Can we get a Technical Support / Building A Computer Section?

[Armory]

Hey OH MIGHTY ADMINS AND MODERATORS OF TEH GW2 FORUMS

*POWER KNEEEEEL*

I BEG THEE, OH LORDS AND Laaaadies OF TEH FORUM TO GRANT US A SECTION OF THE FORUM IN WHICH WE MAY PRAY TO THE GODS OF THE TECH!capslockoff

Ok yeah! So guys, I'm sure there's tons of people in the community that are wondering about Tech specs and building their own computer for GW2 -- and we're missing a place to discuss and theorycraft and all that fun stuff. I've got TONS of info on the rigs used at Gamescom / Pax and all that jazz, so if you guys could find it in your big sexy hearts to make us a place (Or direct me in the event I'm just @%!#ing blind) for this kinda stuff??

Pwetty pweetty pweeeeeeeese.

- Armory

[Izzy]

They haven't come out with exactly what the system requirements for Guild Wars 2 will be but they stated they want it to be able to run on mid-range computers. I know they've been testing on Alienware rigs for a while but I don't think that means we'll all need super beefy (*cough* overpriced) computers to run GW2, it's more of an investor thing I think.

Still, I second this motion of creating a tech forum section to discuss computer hardware and what not. I think it's a good idea

[Armory]

Well that's just it, they're not using crazy $4,000 computers, although Alienware prices might be around that haha

But for example, my rig cost me about 1500$ and nearly matches the performance of their hummer rig they are using. Majority of the tech areas of other forums are more about troubleshooting people's hardware, giving advice and good solid benchmarks to help people pick out a machine that's in their budget and get the most bang for their buck - with a little of theorcrafting. But I've got loads of info on the specs ANet is using, pics of the setup etc etc -- Just need a good place to unload it all haha

- Armory

[Myou]

There are two things to remember when you build your own machine
1)figure out the focus of your computer: will it be heavy on the processing side..graphic side...storage...other something else completely
2)get your budget in order and keep to it

These sound like easy things to do...but can be very difficult to not get overexcited and buy everything and make that ”killer” box

So to help out I offer the link of www.pricewatch.com to help keep your prices down

[ComplexNuber]

I don't know if there will be building a computer section, it doesn't seem necessary to me but it might help others who have never even opened a computer case.

You shouldn't be spending much if all you're looking for is to get GW2 working. ~$70 for 4gb ram is enough, ~$150 for a graphics card should also be more than enough (a 6850, perhaps?). I've only been upgrading lately rather than building new computers, so I'm not up to date on mobos, CPU, etc.

It seems to be a great time to buy a new computer or upgrade right now, the next generation of consoles is still a long time away and the current generation is starting to show severe technical limitations compared to PCs. You can buy a computer on a very limiting budget and get a PC far stronger than a 360 or PS3, which is a great opportunity since most devs are somewhat limiting the reqs of their games so consoles can still play them (which is where the biggest market for games tends to be).

Anyway, just to randomly throw in a handy link, here's a calculator on NewEgg.com that tells you how many watts you need on your power supply unit. That way you shouldn't waste money on a PSU that is overkill. They tend to die out every 1 or 2 years on me anyway, so it's good to save money there (to be fair, my PC is running almost all year and most of that time is running intensive applications (; ).
http://c1.neweggimages.com/BizIntell...owersupply.jpg

[Armory]

This isn't like a building your computer thread guys.. it's a let's have a tech forum area haha

Just sayin, over 16k posts on the Guru (god help them) forums, there's loads of discussion to be had.

[Centaur]

A General Hardware Discussion section might be worth it... though I still have my doubts. Something like "Building a computer" for GW2 doesn't make a lot of sense until the tech specs are released, and "Tech Support" is definitely something for when the game itself is released. Until any tech requirements are released, it would either be a "will my rig meet the minimum requirements" or a "will my rig be able to run the game at max settings" type of discussion. We have absolutely no info on what the game's minimum requirements will be, and it's fairly safe to assume that any current generation computer with enough memory and a high performance graphics card should be able to meet the recommended requirements. So the only purpose of the thread, as far as I see it, is for discussions on "how good is this rig for current generation gaming in general"? Which, as I started off saying, MIGHT be worth it.
Johnny, what's your opinion on this?

By the way, by all means feel free to post the info you have on the Alienware setup...

[Armory]

Oh I will, once there's a Tech forum =P MUAUAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!

But seriously, computer's are a nuisance, problems will arise, members can post in the area of the forum about anything computer related and it'll be knocked out. Easier and more fun that searching google when you know nothing about computers. (Huge tech head here) I bring this up because I'm done being bullied around by the GW2Guru mods nonstop and so while I will lurk on their forums, you guys are stuck with me now =P Their Tech area of the forum has almost 1,000 threads and 16,000 posts.. Tech area of the forum is popular, and it's great when a community can come together in one place to figure out/test/develop and troubleshoot tech.

[Myou]

Heck if your wondering if your current rig can handle GW2...try running it against the FFXIV benchmark and check the score against here this:

[8000 and over] Extremely High Performance
Easily capable of running the game on the highest settings.

[5500–7999] Very High Performance
Easily capable of running the game. Should perform exceptionally well, even at higher resolutions.

[4500-5499] High Performance
Easily capable of running the game. Should perform well, even at higher resolutions.

[3000-4499] Fairly High Performance
Capable of running the game on default settings. Consider switching to a higher resolution depending on performance.

[2500-2999] Standard Performance
Capable of running the game on default settings.

[2000-2499] Slightly Low Performance
Capable of running the game, but may experience some slowdown. Adjust settings to improve performance.

[1500-1999] Low Performance
Capable of running the game, but will experience considerable slowdown. Adjusting settings is unlikely to improve performance.

[Under 1500] Insufficient Performance
Does not meet specifications for running the game.

The reason I suggest this is because FFXIV is one of the most CPU & GPU intensive games to date. If you can run a high end score here you can run GW2 with no issues...cause quote the ANet

The system requirements haven't been finalized, but just as with the original Guild Wars series, we're committed to creating a beautiful game that will play great on mid-range gaming PCs.

[JohnnyV]

I agree with Centaur, I don't think a whole new sub-forum would be completely necessary. However, creating a "Building a Rig for Guild Wars 2" thread in the Gameplay section would be absolutely A-OK with me.

That's not to say my opinion can't be swayed, if enough support is garnered for it.

I'll definitely keep an eye on this thread, and the popularity of the thread idea I mentioned above. The site is about what all of you AMAZING people want, so if we have enough people wanting a Computer/Technical Sub-Forum, then I want to give it to you.