU. That said the motherboard on this build is a limiting factor for upgrading the CPU, so I may have to upgrade that as well, and I may also update the CPU cooler to a beQuiet, budget allowing.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/gYRP6s

Any thoughts? What are the most important things to update?

Didn't you already build a 4k gaming system?(checked your previous posts,lmao)

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