• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 04:54
CEST 10:54
KST 17:54
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Maestros of the Game: Week 1/Play-in Preview9[ASL20] Ro24 Preview Pt2: Take-Off7[ASL20] Ro24 Preview Pt1: Runway132v2 & SC: Evo Complete: Weekend Double Feature4Team Liquid Map Contest #21 - Presented by Monster Energy9
Community News
Weekly Cups (August 25-31): Clem's Last Straw?26Weekly Cups (Aug 18-24): herO dethrones MaxPax6Maestros of The Game—$20k event w/ live finals in Paris46Weekly Cups (Aug 11-17): MaxPax triples again!15Weekly Cups (Aug 4-10): MaxPax wins a triple6
StarCraft 2
General
Speculation of future Wardii series Weekly Cups (August 25-31): Clem's Last Straw? Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson has passed away #1: Maru - Greatest Players of All Time Maestros of the Game: Week 1/Play-in Preview
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Maestros of The Game—$20k event w/ live finals in Paris Monday Nights Weeklies LiuLi Cup - September 2025 Tournaments 🏆 GTL Season 2 – StarCraft II Team League
Strategy
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 489 Bannable Offense Mutation # 488 What Goes Around Mutation # 487 Think Fast Mutation # 486 Watch the Skies
Brood War
General
ASL20 General Discussion BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Starcraft at lower levels TvP Victoria gamers
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Is there English video for group selection for ASL [ASL20] Ro24 Group F [IPSL] CSLAN Review and CSLPRO Reimagined!
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Muta micro map competition Fighting Spirit mining rates [G] Mineral Boosting
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Nintendo Switch Thread Mechabellum Teeworlds - online game
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread YouTube Thread
Fan Clubs
The Happy Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread High temperatures on bridge(s) Gtx660 graphics card replacement
TL Community
The Automated Ban List TeamLiquid Team Shirt On Sale
Blogs
A very expensive lesson on ma…
Garnet
hello world
radishsoup
Lemme tell you a thing o…
JoinTheRain
How Culture and Conflict Imp…
TrAiDoS
RTS Design in Hypercoven
a11
Evil Gacha Games and the…
ffswowsucks
INDEPENDIENTE LA CTM
XenOsky
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 719 users

Check my computer build?

Blogs > KOFgokuon
Post a Reply
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14896 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-21 06:22:10
December 21 2009 00:54 GMT
#1
Hey all, I'm planning on ordering parts for and building a new computer pretty much around the start of the new year. The comp is basically for me to use to game, play poker, listen to music, maybe watch movies on occasion, but nothing too intense like movie editing or what not. I didn't really set myself a budget at first (cheaper the better of course) but obviously, the cheaper the better.

Here's the rough build of items that I've been looking at for a while. One thing that's possibly going to change is the video card. For now, the most recent game that I play is warcraft 3, and to be honest that video card is a significant overkill. Right now I'm running a 1 gb 9600 GSO which I'm pretty sure is more than sufficient for what I need. This comp is basically for SC2/Diablo 3 so my plan for right now is to simply upgrade when the time comes. Maybe I'm losing out on some performance for now, but for what I'm planning on playing I don't know if it'll make that big of a difference. The only modern game that I'm intrigued in is modern warfare 2 -- will I even need a new gpu for this?

The other question that might come up is why buy now, just wait till those games come out and build it then. My old desktop pretty much died (see other blog posts if interested) and I need to completely revamp, and this is with Christmas money / money I earned during the semester grading so I want to do it now.

As far as I can tell, based on what I've researched, the extra power from upgrading from an i5 to an i7 really won't make a noticeable difference (gaming and casual use) so I won't miss hyper threading.

The last question is for the PSU. I'm never intending to run crossfire on this board, just a single gpu, so I don't think I'm going to run into trouble with too much. The main reason I ask is because I already bought this psu as part of me trying to fix my old comp, and I'd prefer if I didn't have to buy a new one.

If I'm not planning on over clocking, can I get away with stock cooling? Should I still get a separate cooler?

Here's the build with prices from newegg / microcenter

MSI P55-CD53 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard $99
Core i5 750 Processor Boxed $150
OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $80.00
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW $50
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB $70
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W $55
SAPPHIRE 100283-2L Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit $165 -- just a placeholder, probably will not buy for now
DVD and DVD/rw drives salvaged from old computer

*slightly modified build*

Thanks

ghermination
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
United States2851 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-21 01:27:53
December 21 2009 01:26 GMT
#2
don't even buy the 5770. Try to sell your 9600gso and get a 5850.

Also, just a heads up, i would recommend running your ram at 1333 when you start to overclock, because upping the NB speed will overclock the ram and you won't be able to push it THAT much over DDR3-~1700.
U Gotta Skate.
Carthac
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States393 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-21 01:30:08
December 21 2009 01:29 GMT
#3
If you wanna stick under 200 dollars, buy the 4890 256-bit instead of the 5770

edit: Also, try to go with the ocz fatality power supply instead of that 500w one. The one I mentioned is 700w for basically the same price after rebate
ghermination
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
United States2851 Posts
December 21 2009 01:38 GMT
#4
On December 21 2009 10:29 Carthac wrote:
If you wanna stick under 200 dollars, buy the 4890 256-bit instead of the 5770

edit: Also, try to go with the ocz fatality power supply instead of that 500w one. The one I mentioned is 700w for basically the same price after rebate


extremely important tip: The usefullness of a power supply is not measured by its total output, but rather by, first, it's output on the 12v rail(s) and then 3,3v rail.
U Gotta Skate.
Ziph
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Netherlands970 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-21 01:39:13
December 21 2009 01:38 GMT
#5
Did you read the first comment on that motherboard on Newegg. I'm not a super computer expert or something but before you buy shit do a little more research on the stuff you gonna get.
Starcraft 2 - Beta
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14896 Posts
December 21 2009 01:44 GMT
#6
That's fair, I made this build like 2 weeks ago, so that comment wasn't there at the time
mahnini
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
United States6862 Posts
December 21 2009 01:55 GMT
#7
???
nothing wrong with a 5770. 5850 is probably better in the long run but it costs almost 2x more now. should be able to play mw2 on a 9600gso on medium-ish settings i think. if you could i'd wait until the last possible moment to upgrade your video card if you don't really need it. prices right now are pretty inflated and waiting till nvidia releases their dx11 cards or yields to improve will drop the prices a bit.

stock cooler should be fine for everything if you arent overclocking. though it might get a little loud under load. i'd just stick with the stock and upgrade later if you need to.
the world's a playground. you know that when you're a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.
ghermination
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
United States2851 Posts
December 21 2009 03:51 GMT
#8
On December 21 2009 10:55 mahnini wrote:
???
nothing wrong with a 5770. 5850 is probably better in the long run but it costs almost 2x more now. should be able to play mw2 on a 9600gso on medium-ish settings i think. if you could i'd wait until the last possible moment to upgrade your video card if you don't really need it. prices right now are pretty inflated and waiting till nvidia releases their dx11 cards or yields to improve will drop the prices a bit.

stock cooler should be fine for everything if you arent overclocking. though it might get a little loud under load. i'd just stick with the stock and upgrade later if you need to.


core i5 will be bottlenecked by a 5770 which is very slight <4870.
U Gotta Skate.
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14896 Posts
December 21 2009 05:51 GMT
#9
On December 21 2009 10:55 mahnini wrote:
???
nothing wrong with a 5770. 5850 is probably better in the long run but it costs almost 2x more now. should be able to play mw2 on a 9600gso on medium-ish settings i think. if you could i'd wait until the last possible moment to upgrade your video card if you don't really need it. prices right now are pretty inflated and waiting till nvidia releases their dx11 cards or yields to improve will drop the prices a bit.


yea this is what i'm planning on doing. I'm ok with playing games on medium settings for the time being, and let's be honest here, i could run wc3 on full settings 2 computers ago so that shouldn't be a problem.
FragKrag
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States11552 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-21 05:59:42
December 21 2009 05:57 GMT
#10
5770 is superior to the 4870 in power consumption and in software (maybe drivers as well?). I would definitely take the 5770 over the 4870.

Why the Caviar Blue instead of Black? The Black is faster and comes with the 5(?) year warranty as well I think.

edit: though if you can stretch your budget to the 5850 anytime soon by all means do it!
*TL CJ Entusman #40* "like scissors does anything to paper except MAKE IT MORE NUMEROUS" -paper
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14896 Posts
December 21 2009 06:37 GMT
#11
I chose caviar blue mainly because it was cheaper, I can't imagine actually needing a 5 year warranty for anything, but it's something to consider. I guess a $10 or $15 difference isn't THAT much more for faster speed and a 66% longer warranty, i'll look into that as a possibility for a swap

yea i'll see how video cards are in 6 months, there's no point for me to pay top dollar now, as i said before
mahnini
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
United States6862 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-21 06:47:25
December 21 2009 06:41 GMT
#12
On December 21 2009 12:51 ghermination wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 21 2009 10:55 mahnini wrote:
???
nothing wrong with a 5770. 5850 is probably better in the long run but it costs almost 2x more now. should be able to play mw2 on a 9600gso on medium-ish settings i think. if you could i'd wait until the last possible moment to upgrade your video card if you don't really need it. prices right now are pretty inflated and waiting till nvidia releases their dx11 cards or yields to improve will drop the prices a bit.

stock cooler should be fine for everything if you arent overclocking. though it might get a little loud under load. i'd just stick with the stock and upgrade later if you need to.


core i5 will be bottlenecked by a 5770 which is very slight <4870.

5770 should play most games at 1920xwhatever fine though. if you want the extra 16xAA blahblahblah and all that extra eye candy or plan on playing at 2560xwhatever you'll probably want to move up. it's a steep price to pay but it might be one that might be better in the long term.

however, that doesn't mean the 5770 is a bad choice.

also i dont think there's that huge of a speed difference between the caviar blue vs black with that particular harddrive. there is a difference though, whether it's worth the extra money is up to you.
the world's a playground. you know that when you're a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.
FragKrag
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States11552 Posts
December 21 2009 07:04 GMT
#13
well I guess it would mainly be for the superior warranty since I have a hard time trusting hard drives t.t

i have no idea how an i5 will be bottlenecked by a 5770 and not by a 4870 when the 5770 is superior

but ok.
*TL CJ Entusman #40* "like scissors does anything to paper except MAKE IT MORE NUMEROUS" -paper
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14896 Posts
December 21 2009 16:58 GMT
#14
yea i didn't spend much time researching video cards yet, i'll def have to put some more thought into that in the coming months (years? god i hope not)
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14896 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-02-28 04:51:40
January 09 2010 01:36 GMT
#15
*Update*
Ok it's built and I'm posting from it!
Final build:
ASUS P7P55 LX LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard - $104.99
Core i5 750 Processor Boxed $160.35
OCZ Agility Series 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $129.99
OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $34.80
OCZ Obsidian 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) $87.99
(My first set of RAM was backordered so I ordered another pair from newegg because I'm impatient..and then the other one shipped =p_
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW $44.99
Gateway FHD2401 Black 24" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor - 179.99
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM $99.99 newegg
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS 500W $54.99 obtained
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus $29.99

Reusing:
18X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
SONY 16X DVD-ROM
PNY Vertigo 9600 GSO 768 MB

Total: $898.99

I'll probably buy a 5850 if the prices drop after nvidia releases their dx11 cards. For now they're a bit pricey, and I'm ok playing stuff on medium-ish settings for now

Pics!
[image loading]
[image loading]

[image loading]


Next steps: doing some research into overclocking, probably buying a better cooling / maybe an additional case fan (Will this be necessary?) and waiting for 58xx cards to drop a bit in price while waiting for SC2 / D3. Enjoy!
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14896 Posts
January 09 2010 01:37 GMT
#16
Anyone have hints on how to clean up the cables lol I just ended up sticking extra cables in the empty bays below my cd drives and where the floppy drive would go
FragKrag
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States11552 Posts
January 09 2010 02:41 GMT
#17
buy a bigger case :p If the wires are too tangled, you can try organizing them with a ziptie, but it really depends on the case.

I'm not a big fan of the Centurion. I woulda bought a HAF 922. If you do not plan on overclocking, you will not need 3rd party fans. Overclocking a little bit shouldn't require a 3rd party fan either. However, I would invest in an additional case fan if it is 120mm because good airflow is always desired.

Solid computer man
*TL CJ Entusman #40* "like scissors does anything to paper except MAKE IT MORE NUMEROUS" -paper
mahnini
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
United States6862 Posts
January 09 2010 04:14 GMT
#18
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=cooler_master_hyper-_-35-103-065-_-Product

check out frostytech for hsf reviews.
the world's a playground. you know that when you're a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 2h 6m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech73
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 9949
actioN 425
ggaemo 226
ZerO 134
PianO 130
Soma 82
Pusan 77
Leta 72
Sharp 70
sSak 66
[ Show more ]
soO 32
Aegong 31
Sexy 19
Sacsri 18
yabsab 14
HiyA 10
Bale 7
Dota 2
BananaSlamJamma204
XcaliburYe124
Counter-Strike
olofmeister931
shoxiejesuss633
Other Games
summit1g6027
ceh9457
Tasteless444
Happy239
OGKoka 102
ZerO(Twitch)12
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick626
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• LUISG 19
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos425
• HappyZerGling74
Upcoming Events
LiuLi Cup
2h 6m
Replay Cast
15h 6m
The PondCast
1d 1h
RSL Revival
1d 1h
Maru vs SHIN
MaNa vs MaxPax
Maestros of the Game
1d 8h
Classic vs TriGGeR
Reynor vs SHIN
OSC
1d 18h
MaNa vs SHIN
SKillous vs ShoWTimE
Bunny vs TBD
Cham vs TBD
RSL Revival
2 days
Reynor vs Astrea
Classic vs sOs
Maestros of the Game
2 days
Serral vs Ryung
ByuN vs Zoun
BSL Team Wars
2 days
Team Bonyth vs Team Dewalt
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
[ Show More ]
RSL Revival
3 days
GuMiho vs Cham
ByuN vs TriGGeR
Cosmonarchy
3 days
TriGGeR vs YoungYakov
YoungYakov vs HonMonO
HonMonO vs TriGGeR
Maestros of the Game
3 days
Solar vs Bunny
Clem vs Rogue
[BSL 2025] Weekly
3 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Cure vs Bunny
Creator vs Zoun
Maestros of the Game
4 days
Maru vs Lambo
herO vs ShoWTimE
BSL Team Wars
4 days
Team Hawk vs Team Sziky
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Season 18: Qualifier 2
SEL Season 2 Championship
HCC Europe

Ongoing

Copa Latinoamericana 4
BSL 20 Team Wars
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 3
BSL 21 Qualifiers
ASL Season 20
CSL 2025 AUTUMN (S18)
Maestros of the Game
Sisters' Call Cup
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025

Upcoming

LASL Season 20
2025 Chongqing Offline CUP
BSL Season 21
BSL 21 Team A
Chzzk MurlocKing SC1 vs SC2 Cup #2
RSL Revival: Season 2
EC S1
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
Skyesports Masters 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
MESA Nomadic Masters Fall
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.