WOW and your PC

"Avoid AMD at all costs, and like the above poster said both the graphics cards you listed are terrible. Oh and avoid AMD at all costs."

"Please grab a Intel processor, please." These quotes were found on the wow forums.  Tons of bashing towards anyone mentioning AMD  Is a common item. Although I don't hate Intel Fanboys as much as I hate Apple/Mac fanboys,  they're starting to merge too since Apple dumped its PowerPC architecture in favor of x86 more specifically Intel.   In many games System Requirements are quite modest. Lets look at WoW's.. Processor: Minimum: Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+ Recommended: Dual-core processor, such as the Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Memory: Minimum: 512 MB RAM (1GB for Vista users) Recommended: 1 GB RAM (2 GB for Vista users)Video: Minimum: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 32 MB VRAM Such as an  ATI Radeon 7200 or NVIDIA GeForce 2 class card or better Recommended: 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with 128 MB VRAM  Such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT class card or better. Lets break down those requirements by category. Processor: Intel p4(1.3ghz)/Amd AthlonXP1500+   The Pentium4 was launched in 2000. Near 2006 it was put on the backburner in favor of the Core Duo's etc. The Athlon XP was launched in 2001, and later on just as with Intel it was put on the backburner in favor of the K8 architecture. So Needless to say it'll run on parts that are quite dated, even the recommended hardware is merely the replacements of the Minimum Req  processors. Memory: This one is more vague as it doesn't list what speed for min or recommended. However we can say that the minimum is DDR1 flavored ram that tops out at 400mhz. 512MB(1GB for vista/7) sure, its enough to play without addons, you can get away with omen but not much more. The same can almost assuredly be said for the recommended 1GB(2GB for vista/7.) Having played with 1GB with my last rig, I can say that you at this point still feel the strain.  Video: Minimum is 32MB of video memory, the Hardware Transform and Lighting is no longer mentioned in reviews of cards because its that ancient of a technology. It's no sweat even for integrated video. The same can be said about the Video Ram requirement. Same goes for the recommended with its Vertex and Pixel Shader recommendation. 128MB is hard to even find nowadays unless you're shopping ebay, otherwise you'd be hardpressed to find less than 256MB. By this list a Nvidia FX5200 stomps the requirements, but you can certainly feel the leash. The game will play as though its slowed down, even if its smooth running FPS.  I've left out the Space requirements as they really aren't too concerning.  This is all assuming as well you let WOW decide your graphics settings, no tweaking sliders and so on. Although with the specs listed your set to play with everything on low.  A more modern game like Crysis demands hardware that's 2 generations ahead of WOW and I  can guarantee you, that you're in the same situation of minimum specs if you're even thinking of  playing at your moniters default resolution. I started with a machine at 220 bucks that would run mid settings at around 40FPS in Shattrath, to a machine that gets 60FPS High settings in Dalaran, 100+ Frames Per Second while out and about in the world and about the same 60FPS during raids. Admittedly the 2GB RAM should be  upgraded, as with my addons I'm well over what I should limit myself to. But I'm running 32bit  Windows Xp so anything over 3.12GB won't be seen by wow. It can technically be used for VRAM but with my card hosting 1GB onboard, thats a slim chance of happening. So in the end over 2 1/2 years or so I've spent around 500 dollars, if not less.   If you have a notion that you're going to go out and build a new PC or purchase one, there's some notes you should write as follows. -Anyone telling you "GO INTEL! GO AMD!" as though they're pushing you to pick that brand should be looked at and considered with a grain of salt as your info provider. No doubtedly Intel will give better performance. "But at what cost?" If you have big bucks, go for it, pick Intel, however if you're playing with a limited set amount under a thousand say, AMD might be the way to go as even their flagship processor is under 350 dollars. At the top of the line you realistically are only getting a handful more FPS with Intel. It's why I recommend AMD to friends, as they're on the same budget I am. Picking up a 150 dollar processor from AMD instead of a 300 dollar Intel that performs  similarly allows you more cash to spend on the other necessary parts.  -A fast processor does not mean your loading bar will go faster! Not at all! Your loading bar fills quicker/slower based on the following things: Internet Speed, Hard Drive Speed and RAM. The obvious is the internet speed, the faster your internet speed is the quicker the game can yank the info from the servers. The faster your Hard Drive spins, the faster it can pull the data in, the more RAM you have, the easier it is for your PC to store it for immediate use. (similar to  getting ingredients ready for a recipe on your kitchen counter, instead of having to keep them in the cupboard and retrieving when needed.) Those 3 things alone determine how fast that bar loads.  -Once your in, what loads things the quickest is now your Processor and Video Card. Your processor will send and recieve what needs to be done, and in turn tell your video card to make it happen. Your card then craps out what it's told to display. Video Ram and its speed play a big part here. As it needs the RAM on its card to put things together. If your card runs out of its own memory to work with, it'll go to your system memory and even hard drive. This slows the process down.  -Addons eat space on your RAM! Just enabling them will take up space on your memory, then anything the Addons are requested to do will eat more. Plan accordingly! If your a person that  can only put out for 1GB you should think about running just what you need. OMEN and Atlas Loot. If you have 2GB you can throw in Unit Frames and a few other bells and whistles. Anything over that you're free to do whatever. -Plan ahead! This is important if your building a rig. Get the most current Generation of board you can afford. Why? When you want to upgrade something say a year down the line, you don't want  to be caught having to buy something that's no longer being made. Or in some cases more  expensive because it's something phased out in favor of newer stuff. Case in point is RAM.  When DDR2 memory came out you could still initially buy DDR1 memory at a fair price. But now that DDR3 is the big dog, DDR1 and now DDR2 have shot up in price. You're stuck paying the same, if not more for the older memory and reaping none of the speed advances you could! The whole thing is keeping yourself open to whatever new things could come in the future. -Avoid store bought machines if you can help it! They are quite convenient for sure, buy it, take it home and plug it in. However you don't have any control of what's in there. Sure if you're at a  big box store like Best Buy you can buy more memory or a video card there. But always at a  very bloated price. At current time the store still sells the FX5200 video card for over 80 dollars, the same card can be found on Newegg/Tigerdirect for 30 bucks, or the same price you'd  likely pay at a computer/technlogy store like MicroCenter. Another facet that ties into that is that you'll almost always see for example a great processor and a good amount of memory, but the video card is nonexistant, you're stuck with integrated graphics unless you pay the big bucks for one there. Or say a great video card and modest processor and modest ram.  You're stuck unless you DO buy the top of the line offered there. This isn't even considering any preference in part makers. If your aiming for and AMD rig, there's no chance they'll have a great machine there for you (esp at Bestbuy.)  You'll suffer with a case that has terrible cooling through the case. You'll no matter how much you pay, spend another hour just getting rid of whatever bloated software they slapped onto that machine, almost always trial versions of whatever. This is done because the makers get kick backs for housing the software on that PC, and why you see rebates rampant on items like this. So it would appear that this or that computer is a great price. 600 dollars its marked at, however you read the non bold print to find out its going to be 800 dollars out of pocket and 2 months down the line you'll get your rebate check of 200. If you filled out the rebate form with the preciseness of a swiss watch maker.  -Consider the rebate factor I just mentioned. Along with picking what you want. You'll spend 1/3 or so (on average, your mileage will vary, but never less than 1/3) less on a custom built rig. You'll get things you want, and none of what you don't. Even if you're new to building them, it's an easy processor. Which leads to.. -Building your own PC will teach you volumes and save you cash. The relative ease of building them aside, you now know where everything goes. Upgrading a piece yourself will save you 50 dollars alone, rather than having the "Geek Squad" doing it for you. If you're unsure about building your own, there's a wealth of guides out there that show you how to do it. I'll even link some below, all with video to show you exactly whats going on. (recommended link below) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwCAeygp8uo&feature=PlayList&p=6C802C83EE27B7DD&index=0 Standard links below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQQ30QoF_-8 I'll be linking my own how to build at a later time :) Watch the videos a few times, get a good idea of what you're going to be doing. If possible have another PC browsed to the videos so if you hit a problem, you can go back to the videos to look at the portion your stuck with to get yourself an idea of what to do. if that fails you can visit one of the many computer hardware websites. Overclockersclub.com is my personal fav, but tomshardware.com is also a great site. I'm also always available for help, leave a messege or email me at mahdeib@gmail.com In the end when you think you're in need of upgrades or a new PC altogether this info should be  a good starter in making decisions. The above mentioned websites are great sources to ask for feedback on what you've looked at so far and are thinking of buying. Of course I'm also available for feedback as well :)  If you have a local computer shop (not a big box store like bestbuy,circuitcity etc) not too far away it's another great source for help or info. If your unsure about compatibility of something, give a  call and they'll look it up for you, and in most cases they'll be happy to assist you in building your rig. My local computer store where I built my first custom pc charged me a fair 10 dollars for the  service. You might question having to pay for this, but consider that you're learning valuable info while you and the worker are building your rig. It's a small price to pay to have a quality person help you along and teach you how to do everything. The bigger thing as well is the fact you're  building a great relationship with the store, which can lead you to getting discounts, flyers/emails about products coming to the store soon, and most importantly a friendly source to get help from. This was long winded however it's important to get some points across :)