It's the base build. It comes out to approximately $750.

That $50 can upgrade the graphics card to the 5770, or you can choose to upgrade the i3 processor to the i5 of your choice. I'm not 100% sold on the reliability of the OCZ RAM, but if you don't trust it, there is GSkill DDR3 RAM for $13 more.

In my opinion, he should upgrade the RAM and the 5750 for the best performance, but that's his decision.

GSkill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3 $104.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

Edit: Some justifications:

The CD drive I skimped because CD media is dead for the most part. Just need one that functions imo. The Antec 200 is a nice solid case, budget version of the Antec 300. I really hate mATX motherboards, but the MSI motherboard seemed to have some good reviews, and MSI is a decent company when it comes to motherboards. The Coolermaster is just a cheap 500W PSU with decent reviews. The 640GB hdd supposedly outperforms most other hard drives on the market. If the Samsung F3 500GB Spinpoint was still in stock, I would have chosen the F3.

As for the graphics and the cpu, The 5750 is a decent performer for its price, and one of the cheaper DX11 options available. As for i3 vs i5, the only thing that the 2nd gen i5 has over the i3 is TurboBoost. The i3 is a perfectly capable competitor and has hyperthreading. It is also very overclocking friendly, and reaches decently high speeds on stock cooling and volts.

Oh and just another recommendation: With his budget I'd definitely go for an Athlon II setup.

Thank you very much! Okay, so I added it all to the wishlist, and then made the following three adjustments to it: 5750 to 5770, i3 to i5 750 2.66ghz, and the OCZ 4GB to the Gskill 4GB ram. Total for system comes to $833.91. This leaves him $170 for a monitor. Any recommendations as far as that goes? And if I were to go Athlon II, any recommendations for that as well?

FragKrag

United States11554 Posts

February 17 2010 01:03 GMT

#1742

If he goes Athlon II, he'll be able to afford a better PSU and a more upgradeable motherboard, both of which are instrumental to ensuring the upgradeability of a computer. That's the hugest advantage he gets from the Athlon II setup. He could also go Phenom II, but that becomes a gray area where he could afford upgradability.

Though I guess it could also just turn out similar and just end up with his wallet being a little bit heavier at the end of the ordeal.

Romance_us

Seychelles1806 Posts

February 17 2010 01:13 GMT

#1743

If I were to get him a Phenom II X4 940 3.0ghz ($155, so $40 dollar difference), I would need to change the mobo correct?? Also,how is the performance of the Phentom 940 versus the i5? Is it as overclockable?

I'm guessing that if he isn't really looking for upgradeability then the current i5-750 setup will be the best bet?

edit: The only reason I say this is because he NEVER said anything about upgradeability; it was just a little after-the-fact brainstorming by me should he theoretically ever want to. I haven't spoken to him about it though, but because he said nothing, I'm going to assume it's very low priority.

FragKrag

United States11554 Posts

February 17 2010 01:19 GMT

#1744

The Phenom II X4 940 is not worth the money. If you want a Phenom II X4, go for the 955 BE or the 965 BE because they have unlocked multipliers. The C3 955 and 965 are supposedly very overclock friendly.

If he doesn't want to upgrade anything, the i5 750 rig will carry him through smoother under most circumstances compared to the Phenom II 965.

Romance_us

Seychelles1806 Posts

February 17 2010 01:37 GMT

#1745

On February 17 2010 10:19 FragKrag wrote:
The Phenom II X4 940 is not worth the money. If you want a Phenom II X4, go for the 955 BE or the 965 BE because they have unlocked multipliers. The C3 955 and 965 are supposedly very overclock friendly.

If he doesn't want to upgrade anything, the i5 750 rig will carry him through smoother under most circumstances compared to the Phenom II 965.

Okay. Once again, thanks for your help.

I have decided to go with the i5 system I laid out before to the exacts, along with this monitor:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824112017
Spectre 21.5" 1920x1080p LCD monitor: $139.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812191055
SIIG 6.6ft Dual-Link cable (monitor doesn't include one): $16.99

GRAND TOTAL: $990.89

Goal achieved!!

FragKrag

United States11554 Posts

February 17 2010 02:20 GMT

#1746

hahaha omg

muse5187

1125 Posts

February 17 2010 02:32 GMT

#1747

On February 17 2010 11:20 FragKrag wrote:
hahaha omg

AM2 Socket cpu won't fit in a AM3 socket motherboard...

FragKrag

United States11554 Posts

February 17 2010 02:35 GMT

#1748

That's why it's funny

crabapple

United States397 Posts

February 17 2010 03:31 GMT

#1749

On February 17 2010 09:54 DanceDance wrote:

Show nested quote +

You would most likely be able to play it on low-medium settings with that graphics card. What are the rest of your computer specs (CPU, RAM, Screen Resolution)?
I'd suggest a 5750 which you can get for around $140.

CPU: 3400Mhz Quadcore, Four AMD phenom2 965 processors
RAM: 2x 2GB DDR3 (three), but says 4GB more physical memory for a total of 8GB.
resol: up to 1280 x 1024 for my non widescreen monitor
OS: windows 7 64bit
Power: 750 watt

is there any other card that is cheaper, but good bang for the buck? i dont need/want the latest top of the line product. i value the significant price reduction over the slight margin of performance. (the top of the line product continually gets outdated. as a rule companies release things slowly to milk profits, and the "second best" becomes significantly cheaper)

mahnini

United States6862 Posts

February 17 2010 03:46 GMT

#1750

HD4850 but that doesn't have dx11 support

semantics

10040 Posts

February 17 2010 04:57 GMT

#1751

5750 is shitty as hell under DX11 and 5770 can barly skate by under DX11 under low resolutions like 1440x900, Really dx11 is only a selling point to those with 5850 or greater as it usually halfs your fps but barely give any noticeable difference with current implementations.

FragKrag

United States11554 Posts

February 17 2010 05:07 GMT

#1752

lol

mahnini

United States6862 Posts

February 17 2010 05:27 GMT

#1753

5770 actually gives better performance with dx11 than it does with dx10

semantics

10040 Posts

February 17 2010 05:38 GMT

#1754

Well name a popular dx10 games you'd prob only get a hand full over the past 4 years of it. :D

Stokura1994

New Zealand26 Posts

February 17 2010 06:31 GMT

#1755

do you MUST have INTERNET CONNECTION to play SC2??

KOFgokuon

United States14899 Posts

February 17 2010 06:42 GMT

#1756

single player? no

FragKrag

United States11554 Posts

February 17 2010 07:23 GMT

#1757

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103039
ROFL

semantics

10040 Posts

February 17 2010 07:53 GMT

#1758

10 bucks for pretty much the same cooler 92mm i think is the exact same size for what it's made for...
Tower designs is king anyways for aftermarket as it does provide the best results.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018
Personally i've always loved silence pc's and that cooler is what silence is all about low rpm and great cooling even under load too bad it cost 100 bucks. the loudest thigns in my comp are my psu and my hdd's but can't really avoid those.

FragKrag

United States11554 Posts

February 17 2010 08:12 GMT

#1759

read the reviews

LOL

SirGlinG

Sweden933 Posts

February 17 2010 12:55 GMT

#1760

My System Specifications:

* Operating system:Windows 2.6.1.7600 ()
* CPU type:Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU E2160 @ 1.80GHz
* CPU Speed (GHz):1.82
* System memory (GB):1.99
* Graphics card model:Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family
* Graphics card driver:igdumdx32.dll
* Desktop resolution:1680x1050
* Hard disk size (GB):149.04
* Hard disk free space (GB):79.103

I'm buying a new graphics card and possibly adding more ram to it soon.
If I'm getting a beta key, I'll do it directley even though I've just got 40 euros to live on