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On June 03 2012 09:54 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On June 02 2012 10:56 Womwomwom wrote:On June 02 2012 08:16 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
[b]1. I'm probably not going to do any overclocking and really have no use for any extraneous motherboard features. Is the selected motherboard overkill? Just right?
This is going to be fragmented since I don't want to quote your whole post: - Then don't get a K series processor and a Z77 processor. Buy a Intel Core i5-3450 and cheap B75 motherboard. - Ivy Bridge is more power efficient, has slightly more performance, and has better integrated graphics. That's the difference. No reason not to get Ivy Bridge unless Sandy Bridge options are a lot cheaper. Since you don't want to overclock, there's no point picking either - pick the option I provided above. - Overclocking is nice but not a deal breaker. Its preferred if you're going to stream heavily but you save a lot of cash in the processes by buying cheaper hardware. - No CPU cooler is required if not overclocking. CPU coolers is nice if you want to cut down on noise dramatically. - Ask the headphone thread. Personally I'd get an external USB DAC since computer systems are dreadful for internal audio systems. - Ditch the Caviar Black and get cheaper 7200RPM drives. You're paying extra for warranty, which is fine, but probably not worth the huge difference. - Only need 400W for that system. As previously mentioned, the Rosewill Capstone 450W is a fine choice. Corsair 400R is a fine case too. - Depending on budget remaining, you may want to throw in an SSD. Current generation Crucial, Intel, Samsung SSDs are probably the best. If I were to want to not overclock initially but do it eventually, I guess I would stick with a z77 mobo and 3570k? Looking at ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard, since it seems to be reviewed pretty favorably in the Anandtech article and I don't believe I really need any of the extra features of the higher end mobos. For that, would it be better to just buy the CPU cooler now instead of getting it when I actually want to OC? If so recommendations? Also would I need the 620W PS then? Because I assume when OCing 400W won't be enough. For the harddrive, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834 seems to be a much cheaper alternative. However, it seems to have a lot of horror stories in the reviews. Worth the risk? Definitely considering an SSD, since the prices seem to be dropping pretty heavily. Thanks for answers.
A quality 400w PSU is enough for ANY modern single GPU computer build. Getting an aftermarket Heatsink is a good idea as the stock Intel one is pretty horrid in its cooling capabilities and that the Hyper 212+ is on sale for $20 is also a good incentive.
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On June 02 2012 08:16 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Planning on building a computer, very standard vanilla uses in mind. Gaming (DotA2, D3 level graphics, on high to max settings), potentially streaming on lower settings. Basically nothing more demanding than that. Upgrade cycle up to 4 years, might replace parts as needed but that will be very infrequent, so basically looking for one that will last me a good few years. For comparison, I've been using a laptop with not exactly high-end specs for 5 years and managed to persevere, so I'm not exactly looking for state of the art parts replacements every year or anything like that. Budget at ~$1000, always looking for savings where available. Have a MicroCenter that I can make a trek to if compelling savings are present. Here's what I've come up with so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9fXrA few questions: 1. I'm probably not going to do any overclocking and really have no use for any extraneous motherboard features. Is the selected motherboard overkill? Just right? 2. I've yet to see a clear distinction between 3570k and 2500k setups. Would a 2500k/mobo setup give me any decent savings? Are they about the same? IB vs SB WHAT DO? Performance/value wise, what is preferred? Recommendation? Vague questions I know but just looking for some general opinions on 3570k vs 2500k right now. Keep in mind this is basically taking OC capabilities out of consideration unless someone can give me some compelling reasons to do so. 3. Related, if no OC is being considered, is a CPU cooler still necessary or can I skip that? I don't foresee any strenuous use of the CPU for any extended period (unless light streaming is super demanding on the CPU?) 3. Looking to grab a Xonar DG sound card. Have a pair of ATH-A700s, if I get more headphones in the future it won't be anything too far above the ATH-A700s in terms of quality/price. Good fit? Unnecessary? Mainly want a cheap, standard amp which is why the Xonar DG caught my eye. 4. Case/Power supply: I've never been super clear on the distinctions between the myriads of cases and PS's available, beyond the standard advice of bottom-mounted PSUs and the importance of a quality PSU. I just grabbed tehse two suggestions off the logical increments chart that floats around. Solid choices? Cheers.
i5-3570k $189.99 Microcenter in-store pickup
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX $89.99 if bought with i5-3570k
(save ~100 by going to microcenter)
Powercolor HD7850 $239.99
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131473
Pareema 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 1.5v C9 $40.99
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820576011
Seagate Barracuda 2TB & Samsung 830 128GB SSD $239.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.951846
Rosewill Capstone 450w 80+ Gold $63.00 with promocode PSUMAY10, ends 6/10
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182066
Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233
DVD Burner $16.99
www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244
Cooler Master Hyper 212+ $29.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
TOTAL: $969.91
I have no idea on sound cards...
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5930 Posts
On June 03 2012 09:54 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On June 02 2012 10:56 Womwomwom wrote:On June 02 2012 08:16 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
[b]1. I'm probably not going to do any overclocking and really have no use for any extraneous motherboard features. Is the selected motherboard overkill? Just right?
This is going to be fragmented since I don't want to quote your whole post: - Then don't get a K series processor and a Z77 processor. Buy a Intel Core i5-3450 and cheap B75 motherboard. - Ivy Bridge is more power efficient, has slightly more performance, and has better integrated graphics. That's the difference. No reason not to get Ivy Bridge unless Sandy Bridge options are a lot cheaper. Since you don't want to overclock, there's no point picking either - pick the option I provided above. - Overclocking is nice but not a deal breaker. Its preferred if you're going to stream heavily but you save a lot of cash in the processes by buying cheaper hardware. - No CPU cooler is required if not overclocking. CPU coolers is nice if you want to cut down on noise dramatically. - Ask the headphone thread. Personally I'd get an external USB DAC since computer systems are dreadful for internal audio systems. - Ditch the Caviar Black and get cheaper 7200RPM drives. You're paying extra for warranty, which is fine, but probably not worth the huge difference. - Only need 400W for that system. As previously mentioned, the Rosewill Capstone 450W is a fine choice. Corsair 400R is a fine case too. - Depending on budget remaining, you may want to throw in an SSD. Current generation Crucial, Intel, Samsung SSDs are probably the best. If I were to want to not overclock initially but do it eventually, I guess I would stick with a z77 mobo and 3570k? Looking at ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard, since it seems to be reviewed pretty favorably in the Anandtech article and I don't believe I really need any of the extra features of the higher end mobos. For that, would it be better to just buy the CPU cooler now instead of getting it when I actually want to OC? If so recommendations? Also would I need the 620W PS then? Because I assume when OCing 400W won't be enough. For the harddrive, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834 seems to be a much cheaper alternative. However, it seems to have a lot of horror stories in the reviews. Worth the risk? Definitely considering an SSD, since the prices seem to be dropping pretty heavily. Thanks for answers.
Yes, if you wished to overclock later then you should get a Z77 motherboard and a i5 3570K processor. ASRock Z77 Extreme4 is a decent enough choice. If you want to overclock, I think you might as well get a CPU cooler now as it will likely save quite a bit of effort depending on the chassis you buy. Any CPU cooler that accepts 120mm fans should be fine.
A really good 400W PSU is fine for a single GPU system but I'd stick around the 450W-500W region. The Rosewill 450W Capstone is a very solid choice. Here is a decent rule of thumb for a typical single GPU system (so no insane GPU overclocking or 10x hard drives):
1) GPU requires 0x PCIe plugs - 300W
2) GPU requires 1x PCIe plugs - ~400W
3) GPU requires 2x PCIe plugs - ~500W
Keep in mind some very good, very confident ~450W PSUs will offer 2x PCIe plugs.
Barracudas of the past were a bit dodgy but I'm not sure about their reputation now. I don't think there should be anything wrong with them but the 1 year warranty is a bit strange. The Hitachi Deskstar are typically very solid drives and one of the best for home servers and network attached storages if you want something well priced but has a decent track record.
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I HAVE NEVER BUILT A COMPUTER BEFORE- CAN ANYONE LINK ME TO SOME GOOD SITES THAT TEACH ME HOW TO DO THAT? THANKS 
What is your budget?
Money is not a problem in this case; but I would like my computer to be fitting to my specifications- I'm only going to be playing starcraft 2 and streaming dota 2, so I'm pretty sure I don't have to pay much more than ~1200 dollars. I wouldn't mind paying 2000 bucks if that's what's required, but from my research I don't think I will need that.
What is your resolution?
1920x1080
What are you using it for?
Gaming- Starcraft 2 on high or ultra, diablo and dota 2 on max settings; streaming dota 2.
What is your upgrade cycle?
I really don't know, if this computer lasts long I don't think I'll ever upgrade it. But let's say 3 years, I'll probably want to burn some money after I graduate from college.
When do you plan on building it?
In a month or so.
Do you plan on overclocking?
I do plan on overclocking. I have no idea how to overclock though :p can any enthusiasts link me to some useful sites, or suggest components that are relatively easy to overclock? (:
Do you need an Operating System?
Yes, but as I said, money would not be a problem- as long as it's appropriate for what I intend it for.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
No, as I don't think I need dual GPUs for just playing sc2 on max settings? Correct me if i'm wrong, please.
Where are you buying your parts from?
I'm from Hong Kong, and I go to the school in the states. I'll either go to a computer center, or buy them online from newegg. I'm fairly sure the prices in the local computer center would not be too off, as there are plenty of computer genius/computer geeks hanging around those places xD.
** From what I've researched, it's a lot easier to fit components in a high/mid tower than a small tower. As for the case, I think I'll prefer to stick with one of the big fancy cases from coolermaster, unless anyone could suggest to me any alternatives. Once again, I've never built a computer before- just a dream I had since my sophomore year of high school in Hong Kong. (college freshman right now ): that was a long wait)
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For SC2, will a Phenom x4, Radeon 5770 and 8GB Ram be enough?
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On June 04 2012 02:25 Kluey wrote:
For SC2, will a Phenom x4, Radeon 5770 and 8GB Ram be enough?
Yes. It will play it. At high settings, No.
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On June 04 2012 02:32 iTzSnypah wrote:Show nested quote +On June 04 2012 02:25 Kluey wrote:
For SC2, will a Phenom x4, Radeon 5770 and 8GB Ram be enough? Yes. It will play it. At high settings, No.
huh, ofc it will on high? just not fluently on ultra
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http://www.notebookreviews.com/ seems to no longer be up. Do they have a new domain? I'm looking into laptops and I'm not sure where the best place to start is. I have a general understanding of the mobile chips but not so sure about overall quality of manufacturers..
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1. Why do you want to get ripped off by newegg.ca? Why not NCIX or MemoryExpress or something else based in Canada?
2. Z68 / P67 / H67 / H61 motherboards don't support Ivy Bridge without a BIOS update, so you probably want a H77 or B75 option (or Z77 / Z75 if you want to overclock by up to 400 MHz). Extreme3 is probably better than what you need anyhow; more like $80-105 may be more appropriate unless there are some more obscure motherboard features you require. No motherboard you get now will support processors coming out next year, and all of them will support a video card upgrade in the future, so there's not really any differentiation there.
3. Socket 1155 systems are "supposed" to use 1.5V-rated RAM. Running 1.65V may be okay, but it's a gray area for the health of the memory controller on the CPU, like overvolting for high overclocks is.
4. TX650 V2 could easily run a second HD 6950, but I don't really see a point to doing that. Also, it's way overpriced at $100. The build needs about 300W max, so a good ~400W is fine. On NCIX, Antec Neo Eco 450C is selling for $35.
5. Antec 300 is kind of antiquated and overpriced at $60, but that's not a huge deal.
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Will there be any crazy savings coming up? I am not in a rush to build my PC, but probably want to build it this summer.
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On June 04 2012 11:36 nosliw wrote:
Will there be any crazy savings coming up? I am not in a rush to build my PC, but probably want to build it this summer.
No. Eventually (fairly certainly not in a couple or few months) video card prices could go significantly down. For example, HD 7870 could possibly be more like $200, once yields and availability of 28nm node from TSMC improve, and if Nvidia launches something cheaper to surpass it. I wouldn't expect much elsewhere, but SSDs and hard drives could get a little cheaper as well.
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5930 Posts
That system is fine. Not much else you can do about it. The resolution is quite important keep in mind because that will dictate how much GPU power you need.
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You can save like $25 on the RAM, hard drive, and case, but there's not much else to say.
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On May 28 2012 14:47 Myrmidon wrote:Show nested quote +On May 28 2012 14:27 eery1 wrote:On May 28 2012 14:18 Myrmidon wrote:On May 28 2012 14:10 eery1 wrote:Hi guys. I have a quick question: will a graphics card help me run SC2 any faster? I've been playing for a while on my old pc at like ~15fps and while you can get a macro game out of that I can't micro for shit so I lose a lot of even battles just cuz I can't micro. Anyway, here are the specs (Yeah, hella old yaddah yaddah. Haha, it's a miracle it even works at all  ). Pentium4 524 (P) HT 3.06 GHz ECS RC410-M motherboard (so it has one PCI x16 slot open) 2.5 GB DDR2 SDRAM ATI Radeon Xpress 200 for Intel Processors (that's the stock graphics chip) I'm a student and I'm running on basically no budget but my friend's willing to sell me his HD 4670 for around $45 (price converted to dollars) or I can pick up a brand new HD 5450 around here for around $35. Would getting either card be worth getting? I just wanna run at the lowest specs with 60 fps. Honestly, I don't even know if I can use either of those card cuz the RAM is DDR2 which is basically obsolete by now, yeah (dunno if that even affects anything but I was checking the requirements for the cards and they were saying DDR3 RAM so I was just guessing)? So, if not, would you happen to know of any other options for me (besides getting a new PC)? Thanks. Either graphics card would help, but you're still not going to run anything close to 60 fps when trying to micro during battles. If that's your goal, you won't get close to that without spending significantly more money. More than HD 5450 is probably a waste for that system, but the HD 4670 is much better than that, and the money is going to a friend anyway, so the HD 4670 sounds fine to me. To use a processor made in the last six years, you'll need a motherboard upgrade. However, if you can find a Pentium D for very cheap, that may be compatible with the RC410-M, and it would be a little better. Check the manufacturer's website, particularly if it's from an HP system or something like that. http://www.e4allupgraders.info/dir1/motherboards/socket775/ecs_RC410-M_cpu.shtml Thanks Myrmidon! Theoretically will the 5450 and 4670 have a big difference given my system and the fact that I'll just be playing at low res? I'd rather buy the brand new card just cuz it'll have a warranty and stuff. Thanks again! Sorry for the confusion. There's a big difference between the graphics cards, but there will be very little or almost no difference for your situation because (1) you are playing on lowest settings, (2) you are playing SC2 and not some other games, and (3) your CPU is very slow.
Hi! Just got the money so I'm gonna pick up the card. My PSU can only put out 300W. Will that be good enough to handle adding a graphics card? Also, found an online ad for a 5570 for a good price. One of those demo cards that they had. Comes with the box and stuff. Would that be good?
Edit: Started looking for Pentium D processors. They're selling them for really cheap second hand [Pentium D 915 2.8 GHz socket 775 for ~$10]; can't find new ones for the life of me. Will the be a big improvement over my current processor? Is there anything I should look out for to make sure they're not lousy? I've replaced my heatsink before and I know how to pop out the processor. On a related note, anything special that I need to know about thermal pastes if I'm going to place a processor w/o HSF in?
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On June 04 2012 20:03 eery1 wrote:Show nested quote +On May 28 2012 14:47 Myrmidon wrote:On May 28 2012 14:27 eery1 wrote:On May 28 2012 14:18 Myrmidon wrote:On May 28 2012 14:10 eery1 wrote:Hi guys. I have a quick question: will a graphics card help me run SC2 any faster? I've been playing for a while on my old pc at like ~15fps and while you can get a macro game out of that I can't micro for shit so I lose a lot of even battles just cuz I can't micro. Anyway, here are the specs (Yeah, hella old yaddah yaddah. Haha, it's a miracle it even works at all ). Pentium4 524 (P) HT 3.06 GHz ECS RC410-M motherboard (so it has one PCI x16 slot open) 2.5 GB DDR2 SDRAM ATI Radeon Xpress 200 for Intel Processors (that's the stock graphics chip) I'm a student and I'm running on basically no budget but my friend's willing to sell me his HD 4670 for around $45 (price converted to dollars) or I can pick up a brand new HD 5450 around here for around $35. Would getting either card be worth getting? I just wanna run at the lowest specs with 60 fps. Honestly, I don't even know if I can use either of those card cuz the RAM is DDR2 which is basically obsolete by now, yeah (dunno if that even affects anything but I was checking the requirements for the cards and they were saying DDR3 RAM so I was just guessing)? So, if not, would you happen to know of any other options for me (besides getting a new PC)? Thanks. Either graphics card would help, but you're still not going to run anything close to 60 fps when trying to micro during battles. If that's your goal, you won't get close to that without spending significantly more money. More than HD 5450 is probably a waste for that system, but the HD 4670 is much better than that, and the money is going to a friend anyway, so the HD 4670 sounds fine to me. To use a processor made in the last six years, you'll need a motherboard upgrade. However, if you can find a Pentium D for very cheap, that may be compatible with the RC410-M, and it would be a little better. Check the manufacturer's website, particularly if it's from an HP system or something like that. http://www.e4allupgraders.info/dir1/motherboards/socket775/ecs_RC410-M_cpu.shtml Thanks Myrmidon! Theoretically will the 5450 and 4670 have a big difference given my system and the fact that I'll just be playing at low res? I'd rather buy the brand new card just cuz it'll have a warranty and stuff. Thanks again! Sorry for the confusion. There's a big difference between the graphics cards, but there will be very little or almost no difference for your situation because (1) you are playing on lowest settings, (2) you are playing SC2 and not some other games, and (3) your CPU is very slow. Hi! Just got the money so I'm gonna pick up the card. My PSU can only put out 300W. Will that be good enough to handle adding a graphics card? Also, found an online ad for a 5570 for a good price. One of those demo cards that they had. Comes with the box and stuff. Would that be good? Edit: Started looking for Pentium D processors. They're selling them for really cheap second hand; can't find new ones for the life of me. Is there anything I should look out for to make sure they're not lousy?
Your PSU is fine. 5570 can only use 75w max because it has no 6pin connectors.
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Are you guys sure I shouldnt change anything and this build is good and everything fit and work perfectly together. Any better prices? Any better products?? How much FPS do you think my friend would get in a 1920x1080 montior
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EPT
