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Not worth purchasing. For the sole purpose of Starcraft II, you can build yourself a computer for $400 that's better.
The only things that makes that computer worth purchasing is the software if it's all legit.
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Hey all, I've decided I want to buy my first desktop computer since my laptop is subpar for doing what I want to do, problem is as a first time builder and an indecisive person, I'm having a lot of trouble deciding what to get. I'm hoping some experienced PC builders can give me some advice. Here are the details:
I plan to use the computer for playing starcraft 2 and other modern games, preferably at very high settings. I want to be able to stream games in high resolution as well as simultaneously running the webcam too. I will also be using the computer for video encoding.
Budget is an interesting thing. I'm willing to spend about 2,000US but I'm also gonna need to pick up a monitor (25inch, probably costing 260), a blue switch mechanical keyboard (100ish), a new mouse (60), a webcam (100), and a headset+microphone (no idea about this cost yet, haven't been able to find a good model, open to suggestions here). Added all together that leaves my left over budget for my hardware and headphone+mic somewhere around 1,480.
I do not need an operating system, I already have a copy of windows 7 lying around.
I want to build it within the next two week. I'm tired of procrastinating! 
I plan on overclocking, to get more bang for my buck of course.
In the future I plan on adding a second GPU when I get the funds, but I'm not sure this is the best thing for me right now.
I prefer not to need to do any major upgrades for about 1.5 years, although I might make small upgrades in between that time period (such as adding another GPU, etc.)
I will probably buy my parts online from newegg in the US.
So now that the details are out of the way, let me talk about some of the components I've looked up on my own and considered buying. Like I already stated, I have very little experience. Generally what I do is go to newegg.com, go to one of the hardware sections (for example, CPU) and then pick the ones that have the best ratings and choose from there based on what I read. Unfortunately, I understand very little of what I'm reading. I want to get the parts that are right for what I need, as well as get the most out of my money. So please feel free to give my suggestions on the items I've already picked. I will try to when possible describe why I've chosen the below items:
Case: $140 (after rebate)
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Compucase Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
I like this case because of the cable management, the peace of mind that the roominess it has brings to me (terrified I might have components that don't fit), all the fans, and the sexy look. That last one is obviously not very important, it was just an added plus.
Some concerns about this: Am I buying too nice of a case for my budget? Do I need to be worried about my case size that much?
CPU: $220 (more for 1 year warranty, is this worth 20$?)
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
Is this enough CPU power for what I need? Would I be better off getting that new 8 core AMD (which I hear is supposed to be better than the i5) or an i7 2600k?
Motherboard: $160
ASRock P67 EXTREME4 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157265
Is this overkill?
GPU: $230 (after rebate)
EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604
Storage: Haven't decided yet, at least 1 TB of storage, and if it fits in my budget I'd like to get an SSD for things like my operating system, starcraft 2, chrome, etc. Just a few of my most used programs.
Heatsink: Again unsure of what to get, open to suggestions.
PSU: Something modular sounds nice, just not sure how much of a premium this will add. I don't want to skimp on a power supply of course, but I don't want to overspend.
Memory: I was thinking I should at least get 8GB for encoding, but I have yet to figure out what I should get.
Optical Drive: I'll probably end up getting a blu-ray reader, maybe in the future add on a DVD-RW so I can burn things.
Any help would be appreciated. I know I left a lot of stuff open, but that is just because I'm indecissive and inexperienced, and feeling very overwhelmed about all the options I have right now. I'm about to make a big investment and I really don't want to waste my money. Thank you for taking time to help me out on this.
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You say "headset+mic" and then "headphone+mic" later. Do you mean a headset (with microphone) or headphones (no microphone) plus a separate microphone product? Is the focus on audio quality for music (and what kind of music?), movies, positional accuracy for FPS games, or just voice communications and normal game sounds? Do you need sound isolating or not?
As for the case, if that's what you want, then sure, but you really don't need a full tower. Silverstone TJ08-E is about 15" by 15" and fits the longest graphics cards ever produced as well as most of the hugest CPU tower heatsinks. Cooling performance is better than many larger cases because having a lot of space internally is disadvantageous for cooling, as dead space is no good and air mostly takes the path of least resistance (in a lot of cases, in through some fans and out through some fans, without passing by any components you want to cool). Regardless, that can be made up with, by using huge amounts of fans like the HAF 932 does. It's overkill for most setups for sure.
edit: I'm just making a point that there are a lot of mid towers or smaller that could hold everything you need.
I'd forget about multiple GPUs unless you want to game across multiple monitors or use one of those 27" or higher 2560x1440 resolution monitors.
That makes the AsRock P67 Extreme4 overkill. Currently, the AsRock Z68 Pro3 at $105 is a good value:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157251
Crucial M4 64GB is a decent SSD for $110:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441
If you are putting programs on mechanical storage, I'd go with a 7200 rpm model like a Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB for $60:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185
You can get a cheap 2TB drive for pure storage later, if necessary.
Unless you're looking for low noise or breaking OC records, a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus or Xigmatek Gaia or similar tower heatsink with 120mm fan, should be plenty for an i5-2500k.
Modular power supplies aren't so special IMHO, unless for some reason you're getting an overkill large-wattage unit with lots of cables that you're not using. It's not hard to stash away a few extra cables.
You probably don't need 8GB of RAM, even for encoding, but with that budget, why not? It's like $35-40 these days in all.
If you get a Blu-Ray reader with the intention of playing Blu-Ray movies, note that you need specialized software for that. You can purchase it separately, but some drives come bundled with software too.
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You can get a better build if you want it for Starcraft specifically, it offers a decent graphics card and the software is nice, but you can get more bang for your buck buying new components yourself that are more current and perform better (especially the processor for SC2).
If you buy all your software legitly and DO want it (office, windows, etc.) and you can't get windows at a discount then I'd say go for it. It's not absurdly bad, although it is used =/. Think for qualifying students, windows is like $30 and office is like $60 or 90 so there's a lot of money right there. If you aren't a student and want those two, then yeah def take it  .
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On October 19 2011 15:51 FabledIntegral wrote:You can get a better build if you want it for Starcraft specifically, it offers a decent graphics card and the software is nice, but you can get more bang for your buck buying new components yourself that are more current and perform better (especially the processor for SC2). If you buy all your software legitly and DO want it (office, windows, etc.) and you can't get windows at a discount then I'd say go for it. It's not absurdly bad, although it is used =/. Think for qualifying students, windows is like $30 and office is like $60 or 90 so there's a lot of money right there. If you aren't a student and want those two, then yeah def take it .
Imo warranty is worth quite a bit so honestly I wouldn't get that one.
Celeron G530 is better than that CPU and you can build a celeron computer with a 6850 for like 350$ so with windows cost is about the same. and you get warranties
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On October 19 2011 11:15 Myrmidon wrote:
You say "headset+mic" and then "headphone+mic" later. Do you mean a headset (with microphone) or headphones (no microphone) plus a separate microphone product? Is the focus on audio quality for music (and what kind of music?), movies, positional accuracy for FPS games, or just voice communications and normal game sounds? Do you need sound isolating or not?
Sorry for the confusion, let me clarify. I meant, in both instances, a headset that has a microphone attached (helicopter pilot style!). It's main purpose will be voice communcation and game sounds. I will be using it for pretty much everything I do on the computer, but I'm not a huge audiophile, so I wouldn't go overboard. I was considering the Astro headset, but those are about the max amount I would consider spending on a headset, and of course the more I spend on those, the less I can spend on the actual computer. I'm willing to put the money into it of I get overall quality out of it.
As for the case, if that's what you want, then sure, but you really don't need a full tower. Silverstone TJ08-E is about 15" by 15" and fits the longest graphics cards ever produced as well as most of the hugest CPU tower heatsinks. Cooling performance is better than many larger cases because having a lot of space internally is disadvantageous for cooling, as dead space is no good and air mostly takes the path of least resistance (in a lot of cases, in through some fans and out through some fans, without passing by any components you want to cool). Regardless, that can be made up with, by using huge amounts of fans like the HAF 932 does. It's overkill for most setups for sure.
Any added benefits for going with the full tower as far as future upgrades go? I only add about 20$ by getting the full tower, since shipping is free on the HAF and it comes with a rebate, whereas the silverstone has 20$ shipping. $20 isn't too bad to have a case that can serve me for extra years.
I'd forget about multiple GPUs unless you want to game across multiple monitors or use one of those 27" or higher 2560x1440 resolution monitors.
In the future I would like to add more monitors, but for the time being I'm gonna use a 1900x1080 resolution on this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236123
Assuming that is a good buy (any suggestions?)
Thanks for the suggestions on the Motherboard, Hard drive, and SSD. I'll look them up today.
You probably don't need 8GB of RAM, even for encoding, but with that budget, why not? It's like $35-40 these days in all.
Does it matter what kind of 8GB RAM I get? Is all RAM created equal?
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That monitor's good if you don't mind the price.
For a monitor of that size in 1080p, you probably would want a 6970 or a GTX 570 so that you can use some moderate anti-aliasing.
Instead of that case I'd get something like HAF 912 or maybe Cooler Master 690 II Advanced as they work well / better and are significantly cheaper.
Extreme4 is kind of a waste unless you want to use multiple GPUs, the 43C that's 90$, 60$ after MIR should work just fine for you.
With that said, ideally for the ~1400$ budget you'd probably want to get about 3 monitors and a 6950 2gb crossfire setup. Apart from that, a Nvidia solution with a 3d monitor might make sense.
If you're planning on playing with the 1080p monitor for a long time, crossfired 6870s would probably be the most cost-effective, but alternatively you can go for a cheaper mobo and a GTX 580 for quite maximal performance, as well.
for RAM just get the cheapest 1333mhz 8gb kit, 40$ is a good price.
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5930 Posts
Any added benefits for going with the full tower as far as future upgrades go? I only add about 20$ by getting the full tower, since shipping is free on the HAF and it comes with a rebate, whereas the silverstone has 20$ shipping. $20 isn't too bad to have a case that can serve me for extra years.
No. Full towers are dumb things to buy unless you are rolling eATX (better hope you have dual CPUs in there), need room for a billion hard disks, or watercooling hardware (don't do this).
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Any advice on ~2 TB internal storage drives? The samsung f4 seems to among the cheaper I can find. Is it a decent drive? What do you get for the added cost of going with an WD caviar green?
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Are there any consumer level dual CPU motherboards in existence? Like socket 1155?
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5930 Posts
Samsung F4 is fine. If you're just going to shove them into your desktop and forget, it doesn't really matter *too* much what you pick.
If its for something like Windows Home Server, you'd probably go with neither since they both use 4k clustering.
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Yeah it's for my desktop. I fill up them harddrives like crazy. I have an ssd and another smaller hdd for os and programs and I really need a large one I can dump media files and such in. I was only curious if there was anything special to consider for the larger drives since I've never really had a single drive over 500 GB.
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samsung f4 seems to be a good one, I'm not sure what the difference between that and the 5900rpm barracuda is though as the samsung seems to score better in average seek times anyway
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On October 19 2011 19:50 Shikyo wrote:
That monitor's good if you don't mind the price.
The next choice would've been the same brand only 23 inch size, for $60 less. I kinda like the extra 2 inches.
For a monitor of that size in 1080p, you probably would want a 6970 or a GTX 570 so that you can use some moderate anti-aliasing.
If it were you which of the two would you choose and why?
Instead of that case I'd get something like HAF 912 or maybe Cooler Master 690 II Advanced as they work well / better and are significantly cheaper.
Wow, I like both of those. Thanks! I'll swap the original case for one of those two, which should help me shave some bucks off my budget.
Extreme4 is kind of a waste unless you want to use multiple GPUs, the 43C that's 90$, 60$ after MIR should work just fine for you.
With that said, ideally for the ~1400$ budget you'd probably want to get about 3 monitors and a 6950 2gb crossfire setup. Apart from that, a Nvidia solution with a 3d monitor might make sense.
I could do that with my budget? Wow. Well pretending I had a bigger desk (and a larger apartment to fit said desk), could you tickle my fancy and tell me how I could accomplish such a build with my desired performance on my budget? I never imagined in my wildest computer dreams I had enough funds to purchase such an ostentatious yet entirely fantastical machine. I'm pretty excited right now!
If you're planning on playing with the 1080p monitor for a long time, crossfired 6870s would probably be the most cost-effective, but alternatively you can go for a cheaper mobo and a GTX 580 for quite maximal performance, as well.
Which would be more cost effective for my build, assuming I go this route?
for RAM just get the cheapest 1333mhz 8gb kit, 40$ is a good price.
Awesome! That makes things a lot more simple. I'll get RAM with those specs
On October 19 2011 20:35 Womwomwom wrote:
No. Full towers are dumb things to buy unless you are rolling eATX (better hope you have dual CPUs in there), need room for a billion hard disks, or watercooling hardware (don't do this).
Thanks for the simple honesty, I will scratch a full tower off my list.
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So what would be a cheap european site that has a decent selection of water cooling components and that ships to Finland? Jimms.fi just too pricey.
GTX 570 for a single monitor setup because it's cheaper, 6970 for multiple ones because it scales better.
There's other viable cases as well, those are just options, I think that the case you were originally planning was too costly for too little extra benefit(and no dust filters).
Might be able to do that with your budget yeah depending on what kind of monitors you'd go for though it'd be stretching it, I actually think that it might not be the best thing to do.
Well imo 6870s are always the most cost-effective when the price point becomes viable because they just scale so well. GTX 580 would be for when you don't want to bother with a dual GPU setup.
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On October 19 2011 02:33 Myrmidon wrote:
Neo Eco also has the -$10 promo code. Aside from that, it sounds about right.
Sound card to be used with what? Headphones, speakers (how many channels?), microphone, line-in recording, what other I/O needed?
Tbh I haven't figured all that out yet I guess probably just headphones and speakers (not surround sound though). I'll have to get back to you on that
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The Fatal1ty just looks like a rebranded Pro3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157230
If you're talking about the 64mb Caviar Blacks, the price difference is primarily attributed to the two extra years of warranty (for a total of five years) it provides over its competitors which carry three year warranties such as the Samsung Spinpoint F3. The performance difference between it and a HDD such as the Spinpoint F3 is negligible.
The difference in having tighter timings is negligible so no it's not worth it. Just get the least expensive 2x4gb 1333MHz cas9 kit.
Overall, the configuration is good.
NCIX tends to have better pricing than Newegg. Their new sale starts tonight so I'd advise waiting. Windows 7 is usually $90 (as opposed to $100 on Newegg), Hyper 212+ was $23 last week, GTX 560 Ti -AR was $220 last week, Mushkin 2x4gb kit was $35 for the last few weeks (likely to be $35 again this week) as opposed to $40 for whatever brand on Newegg), and likely some power supply deal as good as the Antec Neo Eco to be had as well. All with free shipping, shipped from Cali.
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Out of options at microcenter, regardless of branding, that AsRock Fatal1ty motherboard seems okay. There's the Z68 Pro3-M, but that's pretty much paying the same for less features.
Yeah look for basically any 1333 MHz RAM. 1.5 V rated RAM is preferred as that's the voltage that Sandy Bridge is supposed to be running, but that's not a huge deal.
Extra cache (over what common models use) will have a very marginal impact on HDD performance. It's likely not necessary, but a dedicated or at least second hard drive to be dumping FRAPs footage to, would be preferred.
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That CL8 ram is very nice after rebate. When you think about it, half a frame is probably like 1% of performance, and if you pay 5 dollars extra in a 1000$ build for 1% of performance, you actually get twice the value, not to mention better overclocking headroom.
All the parts seem good, for mobo you might want to consider something like AsRock P67 Pro3 as it's quite cheap.
For GPU I probably would get something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125385
just because it's so good for the money.
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EPT
Lurker , anyways I'M just looking for advice on purchasing a New PC for the sole purpose of playing SC2. In particular I was wondering how this one would do: 
