I'm putting together a new gaming PC primarily for World of Warcraft and would appreciate advice on the parts or similarly priced alternatives. My current list is: MSI MAG Forge 320R Airflow case, Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE cooler, AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, Gigabyte B650 Eagle AX motherboard, 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 memory, Kingston NV3 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, Gigabyte Radeon RX 7600 Gaming OC 8GB graphics card, and an MSI MAG A650BN 650W 80+ Bronze power supply. I already have the necessary peripherals and can afford this build or comparable upgrades.
4 Answers
The Kingston NV3 uses QLC flash, so I’d choose a TLC-based SSD for the operating system and frequently used applications. Options in a similar category include the WD Black SN770, Kingston KC3000, or Samsung 990 EVO. The NV3 could still work as a secondary game drive if you already own it.
It’s worth checking for local bundle deals. A package with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 32GB of DDR5-6000, and a compatible B650E board could offer a stronger gaming platform for a reasonable increase, depending on what is available in your area.
For this game, the CPU is more important than the graphics card, especially in large raids and crowded cities. If your budget allows, an X3D processor such as the Ryzen 5 7600X3D or Ryzen 7 7800X3D would likely provide better and more consistent frame rates. The RX 7600 should be plenty for 1080p World of Warcraft, although its 8GB of VRAM may be limiting in newer, more demanding games.
Make sure to enable EXPO in the motherboard BIOS so the memory actually runs at DDR5-6000 instead of falling back to its default speed. The 650W power supply is sufficient for this particular build, but I’d look for a higher-quality model at a similar price, especially if you may install a much more powerful graphics card later.
Thanks for the suggestions! I’m planning to switch to an X3D processor and will compare bundle pricing, a better SSD, and alternative power supplies before buying.