You know it doesn't really take that much to play World of Warcraft from a computing perspective. The contents on the box require at least a 1 Ghz processor (I think most computers now come standard with about 4Ghz). Half a gigabyte of RAM and a 4x CD-Rom drive. Oh and at least a video card.
With such low expectations I figured it would be completely fine to build myself a computer using old parts from my buddies Arturis and Mandifesto. Why not right? WoW is a game designed for minimum systems to play so that they can have everyone playing correct? Well that's what I thought when I started building my new system.
Going through the old stuff of my friends I found that all I needed to purchase was a case, power supply and a cd/dvd drive. SWEET . My trip to FRY's electronics cost me all of about $150 for all three units, a steal according to Art.
Unfortunately a great deal comes with a catch. My catch was that the motherboard I was donated had been used for about 5 years by Mandifesto, who is a daily gamer. Needless to say this motherboard has seen better days. But I figured that it could handle running through WoW without any problems. Boy was I wrong.
The first time I entered the game, I walked around Undercity for a few minutes and found it to be no problem. Until of course I went over to check my mailbox and then, instant system crash. Wonderful way to start the gaming experience right?
But again, this is World of Warcraft, this isn't some other mighty game, my computer should handle it right? Well after crashing out mid-flight, chatting with a vendor and while adjusting my video settings I decided to test out another game to see if perhaps the game itself was the problem.
I loaded up one of my favorite old school RTS games: Star Wars: Empire At War. This game is spectacular, as it implements space and land combat all together. Unfortunately I didn't last through the entire first cutscene before my computer said no more. Wonderful.
So now, I'm once again off to Fry's to get myself a new motherboard in the hopes that this will end my WoW suffering. The moral to my story though? If you're going to get a new system, go for broke, trying to buy on the cheap, especially for online MMO's is not advised as it WILL affect your gameplay experience for the negative. Speaking of which I think my computer is about to CRas....
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