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On July 18 2010 17:50 R04R wrote:
6gb/s are lies. They're capable of reaching that speed if you Raid 0 them (right?) but aren't significantly faster by themselves when compared to say Samsung Spinpoint F3s.
So, you'll saved about 40-50 just getting F3s
I don't know about Intel building so I'll leave that to someone else.
Yes, 6gb/s is completely useless for mechanical drives. RAID 0 is suicide for the normal user (basically everyone here) so why even bother risking data loss for a small increase in speed.
On July 18 2010 12:02 FragKrag wrote:
Very easy question to answer:
Get a GTX 460 1GB at around $230
Ditch the Thermaltake SpinQ. It sucks. I would suggest buying a cheaper heatsink (or not buying one at all) and investing that money in a quality 650-750W PSU since you will be putting a large load on your PSU.
Thermaltake these days are simply awful. Can't even say that their stuff is cheap because it generally isn't.
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Err... On windows 7 my new rig crashes randomly.
I thought it was windows lameness but alas it was not to be.
ran memtest today while cleaning the room, reported 8000 errors from 900m to 1300m on DIMM 0.
That pisses me off, but what can you do. Tomorrow I will go into battle against the local shop over RMA.
Wish me luck!
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AmbitiousNub's Sub $500 Starcraft 2 Ultra Build
Hey guys, I just recently built this computer. My goal was to run SC2 on ultra settings for as cheap as possible. I'm not computer illiterate, however my knowledge is not in the advanced category. So I read a few articles and brushed up on some research before compiling this list. I'm currently running my build, and its worked flawlessly, not a single problem to this date. The idea of the build is to use a triple core processor, as opposed to the more expensive quad core, due to the fact that many, if not all, games that are currently out do not utilize the 4th core. This alone saves you $75-100.
$79
CPU: Athlon II X3 440 3.0GHz Triple Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103843&Tpk=AMD Athlon II X3 440
$119
Motherboard: ASUS M4A79XTD AM3 AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402
$99
RAM: 4gb Corsair 240 DDR3 memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
$115
Videocard: XFX Radeon HD 4850 1gb GPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150482&Tpk=XFX radeon 4850
$80
Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196
TOTAL COST: $492
Note, these are the bare essentials. You will still need a power supply, a hard drive, and DVD-ROM. But if you are building a computer, chances are you most likely have these lying around somewhere, waiting to be put into this cheap power rig.
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^
Awesome "cheap" build but you won't be able to run in ultra.
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Sanya12364 Posts
On July 18 2010 17:50 R04R wrote:
6gb/s are lies. They're capable of reaching that speed if you Raid 0 them (right?) but aren't significantly faster by themselves when compared to say Samsung Spinpoint F3s.
So, you'll saved about 40-50 just getting F3s
I don't know about Intel building so I'll leave that to someone else.
I suspected as much. Ok I'm replacing them with the F3s.
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The p6x58d comes with 2 straight sata and 2 right angle sata. If you're planning on RAID 0 just for speed, a SSD will end up being faster anyways.
+ Show Spoiler +
Here's a "cheap" build that can actually run SC2 on ultra at 1920x1200. An extra $100 will get you a psu, case, and HDD, assuming you don't just have those laying around. If I dropped down to athlon, I'd beat your build by ~$30, and still be able to run SC2 on ultra.
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Raid 0 is great if you're recording like fraps, else there aren't too many instances where continuous reads and writes will give you an advantage.
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On July 18 2010 23:39 AmbitiousNub wrote:AmbitiousNub's Sub $500 Starcraft 2 Ultra BuildHey guys, I just recently built this computer. My goal was to run SC2 on ultra settings for as cheap as possible. I'm not computer illiterate, however my knowledge is not in the advanced category. So I read a few articles and brushed up on some research before compiling this list. I'm currently running my build, and its worked flawlessly, not a single problem to this date. The idea of the build is to use a triple core processor, as opposed to the more expensive quad core, due to the fact that many, if not all, games that are currently out do not utilize the 4th core. This alone saves you $75-100. $79 CPU: Athlon II X3 440 3.0GHz Triple Core Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103843&Tpk=AMD Athlon II X3 440$119 Motherboard: ASUS M4A79XTD AM3 AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402$99 RAM: 4gb Corsair 240 DDR3 memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260$115 Videocard: XFX Radeon HD 4850 1gb GPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150482&Tpk=XFX radeon 4850$80 Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196TOTAL COST: $492Note, these are the bare essentials. You will still need a power supply, a hard drive, and DVD-ROM. But if you are building a computer, chances are you most likely have these lying around somewhere, waiting to be put into this cheap power rig.
a triple core will not run a game equal to a quad core. there is so much more that went into that quad core besides the extra core that just makes it that much better than a trip core.
Idk where you are reading this and I have heard many people talk about this so I just wanted to clear it up.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-ii-x3-440-gaming-performance,2619-11.html
This is not to say that triple cores are not a good value buy, they are actually excellent for cheap builds.
Your case and motherboard are too much for what you are trying to achieve. As nineninja9 posted, making use of combo deals can greatly lower your cost allowing you to upgrade to a quad core and even a much better GPU.
I would doubt that your build could even run Ultra at 1680x1050.
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On July 19 2010 04:12 Avid221 wrote:Show nested quote +On July 18 2010 23:39 AmbitiousNub wrote:AmbitiousNub's Sub $500 Starcraft 2 Ultra BuildHey guys, I just recently built this computer. My goal was to run SC2 on ultra settings for as cheap as possible. I'm not computer illiterate, however my knowledge is not in the advanced category. So I read a few articles and brushed up on some research before compiling this list. I'm currently running my build, and its worked flawlessly, not a single problem to this date. The idea of the build is to use a triple core processor, as opposed to the more expensive quad core, due to the fact that many, if not all, games that are currently out do not utilize the 4th core. This alone saves you $75-100. $79 CPU: Athlon II X3 440 3.0GHz Triple Core Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103843&Tpk=AMD Athlon II X3 440$119 Motherboard: ASUS M4A79XTD AM3 AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402$99 RAM: 4gb Corsair 240 DDR3 memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260$115 Videocard: XFX Radeon HD 4850 1gb GPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150482&Tpk=XFX radeon 4850$80 Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196TOTAL COST: $492Note, these are the bare essentials. You will still need a power supply, a hard drive, and DVD-ROM. But if you are building a computer, chances are you most likely have these lying around somewhere, waiting to be put into this cheap power rig. a triple core will not run a game equal to a quad core. there is so much more that went into that quad core besides the extra core that just makes it that much better than a trip core. Idk where you are reading this and I have heard many people talk about this so I just wanted to clear it up. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-ii-x3-440-gaming-performance,2619-11.htmlThis is not to say that triple cores are not a good value buy, they are actually excellent for cheap builds. Your case and motherboard are too much for what you are trying to achieve. As nineninja9 posted, making use of combo deals can greatly lower your cost allowing you to upgrade to a quad core and even a much better GPU. I would doubt that your build could even run Ultra at 1680x1050.
a triple core will perform nearly exactly the same in sc2 as a similar quad. sc2 as far as i know is still not threaded for quads and even if they are the advantage is minimal. i don't think you fully understand the article you linked. the conclusion says that clearly an X3 440 won't match a i7 920 in high-end GPU setups but that's because the i7 920 retails for $200 (and they spent a total of $600 on graphics) more than the 440. if you were to compare an X4 640 to an X3 440 you'd see the extra money you pay would make almost no difference in the end.
however, i echo the sentiment that if you want to run 1680x1050 at ultra in gigantic 4v4s then you might want to consider upgrading your graphics card. other than that the build looks fine.
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On July 19 2010 04:12 Avid221 wrote:Show nested quote +On July 18 2010 23:39 AmbitiousNub wrote:AmbitiousNub's Sub $500 Starcraft 2 Ultra BuildHey guys, I just recently built this computer. My goal was to run SC2 on ultra settings for as cheap as possible. I'm not computer illiterate, however my knowledge is not in the advanced category. So I read a few articles and brushed up on some research before compiling this list. I'm currently running my build, and its worked flawlessly, not a single problem to this date. The idea of the build is to use a triple core processor, as opposed to the more expensive quad core, due to the fact that many, if not all, games that are currently out do not utilize the 4th core. This alone saves you $75-100. $79 CPU: Athlon II X3 440 3.0GHz Triple Core Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103843&Tpk=AMD Athlon II X3 440$119 Motherboard: ASUS M4A79XTD AM3 AMD Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402$99 RAM: 4gb Corsair 240 DDR3 memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260$115 Videocard: XFX Radeon HD 4850 1gb GPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150482&Tpk=XFX radeon 4850$80 Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Scout Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196TOTAL COST: $492Note, these are the bare essentials. You will still need a power supply, a hard drive, and DVD-ROM. But if you are building a computer, chances are you most likely have these lying around somewhere, waiting to be put into this cheap power rig. a triple core will not run a game equal to a quad core. there is so much more that went into that quad core besides the extra core that just makes it that much better than a trip core. Idk where you are reading this and I have heard many people talk about this so I just wanted to clear it up. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-ii-x3-440-gaming-performance,2619-11.htmlThis is not to say that triple cores are not a good value buy, they are actually excellent for cheap builds. Your case and motherboard are too much for what you are trying to achieve. As nineninja9 posted, making use of combo deals can greatly lower your cost allowing you to upgrade to a quad core and even a much better GPU. I would doubt that your build could even run Ultra at 1680x1050.
That article by Tomhardware is the most stupid thing i have read in a long long while.
Athlon II X3 + 2x5870 is CPU limited !!!!!
ORLYYYYY ?????
This is a terrible article adressing the wrong issues and/or stating the obvious.
The Athlon II x3 is the best thing for gaming at < 100$. I7 and Phenom II aren't in the same category duh.
The Athlon II x4 are slightly more expensive and aren't really better for gaming.
However i think you are right about the case and maybe the mobo. He can save some $ and get a better GPU. I have a 4870 and i can't run the game well in High / full HD ( small freezes in battles ).
I think a 5770 or something more powerful could help more than a cool case :p
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The sole thing that article is trying to address is the fact that high end graphics are cpu limited by the athlon ii x3, that's all. It's a fairly obvious point, but it's never detrimental to have some concrete proof.
Basically, the article says "We decided to run a series of tests to really explore whether or not there's any point in investing in a CPU more powerful than the Athlon II X3 440 for gaming duty." And yes, if you have high end graphics, there is a point in investing in a better cpu, which again was the entire point of the article.
My build wasn't supposed to imply that a 955 was in any way required for games, it was simply to show that you could easily build a better system, that actually did what his build claimed to, at essentially the same price. It doesn't take an idiot to realize that you can replace the phenom x4 with an athlon x3, save $80, and then you get a significantly cheaper build that also manages to run SC2 more effectively than what was posted by ambitiousnub.
EDIT: I still don't believe that a 5770 outperforms a 4870. Maybe in SC2 specifically, according to some benchmarks, but overall I still think the 4870 is a more powerful card. I haven't had any problems running sc2 on ultra at 1920x1080 with a 4870, but I also have an i7 build, so it's not a particularly straightforward comparison.
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Personally i've changed my recommendation of minimum for a pc to run sc2 on ultra
955 if you oc
else i5-750 plz oc! haha
At-least 4 gigs of ram
And a GTX 460 as the 5770 has shown to have problems maintaining 60fps at 1920x1080 Although i haven't seen specific benches the 460 is stronger vs a 5770 and cost similar to 5830 but requires less power is cooler and is still a strong all around performer for not drastically more.
SC2 may not be threaded for more then 2 cores but those 2 cores don't just idle there are techniques windows 7 and other crap uses to put those cores into action, although the benefit may not be as great as the first 2 cores, number 3 and 4 do add more fps and security
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Sanya12364 Posts
I don't think I need to say much more about gaming purposes, but let's just flesh out what you might want to fast core or more cores for. In fact we can talk about what you might want any part for.
GPUs
For GPUs there is the gaming and graphics world and then there is the GPGPU/physics world. For graphics the primary mode of operation is simply sending data over to the hardware having it do a lot of computations for rendering and then pushing video out the video connector out to the monitor. When anyone talks about beautiful visuals, high resolution, DX11, or frame rates, it's primarily talking about GPU performance.
There are some limitations though. A GPU cannot compute unless it's fed the data. There is only one option for this - PCI-e 2.0 @ theoretical of 10.0 GB/s bidirectional throughput. The GPU can only work on as much data as it can keep around or it will have to swap data in and out of graphics memory with system memory. The swap is on the order of a 100 times worse. This is why you might want more GPU memory.
For the GPGPU world the challenges are about the same, but the GPGPU programmers might care about ECC offered by nVidia's Fermi series. Graphics people will simply laugh at the idea of ECC. Graphical anomalies caused by background radiation are nearly unnoticeable. GPGPU crowd might also care about significant bidirectional traffic over the PCI-e 2.0 bus, but there is simply not a lot of choices available. It's PCI-e 2.0 or nothing. PCI-e 2.0 put a ceiling on how good GPUs can get before there is no more possible benefit.
And without going into too much detail about GPU architecture, the bottleneck for most GPU applications is its memory system. So pay some careful attention to the width of the memory bus, its clock rate, and the type of GPU memory (like GGDR5).
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Alright, about to pull the trigger and buy the following system:
$472 Budget Build
Any last second tips/comments/warnings are welcome. :3
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Sanya12364 Posts
HD4870 vs HD5770 vs GTX460 1GB
Going by what I just said looking at max memory performance, we have 115 GB/s vs 78 GB/s vs 115 GB/s. GTX460 768MB has only 86 GB/s.
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Just ordered this off newegg last night after a few days of research:
SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X Radeon 5770
AMD Phenom II x4 955 BE
ROSEWILL CHALLENGER Mid Tower Case
Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM HD
ASUS M4A77TD AM3 ATX Mobo
OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W
G.SKILL Eco Series 4 GB (2x2) DDR3 1600
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm
LITE-ON DVD/ CD Writer/ Reader
EDIMAX PCI Wireless Card
![[image loading]](http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m310/CKairos/th_compbuild.png)
With the promotional savings that end tomorrow, I get 46 dollars off and then an additional 50 dollars off in eventual rebates, so the final cost is like $662.
I was going for a budget build in the 600s that would last me a while, will probably do overclocking eventually and get some more 120mm fans. Now I just have to wait for the parts and hope it works fine when I build (my first computer).
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On July 19 2010 05:51 Gokey wrote:Alright, about to pull the trigger and buy the following system: $472 Budget BuildAny last second tips/comments/warnings are welcome. :3
Do you have an optical drive?
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Sanya12364 Posts
Oh I purchased my set up. I think it's going to come out to 1850 or so with all the other peripherals that I added and I still don't have a dual port DVI KVM.
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On July 19 2010 05:57 CKairos wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Just ordered this off newegg last night after a few days of research: SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X Radeon 5770 AMD Phenom II x4 955 BE ROSEWILL CHALLENGER Mid Tower Case Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM HD ASUS M4A77TD AM3 ATX Mobo OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ550FTY 550W G.SKILL Eco Series 4 GB (2x2) DDR3 1600 ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro 92mm LITE-ON DVD/ CD Writer/ Reader EDIMAX PCI Wireless Card With the promotional savings that end tomorrow, I get 46 dollars off and then an additional 50 dollars off in eventual rebates, so the final cost is like $662. I was going for a budget build in the 600s that would last me a while, will probably do overclocking eventually and get some more 120mm fans. Now I just have to wait for the parts and hope it works fine when I build (my first computer).
You could have saved ~$25 comboing your PSU with a 500gb Samsung Spinpoint F3. You also could have saved another $15-20 choosing a cheaper RAM. Overall it's good.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4439/500x.png)
![[image loading]](http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m310/CKairos/?action=view¤t=compbuild.png)
