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Hello everybody! I'm from the Philippines and I'm completely new to this computer building thing. I was planning on buying a set-up gaming PC here but they overprice everything and I think I can just make one for a lot cheaper (with your help ofc) or even just buy the parts and pay someone to put it together (labor's cheap here, hehe). My friends were all just telling me to buy an alienware PC which I don't agree with because it's impractical and I just want to play SC2 at a decent framerate even at medium graphics (but of course if I can get up to high or better that'd be great too). School is starting so I'm thinking of saving up some money so that I can put together my own PC and I'd like to have a good guage of around how much money I'm going to need to pool together to be able to get one.
PS- Sorry this is so long. I just though this is what you guys needed. I can shorten everything if you want...
[FAQ]
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1. What is your budget?
Money is in Pesos (P) here which is at like around a P45 ~ $1 exchange rate nowadays. I'm a student so I have a really low budget at around P20k to P25k for the main thing, err... just the hardware(?) [I mean I'm not including MONITOR, speakers, keyboard, or mouse lol] but I can wait for a while to save up to P30k if the differences will be significant.
2. What is your resolution?
I'm currently playing at an abysmal 15fps at 1280x1024 on LOW graphics (no duh I need a t new PC) so I'd be happy to just get to 1280x1024 at high which I think is very possible at this budget. Actually, I don't even care about the graphics too much. Just being able to play medium at 60fps would be great haha.
3. What are you using it for?
I only want a PC for school AND SC2 and its expansions. I do other things with the PC but I think that SC2 is probably the most demanding function I want out of it. Homework, facebook, and youtube don't need much haha.
4. What is your upgrade cycle?
I guess because I'm going to finish college in a couple of years I'd like this PC to at least last me 2-3 years. I'm not really planning on using it for much past starcraft so as long as it can run SC2 and its expansions I'll be happy.
5. When do you plan on building it?
School is starting so this is something that I'm saving up for. Probably in a month or two. I can wait for any new budget parts that are coming out or anything like that. Also, hunting for parts in the Philippines is pretty much a scavenger hunt. There are tons of different stores that sell the same things for very different prices because most of them just order them in bulk abroad.
6. Do you plan on overclocking?
No. I don't really know anything about it and I want to simplify things. I don't really need to push my system.
7. Do you need an Operating System?
I don't think so. I have the windows XP key from my old PC; I use XP SP3 and am happy with it. I'd rather save money on the OS.
8. Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
Nope. If I can avoid it, I won't.
9. Where are you buying your parts from?
THIS is a great question. I'm really not sure. The prices for different parts here are really variable because they are usually just bought abroad and resold. First of all, this means they are probably a little more expensive but it also means that if I look hard enough I will be able to find resonable prices. I will probably just buy them from local stores here because I would prefer not to have to deal with mailing parts and stuff. I picked three pricelists from stores in the Philippines that I got off the internet. They are able to represent the price ranges here pretty well. They should give you an estimate of the prices but the problem is that there isn't a newegg or anything like that so I'm probably just going to get a list of prices and run around town looking for the best deal on the parts you guys recommend.
[BUILD]
The build that I've come up with just by looking at the computer build resource thread is this:
5.3k > Intel Core i3 2100 3.1Ghz 3MB LGA1155
3.5k > an H61 or h67 motherboard.
1k > Kingston 2GB PC3-10600 DDR3 1333 (1)
5k > 5670
3.8k > Silverstone ST50F 500w modular cable
2k > CoolerMaster Elite 310 (no psu) 1870
2.5k > Samsung 1TB 7200rpm SATA
= ~23k pesos which is ~$511?
As I mentioned earlier, II got the prices from three pricelists which are here:
1) http://assets.hardwarezone.com/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_E3A52F5B480F533CA3A7A4C05A735AF312140200/filename/srp4.pdf
2) http://assets.hardwarezone.com/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_8536D8B6713EFB1EBC958BC68015E03E2F930000/filename/gilmoreparts.pdf
3) http://assets.hardwarezone.com/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_5E1306291A3FF7B93035D128C04930DF79480200/filename/pccornerparts.pdf
More important than just the parts is why I picked these parts which is here:
+ Show Spoiler +
Here is what I'm thinking of putting together. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong anything and any advice you have is greatly appreciated. I'd also like for some tips about what brands to look out for or what I should be wary of etc.
+ [CPU] + Intel Core i3 2100 3.1Ghz 3MB LGA1155
These cost around 5.5k (saw one for 5300). That's cheap enough for me and I've read repeatedly that intel's the way to go.
+ [Motherboard] + I'm thinking of an H61 or h67 motherboard.
Is there a difference between brands? I see MCI, Asus, and ECS as being the most reputable. I see h61's at aroudn 3.5 - 4k from these price lists which sounds good. Is there anything I should know about these? Is B3 important?
+ [RAM] + Kingston 2GB PC3-10600 DDR3 1333 or Kingston 4GB PC3-10600 DDR3 1333 (but just x1 for either)
Correct me if I'm wrong but if I'm running XP all I need is 2GB right? So I guess just getting one 2GB card at 1k pesos is enough right? I'd rather spend more on other parts if RAM won't affect too much. Kingston is a good brand and DDR3 1333 is the right type I think :/ Is SODIMM important?
+ [GPU] + 5670?
HELP! Am I correct in thinking 5770 or 5670?
First of all, I don't know what the difference is between MSI or PowerColor or whatever else. I'm just pretty sure that that Palit brand doesn't sound trustworthy, hehe. Do I need a 5770 or will 5670 be fine? I think the 5770 is probably better because according to the resource thread it can even run at a higher resolution but will there be much of a difference from the 5670? Also, is there an appreciable difference between 128 and 256bit or 1gb versus 512mb?
here are some of the cards I was thinking looked good to a nub like me but I'm sure I could find a better deal if I looked for it so any tips on brands or what DVI/HDMI means etc that I should look out for will be appreciated.
MSI R5670 OC 1gb ddr5 128bit for P4940
Powercolor HD5670 1GB DDR5 DVI/HDMI for 5000
Powercolor HD5770 1GB DDR5 HDMI for 5700
so around 5k for a GPU?
+ [PSU] + Silverstone ST50F 500w modular cable for P3740
I don't know much about these but I do know what exactly I'm looking for but maybe I'll be able to find anything that you guys mention at the real stores. I think all I need si 80+ and 450 W right? Not sure what 12V rail means so any advice on that will be appreciated.
Here is what I can see that looks familiar though:
CoolerMaster GX-650 650w 80PLUS for 3640
Antec VP450 (Eff >78%) 450w for 1720
Seasonic M12II-500 500w modular 80+ for 3740
Corsair TX series 80PLUS 750w for 5720
Seasonic X-Series Modular 80+ Gold 560w for 5620
Silverstone ST50F-ESsentials 500w 80+ 3020
Silverstone ST50F 500w modular cable 3740
I think the 3k silverstone sounds good because it's just 500w and has an 80+ rating. 3.5k sounds like a good price for the PSU but if it's a lot better in the long term to get the 5k ones i can save a bit more.
+ [Case] + CoolerMaster Elite 310 (no psu) 1870
I don't think I need a case with a PSU right? I don't really care how it looks. Just want one that's reliable but cheap. There's a limited selection from the lists but any tips on what I should look out for if I'm looking for a bargain would be appreciated. It needs ATX right?
+ [HSF] +
I don't think I need one right?
+ [HDD/SSD] + Samsung 1TB 7200rpm SATA for 2500
I don't really know much about this. 500GB seems good to me. Or should I jsut go for the whole 1TB? Is SSD that much better than HDD for my purposes? Here are two that look good to me but feel free to tell me what I should get. Also, what's SATA mean and do I need to change my mother board or anything for that?
Samsung 500GB 7200rpm SATA for 1800
Samsung 1TB 7200rpm SATA for 2500
Seagate 1TB 7200rpm SATA for 2850
1.0TB WDigital Blue 7200rpm 3110
Aroudn 2.5k sounds good to me. Is there a brand that is better than the others?
+ [OTHERS] +
I think that's a long enough question for now. I'm just planning on getting cheap 2.1 speakers, probably a cheap A4 tech mouse and keyboard and I'll just look for a bargain on another monitor if I find that I need a new one. Anything special I need to know about this stuff? Also will i need a ethernet LAN card or anything like that?
Well, that's everything. All in all, the main parts amount to about 23k which is around how much I'm willing to spend. Does this sound good? Sorry about how long this is. I really don't know anything besides what I've been trying to pick up visiting the build resource thread for the past couple of weeks and checking in google. Any help would be appreciated. Just go easy on me k? THANKS EVERYBODY!  )
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The initial H61 / H67 motherboard were a B2 revision and had an issue with their SATA 3 Gbps ports so Intel recalled them and released the B3 revision with the issue corrected. There shouldn't be any B2 revision boards on the market. H61 doesn't have native support for SATA 6Gbps or USB3.0 while H67 does. However some manufacturers add extra chipsets to offer this.
SODIMM does not fit desktop motherboards. DDR3 SDRAM is what you want. Starcraft II utilizes 2GB so it's recommended that you have 4GB so you have room for your operating system and other tasks in the background.
The 5670 is be capable of smooth gameplay on high/ultra at 1280x1024 and low at 1920x1080. There's a huge performance difference between the 5670 and 5770 so if you have any intention of upgrading the monitor in the future and want to play on high, the 5770 is the better choice of the two. You don't need to worry about the memory interface or amount of memory. Better cards will obviously have better specifications since they need it for the higher resolutions.
Palit is a well regarded brand in Asia.
DVI / HDMI is the display interface that the card offers and what your monitor will plug into. Most if not all cards will have DVI.
The core i3 2100 uses less than 50w and both the 5770 and 5670 uses less than 100w, all under load so this type of configuration will never pull more than 200w. An Antec Earthwatts 380D or Corsair CX430 V2 would be recommended for this configuration.
The 12v rail is the rail that will power most of your computer components.
You don't want to use a power supply that comes with a case as they're often low quality and not reliable. Any mid-tower ATX case should do.
You don't need an aftermarket heatsink if you aren't overclocking. The provided Intel heatsink is fine.
An SSD decreases load times. For Starcraft II only, it's not worth the money since you are waiting for the other people to load anyways so the benefits of an SSD goes out the window.
How much harddrive you need is dependent on the individual. Samsung offers the highest performance per dollar in your list and their Spinpoint F3 harddrives (pressumbly what you have listed) is regarded as one of the fastest harddrives on the consumer market.
SATA is the interface used for connecting storage devices. All modern motherboards will have enough two of these ports.
No you don't need an ethernet or sound card. Both of this is provided by the motherboard.
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Hello skyR. Thank you very much for all of your help. I've been reading all of your posts on the Computer Build Resource Thread and you, along with Myrmidon and JingleHell have all been a great help to me. I have been visiting stores and looking for the parts that you have mentioned and just have a few last concerns.
First, is a Sapphire or a PowerColor 5770 video card better? I've found them for exactly the same price and can't tell if there is anything that makes one better than the other. Also is it worth paying extra for one with 1gb ddr5 rather than 512 ddr5 (I'm assuming that's VRAM) for my purposes (Starcraft 2 and basic stuff)? I also noticed that some cards say 128 bit while others say 256 bit, is that anything I should be concerned about?
Second can you recommend any 500 watt PSUs that are reliable. I was looking for a 430/380 like you recommended but they just don't sell them where I have been looking.
Third, does one of these cases stand out? I'm under the impression that the case doesn't really matter too much so I'm thinking of just getting the cheapest one because I don't really care how it looks. Will I need any extra fans? This is a tropical country and I don't have an air conditioned room where I can keep the computer so I'm thinking it might help.
+ Show Spoiler +
CoolerMaster Elite 315 for 1870
Coolermaster 310 for 1750
Coolermaster Elite 371 for 1550
Finally can you give me any tips on Optical drives? Like if you know of any reliable ones that'll last me a long time because all of the ones I've bought in the past died on me. I settled on getting and Intel DH67BL motherboard and would like to get one drive with a burner and one without a burner. I can't really tell the difference among all of these burners. I'm absolutely clueless about them. SATA is the port I'm looking for correct? Is there anything else I need?
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Samsung SH-222AB 22X Sata
Samsung DVDRW SH-223C 22X Sata
Liteon DVDRW IHAS-124 24X Sata
Liteon DVDRW IHAS-224 24X Sata LS
Liteon DVDRW IHAP-122 22X IDE
Asus DVDRW DRW-24B1LT 24X Sata
Asus DVDRW DRW-24B1LT LS 24X SATA
Samsung 22x SH-S223F/B/C Sata
Samsung 24x SH-S243N Sata LS
Lite-On 22x IHAP-122 IDE / 222 IDE LS
Lite-On 24xIHAS-124/324 sat
Lite-On 24x IHAS-224/524 Sata LS/LT
Samsung SH-222AB 22X Sata
Samsung DVDRW SH-223C 22X Sata
Liteon DVDRW IHAS-124 24X Sata
Liteon DVDRW IHAS-224 24X Sata LS
Liteon DVDRW IHAP-122 22X IDE
Asus DVDRW DRW-24B1LT 24X Sata
Asus DVDRW DRW-24B1LT LS 24X SATA
LITEON 22X 1HAP-122 IDE
LITEON 22X IHAP/S-222 IDE/SATA LS
LITEON 24X IHAS-124/324 SATA
LITEON 24X IHAS-524/224 SATA LIGHTSCRIBE
SAMSUNG 22X SH-S223F/B SATA
SAMSUNG 24X SH-S243N SATA LIGHTSCRIBE
Thank you again! Anybody else's input (as long as it's helpful) would be appreciated also
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1 - What is the price difference on 512mb vs 1gb? If it's not too much more, the 1gb might be a worthwhile investment. If it's a lot more, since this is a budget computer, it might not be worth it. Also, what resolution are you playing on? Your op says 1280x1024, but do you plan on using the same monitor?
2 - The computer build resource thread has a list of reliable PSU manufacturers. If you pick something around the wattage suggested, and look up some reviews online just to double-check, you should be fine. Here it is again for your reference:
Reputable brands
Corsair, Antec, Seasonic, Silverstone, Enermax, XFX
Reliable brands Less so than the above in general
Thermaltake, Zalman, Cooler Master, Xigmatek
Reputable OEMs
Seasonic, Channel Wells Technology, Enhance Electronics, Delta
3 - Case is a matter of preference, and you can go with a cheapy. But there are some benefits to getting a better case. Toolless design, better airflow, material, overall layout (the difference of having to work harder to move around your case) etc. You do get what you pay for. I can vouch for Cooler Master. I've used many of their cases and they are pretty good. But if you want something with really good airflow, you can get the Rosewill Destroyer. It comes with 3 huge fans, and you have the option of adding, I believe, 4 more if you ever need. But the 3 fans that come with it should be sufficient.
4 - I usually just pick the cheapest Optical drive. I don't even use mine at all since I installed SC2 (which you can get online). It looks like you'll have a more specific need for an optical drive, so I apologize I don't know too much about that.
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For the case, what will matter most for you will probably be cable management to keep the airflow moving properly through. Your ambient temperatures will limit your cooling potential, so don't worry about noise, just efficiency. That said, even for not OC'ing, I'd suggest a cheap aftermarket CPU cooler. Basically, the main reason I say this is to get one that doesn't blow air down toward the CPU through the heatsink like the stock Intel cooler, but can have airflow continuity with the case. This will increase efficiency a bit.
Any of those cooler master cases should be fine, I'd suggest picking the one with the most directed airflow.
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The performance of the card is indicated by the second and third number so yes the 5770 is better than than a 5670. Are you deciding between a 5670 with 512MB and a 5770 with 1GB? You're not paying for just more memory, you're paying for extra SPs, ROPs, TUs, and all the technical mumble jumble you don't understand that makes it a better performing card.
128bit and 256bit is the memory interface which determines how fast the memory communicates with the GPU. The higher it is, the faster it is. This is something you need to worry about as all 5670 will have the same interface and all 5770 will have the same interface. It'll be higher as you go up to more expensive graphics cards.
If you're deciding between a 5670 512MB card and a 5670 1GB card than get the 512MB. The card wa designed with 512MB in mind. Manufacturers who put 1GB on the card is just trying to fool you into thinking that it's a better product. At your 1280x1024 resolution, memory does not matter.
Many of the lower end cases only come with one exhaust fan and no intake fan. I'd probably look into a case that provides both an exhaust and intake fan if you live in a hot climate. Rosewill as suggested by jacosajh won't be available to you as it's a Newegg (US) brand unless someone in your country imported it.
List the powe supplies available to you and we'll help you pick one. Basically, most units from Seasonic, Tagen, Superflower, Enermax, XFX, Corsair, Antec is a safe bet.
For the DVD Drive, just go for the least expensive one available that is SATA.
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Hi everybody! Thanks for the quick replies :D
Here's what my build looks like so far. I've found all of these parts at stores around here and I've researched the parts and they seem good but any suggestions will be appreciated.
BUILD
+ Show Spoiler +
Intel DH67BL mobo
Intel i3 2100 CPU
1. [5770 graphics?]
Kingston 4gb 1333 RAM
2 .[powersupply?]
Samsung 1TB 7200rpm SATA Spinpoint F3 HDD
3. [Coolermaster Elite 371?]
1. GRAPHICS CARD
+ Show Spoiler +
First of all, I decided to get a 5770 graphics card. My options are:
1 gig Sapphire 5770 for 5.7k [http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?psn=0001&pid=341]
1 gig PowerColor 5770 for 5.7k [http://www.powercolor.com/us/products_features.asp?id=209]
512 mb PowerColor 5770 for 4.8k [http://www.powercolor.com/global/products_features.asp?id=207]
I did some research on the internet and they are all 128 bit so I was just wondering about whether I should worry about that. So if I'm just playing at low resolutions [1280x1024] on my old monitor what would be the best option among these three?
2. POWER SUPPLY
+ Show Spoiler +For my power supply I was able to find the recommended power supplies by SkyR on the internet but they are just from people offering personal warranties so I'm a bit apprehensive but they are selling them for very reasonable prices. Here are the ads: Corsair cx430 [http://laspinascity.olx.com.ph/psu-corsair-cx430-430watts-power-supply-iid-198799151] Antec vp 450watts [http://tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=9955188] From actual retail stores, the options I found were limited. Here are some from the pricelists of stores I could find. The best one to me seemed like the Silverstone ST50F 500w modular cable ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/oJmXg.gif)
3. CASE
+ Show Spoiler +The cheapest case that seems good that I could find was the cooler master elite 371. [http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6692] ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/LWqxZ.jpg) Does this seem good? Will I need any aftermarket fans and stuff and if so what should I look for in them?
Thanks for all of the help; you guys are the best!
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I mentioned that you don't need to obsess over 128bit or 256bit memory interfaces in all my previous posts. It's not going to bottleneck the GPU and nor does it even matter in comparison to everything else on the card. The Powercolor 5770 512mb for 4.8k is the best option out of the three for a 1280x1024 resolution.
The ST50F 500w modular has a price of 3740... If you're looking to spend this much on a power supply. the FSP Aurm 400w or 500w are much better choices. FSP Supersonic 500w would be much more reasonable for your type of budget.
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If your looking to buy a new set of PC try to read this article first it will help you a lot, mostly for the beginners nice and good insights are mentioned here on how to build a PC Desktop.
User was banned for this post.
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EPT
