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On June 03 2011 01:55 skyR wrote:
@deathly rat
What is your budget?
You have a three year old prebuilt Dell. Any worthwhile / not a waste of money upgrade requires a new motherboard, new processor, new memory, new power supply, and new graphics card. You would essentially be building an entirely new computer.
Your current motherboard supports DDR2 memory and LGA775 processors. All newer motherboards are only capable of DDR3 and the two types of memory are not interchangeable. All the newer processors are also on new sockets such as LGA1155. If you're not willing to buy a used LGA775 for less than $100, it would not be worth it to spend $200 on a brand new LGA775 processor as the newer LGA1155 processors also cost the same and greatly outperform the older processors.
You could upgrade your graphics card without upgrading the power supply but you would be limited to the ones that do not require a 6pin PCIe connector (the ones that use very little power) such as a Radeon HD6670 which would handle medium at 1080p.
I'm aware that my PC is a POS, and if I wanted to I could go out and buy a whole other PC. I don't really play a lot of games on my PC, only Starcraft. Buying an entire PC so that I can play Starcraft on nice settings seems OTT to me, so I'll probably stick with min settings if this is the case.
I'm just curious to see if I can nudge what I've already got up to the recommended requirements so that I can run the game on high/medium settings. If the answer is no, waste of time, then so be it.
As for budget. I just want to be able to run Sc2. I don't want to run SC2, Crysis 2, Itunes, IE and Cubase all at once. Just enough for nicely able to run SC2, you know?
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Both your processor and graphics card are holding you back from playing Starcraft II on high settings smoothly.
If you're not willing to replace your power supply, the best card that you can get is a Radeon HD6670 which will be able to do medium at 1080p smoothly.
I'm not sure if the motherboard found in the Inspiron 530 is capable of supporting 45nm processors or even any of the better 65nm processors as your current processor has a FSB of 800MHz while some of the better ones require a 1066MHz or 1333MHz FSB.
It's definitely a loss cause here imo... it's best to just build yourself a new computer. I don't know the pricing in Europe but in the US / Canada, a computer capable of handling SC2 on high/ultra can easily be built for $500 or less which is about £300 (using xe.com).
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Ok, thanks for the advice.
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Hey, I'm looking for some input on a build. The situation is that I will be using this computer for 1-2 years. I would like to play sc2 on ultra settings no problem but I probably will not be using it for anything more demanding than that, however I would certainly like some breathing room in terms of capabilities (civ 5 is more demanding than sc2 right?) in case I decide to play other games. After my 1-2 years of usage it will be my parent's replacement computer which they will be looking to use for a while. My younger brother will also be using this computer for some gaming, but nothing too demanding.
I don't know about in the future, but for now the resolution will be 1440x900 so that lessens the graphics needs. In terms of budget under $800 might be nice but not if performance or longevity (especially important) are compromised. up to $1000 I think is acceptable (but my intuition and research says that it will be less). Although I would really like to OC just for the fun of it, I really don't think I will because my parents don't need it. No need to factor in OS, but i may have somee questions about it.
So I'm thinking of something like this:
i5 2400
H67
GTS 450
In terms of RAM, is 8 GB recommended for a pc that will need to last a while doing things like word processing or internet browsing? I know nothing about recommended brands for any of the parts so some suggestions there would be helpful. I also know nothing about cases, but I really don't care what it looks like as long as the parts fit and it stays cool. Is the graphicd card overkill? Underkill? Just right? HDD I think 500 GB is fine, anything cheap. An SSD may be invested in, depends on the total price. PSU I don't know about. Any help is appreciated. Newegg, NCIX, tigerdirect are all options for purchasing.
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Thank you very much for the prompt response! To my eyes, that looks great. Great price too, can't thank you enough for doing all that pricematching hunting. I assume it will become apparent after I go to buy the stuff on ncix, but how does the pricematching work? Does it take some time to confirm the prices? ie Should I try and order asap so that the prices dont change?
With monitors, if I'm looking at a 1080p one, what is desirable? What should I be looking for? About how much would it cost?
I think I'm not going to get the SSD, just because I don't think it will be necessary. I'm still on the fence about overclocking. Do you think the benefits outweigh the cost even though the computer will be my parents' within a timeframe of a couple years? Do all the parts in the computer have their own individual warranties?
Also, I'm not sure if it's going to be necessary but how would a wireless card fit into all this?
Once again, thank you so much, from what I've seen you're the most helpful person on these forums.
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For NCIX, you add the product to your cart and start a pricematch by entering the price and source url. The process isn't automatic and requires a customer rep to confirm and process the order so don't order on Friday or Saturday.
Each component will have it's own warranty:
Memory will be lifetime warranty regardless of which brand you decide to end up with. Motherboards tend to come with a one year or three year warranty. The CX430 V2 power supply comes with a three year warranty, the XFX power supply comes with a five year warranty upon registration.
EVGA has product numbers that end in -KR, -AR, or -TR. -TR is standard three year warranty. -AR is lifetime warranty. -KR is standard three year warranty with the option of paying extra for five or ten year warranty but due to a promotion right now, you get a ten year warranty for free.
Remember to register each part on the manufacturer's websites as most warranties only apply after you register your product or you are stuck with the standard one year or three year warranty.
You can check specifics on each manufacturer's website if you're concerned but that's usually how it is.
A wireless card will just go into a PCI-E or PCI slot, they're usually about $30?
If you're giving up the computer in a years time, it's probably not worth it to get into overclocking. You can see the difference in different clockspeeds here for the 2500k in various tasks (gaming, encoding, etc): http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-2600k-990x.html Overclocking is about $70 or so more expensive.
Generally, TN monitors are all the same. A 1080p TN monitor should be in the range of $100 - $300 depending on what features, brand, connections, etc you want. If you're looking for colour accuracy or good viewing angles than you would want an IPS monitor which start at $300.
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Thank you for your help, I will look into the monitor situation. I will not do the overclocking, I'll stick with the current processor and mobo, and I think I'll also stick with the GPU you suggested. My last question for now is simply which of the two power supplies you gave would you choose? As I'm not going to OC I'm leaning towards the 430w, does that make sense to you? Or is the 550w just a safer bet, because if it is worth the investement I have no qualms with spending the extra couple bucks.
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Thanks. Is it a big deal if I wait a little while (a week or so) before purchasing the components? Will the deals on the pricematches have changed?
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Pricing should be the same so shouldn't be too big of a concern if you wait a week or two.
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Btw I think XFX Core 450/550W have 3 years warranty. The 5 years warranty is just for the SS-xxxAT units (650/750/850W), which should really be marketed under a different product line.
Likewise, Antec only offers 3 years warranty on the Neo Eco and HCG units that are S12II builds. They also give a 5 year warranty on their 750/900W Delta-built HCG units. wtf.
I think Seasonic under Seasonic brand is the only one selling S12II with 5 years warranty, not like there's anything really different about them compared to the XFX Core or Antec HCG.
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All XFX power supplies come with five year warranty after registration. If you don't register it within a certain timeframe after purchase, you get the standard three year warranty (or maybe two?).
http://xfxforce.com/en-us/Products/PSU/Pro-Series/550W-PSU.aspx?product=34658
Not sure why XFX website has different model numbers than the ones found at every retailer though. XXB9 vs NLB9 ?.?
Antec is weird >.>
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I stand corrected, I think.
On a side note, they're replacing the Black Edition with Pro____ XXX Edition, which are the same identical M12D units internally, just with a different housing and black fan now. And this is clearly different than their original 650W XXX Edition.
Now I'm just confused. I give up. x_x
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It's more of a line up restructure than replacement. The new units which are based off the Seasonic X 80+ Plat & Gold units are being named the Black Edition =p
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Australia11 Posts
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On June 03 2011 09:48 Fisiks wrote:This is my build atm, if anyone can let me know if this stuffs fine for ocing and upgrading gpu to a gtx560 ish model within a few months, id be very grateful  dvd drive, case, psu i havent decided on yet, will probably get coolermaster stuff, not that worried atm about it.
If you get a Cooler Master PSU that's not a Silent Pro, you likely should be worried about it. Most of them are mediocre at best, with the exception of the GX450, which is an okay but unremarkable budget unit. Of the power supplies offered, the Antec Neo Eco are the best values.
Caviar Blacks are a little better than most 7200 rpm hard drives, but the difference is very small and not worth worrying about. Others are slightly better in sequential speeds or are much cheaper. Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB is both, at $59:
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210_344&products_id=12711
RAM speeds have a fairly negligible impact on most application performance, so I'd just get the cheapest 8GB kit in general.
What you will actually want is an aftermarket cooler to facilitate any CPU overclocks and keep temperature lower. Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus is $33:
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=12544
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Listen to Myrm. A cheap PSU can be the most expensive component you ever buy if it decides to nuke your CPU and Motherboard. I had a $45 thermaltake cost over 10x what I paid for it.
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Australia11 Posts
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I defer to Myrmidon and skyR on that, because if I try to verify my answer first to be sure, and give you an answer, it's guaranteed they'll beat me to it.
And of course, they don't beat me to it when I answer that way. 450w should work fine iirc.
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EPT
