Classic andy needs help buying new PC for shadowlands

Games, Gaming & Hardware
1

So with classic coming to a near close with the release of Naxx and shadowlands being released, im figuring that I might need to give retail a shot.

I started playing wow properly in classic and had a blast using an old piece of crap laptop, but theres only so much gold farming one can do till tbc classic comes out so I need a new computer so that I can try retail! I’m looking at something cheap that’s being sold locally. Could someone give me an idea of how this spec might run shadowlands?

Quad Core i5-3470
16GB RAM,
1TB HDD,
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB,

Don’t know much else

Thanks!

2

The CPU and GPU don’t match their release dates. Likely the CPU is newer - try to check if the GPU or CPU is labeled incorrectly.

If the GPU is correct and the CPU is some Haswell/Broadwell/SkyLake then it looks pretty good. You could swap out HDD with SATA SSD and be golden… if the price is really low - don’t get taxed extra on this.

3

CPU and GPU are correctly labeled. Its a HP proprietary desktop pc with a GeForce 1050 TI low profile installed inside of it. Refurbished by a third party computer company selling on amazon.

The PSU is only 240w and you need a minimum 300w PSU for the 1050ti but apparently you can get away with a 240w PSU for it.

Price is really good so I’m very keen on buying it. I have a spare SSD to put inside of it

4

CPU is really old and now weak. IMHO not worth it.

5

I’m on a tight tight budget, I intend to fully replace the machine when things improve. Will it make do for now or ?

6

What’s the price? There is a lot of such refurbs and most of them are newer/better/more safe choice.

7

The price is £200

8

It’s as low as it should be, but I would check even more ebay/local ads just to be sure if there isn’t anything better. Locally in Poland I see such refurbs:

  • i5-6400 + RX 470: 267 GBP
  • i5-4570 + 1050Ti, 8GB RAM: 312 GBP

RX Polaris should be common while better than 1050 Ti. The Intel i5-3470 will work but you will get lower FPS in mass-actor scenarios (raids, a bit in dungeons). The 1050Ti for 1080p should be fine, the settings should be medium to high.

9

To be honest, i’ve played classic raids in 16fps so anything is an upgrade I guess.

So the actual computer is a HP 8300 Elite Quad Core i5-3470. You say the CPU is a poor. Is it possible to upgrade the CPU in this particular computer or will the whole motherboard and case need to be be replaced?

Many thanks again for your help.

10

You would have to replace the CPU and motherboard, then also likely the power supply… Replacing anything in such system isn’t really worth it. The main problem is the system age. Ivy Bridge CPU family is old and the electronics do age so it can fail as well or you can get compatibility problems with it and Windows.

11

Ok thanks, after further research I think its best to take your advice and not go for it.

Two other systems that are local that I’ve been looking at are;

Option 1
Sapphire Pulse Itx Rx 570 4gb
-i5 2320 3.00ghz
-8 gb ram corsair vengeance 1666mhz
-500 gb ssd
-1tb hard drive

Option 2

CPU: AMD FX-8350 4 GHz 8-Core Processor
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600 CL9 Memory
GPU: MSI Radeon R9 390X 8 GB GAMING Video Card
Storage: SanDisk SSD PLUS 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
PSU: Corsair VS 650 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 ATX Mid Tower Case

Which is better for shadowlands?

12

Good GPU, even older/weaker CPU

Hm… that’s bad :wink:

Look for something that has Intel 4000-series or higher or AMD Ryzen CPU. This will cover the age criteria (and likely performance depending what parts it has).

13

Wait, as part of your Sub BFA should be included? Can you play that?

If you can, the second option looks good to me, you got a good PSU to serve the power hungry 390x, the SSD will improve your loading screens, honestly it is like night and day compared to SATA.

You got your RAM in dual channel, that’s nice, some places still only give 1 stick of ram.

And the parts aswell are of good brand quality

14

Yeah I bought the second option in the end. From what I read I know the CPU, motherboard and ram are obsolete now. But for £250 I think its perfect for what I need right now. I am not trying to set any fps records and am quite happy playing at 60fps 1080p. Down the line if I feel like it ill swap out the mother board cpu and ram and go for a ryzen build. But for now, I am happy with it :smiley:

1 Like
15

I know you’re saying they are obsolete now, but they are compatible right? You really only have to worry about obsoletion when it comes to upgrading to newer parts.

I think for the price you paid and the part you did get, you done incredibly well :slight_smile: You found a great deal :slight_smile: I swear the SSD with loading times will make you a happy camper :slight_smile:

16

You will not get close to 60 FPS in demanding scenarios with that CPU, sry but it is one of the worst CPUs possible for WoW.

You will have to replace the RAM and the GPU too.

17

The FX8350 is just above minimal specs for Shadowlands regarding cpu. It’s not the best processor but can still play stuff with a few tweaks here and there, that’s before overclocking. (Never got such problems people had with that processor even with framerates playing this game really)

But it’s the FX8350 or Intel cpu at that time for minimal specs for the game.

So a refurbed 1st Gen Ryzen would do as well. Like Ryzen 5 1600 will easily play Shadowlands also.

Only thing near to your price is Ryzen 3 3200G around £220. Willl have graphics built into the processor.

Probably still better than FX8100 though so…

18

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.