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ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
EVGA 768-P3-1360-TR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
This computer build is around $760 with shipping. I will be playing starcraft on ultra/extreme, doing school work, I might be doing some graphics, watching movies,email,facebook, etc. I have these questions
1) Should I order another of the same memory so I can have 8GB of Ram, or is that not needed.
2) Can this run Starcraft on Ultra/Extreme
3) I have heard other people say that UPS is crap at delivering these PC Parts and accidently break it in shipping. Could I have some feedback from people who have used UPS, should I order all at 1 time or all seperately?
4) Is this power supply(550Watt) good enough or should i get a higher one like 650 Watt.
5) This case is pretty expensive, would this be worth the investment or should i get a cheaper case.
Thanks,
D3ath3nat0r
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Yes its very good and should urn starcraft on ultra, dunno how much more extreme needs.
If you have full hd (1920x1080) or higher resolution, you should go for the 1024mb version of the geforce 460 instead of the 768mb one.
For your needs 4gb of ram should be enough right now. You can add more later if you need to.
550Watt is good enough for that setup.
The case is optimized for a very good airflow, but if you don't plan on very heavy overclocking or adding lots of parts, it shouldn't make a difference . A cheaper one like the cooler master CM 690 II would be enough. That one is also of very high quality.
If you want a silent pc you might want to get a different cpu cooler. The stock cooler from amd is very loud.
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yes I am thinking about a 22 inch Widescreen monitor 16 : 9 1920x1080 but MIGHT get a smaller inch monitor with a lower less resolution, and is there a noticable difference from 768mb one from the 1024 mb one? is the extra money worth it?
and this is my first time building a pc so i sort of want to have a lot of room to build it so i dont mess up anything, you know anything from question 3 also?
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In response to the RAM question.
I'm no computer guru, but I recently built my first machine with the aim of gaming and some minor number crunching (SAS, Stata). I have an i7 870, GeForce 470, a SSD system drive and a respectable mobo but only 4gigs of RAM. I have the widget showing CPU/RAM usage running all the time and I have never seen my CPU spike above 45-50%, even when running a couple Eve clients, SC2, WMP and a browser. The RAM, however, is consistently above 80% when I'm multitasking and often goes higher to the point of bottlenecking performance (admittedly when running absurd amounts of graphically/memory intense programs).
Maybe someone with better experience with your specs couuld comment, but it looks to me like RAM would be the first thing bottlenecking you. I've already ordered another 4 gigs to bolster my memory.
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Well if you plan on running multiple eve clients, sc2, sas and other stuff at the same time it will be close with 4gb...
But from reading the op it does not sound like he is doing that kind of multi tasking.
The difference between 768mb vs 1024mb on extreme settings should be noticable. And the price difference between the two versions is not that big.
To question 3) I live in germany, not the US. So dunno about your post delivery services. But i guess every dilivery service makes mistakes from time to time, i wouldn't worry too much about it.
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Had over 15k$ of hardware delivered by UPS, including monitors and other things (4-5 monitors), for various builds and what not, and never had a single issue with delivery.
With that PC, you should go for at least 800 watt. Dont skimp out on your psu. Its the heart of the computer. I myself would try and at least spend around 100-200$ on a decent psu.
You basically want to take what your pc is going to use power wise (should be about 400 watt) and double it. Over time, capacitors can ware out, meaning a 5 year old 500 watt psu will only be able to handle 350 watts safely. So you want something that will last for a while.
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The computer is more than efficient to run Starcraft 2 and everything else you asked it would do. No, 8 Gigs of RAM isn't utilized unless you're 3D rendering.
You should consider getting a 600w, if that power supply doesn't have an 80+ tag on the front of the box. It's just me, but I usually like to overshoot my requirements by 100 watts to be safe.
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By the way, the AM2/AM2+/AM3 supporting motherboards--like the one listed--use DDR2 RAM, not DDR3 RAM. Get a normal AM3 motherboard and DDR3 RAM. 4 GB is enough for most people--if it turns out not to be enough, you can always grab more later easily.
I'm agreed on the case with the earlier advice. CM 690ii is a good case. You don't need a high-end cooling windtunnel case for a single midrange GPU system.
Overshooting power requirements is fine, but the VX550 is already overshooting the peak load amount by at least 200W. Actual load at idle or while gaming would be lower than peak load anyway. It's a good unit (yes, it's 80 plus, though 80 plus doesn't mean much), but slightly dated. There are better values out there, especially since you don't need that much power. You can get a reliable PSU without getting something ridiculously out of proportion.
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On December 09 2010 10:01 hellsan631 wrote:
You basically want to take what your pc is going to use power wise (should be about 400 watt) and double it. Over time, capacitors can ware out, meaning a 5 year old 500 watt psu will only be able to handle 350 watts safely. So you want something that will last for a while.
That is just complete overkill. Yes a psu can wear out with time, but the quality ones should not wear out that fast. You don't need to go for the double amount.
Good PSU have a high degree of efficiency in most situations, but generally the efficiency of PSUs is highest between 50% to 80%. 550W is perfect for that system.
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how long on average willl the 550W last in years? and should i change the memory from ddr3 to ddr2, is it worth it? and more reliable
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You can't interchange DDR2 and DDR3. DDR3 won't fit in a DDR2 slot and DDR2 won't fit in a DDR3 slot. All the new chipsets use DDR3 (P55, H55, AM3, X58).
A PSU with decent build quality will last for many many years (10+ years). You can use it for all your future builds until you want a new PSU or need a bigger one.
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so you think my build will be pretty good? skyR, and last that long?
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On December 09 2010 10:01 hellsan631 wrote:
Had over 15k$ of hardware delivered by UPS, including monitors and other things (4-5 monitors), for various builds and what not, and never had a single issue with delivery.
With that PC, you should go for at least 800 watt. Dont skimp out on your psu. Its the heart of the computer. I myself would try and at least spend around 100-200$ on a decent psu.
You basically want to take what your pc is going to use power wise (should be about 400 watt) and double it. Over time, capacitors can ware out, meaning a 5 year old 500 watt psu will only be able to handle 350 watts safely. So you want something that will last for a while.
Wtf?
He does NOT need 800 watts for this build.
False information.
The rig hell be building wont use anymore that 300-350 under max load.
Get a Seasonic 80+ rated PSU, and get the 1 GB model of the GTX 460.
The case is good enough for your needs, you probably wont care about the small details, but id go with the one they are recommending, a 932 is loud, huge and collects dust like MAD.
Id also get the caviar black HDD instead, they are a bit faster and much better suited as the HDD that has the OS on it.
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You didn't list the prices so I'm not sure if you're getting the best for your money.
The HAF 932 should be $130 and was on sale on black friday for $99. If you want a cheaper case, look into the Coolermaster 690ii Advanced ($99).
A PSU will definitely last that long but most often you'll be looking to upgrade your CPU and GPU after 3-5 years because it feels slow.
The Corsair VX PSU is okay but I think Seasonic is better than the Corsair VX which is made by CWT. I'd suggest this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093
Get a Samsung F3 1TB for your HDD. It should be around $80, I think it was on sale for $60 during black friday.
EVGA is often more expensive than its competitors and the only reason why you would go EVGA is for its lifetime warranty but the card you selected does not have lifetime warranty as it ends in -TR. It will only have 3 year warranty upon registration. I'd suggest looking for an -AR card if you need lifetime warranty. If not, I'd get the MSI GTX 460 Hawk as it has the best stock cooler on the market right now.
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Definitely order all separate, makes it much easier for returns. When I got all my new components for my computer I set it all up to find that the cords for the power supply were not long enough to reach the necessary CPU power outlet on my mother board only to find out that in order to return the PSU I would have to disassemble the entire rig.
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i have a question, for the Haf 932, could i buy the fan mesh covering dust filter things, would that like have a huge improvement on keeping dust out?
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If you want a case with dust filters. Maybe look at the Coolermaster Storm Scout or Sniper. The Scout is around $80 and the Sniper is around the same price as a HAF 932. Or you can look at a Lian Li PC-9F which is aluminum and also comes with fan filters.
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Antec 300 and 900 are great too, easily pop out the mesh filters and wash them. But the 300 is a bit small, my 4770 is about 9" and its barely enough space before it hits my HDD bay.
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EPT
