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On June 19 2012 07:41 JingleHell wrote:Show nested quote +On June 19 2012 07:38 Murlos wrote:
I'm using an old mobo with a 775 LGA socket. Are there any decently priced CPU and GPU that I can upgrade to so I can play sc2? Depends on your definition of decently priced, your motherboard, your PSU, and your case. If it's old enough that it's a 775 CPU that has trouble with SC2, I'd be paranoid about the mobo and PSU in particular, and you may do better saving for a proper upgrade to the rig.
Hm good point. Well my budget is real low, around $300. Would this seem okay for SC2?
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9Lbn
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For low settings yes, but why not wait for a little more money, for 100-200 more you could get a pretty signifiquently more powerfull one (from my pov) with i3-2120 and hd6770/6850
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Yeah, adding even a little bit to your budget would be seriously worth it. The lower your budget overall, the better performance you can get by adding a few dollars. That would be functional, but like Rachnar said, if you're willing to wait for that little bit of money, the gains would be pretty awesome.
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Well I'm trying to get both a desktop and a laptop for when I'm off to college. So my budget is somewhat limited.
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On June 19 2012 08:07 Murlos wrote:
Well I'm trying to get both a desktop and a laptop for when I'm off to college. So my budget is somewhat limited.
There's little to no point in getting both if the desktop ends up being barely or not faster and far less portable.
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On June 19 2012 08:17 JingleHell wrote:Show nested quote +On June 19 2012 08:07 Murlos wrote:
Well I'm trying to get both a desktop and a laptop for when I'm off to college. So my budget is somewhat limited. There's little to no point in getting both if the desktop ends up being barely or not faster and far less portable.
So then is there any laptops in the $700-$800 range that would be suitable? My original pick was the Lenovo Y570.
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On June 19 2012 08:25 Murlos wrote:Show nested quote +On June 19 2012 08:17 JingleHell wrote:On June 19 2012 08:07 Murlos wrote:
Well I'm trying to get both a desktop and a laptop for when I'm off to college. So my budget is somewhat limited. There's little to no point in getting both if the desktop ends up being barely or not faster and far less portable. So then is there any laptops in the $700-$800 range that would be suitable? My original pick was the Lenovo Y570.
I'm honestly not so great on laptops, but basically you just want something with an i5 and a discrete laptop GPU. Just about any such laptop will rival or beat the desktop you were looking at.
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Are you off at college this summer, or fall?
Personally I would look for a Kepler-based laptop, in that price range, probably with GT 640M. An Ivy Bridge i5 wouldn't be a bad idea either—a quad core model would be better in some situations but not really worth the money. These parts already are released, but laptops with that kind of configuration may not be available widely yet.
edit: so the above link is fine, but it's all last-generation stuff on older manufacturing processes: 40nm and 32nm as opposed to 28nm and 22nm. For laptops, which you can't really upgrade later, I suggest trying to get the latest technology, which will have lower power consumption (maybe longer battery life, maybe less noise or weight), longer driver support, and so on.
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Standard laptop resolution is 1366x768 so I'm planning on playing with that. Possibly using an external monitor.
I was looking at this Lenovo I was talking about.
The specs seem similar other than the Lenovo having 4 GB more RAM and a GT 555m instead of xotic's GT 540m. Which I"m not really sure if there is a noticeable difference in the GPU.
Edit:
Just read your post Myrmidon. I'm heading off to college this fall.
Uhm I have no idea what Kepler is lol.
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I humbly beg for the assistance of those more tech savvy than myself.
What is your budget?
Around 600 bucks, maybe a little more, but not much. I’m not expecting much, just trying to build a low level gaming rig.
I am intending to cannibalize my current hard drive and disk drive. My current machine is frankly sad, with a AMD 2.2 ghz, duo-core and GeForce 9500GT, and my motherboard is antiquated. I replaced my hard drive a few months ago after the old one died, so I’m fairly happy with it. Case is crap, fans are shot, power supply is 400, so will likely need to be replaced as well. RAM is about as worthless…I think you guys and gals are getting the picture, it’s a crap rig. I think my toaster may be an upgrade.
What is your resolution?
1600x900
What are you using it for?
Basic gaming, I’m not expecting to run SC2 at Extreme at 60 fps. I’d just really love it if I could play the game without my framerate dropping into the single digits during larger battles.
What is your upgrade cycle?
I have a short upgrade cycle, I’ve landed a secure long term job and I’d be interested in upgrading around Christmas and every 6-12 months after that.
When do you plan on building it?
Within a month of now is my target for having all the parts assembled.
Do you plan on overclocking?
Not really. Its my first hand built PC, and I’d rather get this one up and running and Overclock later on.
Do you need an Operating System?
No need for an operating system and I intend to transplant my current hard-drive into the new machine.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
No, the initial price goal forbids it….hopefully in a few months.
Where are you buying your parts from?
Newegg.com primarily, or other online retail vendors that will deliver to the middle of nowhere Wisconsin.
So can anybody point me in the right direction? I’ve been looking at newegg and trying to put together an idea of what I may be looking at. Feel free to completely disregard, but I’ve been thinking…
Mother Board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128519
CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103996
GPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139025
RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144
Tower http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153
Would that this work out, it totals just under 600 bucks, however will these parts all be compatible. I think they will, but I’d love a second opinion, I think the tower is big enough for my ATX motherboard in addition to my hard drive and power supply, but if it doesn’t that would be helpful to know ahead of time.
Thanks so much for your help folks!
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what is your power supply? If it's a decent model (unlikely but possible), you could re-use it as well.
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450 W, and its getting on in years, so I'd really rather replace it to avoid any nasty surges or shorts that might damage anything new I attach it to...if thats not a concern I'd consider keeping it around, but something tells me 450 W is not enough for the GPU/CPU I selected...
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450w is enough, and I wouldn't worry about age much. But quality depends on the model, wattage means nothing. Many models are crap and can't really deliver their rated power.
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@AgentCornet You can get a much better computer than you think. This should run SC2 on ultra, for instance (easy to do, actually, high graphics doesn't really hurt late game frame rate - that's almost all CPU). My recommendation is below. Technically it could crossfire in the future, but I wouldn't recommend that. I think a new monitor or an SSD would be a much better upgrade than shoving an extra GPU into your system with nothing to run (monitor-wise). The build you had before was not good because Bulldozer processors are not good for SC2.
CPU: i5-3450 ($190)
http://us.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=70543
Will not be able to overclock. Other than that, very high end gaming CPU.
Mobo: MSI H67 ($80, $60 AMIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130616
If you don't mind rebates you can get a decent board for almost as cheap as a super-budget board. Great deal, but can really only do one GPU. Technically can crossfire, though that will use an x4 slot.
CPU Cooler: Stock intel heatsink.
GPU: XFX 6870 ($170, $140 AMIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521
You're only running a 1600x900 monitor, so you don't need a beastly GPU to run high settings. For SC2, you could do ultra graphics settings with a pretty cheap $80ish GPU - or perhaps something even less. I'm recommending something more expensive, on the theory that you'll want to play other games that take more GPU power. For your monitor, it should be a beast that'll run almost anything on maximum graphics. It'll still perform decently if you later upgrade to a higher resolution monitor.
RAM: 8gb 1333mhz ($39)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820178333
Case: Bit Fenix Outlaw ($47)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=63255&vpn=BFC-OLW-100-KKN1-RP&manufacture=BitFenix
Kind of a matter of preference. You could get a flashy z9 or z11, a standard haf 912 or cheap merc alpha, or spend $100 for a quieter case like a p280. Or even the rosewill you had picked out earlier. This one is a decent budget case.
PSU: Antec Neo Eco 450C ($35)
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=60491&vpn=NEO-ECO450C&manufacture=Antec&promoid=1027
pretty good deal on a quality if not spectacular power supply. Plenty for one GPU, insufficient if you will actually SLI/Crossfire in the future.
HDD & DVD-burner: have.
Total: $511 AMIR (checkout costs $50 higher because of rebates). Windows & non-tower items not included. You could drop that $70 by going with an i3, or $120 or so by going with a sandy bridge pentium. There are other modifications you could do, like getting a 6770 or 6750 as a gpu and pocketing the savings or using the savings to buy an SSD (you can find a crucial m4 128gb for $120 at us.ncix.com). If you prefer to play on lowest graphics settings for SC2 and don't care about other games you could even drop the graphics card altogether and just run on integrated graphics. But this is what I'd go with, given your budget.
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http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15464454
I had a friend who is helping me build a PC before college so I can stream and play Starcraft II on at least Medium settings, etc. (I currently play on a Sony Vaio laptop, so you can get a general feel for how the game is for me =/, lagging after 70 food, etc, miracle how I got to Masters on this thing.....)
Just wanted second opinions on this. Was aiming for around $700-800, but pushing $1,000 is fine. I just want to make sure I still have money for college, etc. I've never built a PC before so I'm not really focusing on overclocking it right now.
Any feedback would be great! ( I have a mousepad, mouse, monitor, and keyboard)
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ($69)
Intel BOXDH77KC LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard ($119)
SAPPHIRE 11188-22-20G Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (OC Edition) ($199)
Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply ($54.99)
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K ($229.99)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL ($46.99)
Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive ($79.99)
ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM ($16.99)
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On June 19 2012 08:56 Murlos wrote:Standard laptop resolution is 1366x768 so I'm planning on playing with that. Possibly using an external monitor. I was looking at this Lenovo I was talking about. The specs seem similar other than the Lenovo having 4 GB more RAM and a GT 555m instead of xotic's GT 540m. Which I"m not really sure if there is a noticeable difference in the GPU. Edit: Just read your post Myrmidon. I'm heading off to college this fall. Uhm I have no idea what Kepler is lol.
Kepler is the new NVIDIA GPU's comming out soon.
I have a Lenovo Y570 and it's a little underwhelming. But that's maybe because I'm comparing it to my other rigs. An SSD definitely helps.
However, I wouldn't expect to be able to play at very high settings on a GT 555m. On this laptop SC2 is fine at 1366x768 on Medium-High for most people, but I find it unbearable. I play SC2 on all low and still find it a little glitchy/stuttery. So make sure to align your expectations as such.
I could be wrong, but you probably won't need a laptop as much as you think for college.
If you're serious about gaming and only have ~$700 to spend, get a desktop. Take hand-written notes. Use lab computers or borrow other people's laptops. I had several laptops through school (8 years now) and ended up doing all of the above anyways.
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On June 19 2012 11:05 Payson wrote:http://secure.newegg...Number=15464454I had a friend who is helping me build a PC before college so I can stream and play Starcraft II on at least Medium settings, etc. (I currently play on a Sony Vaio laptop, so you can get a general feel for how the game is for me =/, lagging after 70 food, etc, miracle how I got to Masters on this thing.....) Just wanted second opinions on this. Was aiming for around $700-800, but pushing $1,000 is fine. I just want to make sure I still have money for college, etc. I've never built a PC before so I'm not really focusing on overclocking it right now. Any feedback would be great!
Your link didn't work; I think you're trying to link us to your shopping cart, which is unique to each computer.
You need to link the individual parts individually or save the cart to a wish list and make it public (this takes several days).
Until then, just to set up your expectations:
$550 will get you a computer capable of running SC2 well at near max settings
$650 will definitely get you a computer capable of running SC2 at max settings
This doesn't include about ~$200 for a monitor, mouse, and keyboard.
Also, do you plan on streaming?
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On June 19 2012 11:05 Payson wrote:http://secure.newegg...Number=15464454I had a friend who is helping me build a PC before college so I can stream and play Starcraft II on at least Medium settings, etc. (I currently play on a Sony Vaio laptop, so you can get a general feel for how the game is for me =/, lagging after 70 food, etc, miracle how I got to Masters on this thing.....) Just wanted second opinions on this. Was aiming for around $700-800, but pushing $1,000 is fine. I just want to make sure I still have money for college, etc. I've never built a PC before so I'm not really focusing on overclocking it right now. Any feedback would be great!
The link doesn't work. Like what do you need? Everything or just the Tower?
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On June 19 2012 11:16 iTzSnypah wrote:Show nested quote +On June 19 2012 11:05 Payson wrote:http://secure.newegg...Number=15464454I had a friend who is helping me build a PC before college so I can stream and play Starcraft II on at least Medium settings, etc. (I currently play on a Sony Vaio laptop, so you can get a general feel for how the game is for me =/, lagging after 70 food, etc, miracle how I got to Masters on this thing.....) Just wanted second opinions on this. Was aiming for around $700-800, but pushing $1,000 is fine. I just want to make sure I still have money for college, etc. I've never built a PC before so I'm not really focusing on overclocking it right now. Any feedback would be great! The link doesn't work. Like what do you need? Everything or just the Tower?
Posted a new link on my original post and all the stuff on the page included with it. Sorry!
And to jacosajh I do plan on streaming, but likely not at max settings.
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EPT
