Recommend a Pre-built PC that can play Warcraft Pandaria well?

MaxGoof

CAGiversary!
I got a $400 New Egg gift card for my birthday, and I'm looking to put it toward a PC that can play Mists of Pandaria well. I don't know anything--ANYTHING--about hardware or graphics cards. I just want a desktop that can play Pandaria pretty well (doesn't have to be totally perfect). I definitely don't want to build my own.

Can anyone recommend a PC on NewEgg that comes pre-built that will be able to do this for me, preferably for $500 or less?
 
[quote name='MaxGoof']I got a $400 New Egg gift card for my birthday, and I'm looking to put it toward a PC that can play Mists of Pandaria well. I don't know anything--ANYTHING--about hardware or graphics cards. I just want a desktop that can play Pandaria pretty well (doesn't have to be totally perfect). I definitely don't want to build my own.

Can anyone recommend a PC on NewEgg that comes pre-built that will be able to do this for me, preferably for $500 or less?[/QUOTE]
There are so many PCs, and their internals are all so similar, that this comes down to matching or exceeding the MoP recommended specs. You don't need a recommendation for that, just go to Newegg and start browsing. Time to do your own legwork, Goof!
 
Pretty much, most prebuilt pc's are going to lack graphics power to play games, specially if you want the game to play at 1080p with all the effects on. Although, WOW isn't exactly a hugely gpu intensive game, but you should still try to find something that actually has a real dedicated GPU and not some nvidia GT 610 or AMD Radeon 6450 that a lot of people claim them to be great for gaming (when in fact Intel's built-in HD graphics are faster).

Any reason for hesitation towards building your own? Newegg is one of the best places to shop to build your own system and the time to buy for parts and shop around is right now. Don't need to be a rocket scientist to build a PC now days. It's as simple as snapping things together, screwing about 10 screws (less for tool-less builds) and literally can take an hour to build and start playing games. Installing the OS like windows is such an easy step that your grandma who has never touched a PC in her life could do it. She could even overclock easily too!

With so much great advice and information on how to build computers from reputable websites for free, its hard to ever buy a pre-built desktop ever again.


PCPartPicker part list

CPU: AMD FX-4100 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($79.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2 Micro ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Graphics: MSI GeForce GTX 650 1GB ($69.99 AR @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $427.90

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-23 12:17 EST-0500)

With the setup above, you get a "quad core" (actually its two modules, but we don't need to get technical here), the best value aftermarket CPU cooler, name brand yet inexpensive motherboard, 8GB of DDR3 1600 ram, a powerful budget gaming video card that should net you about 50 frames per second at 1080p, 8x AF and 4x AA in WOW MoP, 2TB of a fast mechanical Hard drive, a decent case, a great value power supply, a cheapo dvd drive AND an operating system for less than what you were willing to pay...

Even though I love me some Intel, hard to beat this priced out computer WITH windows... Prebuilt's be damned. With the $70 left over, you could even spend it on an SSD!
 
Easy reason to buy a pre-built:
Someone you know wants a PC and you don't want them calling your ass up every week for free tech support. A Dell or w/e will let them talk to Arjun instead and if they fuck something up you're not out trying to fix it for them.

Its something a lot of people who say "Just Build It Yourself!" forget to think about. If something goes wrong and you don't have a decent grasp of what the problem might be, you'll either be clueless and have to take it in somewhere or for the more intrepid, browsing through post after post of misinformation in the hopes that you might stumble upon a solution to a problem you don't understand in the first place.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']Easy reason to buy a pre-built:
Someone you know wants a PC and you don't want them calling your ass up every week for free tech support. A Dell or w/e will let them talk to Arjun instead and if they fuck something up you're not out trying to fix it for them.

Its something a lot of people who say "Just Build It Yourself!" forget to think about. If something goes wrong and you don't have a decent grasp of what the problem might be, you'll either be clueless and have to take it in somewhere or for the more intrepid, browsing through post after post of misinformation in the hopes that you might stumble upon a solution to a problem you don't understand in the first place.[/QUOTE]
This is why we have Caller ID... LOLZ

But seriously, if you follow sound advice and buy quality parts, its almost idiot proof. It is true some people are totally ignorant about how a computer works to effectively know whats wrong with something if something goes wrong, but for the most part, every computer I've built for myself and for people has worked 100%... 98% of the time... lol I also try to teach people when to spot failing hardware, devices or have their own ability to troubleshoot themselves without needing them to phone a friend. Education is the key for me when helping people's build instead of just building it.

Then again, most of my friends are college educated people who actually have a general understanding of physics, sciences and to know not to spill their beer over an open PC like a tool and blame me for it not working... seriously... who doesn't keep their beer level when they lean their body over something...

Really does depend on one's level of general knowledge and if you are mechanically sound in any capacity. I've rarely seen someone too stupid to get things when I dumb it down for them to get the basic essentials or fundamentals of a problem. Although, I'm a pretty good teacher.
 
if they don't know how to go on newegg and buy parts then it's not a good idea for em hehe. i recommend dells mainly for the warranties too.
 
Warranty is only as good as the customer service you have to deal with or if the company doesn't go into a financial nose dive before it runs out.

Honestly, for pre-builts, its probably cheaper to get a sale item from HP, Dell, Toshiba, etc. then add in a budget gaming card (provided you do your do diligence and make sure it can support it w/ a decent power supply). You could easy grab a $300-400 pc and throw in a $70 gpu and be on your merry way to a decent budget gaming rig without worries.

I see deals on good value entry level PC's all the time on slickdeals.net. Dell had an Inspiron 660 with an i5 quad core, 8gb 1600 ram, 1TB hdd, windows 8 for $400. Has a 300w PSU so its more than enough for an entry level budget gaming card, like the AMD 7770 that's 80w tdp. Similarly, Dell XPS 8500 line with an i7 3770, GT 640 was only $100 more; both deals are dead.
 
Yes... because its oh so helpful to suggest a starting price of $2000 when the OP is looking for a $400 rig... :eyeroll
 
[quote name='JBaz']Yes... because its oh so helpful to suggest a starting price of $2000 when the OP is looking for a $400 rig... :eyeroll[/QUOTE]

you didn't click on it actually expecting it to be helpful though right? Honestly its a waste of time to buy a $400 rig. None of them come with video cards and the psu especially in the HP brand are underwhelming. In fact I know that the HP psu's dont even have any extra connectors in them so you would have to replace the PSU to even install a video card that would require an external power connector.

Id take that $400 and save it til you have ~$650 and make it happen then... thats enough to throw in a solid card and upgrade the PSU to something that outputs more power than a hamster running in a wheel.
 
Read the OP's question again... This is WOW we are talking about... A freaking Intel HD 4000 would run this game just fine @ 1080p on good quality; around 30fps.

Also, even though entry level HP Pavilion's use a shitty 300w psu, they are more than powerful enough to operate something simple as the AMD 7750, which is about 55 watts tdp, that doesn't requires additional power connectors and will run WOW @ 1080p on ultra settings at 60fps; no problem. You can find them on sale for about $60.
 
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