Computer Build Resource Thread - Page 1037

On April 18 2012 09:48 skyR wrote:



What? The 2550k is a processor but it sounds like you're talking about graphics cards.

The majority, if not all, graphic card warranties cover overclocking without voltage modifications regardless of the model.

Intel's warranty does not cover overclocking. You need to purchase the protection plan which gives you a one time replacement.

And Intel didn't release it due to demand, they're just selling off CPUs with a defective IGP.

On April 18 2012 12:17 U_G_L_Y wrote:
Okay, so I'm back. I'm trying to stay as close to $700 as I can, my upgrade timeframe is not in the near future. The only thing I will be doing that consumes resources is Starcraft. I don't have enough time to play Starcraft so probably won't be picking up other games. (Occasional 4v4s so it needs to be able to handle that.)

What I've picked out so far, in no particular order:
+ Show Spoiler +

3 Questions:

What would be an appropriate GPU (I''m still totally lost) for what I am doing and the components I have selected already?

Which other items are missing or need to be changed and why?

Will 420w handle this? It just seems once you get above that you've gotta spend way more but similar factory systems seem to have less...

Kind of embarassed that there are people on here asking for help that are literally half my age and have 4x my budget

On April 18 2012 12:20 JingleHell wrote:


You can increase your GPU budget quite a bit by not getting the Z68 board you aren't using any of the features of, ditch the aftermarket CPU cooler, and buy cheaper memory. Ditch the Apevia case/PSU combo, they make NO good PSUs, and I'm assuming that's why you were going to get the case.

I think I've swapped more dead Apevia PSUs than every other brand put together for friends. Get a 430-500w Antec, Corsair, or Seasonic unit. Decent quality, usually decent prices.

Also, unless you plan to stream, you can step down to an i3 2100, since SC2 only uses two cores really, to save money. Just build on an H61 mobo.

On April 18 2012 13:30 U_G_L_Y wrote:


FYI, presently, I have Athalon X2 3800+ @ 2Ghz, 2 GB Ram, Geforce 7600 GS (it was pieced together from mostly free parts, super old, total shit, and I even have latency issues in 1v1s on Metropolis. And if I tap the windows key by accident, GG, I'm out for about 2 minutes) so that is my frame of reference. I want to future-proof a bit if possible since convincing my wife that we would rather spend money on a new computer than a vacation is not a task I would like to undertake any more often than absolutely necessary.

I also like to have things running in the background like Rhapsody and SC2 gears and would like to be able to tab between them quickly.

So I thought you always needed to buy an aftermarket cooler, no?

ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard I had assumed that "Micro" meant it was for those compact computers that everyone always complains about having problems?

The cheapest 4 GB DDR3 240 pin RAM is $20, What I had was $46.99 for the pair, so when you say "get cheaper memory" do you mean DDR2, lower quantity (2GB ea or 1 4 GB stick) or just saying that I could save $7 (which is a good point)

Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply $40 is about the cheapest in those specs

On April 18 2012 12:30 skyR wrote:


A quality 400w unit is more than enough to handle this configuration. The Apevia 420w unit is not a quality unit...

You are not overclocking so you can just get a H61, H67, or H77 motherboard instead of wasting money on a Z68 which you won't make use of.

You won't be needing the Hyper 212+ since you aren't overclocking.

2x4GB for $47 is overpriced, there's tons of 2x4GB kits for under $40.

Spinpoint F3's extra year of warranty is not worth the cost over a Caviar Blue or Seagate Barracuda.

If you have a LCD monitor than generally the maximum resolution is the native one. You can also generally tell by screen size so if it's 1260x768, you're probably using a screen around 17". At such a low resolution, a Radeon HD6670 would be more than fine for running Starcraft II on ultra.

You should probably buy a new monitor, unless you just like playing on a small screen.

$700 can easily get you a lot if you don't mind buying from multiple retailers. All of the cases for sub $50 on Newegg are either overpriced or have a shipping fee. I'd basically change your entire build if you are open to the idea of buying from multiple retailers.

On April 18 2012 12:41 Myrmidon wrote:
Do you want to spend up to $700 or would you rather just get something cheap that can do what you want?

If you're never going to need higher-end graphics cards (you won't at the moment for SC2 on that kind of low resolution), you may as well just go with my original suggestion IMHO, if you'd rather get the lower price. Once you consider the $100 cost of Windows and elevated hard drive prices these days, $450 for everything but the graphics card, including an i5, is a good deal. I mean, it only has 4GB of RAM, but most people don't need more and adding more is not hard later, it's not an issue to add storage later (and maybe when prices are lower), and so on. The typical small business-type OEM computer is not going to have a great power supply, but at least it would be a lot better than the low-end Apevia stuff and equivalents.

An HD 7750 is hardly a great deal, but overall the total build price/performance doesn't suffer much from it. An i5 is better than an i3 for SC2, not because of extra cores, but because of Turbo Boost (so higher clock speeds effectively) and the extra cache.