Getting more serious. Thoughts?

[jak3676]

yep - Win7 (64-bit). If you're buying retail somewhere now you'll probably get Vista with a coupon for a free upgrade with Win7 is officially realeased (Oct 22). If you're building yourself, then just go to microsoft.com and download the release candidate for free (free until March 2010).

[Solon]

My suggestions would be to make sure you have a case with very good cooling capacity (My five boxing rig runs a little warmer boxing then even running newer high end games), and it wouldn't hurt to think about a bigger power supply. I would be hard pressed to go under 1000w anymore myself.

[JU1CYFRU1T]

I am considering almost the same machine, with three minor exceptions... what do you guys think?

• Instead of the i7 950, I would get the 920. Not really sure how much of a difference the .6-.7 GHz will make. EDIT: The price difference between these two chips is $290 on newegg, so for that price, I could get a second SSD (see below), and run them in Raid. IMO, that would be a better performance boost that the extra 0.4 GHz increase from the processor. Is that right, or would the faster processor still be better?
• I was thinking of running with just 6GB of RAM instead of 12. I know that more memory is always helpful... but to 5-box on one machine, would I need 12 GB of RAM?
• Instead of running off of one (or more) HDD, I was going to get a SSD. Probably an 80GB or 120GB SSD. I have heard that these things are AMAZINGLY fast. This disc would be for applications only, and all media would be stored on a seperate 1 TB HDD.

Are these specs "good enough"... or should I reconsider and get the same machine provided above? I don't want to spend $1500+ on a computer, only to find out that it "isn't quite good enough". I will be running this machine on my 60" TV, with a second monitor sitting next to me (on the end-table)...

@ Keff,
From the language in your posts, it sounds like you are buying a pre-build (as opposed to newegg-ing the parts and building your own PC). Can you link to the computer that you are considering? I would be interested to compare the prices of your "pre-build" to building it myself. I TOTALLY understand that some people are not comfortable dealing with the insides of a PC, but I am an electronics technician, so it's second nature to me.

The one benifit of buying a pre-built, is that there is someone to call if/when you are having problems. I may go that route... IF the cost difference were within reason. Even if you can't link the computer with all the finalized specs, just linking the "starting PC" would be great. I know that we can all find it ourselves (via HP.com or Alienware)... but if you already have it specced out... we can all just /click your link

[jak3676]

I'd agree that a SSD is probably more of an improvment instead of going from from the 920 to the 950. You can always OC the 920 a bit if you want to.

12GB of RAM is probably more important than either the 950 or the SSD. For most things in northrend, and especially Dalaran and WG you will need as much memory as you can get. If you absolutely need to cut costs, then maybe get 3x 2GB sticks initially, just plan on getting 3x2GB more sticks before you level to northrend. (If you're doing multiple RAF accounts to 60 you may have a few months before you get to northrend.)

Concure on the SSD as well. The "cheap" option here is a 32GB SSD ($120) that's just for WOW and a seperate standard HD ($60-90 for 500GB-1TB) for everything else. You can easily symlink 5x WoW folders there and still be under 17GB. That leaves room for some other apps/games, but not a whole lot. Good 64GB drives can be had for $200 and good 120GB drives are under $300 now. How much stuff you want to put on it is really up to you. But you can get blazing fast performance + room for storage for under $200 if you want to.

[Keff]

I was actually considering several changes in the setup even before I saw you very informative posts. Money isn't really a big issue in this matter so removing/degrading parts for other ones isn't needed. I might just add up with a few extras.

I planned to use the following hard drive for WoW:
32 GB Ritek RiDATA 2.5 inch SATA Gaming SLC Solid State Disk

Keep the i7 950, maybe add up for RAM with 1600 or 1800Mhz nad with one or two extra TB for media and other stuff.

[David]

12GB of RAM is probably more important than either the 950 or the SSD

I personally wouldn`t take 12GB.
I`m running with 8GB and I`m 5boxing. Even in WG and dalaran my system never uses more then 5.5GB. I tryed with 4GB at first but it was just horrible in every new zone.

Or just take the 12GB for future 10boxing maybe :-)