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On February 27 2011 03:33 Mischi wrote:
I don't know exactly where you are gonna buy, but the parts should be within you budget.
CPU: i7-2600k ( I think the CS5 stuff will profit from that, if not please somebody correct me on that)
At best HT benchmarks about 10% faster in photoshop CS4, not really worth the extra price over the i5-2500k imo unless you are doing heavy video encoding
On February 25 2011 22:26 ForgottenOne wrote:
What I'm looking is for a system that at peak usage will make navigation though the system, opening/closing tools and short commands to happen instantly while everything is working in the background; and the long tasks happen relatively quickly while not trading responsiveness.
Hard drives are usually the bottleneck in system responsiveness. 8gb of ram might benefit you but an SSD would matter most for that
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What is your budget?
$1000? I wouldn't mind adding a couple more bucks if needed though.
What is your resolution?
1280x720 at least but 1920x1080 would be nice
What are you using it for?
Gaming (SC2)/Streaming/Casting
What is your upgrade cycle?
2-3 years
When do you plan on building it?
Around Spring or Summer but I can wait til fall season
Do you plan on overclocking?
No but if it will drastically shorten the cost of the custom computer then I will take it into consideration
Do you need an Operating System?
No.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
Yes I mean it does help boost performance so might as well. If it's unnecessary however, then I guess I will not get it then.
Where are you buying your parts from?
Fry's/Newegg/Other Online Sites
Comment:
I am leaning more and more towards getting a SSD to put my OS and SC2 on it. So if you can point me to one that would fit Windows 7 64-bit and SC2 would be awesome 
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Hey guys quick question. Will the Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 power an hd 5870 along with an overclocked i5 2500k and the rest of the system? Just making sure because I am not sure about how efficient this power supply is.
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@.kv:
You should probably ask again when you're going to build then. Prices change and new products emerge quickly.
Pretty much any 32GB or higher SSD will hold Windows 7 and SC2, but surely you want something with enough capacity to hold other programs? With the budget, you could get a 120GB SSD if you wanted.
On February 27 2011 17:03 bonedOUT wrote:
Hey guys quick question. Will the Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 power an hd 5870 along with an overclocked i5 2500k and the rest of the system? Just making sure because I am not sure about how efficient this power supply is.
Power supplies are rated for DC output, not the AC power they take from the wall to produce that output. So efficiency has nothing to do with it, unless you mean something other than power conversion ratio by "efficiency."
The Neo Eco 520C is a bit overkill if anything for an overclocked i5-2500k and HD 5870. It should give you a comfortable margin. You could run it on the Neo Eco 400C, but at $40 the 520C is only $5 more and a steal.
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On February 27 2011 17:40 Myrmidon wrote:@.kv: You should probably ask again when you're going to build then. Prices change and new products emerge quickly. Pretty much any 32GB or higher SSD will hold Windows 7 and SC2, but surely you want something with enough capacity to hold other programs? With the budget, you could get a 120GB SSD if you wanted. Show nested quote +On February 27 2011 17:03 bonedOUT wrote:
Hey guys quick question. Will the Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 power an hd 5870 along with an overclocked i5 2500k and the rest of the system? Just making sure because I am not sure about how efficient this power supply is. Power supplies are rated for DC output, not the AC power they take from the wall to produce that output. So efficiency has nothing to do with it, unless you mean something other than power conversion ratio by "efficiency." The Neo Eco 520C is a bit overkill if anything for an overclocked i5-2500k and HD 5870. It should give you a comfortable margin. You could run it on the Neo Eco 400C, but at $40 the 520C is only $5 more and a steal.
Thanks for the quick response! I just have an additional question regarding cases. Frys has the antec 300 for $40 and I am wondering if it would be an okay case for the 5870. I already did some research and it barely fits, but what I am concerned about is the airflow in the antec 300. It seems rather small and perhaps it is worth it for a larger case considering the parts? I do not want to skimp on the case only to regret not getting a larger case for better airflow. What do you think?
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I can build it now (spring time)
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If you can wait a month or two for sandy bridge motherboards to come back on the market, do that
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Hi guys!
I want to upgrade my gear in the next couple months, this is what I'm currently running:
Proc : Dual core E6600
Ram : 4gb DDR2
Graphic card : 8800 GTX
HDs : got a couple Samsungs 500 and 750 gb
PSU : Seasonic M12-700 (it's about 3 years old though now, not sure if it would be wiser to change it as well)
I had a look at the last few pages and well, tell me if I'm wrong but I believe the only things I really need to upgrade are mainboard/proc/graphic card/ram and get an SSD to run the system. And maybe PSU if you guys think it would be better.
And so far it pretty much looks like this :
Intel Core i5-2500K Box, LGA1155
Sapphire HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express
4GB-Kit G-Skill Ripjaws PC3-10667U CL9
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3P, Intel P67, ATX
Corsair Force SSD 60GB 6,4cm (2,5") SATA II
Now the questions :
What is your budget?
About 800/1000€ I'd say. Reliability is important to me though, I don't mind throwing in a few more bucks to pay for a "better" brand which I know is less likely to cause problems over time.
What is your resolution?
1680x1050 usually.
What are you using it for?
Gaming mostly.
What is your upgrade cycle?
2-3 years
When do you plan on building it?
In the next few months unless something really big comes out a bit after that, I can survive without it for a bit.
Do you plan on overclocking?
I'm really not sure on that, I have very little knowledge about overclocking (apart from the general concept) and I'm always scared it's gonna fuck something up. I'm not even sure if your warranty gets voided if you overclock which is something that might have me choose against it.
Do you need an Operating System?
No.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
Not at first, from what I've read it would be obsolete with this graphic card, at least for a while.
Where are you buying your parts from?
Not sure actually, I "prepared" the list on www.hardwareversand.de but I've been living in Germany for a couple years and I've never bought hardware yet so I'm not sure where is best. If anyone has a tip please feel free to give opinions
I think that's it, hope I didn't forget anything!
[Edit] Oh yeah, I know the card is 2GB while I've mostly seen 1GB advised in the last few pages, not sure if that's important? I've always been told it matters for higher resolutions and well, while not the highest, 1680x1050 is already rather high I believe. If it really won't do any difference (even in the future) then I'll go for the 1GB.
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You can check prices for german online stores at geizhals.at/de .
hardwareversand.de is pretty good though, you won't get much better prices for the most parts.
Your selection iis pretty good.
If you don't plan on buying a monitor with a higher resolution the 6950 is probably overkill though.
Also you should wait for the new SSDs that will probably released within the next 2 weeks. (You can already get the new Intel one, but the new Sandforce ones look more promising)
PSU is more than enough.
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Alright, I think i'll stay on the 6950 though as I like having the possibility to upgrade (who knows, maybe I'll change monitor in a while) and well, it's within my price range.
As for the SSD, I'm fairly new to it. Which brands are best? I picked a Corsair based on a couple reviews I read and the name (unless it's changed since I last had a look, Corsair's always been a pretty solid brand) but maybe I'm wrong. The "new" SSDs you're talking about, what do they bring? I've tried to google for some news but can't really seem to find much information about it. Found a couple news but that's it, and from what I read they're more expensive than what I'm willing to pay. I just want something that runs my system fast.
And again about the PSU - so it doesn't matter that it's a bit old? Not sure if you lose performance over time and if it's a big deal or not.
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PSUs lose some performance and effectiveness over time, but not that much.
For your setup 400-450W is sufficient, so a 3 year old 700W from Antec should really be enough.
There are basically three different relevant controllers out at the moment: Intel, Marvel and Sandforce.
Besides that there is hardly any difference between SSDs, so it doesn't matter what Sandforce SSD you get and I recommend Sandforce, since it is the best value atm.
Here is a review of the new Sandforce Controller: click me
If you want to get the old ones, I would wait anyway since prices should drop.
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Alright, guess I'll wait for OCZ to release a 60 gb or so version of the Vertex 3 and hope it won't be too pricy. Thanks for all the info!
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On February 27 2011 20:43 Aduromors wrote:
If you can wait a month or two for sandy bridge motherboards to come back on the market, do that
Okay...thanks
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On February 27 2011 20:43 Aduromors wrote:
If you can wait a month or two for sandy bridge motherboards to come back on the market, do that
I'd say a week or two, because the new boards will be on the market in the EU next week.
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Hello! I am looking at getting a new computer, but I am sadly lacking in technical knowledge.  Hopefully you guys can help me out.
What is your budget?
From preliminary browsing of interent sites, I think I'll be looking at around CDN $2000, but I am willing to spend as much as $2500 if the extra will make a significant difference.
What is your resolution?
At the moment, I play games on fairly low res simply because my computer is garbage, but I want to be able to run SC2 (and any other game I choose to play in the near future) on max settings with a good (60+) framerate.
What are you using it for?
I will be using the machine for gaming ( SC2 atm, but I have other games like Borderlands and Dragon Age that I have simply been unable to play due to current system). I also plan to get into streaming and video encoding (part of the reason for the new computer), so I would like to be able to stream SC2 with as high quality as possible, while recording video and audio for VoDs.
What is your upgrade cycle?
From past experience, I tend to go about 2 years between upgrades. I would prefer to get pretty top end parts on this upgd tho, due do the nature of what I want to do with it.
When do you plan on building it?
ASAP!!! :p Seriously though, I would like to have it within 2 weeks.
Do you plan on overclocking?
I would like it to be overclocked, but I don't know how to go about that on my own, so buying from a place that does that for me would be preferable.
Do you need an Operating System?
I need Windows 7. Whether the ultra version or the standard is better for my purposes, I don't know, so I'll leave that in your hands. 
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
That really depends on your recommendations. If it's preferable to have two GPUs for my purposes, then by all means I will get them, but if 1 top end card is more than adequate, I'll probably go that route.
Where are you buying your parts from?
I live in Edmonton, Alberta at the moment, so somewhere that can deliver here, obviously lol. The other requirements would be that they can build and test the system before shipping, and that they can overclock it for me as well, since I don't know how. Basically, I'm happy buying it from anyone who meets my requirements and charges the least. The sites I have looked at (albeit briefly) are:
http://etccomputer.ca/ - The advantage of this site is they build, test, and overclock the rig for free.
http://ncix.com/ - I ordered from this site once before, but my friend assembled the computer, and damaged it in the process, so if they do assembly/testing/overclocking now, then I'd be fine with that.
I hope I have provided all the necessary info, but if you need more, please let me know and I'll be happy to provide it!
-edited for bold headlines/ease of reading
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Thanks so much for the quick and detailed response! :D
Couple of questions.... Will the system you've quoted me here be able to run other (potentially more needy) games that are either out now, or will be released soon, on max settings? I know, you can't tell the future as far as games that will come out and their requirements, I'm just looking for a ballpark estimate.
Thanks again, I really appreciate you taking the time to gather all this info for a tech newb like myself.
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In general, yes it can run those games on max settings on 1920x1200 or something like that. Those parts are very strong, and you'd be getting quality all around even in terms of the things that don't directly impact performance much (like the case).
But if you want to spend closer to $2000 and don't mind getting something with worse price/performance, you could try a stronger and more expensive GPU than the GTX 560. e.g. GTX 580, GTX 570, HD 6970, HD 6950. It'd stick with the GTX 560 though, since it's probably a better value and is sufficient for current games. It's not hard to replace a GPU in a couple years if you want something better then.
I would get the i5-2500k rather than the i7-2600k though, even if you're streaming while playing games. The difference between the CPUs is pretty much just hyperthreading, which makes a 20-30% difference at best but usually closer to 0% depending on what you're running, so it's not worth the $100 cost difference between the two.
Note that next-generation SSDs will be arriving very shortly to market. For example, Intel's 510 series is supposed to be available tomorrow. That would be more expensive than a first-gen SandForce controller SSD like the OCZ Vertex 2, but performance should be overall better. Intel seems to have the best reputation in terms of drive reliability, though that could just be earlier models. I'm not too sure. Next-gen SandForce like on the Vertex 3 may be even better, but it may not be available when you want to buy.
edit: if you want NCIX to assemble, you'd want to select the assembly+testing fee option and put that in the cart too, as skyR mentioned:
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=7842&vpn=PC-ASSEMBLY&manufacture=NCIXPC
I'm also not sure if NCIX will overclock for you, but overclocking a i5-2500k or i7-2600k is pretty straightforward (if you have to do it yourself). It's simple to the point that some overclocking hobbyists are upset at the nature of the process.
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The details might be a bit vague, because I'm posting on behalf of a friend.
What is your budget?
Roughly $1000.
What is your resolution?
1280x1024 most likely. A step up from that is possible but not too likely.
What are you using it for?
This computer will be used to operate a Point of Sale system together with music, videos (including Blu-Ray quality), and games such as Civilization 5 and Dragon Age. Will be hooked up to an LCD monitor as well as a plasma TV, so it should have two display outputs.
What is your upgrade cycle?
2+ years. This computer will probably used for 3+ years, even.
When do you plan on building it?
As soon as possible. No rush, but no reason to wait either.
Do you plan on overclocking?
Probably not. As this computer will be used in a shop, it must not be made any less reliable than necessary.
Do you need an Operating System?
Probably not. We're in a position to get Windows 7 legally and for free.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
Only if taking the option doesn't put us over budget and increases performance significantly better than it would otherwise.
Where are you buying your parts from?
Most likely only Korean shops. Ordering from Amazon is a possibility, considering that they sell at least some parts much cheaper (my friend told me that the newest Intel processors are listed at almost half the price), but I must research how risky it is. For information on prices in Korea, the website "danawa.co.kr" should give you an idea. Type the name of the item into the search bar, and you'll start seeing numbers (in KRW... they're about 1,200 KRW to a USD).
Comments
We're only looking at the actual computer. Already have keyboard, mouse, monitor.
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CPU ~220$
Mainboard ~200$ (all mainboards seems pretty expensive on that site..)
RAM ~53$
Graphics ~200$
HDD ~54$
PSU ~67€
+ any case you like
You can save some money and get a worse graphics card, if you really want to stick to 1280x1024, something like a Radeon 5770.
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EPT
