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When using this resource, please read FragKrag's opening post. The Tech Support forum regulars have helped create countless of desktop systems without any compensation. The least you can do is provide all of the information required for them to help you properly. |
Just realized that I should have put this in this particular thread rather than making one for it:
I recently ordered a computer and got a very cheap price for around 875 USD including shipping, extra packaging care and better "heatsink" stuff, although I'm not a comp guru so I only got that because it was $10 more. This is the build and I would like you all to tell me if it will stand up to SC2 on Ultra (all settings) while also running things like iTunes and FireFox in the background, no downloads or anything of course. My hope is that it will be able to do all this on atleast all on High though if not Ultra. Thanks in advance for the help everyone I truly appreciate it. Also can someone please tell me if internet connection makes any difference with regards to lagging on high graphics settings, or is that all in the realm of the computers hardware? Just for reference I have DSL with 2MB download and 500KB upload (all i can get out in the country). If this build cannot handle it all on Ultra is there a few key components I can upgrade later on that will make it happen with ease? Thanks again everyone
Monitor Info: 1920 x 1080 Recommended Resolution
eMachines E233Hbd Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 80000:1(1000:1)
Processor Intel® Core™ i3 540 Processor (2x 3.06GHz/4MB L3 Cache)
Memory 4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - ** FREE Upgrade from DDR3-1333 ** Corsair or Major Brand
Video Card ATI Radeon HD 5770 - 1GB - Single Card
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H55M-USB3
Motherboard USB / SATA Interface Motherboard default USB / SATA Interface
Primary Hard Drive 750 GB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s - Single Drive
Network Card Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit
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ah Anand SC2 benches limited to laptops for the time being ;(
SC2 likely to be included in bench refresh though!
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On September 13 2010 15:31 FragKrag wrote:
No reason to buy the GTX 260 for $120-130 tbh
The GTS 450 will be sufficient in most circumstances, and have hte benefit of lower power consumption, temperature, and more overclocking headroom (which will close the difference)
No reason to buy GTS 450 either then. GTX 460 will provide more performance for the price.
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looks like the GTS450 is about the same price as the 5770 but is about the same as a 5750, if the Anandtech benchmarks are anything to go by. so, stay away for the time being :O
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On September 13 2010 15:34 RaLakedaimon wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Just realized that I should have put this in this particular thread rather than making one for it:
I recently ordered a computer and got a very cheap price for around 875 USD including shipping, extra packaging care and better "heatsink" stuff, although I'm not a comp guru so I only got that because it was $10 more. This is the build and I would like you all to tell me if it will stand up to SC2 on Ultra (all settings) while also running things like iTunes and FireFox in the background, no downloads or anything of course. My hope is that it will be able to do all this on atleast all on High though if not Ultra. Thanks in advance for the help everyone I truly appreciate it. Also can someone please tell me if internet connection makes any difference with regards to lagging on high graphics settings, or is that all in the realm of the computers hardware? Just for reference I have DSL with 2MB download and 500KB upload (all i can get out in the country). If this build cannot handle it all on Ultra is there a few key components I can upgrade later on that will make it happen with ease? Thanks again everyone Monitor Info: 1920 x 1080 Recommended Resolution eMachines E233Hbd Black 23" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 DC 80000:1(1000:1) Processor Intel® Core™ i3 540 Processor (2x 3.06GHz/4MB L3 Cache) Memory 4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - ** FREE Upgrade from DDR3-1333 ** Corsair or Major Brand Video Card ATI Radeon HD 5770 - 1GB - Single Card Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H55M-USB3 Motherboard USB / SATA Interface Motherboard default USB / SATA Interface Primary Hard Drive 750 GB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s - Single Drive Network Card Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit
Hi Ralake. This is a great low-budget gamer build. It will probably have some problems pulling SC2 in that resolution with ultra detail and AA whatnot - meaning, it will likely work fine in most circumstances, but when the fireworks really start going off, this setup will get strangled.
I read a review yesterday to support this, but I can't for the life of me find it now.
Anyway, with medium-high details it should be no problem. If you wanna run ultra, you should step up to a GTX460 or Radeon 5870. They will take care of business for you.
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Not impressed with those numbers at all. It's basically somewhere between 5750 and GTS 250 (which is a 9800 GTX/ 8800 GTS), the GTS being essentially a rebrand of a 3 year old card.
The only advantage I see is power efficiency and maybe slightly better overclockability.
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Nvidia has a habit of crippling their cards too far :/
First the GTX 465 now this GTS 450 T_T
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Once again thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I will most likely be downgrading to an i5 and be investing instead in a SSD for the essentials. Does that mean I'm limited to 4GB RAM? Or is that related to the mobo and not processor?
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You will be limited to 16GB of RAM rather than 24GB of RAM 
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On September 14 2010 01:23 FragKrag wrote:You will be limited to 16GB of RAM rather than 24GB of RAM
Wowzers, that sounds like an excessive amount. Guessing no one ever has that much for personal usage?
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Depends on what they want to do, but yeah no desktop will need 24GB or 16GB of RAM for at least a while. 2-4 years maybe?
The mainstream graphics market is so stagnant T_T
gotta wait for the Radeon 6000s to rejuvenate things a bit
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On September 14 2010 01:20 FabledIntegral wrote:
Once again thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I will most likely be downgrading to an i5 and be investing instead in a SSD for the essentials. Does that mean I'm limited to 4GB RAM? Or is that related to the mobo and not processor?
Your max amount of RAM is usually included in the mobo description. You're not gonna have a problem with it.
I think i5 + SSD will kick some serious ass. OCZ and Intel SSDs are great supposedly.
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well the quality of the SSD depends on the NAND Flash chips installed and the controller itself. Many OCZ SSDs use the newer Sandforce controller and older Indilinx barefoot controller and the Intel controller was one of the best.
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Hi, after doing some research I'm just wondering why the Agility 2 is recommended over the Vertex 2. The Vertex 2 seems to be praised over the Agility 2 in every thread I've read on forums, and on Newegg it's selling for $2 cheaper.
Vertex 2 60 GB SSD
Agility 2 60 GB SSD
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The Vertex 2 and Agility 2 are essentially identical. The Agility is a lower end version that lacks a certain firmware which restricts the amount of IOPS, but it doesn't actually matter for anybody that is using it on a desktop.
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On September 14 2010 07:35 FragKrag wrote:
The Vertex 2 and Agility 2 are essentially identical. The Agility is a lower end version that lacks a certain firmware which restricts the amount of IOPS, but it doesn't actually matter for anybody that is using it on a desktop.
But since the Vertex 2 is cheaper there's no reason to get the Agility 2, correct?
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Hey guys, great thread you've got going on here. So I'm also here to get a build; I was originally just looking to upgrade my old computer but as things went I eventually just decided to just start from scratch.
Although I'd prefer to keep my budget at $1500 or lower, I'm open to raising that if the need can be successfully argued. Right now I'm playing on a 1440: 900 widescreen although I'd like to expand to a 1900:1080 or 1900:1200 screen in the future (preferably at the same time I go out and buy my parts).
This is pretty much a straight up gaming rig. What I'm looking for in this computer is a build that'll be top of the line 2 to 4 years from now. I'd rather spend the money on a computer that isn't being used to its full potential now than constantly upgrade every other year. When I actually purchase all of the parts will depend on the budget, but it'll most likely be 2-3 months from now.
As for overclocking, it's something that I'm neutral on. I've never overclocked anything and although the idea of pressing even more performance out of my computer sounds great, the idea of wearing out the parts even faster doesn't. Hopefully someone can shed some light on what would be right for me.
I'll need an OS (preferably Windows 7; my current comp has Windows XP Pro and I'm due for an upgrade). Also I'd like the option of having SLI or Crossfire but only if it doesn't push the budget up to high. I'm unfamiliar with what the prices for mobo's with those features are so I'm not to sure how much extra it'd be; $50? More? Also even if the final build includes either feature I'd prefer to just have one card at the start and then upgrade to two later.
If that was confusing, I looked at TR's build article and their "Sweeter Spot" build sounded very attractive to me. Unless anyone had any critiques on that build, I might just go with that. The only thing that might give me pause is upgradability and how long it remains top dog amongst the competition, but that shouldn't be too troubling. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be burning Blueray's so do I really need a blue-ray burner? Or a dedicated sound card? And is the i7-870 really better than the Phenom II X6 1090T? (Thanks to Mav451 for posting the article: http://techreport.com/articles.x/19560/6)
And since I live in the states Fry's, Newegg, Tigerdirect will all be fine.
Thanks! Hope to hear back soon!
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On September 14 2010 08:10 penroff4 wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Hey guys, great thread you've got going on here. So I'm also here to get a build; I was originally just looking to upgrade my old computer but as things went I eventually just decided to just start from scratch. Although I'd prefer to keep my budget at $1500 or lower, I'm open to raising that if the need can be successfully argued. Right now I'm playing on a 1440: 900 widescreen although I'd like to expand to a 1900:1080 or 1900:1200 screen in the future (preferably at the same time I go out and buy my parts). This is pretty much a straight up gaming rig. What I'm looking for in this computer is a build that'll be top of the line 2 to 4 years from now. I'd rather spend the money on a computer that isn't being used to its full potential now than constantly upgrade every other year. When I actually purchase all of the parts will depend on the budget, but it'll most likely be 2-3 months from now. As for overclocking, it's something that I'm neutral on. I've never overclocked anything and although the idea of pressing even more performance out of my computer sounds great, the idea of wearing out the parts even faster doesn't. Hopefully someone can shed some light on what would be right for me. I'll need an OS (preferably Windows 7; my current comp has Windows XP Pro and I'm due for an upgrade). Also I'd like the option of having SLI or Crossfire but only if it doesn't push the budget up to high. I'm unfamiliar with what the prices for mobo's with those features are so I'm not to sure how much extra it'd be; $50? More? Also even if the final build includes either feature I'd prefer to just have one card at the start and then upgrade to two later. If that was confusing, I looked at TR's build article and their "Sweeter Spot" build sounded very attractive to me. Unless anyone had any critiques on that build, I might just go with that. The only thing that might give me pause is upgradability and how long it remains top dog amongst the competition, but that shouldn't be too troubling. Oh, and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be burning Blueray's so do I really need a blue-ray burner? Or a dedicated sound card? And is the i7-870 really better than the Phenom II X6 1090T? (Thanks to Mav451 for posting the article: http://techreport.com/articles.x/19560/6)And since I live in the states Fry's, Newegg, Tigerdirect will all be fine. Thanks! Hope to hear back soon!
A quick word on Intel vs AMD (and I like them both): Intel high-end mauls AMD high-end so badly it's not even funny. i7 vs Phenom II X6? It's not even a competition. Any random i5 holds its own vs the X6, for crying out loud. You would choose AMD if raw CPU power is not all that important to you - AMD motherboards own the block in terms of features and expandability, and the price tags are very, very good.
If you don't think you need a blu-ray burner, you probably don't. A dedicated sound card can be quite a pleasant surprise, but it depends on what you connect to it. Again, if you don't think you need it, you probably don't. You can then drop both of those and rather put in one of the following:
- a second graphics card (will run any game on ridicilously high detail in high resolutions for the next 400 years)
- an 1366 socket motherboard for real longevity (allows better hard drives and more PCIe lanes for upgradeability)
- an SSD drive (pure pleasure, now and later)
The cooling is also relatively puny, so go for any one of the Zalman tower coolers and you'll be fine.
If I were you I'd take that build, put in an SSD and a real big, nice, quiet cooler and call it a day. If you need to, you can add another GTX 460 down the road to owninate the countryside.
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Can anyone comment on GTX465 and GTX450?
GTX465 1GB is the same price as GTX460 in Australia :/
GTX450 is reasonably cheap and I really don't play that many games so I thought this might do me fine and where I've read, it is a replacement for GTS250 and for resolutions 1680x1050 and below. I use 1920x1080 btw on two monitors.
Oh, I don't do SLI or Cross Fire, So really after one card setup.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://techreport.com/r.x/geforce-gts-450/sc2.gif)
