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Buying new SC2 PC

Blogs > SC2Phoenix
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SC2Phoenix
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada2814 Posts
April 30 2010 22:52 GMT
#1
Well I am pretty new to the whole buying a new computer area so all the help is greatly appreciated.
My budget would be around 1000-1100$

This computer would be mainly to:
1. Play SC2 on max setting or near max.
2. Be able to have a good FPS on a high resolution monitor
(I wouldn't mind livestreaming my SC2 either)

Ok so my build so far is:
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail $199.99

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $134.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm "heatpipe direct contact" - Retail $34.99

XFX HD-583X-ZNFV Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card Retail $239.99

CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model Retail $114.99

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Retail $59.99

Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2... Retail $74.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Retail $99.99 (I wasn't so sure what HDD to get but this one looked decent)
(I am also buying a monitor but i didn't include it in the budgit
Hanns·G HH-241HPB Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 15000:1(1000:1) Built-in Speakers Retail 169.99)

So that adds up to $959.92

Ok a couple questions:
1. Should I stick with the I5-750 or go for somthing like AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Retail 159.00 (Intel verus AMD)
2. Is a SSD absolutly necessary for a computer? (Pretty new to building computer and SDDs are so exspensive T_T)
3.Should I stick with my HD 5830 or go down to a 5770 and put the money into other areas of the computer?
4.Would my power supply be good enough to run my current setup?
Don't be affraid to post other options =)

Who the fuck has a family of fucking trees? This song is so god damn stupid. Fuck you song, fuck you and your stupid trees. -itmeJP
Graham
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Canada1259 Posts
April 30 2010 22:56 GMT
#2
2. Is a SSD absolutly necessary for a computer? (Pretty new to building computer and SDDs are so exspensive T_T)

No, at this moment SSDs are so expensive and unless you're ONLY going to be playing SC2 on this computer (which I'm sure you're not, since it seems silly to build a gaming computer for simply SC2, correct me if I'm wrong), then you're going to run out of hard drive space so fast.

SATA drives are so cheap anyways and you get sooo much more bang for your buck if you ever want to download movies/etc.
poor newb
Profile Joined April 2004
United States1879 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-30 23:01:04
April 30 2010 22:58 GMT
#3
ssd just make the game load faster
you can go for raid 0 hdds instead of ssd, not as fast but much cheaper
How do you mine minerals?
SC2Phoenix
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada2814 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-30 23:03:25
April 30 2010 23:01 GMT
#4
No, at this moment SSDs are so expensive and unless you're ONLY going to be playing SC2 on this computer (which I'm sure you're not, since it seems silly to build a gaming computer for simply SC2, correct me if I'm wrong), then you're going to run out of hard drive space so fast.

SATA drives are so cheap anyways and you get sooo much more bang for your buck if you ever want to download movies/etc.

Of course i won't be just playing Sc2 lol. I will download movies etc.
ssd just make the game load faster
Ty never knew that.
Who the fuck has a family of fucking trees? This song is so god damn stupid. Fuck you song, fuck you and your stupid trees. -itmeJP
emucxg
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Finland4559 Posts
April 30 2010 23:04 GMT
#5
your components looks very good for me
emucxg
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Finland4559 Posts
April 30 2010 23:06 GMT
#6
this HD instead of Seagate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product

If its a gaming PC, make sure you have good cooler and case...
Patriot.dlk
Profile Blog Joined October 2004
Sweden5462 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-30 23:10:41
April 30 2010 23:08 GMT
#7
I recently bought a computer for $2k (but parts are more expensive in Sweden) and I use Intel X25-M 80GB SSD for windows.

It's very very nice but absolutely not necessary. I would never get it to improve my computers performance in games because

1. They might not even be optimized for SSD
2. Games would fill up my SSD way to fast

I purchased it to have firefox, office, adobe, media players most of all windows run completely fluid. Starting these programs takes no longer then the windows animation.

Edit: I actually reinstalled GTA IV to my SSD because the loading times was terrible. It got quicker but not by alot
ramen247
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States1256 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-30 23:11:34
April 30 2010 23:09 GMT
#8
dont waste your moneys on ssd drives. just get a regular 7200 rpm or 10k rpm hard drive and that will cut through games well anyway.

btw im pretty sure you can find cheaper RAM that is even more powerful than your current choice.

imo, corsair is kind of overrated. perhaps you should look at mushkin or ocz instead on
zipzoomfly.com
i hate this ugly firebat. i want a marine.
Patriot.dlk
Profile Blog Joined October 2004
Sweden5462 Posts
April 30 2010 23:15 GMT
#9
Wonder if you can get Fractal Design cases from newegg? I love my Design R2 it's the best I've ever encountered
Delvin
Profile Joined August 2007
Finland141 Posts
April 30 2010 23:15 GMT
#10
I built a similar system a while ago (i5 750, HD5850), which maxes sc2 easily at 1680x1050 (max res of my monitor) - shouldn't have trouble at higher resolutions either. From what I've heard, 5830 isn't so good price/value compared to 5770/5850.

Your power supply would definitely be enough, I'm running on 430W (no overclocking) with no problems at all.
SC2Phoenix
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada2814 Posts
April 30 2010 23:17 GMT
#11
dont waste your moneys on ssd drives. just get a regular 7200 rpm or 10k rpm hard drive and that will cut through games well anyway.

Cool Ty.
btw im pretty sure you can find cheaper RAM that is even more powerful than your current choice.

imo, corsair is kind of overrated. perhaps you should look at mushkin or ocz instead on
zipzoomfly.com

Hmmm I will go check it out. I just got corsair because i heard alot of people talking about it.
Who the fuck has a family of fucking trees? This song is so god damn stupid. Fuck you song, fuck you and your stupid trees. -itmeJP
maareek
Profile Blog Joined November 2004
United States2042 Posts
April 30 2010 23:41 GMT
#12
For that monitor and that price, I don't think the 5830 is worth it. Check out the people listing 5770's in FragKrag's SC2 Computers guide; it looks like it handles the game just fine around your resolution and I've been seeing some for around $160 - seems like a very reasonable choice compared to the slightly added power of the 5830. If you really want max settings at that resolution, splurge on a 5850, which is more worthy of the price compared to the 5830 than the 5830 is compared to the 5770 (if that sentence made sense; if it didn't: I'd suggest the 5770 or the 5850 cause the 5830 doesn't seem worth its price).

Also, do you need the USB 3/Sata 3 connections on the mobo? If not, you can save some money, but it's only like 20 bucks so wanting to have them available is a reasonable call. Agree with the Spinpoint over the Seagate (Barracuda's aren't great choices, and the .11s especially so) and with no SSD with your budget.

Power supply should be plenty. If you plan on doing lots of non-gaming activites, you'll probably notice the advantages of the i5-750 over AMD's quad-cores - even more so if you stream. What thermal paste are you using?
FrozenArbiter: Obless PvT master
GTR
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
51593 Posts
April 30 2010 23:44 GMT
#13
5830 isn't going to get you playing at max settings smoothly, it's better to either get a 5770 or if you can stretch your budget for it, 5850.
Commentator
SC2Phoenix
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada2814 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-01 00:17:32
May 01 2010 00:06 GMT
#14
Yea I might invest in the 5850 then cause i am only at 950$ atm Ty GTR and maareek.
Also, do you need the USB 3/Sata 3 connections on the mobo? If not, you can save some money, but it's only like 20 bucks so wanting to have them available is a reasonable call.
For the USB/Sata 3 I'am not gonna use them atm so i could probily save some money but they could come in handy later so idk yet.
What thermal paste are you using?
I didn't even know what this was before I looked it up lol. Idk though, Any sugestions on thermal paste?
Who the fuck has a family of fucking trees? This song is so god damn stupid. Fuck you song, fuck you and your stupid trees. -itmeJP
Lemure
Profile Joined March 2010
189 Posts
May 01 2010 00:12 GMT
#15
The AMD 6 cores are the same price as the i5 750.
maareek
Profile Blog Joined November 2004
United States2042 Posts
May 01 2010 01:59 GMT
#16
On May 01 2010 09:06 SC2Phoenix wrote:
Show nested quote +
What thermal paste are you using?
I didn't even know what this was before I looked it up lol. Idk though, Any sugestions on thermal paste?


This should work well: Tuniq TX-2.

On May 01 2010 09:12 Lemure wrote:
The AMD 6 cores are the same price as the i5 750.


What's your point? The 1055T is roughly the same price as the i5-750 (actually a little more expensive at newegg); the 1090T (the Black Edition version) is close to the 860 (~30 more than the 860 at newegg). But, they underperform relative to the Intel versions at games and single/dual, even quad threaded apps, for the most part, only outperforming them at very well threaded applications, and even then the difference can be small, especially for the 1055 relative to the 750. The 1090T is probably a great buy for somebody with that extra budget that's looking to overclock and needs threaded program performance, but I strongly doubt this OP fits that mold. From the OP's general plans, it doesn't look like the 6 cores would be an improvement over the Intel setup.
FrozenArbiter: Obless PvT master
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14911 Posts
May 01 2010 03:28 GMT
#17
build looks solid
for its price point, the 5830 isn't a great value, but it SHOULD be able to max at you resolution
SSD is really just for faster booting and opening programs, though to be fair booting your comp in 20 seconds is pretty sexy. I have one, and it's nice

With a build like this you could probably get away with a 500 or 550W psu, though having extra room in case you add more HD's nad what not is always nice.

btw you didn't include a dvd drive in your build
mahnini
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
United States6862 Posts
May 01 2010 04:07 GMT
#18
for a lot of people an i3 dual should be plenty especially if you plan on overclocking. if you don't run any cpu intensive apps (video encoding 3d rendering etc) i would dump an extra $100 into your gpu and get a 5850 and overclock the i3 to 3.3ghz+ (4ghz is supposedly easily attainable). for reference, an i3 at 4ghz is neck and neck with a phenom ii x4 at 4ghz in heavily threaded apps.
the world's a playground. you know that when you're a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.
SC2Phoenix
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada2814 Posts
May 01 2010 04:46 GMT
#19
This should work well: Tuniq TX-2.
Ty and yea I don't need 6 cores. I would rather better performance than more multitasking.
for its price point, the 5830 isn't a great value
Yeah iam probily gonna sink in more cash and go for a 5850.
btw you didn't include a dvd drive in your build
Woops i totally forgot about it lol
Who the fuck has a family of fucking trees? This song is so god damn stupid. Fuck you song, fuck you and your stupid trees. -itmeJP
semantics
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
10040 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-01 05:03:10
May 01 2010 05:01 GMT
#20
Yeah i'd get a 5850 but everything looks good, for HDD at 99 bucks a 7200.11 isn't great the .11 suffered from a firm ware blocking issue so people avoid it even if it been fixed it's why it's cheap 1.5 gigs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=samsung_hdd-_-22-152-185-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284&cm_re=WD_HDD-_-22-136-284-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433&cm_re=seagate_7200.12-_-22-148-433-_-Product

In that order i'd recommend it. The 7200.12 is faster then the WD one listed but it's noiser and louder from what i noticed.

Also that 650w psu is great an earthwatts is probably considered over kill even, the 5850 can run well off a good 500w psu or decent 550w
SC2Phoenix
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada2814 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-01 07:05:01
May 01 2010 05:53 GMT
#21
wow, I was changing around my build and I found this
ASUS H55 Destroyer SuperCombo 379.99 but from instant and combo discounts i save slightly over 100$
So would this motherboard work if i wanted to run a HD 5850 with a i5 clarkdale 3.3Ghz dual core and OC it?
ASUS P7H55-M PRO LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Who the fuck has a family of fucking trees? This song is so god damn stupid. Fuck you song, fuck you and your stupid trees. -itmeJP
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14911 Posts
May 01 2010 14:03 GMT
#22
there's nothing wrong with that deal itself, but personally I don't like micro atx boards because it gives you so little room to work. Also, with a 5850, you won't be able to expand your computer at all with pci cards because the 5850 is so big. your SATA ports should be clear though...barely.
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