• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 03:28
CEST 09:28
KST 16:28
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915
Community News
Weekly Cups (Sep 7-12): SHIN, ByuN, MaxPax double down1StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon98Weekly Cups (Aug 30-Sep 7): herO thrives amid growing schism10Official StarCraft website teases new content ahead of BlizzCon?179Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20)9
StarCraft 2
General
Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Has online-only competition during the pandemic changed your enjoyment of pro SC2? How do you feel about the StarCraft shooter announcement at BlizzCon 2026? Weekly Cups (Sep 7-12): SHIN, ByuN, MaxPax double down StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 SC2 AI Tournament 2026 Fall Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament KSL Week #92
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 543 Enhanced Defenses The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 542 The Ascended Mutation # 541 Binary Choice
Brood War
General
New 3v3 BGH Ladder (and more) on ShieldBattery! BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Remastered crash fix suggestions Syncronization issues and can't find games a Announcement on the JEDI Ringing
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro16 Group D The Casual Games of the Week Thread Small VOD Thread 2.0 BWCL Season 65 Announcement
Strategy
Replay Review Process - What do you do? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Game Theory for Starcraft
Other Games
General Games
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation Diablo IV
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Post Your Watch!
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The Creator Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Virtual Romance, Real-Life C…
TrAiDoS
Regacy Esports:Our Goa…
regacyesports
Dreaming of BW patches (mod…
c3rberUs
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 14992 users

Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread - Page 359

Forum Index > Tech Support
Post a Reply
Prev 1 357 358 359 360 361 746 Next
When using this resource, please read the 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.
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20344 Posts
August 06 2014 11:45 GMT
#7161
vg248qe is good (people keep asking me about it even) but it'll be obsolete when the gsync/ULMB monitors release (as they don't have gsync and their strobing is worse than ULMB) - they were supposed to release in q2, so they're right around the corner

For GPU cooling with one of the brackets (either hand made or the one from nzxt/corsair) you need to be extremely careful of VRM temperatures
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Incognoto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
France10239 Posts
August 06 2014 11:46 GMT
#7162
I heard GTX 880 / 870 is going to be out for November.
maru lover forever
Myrmidon
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
United States9452 Posts
August 06 2014 14:19 GMT
#7163
Some say September for GTX 880, supposedly confirmed by somebody at Gigabyte who couldn't keep his mouth shut at an event.
WindWolf
Profile Blog Joined July 2012
Sweden11767 Posts
August 06 2014 14:22 GMT
#7164
I don't believe anything until Nvidia confirms something. Doesn't we get like one of these rumors every week now?
EZ4ENCE
Fibbz
Profile Joined January 2011
Germany62 Posts
August 06 2014 14:49 GMT
#7165
What is your current build?

Summary
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD Athlon II X2 250 42 °C
Regor 45nm Technology
RAM
4,00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK Computer INC. M4A87TD (AM3) 39 °C
Graphics
G2320HDBL (1920x1080@60Hz)
1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (CardExpert Technology) 41 °C
Storage
931GB Seagate ST31000528AS ATA Device (SATA) 34 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C ATA Device
TSSTcorp DVD-ROM SH-D163C ATA Device
Audio
High Definition Audio-Gerät
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

I hope this is enough. I really dont have a lot of knowledge regarding the technical stuff.


What is your monitor's native resolution?

1920*1080

Why do you want to upgrade? What do you want to achieve with the upgrade?

I got a lot of freetime now and saved up some money. I would love to stream my SC2 games or at least be able to make some videos for YT.

What is your budget?

up to 500€ atm. If I could not achieve the streaming setup I would save up longer to go for a better one...

What country will you be buying your parts in?

Germany.

If you have any brand or retailer preferences, please specify.

/
Ognam
Profile Joined October 2011
United States798 Posts
August 06 2014 14:50 GMT
#7166
Hey guys. Just graduated college and started working in the real world, so I'm looking to upgrade from my cheap college laptop to a more permanent PC with my newfound $$$. First time builder so I'm mega-noob at this. Any help would be appreciated.

What is your budget?
Up to ~$1500. But if I could meet my needs for less it would be nice.
What is your monitor's native resolution?
Do not have (could use some advice for picking one out)
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
Dota2 primarily. But I would like the ability to play some more graphics-intensive at high/max settings.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Streaming in high quality, video
Do you intend to overclock?
No (too advanced for my noob self)
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?
^
Do you need an operating system?
Yes
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?
Yes. Need monitor/keyboard/mouse. Dual monitors if my budget can afford it. Recommendations on a mechanical keyboard would be helpful.
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify.
Nope. Avoiding Razer mice after my experiences with my current Deathadder though.
What country will you be buying your parts in?
USA
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.
None.

I used some random online resources to come up with a starting point for the build. But I have zero sense of whether what I came up with is reasonable.

Processor (CPU)
Intel Core i5 4670k
Motherboard
Biostar Hi-Fi B85S3+ Ver. 6.x Micro ATX LGA1150
Memory (RAM)
A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Video Card (GPU)
MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR
Primary Storage
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM
Secondary Storage
Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Power Supply (PSU)
Rosewill Hive 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX
Case
Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower
Heatsink
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Does this seem logical? Is there anything I don't need or things that might be overkill? I basically just want to be able to play 99% of games at max settings and stream in high quality. Would having two monitors change my needs? Feel free to flame and/or advise me on what to do. Thanks!
Incognoto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
France10239 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-08-06 15:14:25
August 06 2014 15:13 GMT
#7167
On August 06 2014 23:49 Fibbz wrote:+ Show Spoiler +

What is your current build?

Summary
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD Athlon II X2 250 42 °C
Regor 45nm Technology
RAM
4,00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK Computer INC. M4A87TD (AM3) 39 °C
Graphics
G2320HDBL (1920x1080@60Hz)
1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (CardExpert Technology) 41 °C
Storage
931GB Seagate ST31000528AS ATA Device (SATA) 34 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C ATA Device
TSSTcorp DVD-ROM SH-D163C ATA Device
Audio
High Definition Audio-Gerät
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

I hope this is enough. I really dont have a lot of knowledge regarding the technical stuff.


What is your monitor's native resolution?

1920*1080

Why do you want to upgrade? What do you want to achieve with the upgrade?

I got a lot of freetime now and saved up some money. I would love to stream my SC2 games or at least be able to make some videos for YT.

What is your budget?

up to 500€ atm. If I could not achieve the streaming setup I would save up longer to go for a better one...

What country will you be buying your parts in?

Germany.

If you have any brand or retailer preferences, please specify.


I think I can recommend you getting the i5 4690 and a motherboard to go with that. This should be able to play starcraft 2 quite nicely and you'll still be able to stream at 1080p30 quite nicely. you can push to 1080p48 with some tweaks / compromises on in-game settings. I tested this with my own rig just to make sure, things work out quite nicely. I have a 3.6 GHz Haswell i5 4670, the i5 4690 can go to 3.9 GHz, so the 4690 should be able to get the job done.

http://www.amazon.de/Intel-i5-4690-Prozessor-3-90GHz-Sockel/dp/B00K5J2252/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407337618&sr=8-1&keywords=i5 4690

http://www.amazon.de/Asrock-H81M-HDS-Mainboard-micro-ATX-Speicher/dp/B00EOBXPXK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407337641&sr=8-2&keywords=H81M

The ASrock H81-HDS seems well priced and it is compatible with devil's canyon: http://thepcenthusiast.com/list-of-8-series-motherboards-compatible-with-intel-devils-canyon/

So that's €235 for a CPU / motherboard that should be able to get the job done.

I might use the remaining money for another stick of 4 Gb RAM, to get your rig to 8 Gb (which is nice to have, 4 Gb can be limiting in some cases). Streaming sc2 at 1080p48 put me at 3.5 Gb of RAM being used. You could also get a better GPU.
maru lover forever
Incognoto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
France10239 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-08-06 15:43:12
August 06 2014 15:42 GMT
#7168
On August 06 2014 23:50 Ognam wrote:+ Show Spoiler +

Hey guys. Just graduated college and started working in the real world, so I'm looking to upgrade from my cheap college laptop to a more permanent PC with my newfound $$$. First time builder so I'm mega-noob at this. Any help would be appreciated.

What is your budget?
Up to ~$1500. But if I could meet my needs for less it would be nice.
What is your monitor's native resolution?
Do not have (could use some advice for picking one out)
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
Dota2 primarily. But I would like the ability to play some more graphics-intensive at high/max settings.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Streaming in high quality, video
Do you intend to overclock?
No (too advanced for my noob self)
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?
^
Do you need an operating system?
Yes
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?
Yes. Need monitor/keyboard/mouse. Dual monitors if my budget can afford it. Recommendations on a mechanical keyboard would be helpful.
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify.
Nope. Avoiding Razer mice after my experiences with my current Deathadder though.
What country will you be buying your parts in?
USA
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.
None.

I used some random online resources to come up with a starting point for the build. But I have zero sense of whether what I came up with is reasonable.

Processor (CPU)
Intel Core i5 4670k
Motherboard
Biostar Hi-Fi B85S3+ Ver. 6.x Micro ATX LGA1150
Memory (RAM)
A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Video Card (GPU)
MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR
Primary Storage
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM
Secondary Storage
Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Power Supply (PSU)
Rosewill Hive 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX
Case
Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower
Heatsink
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Does this seem logical? Is there anything I don't need or things that might be overkill? I basically just want to be able to play 99% of games at max settings and stream in high quality. Would having two monitors change my needs? Feel free to flame and/or advise me on what to do. Thanks!


If you're not overclocking, you're best off with an i5 4690, not an i5 4670k. The 4670k is for overclocking, the 4690 is not. That said, with $1500 budget, overclocking is something to consider.

If you still don't want to overclock, get an i5 4690, which has a high stock clock-speed. The i7 4970 has a stock speed of 4.0 GHz and it also has hyperthreading. It fits in your budget as well. However it's 50% more expensive than the i5 and hyperthreading doesn't help for gaming (there are exceptions); it helps for well-threaded tasks though. Streaming is a well-threaded task for example, but at the same time, if you're spending extra for processing power, you might as well overclock an i5. I'd lean towards the i5 with overclock personally, but that's just me.

The PSU you chose is overkill at 650W and it's not the best quality. You should get the 550W Rosewill Capstone, which is a better quality unit and it's less overkill. The indicated wattage doesn't matter as much as the quality of the PSU.

If you're set on not overclocking, then that case is a solid budget case. Not sure about the pricing, so all I can do is recommend you might look at the Fractal Design Core 1300 or the Core 2300. Those are also good cases, though if you had to choose between those and the N200, it might be best to look at pricing and maybe look at some features that you might like (cable routing for example).

There's no need for an aftermarket cooler if you're not going to overclock. The CPU itself doesn't produce that much heat at stock voltage and the stock cooler is sufficient. Some say the stock cooler is noisy, I personally use my computer with the stock cooler less than 1m away from me and I'm not bothered by its noise at all. If you like the idea of silent cooling though, I recently found out about the Titan Dragonfly 4, which is a cooler that is perfect for very quiet operation on a non-overclocked system. It's a tall cpu cooler though, make sure the case can fit it, if interested: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Titan/Dragonfly_4/7.html

The GTX 780 Ti is overkill for 1080p gaming and it's a nuke for Dota 2. I guess it fills the ticket for being able to play graphically demanding titles at max settings, however this card is powerful enough to do 1440p gaming.
maru lover forever
Ognam
Profile Joined October 2011
United States798 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-08-06 16:22:32
August 06 2014 16:19 GMT
#7169
On August 07 2014 00:42 Incognoto wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 06 2014 23:50 Ognam wrote:+ Show Spoiler +

Hey guys. Just graduated college and started working in the real world, so I'm looking to upgrade from my cheap college laptop to a more permanent PC with my newfound $$$. First time builder so I'm mega-noob at this. Any help would be appreciated.

What is your budget?
Up to ~$1500. But if I could meet my needs for less it would be nice.
What is your monitor's native resolution?
Do not have (could use some advice for picking one out)
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
Dota2 primarily. But I would like the ability to play some more graphics-intensive at high/max settings.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Streaming in high quality, video
Do you intend to overclock?
No (too advanced for my noob self)
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?
^
Do you need an operating system?
Yes
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?
Yes. Need monitor/keyboard/mouse. Dual monitors if my budget can afford it. Recommendations on a mechanical keyboard would be helpful.
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify.
Nope. Avoiding Razer mice after my experiences with my current Deathadder though.
What country will you be buying your parts in?
USA
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.
None.

I used some random online resources to come up with a starting point for the build. But I have zero sense of whether what I came up with is reasonable.

Processor (CPU)
Intel Core i5 4670k
Motherboard
Biostar Hi-Fi B85S3+ Ver. 6.x Micro ATX LGA1150
Memory (RAM)
A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Video Card (GPU)
MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR
Primary Storage
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM
Secondary Storage
Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Power Supply (PSU)
Rosewill Hive 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX
Case
Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower
Heatsink
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Does this seem logical? Is there anything I don't need or things that might be overkill? I basically just want to be able to play 99% of games at max settings and stream in high quality. Would having two monitors change my needs? Feel free to flame and/or advise me on what to do. Thanks!


If you're not overclocking, you're best off with an i5 4690, not an i5 4670k. The 4670k is for overclocking, the 4690 is not. That said, with $1500 budget, overclocking is something to consider.

If you still don't want to overclock, get an i5 4690, which has a high stock clock-speed. The i7 4970 has a stock speed of 4.0 GHz and it also has hyperthreading. It fits in your budget as well. However it's 50% more expensive than the i5 and hyperthreading doesn't help for gaming (there are exceptions); it helps for well-threaded tasks though. Streaming is a well-threaded task for example, but at the same time, if you're spending extra for processing power, you might as well overclock an i5. I'd lean towards the i5 with overclock personally, but that's just me.

The PSU you chose is overkill at 650W and it's not the best quality. You should get the 550W Rosewill Capstone, which is a better quality unit and it's less overkill. The indicated wattage doesn't matter as much as the quality of the PSU.

If you're set on not overclocking, then that case is a solid budget case. Not sure about the pricing, so all I can do is recommend you might look at the Fractal Design Core 1300 or the Core 2300. Those are also good cases, though if you had to choose between those and the N200, it might be best to look at pricing and maybe look at some features that you might like (cable routing for example).

There's no need for an aftermarket cooler if you're not going to overclock. The CPU itself doesn't produce that much heat at stock voltage and the stock cooler is sufficient. Some say the stock cooler is noisy, I personally use my computer with the stock cooler less than 1m away from me and I'm not bothered by its noise at all. If you like the idea of silent cooling though, I recently found out about the Titan Dragonfly 4, which is a cooler that is perfect for very quiet operation on a non-overclocked system. It's a tall cpu cooler though, make sure the case can fit it, if interested: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Titan/Dragonfly_4/7.html

The GTX 780 Ti is overkill for 1080p gaming and it's a nuke for Dota 2. I guess it fills the ticket for being able to play graphically demanding titles at max settings, however this card is powerful enough to do 1440p gaming.


Thanks a lot for the advice. I'm hesitant to overclock simply because I'm completely new to building a PC and have zero experience with hardware/computer maintenance. I'm paranoid I'd set it up wrong and cause damage. I'll definitely consider it for a future build depending on how this one goes.

In regards to cases, what exactly are the possible benefits/drawbacks to paying more/less? It seems to be mostly paying for aethetics and minor features.

Will drop the aftermarket cooler and switch PSU. Should I just get a GTX 780?

Also would the i5 4690 be sufficient for streaming?
Fibbz
Profile Joined January 2011
Germany62 Posts
August 06 2014 16:36 GMT
#7170
On August 07 2014 00:13 Incognoto wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 06 2014 23:49 Fibbz wrote:+ Show Spoiler +

What is your current build?

Summary
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD Athlon II X2 250 42 °C
Regor 45nm Technology
RAM
4,00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK Computer INC. M4A87TD (AM3) 39 °C
Graphics
G2320HDBL (1920x1080@60Hz)
1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (CardExpert Technology) 41 °C
Storage
931GB Seagate ST31000528AS ATA Device (SATA) 34 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C ATA Device
TSSTcorp DVD-ROM SH-D163C ATA Device
Audio
High Definition Audio-Gerät
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

I hope this is enough. I really dont have a lot of knowledge regarding the technical stuff.


What is your monitor's native resolution?

1920*1080

Why do you want to upgrade? What do you want to achieve with the upgrade?

I got a lot of freetime now and saved up some money. I would love to stream my SC2 games or at least be able to make some videos for YT.

What is your budget?

up to 500€ atm. If I could not achieve the streaming setup I would save up longer to go for a better one...

What country will you be buying your parts in?

Germany.

If you have any brand or retailer preferences, please specify.


I think I can recommend you getting the i5 4690 and a motherboard to go with that. This should be able to play starcraft 2 quite nicely and you'll still be able to stream at 1080p30 quite nicely. you can push to 1080p48 with some tweaks / compromises on in-game settings. I tested this with my own rig just to make sure, things work out quite nicely. I have a 3.6 GHz Haswell i5 4670, the i5 4690 can go to 3.9 GHz, so the 4690 should be able to get the job done.

http://www.amazon.de/Intel-i5-4690-Prozessor-3-90GHz-Sockel/dp/B00K5J2252/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407337618&sr=8-1&keywords=i5 4690

http://www.amazon.de/Asrock-H81M-HDS-Mainboard-micro-ATX-Speicher/dp/B00EOBXPXK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407337641&sr=8-2&keywords=H81M

The ASrock H81-HDS seems well priced and it is compatible with devil's canyon: http://thepcenthusiast.com/list-of-8-series-motherboards-compatible-with-intel-devils-canyon/

So that's €235 for a CPU / motherboard that should be able to get the job done.

I might use the remaining money for another stick of 4 Gb RAM, to get your rig to 8 Gb (which is nice to have, 4 Gb can be limiting in some cases). Streaming sc2 at 1080p48 put me at 3.5 Gb of RAM being used. You could also get a better GPU.


Thank you :D

Do you think my old GTS 450 will be able to get the straming done or do I need a better one?
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20344 Posts
August 06 2014 16:45 GMT
#7171
On August 06 2014 23:22 WindWolf wrote:
I don't believe anything until Nvidia confirms something. Doesn't we get like one of these rumors every week now?


That's precisely why i put a little bit of faith in them

it's somewhat of a trend.
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Myrmidon
Profile Blog Joined December 2004
United States9452 Posts
August 06 2014 16:59 GMT
#7172
On August 07 2014 01:19 Ognam wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 07 2014 00:42 Incognoto wrote:
On August 06 2014 23:50 Ognam wrote:+ Show Spoiler +

Hey guys. Just graduated college and started working in the real world, so I'm looking to upgrade from my cheap college laptop to a more permanent PC with my newfound $$$. First time builder so I'm mega-noob at this. Any help would be appreciated.

What is your budget?
Up to ~$1500. But if I could meet my needs for less it would be nice.
What is your monitor's native resolution?
Do not have (could use some advice for picking one out)
What games do you intend to play on this computer? What settings?
Dota2 primarily. But I would like the ability to play some more graphics-intensive at high/max settings.
What do you intend to use the computer for besides gaming?
Streaming in high quality, video
Do you intend to overclock?
No (too advanced for my noob self)
Do you intend to do SLI / Crossfire?
^
Do you need an operating system?
Yes
Do you need a monitor or any other peripherals and is this part of your budget?
Yes. Need monitor/keyboard/mouse. Dual monitors if my budget can afford it. Recommendations on a mechanical keyboard would be helpful.
If you have any requirements or brand preferences, please specify.
Nope. Avoiding Razer mice after my experiences with my current Deathadder though.
What country will you be buying your parts in?
USA
If you have any retailer preferences, please specify.
None.

I used some random online resources to come up with a starting point for the build. But I have zero sense of whether what I came up with is reasonable.

Processor (CPU)
Intel Core i5 4670k
Motherboard
Biostar Hi-Fi B85S3+ Ver. 6.x Micro ATX LGA1150
Memory (RAM)
A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
Video Card (GPU)
MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB TWIN FROZR
Primary Storage
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM
Secondary Storage
Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Power Supply (PSU)
Rosewill Hive 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX
Case
Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower
Heatsink
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

Does this seem logical? Is there anything I don't need or things that might be overkill? I basically just want to be able to play 99% of games at max settings and stream in high quality. Would having two monitors change my needs? Feel free to flame and/or advise me on what to do. Thanks!


If you're not overclocking, you're best off with an i5 4690, not an i5 4670k. The 4670k is for overclocking, the 4690 is not. That said, with $1500 budget, overclocking is something to consider.

If you still don't want to overclock, get an i5 4690, which has a high stock clock-speed. The i7 4970 has a stock speed of 4.0 GHz and it also has hyperthreading. It fits in your budget as well. However it's 50% more expensive than the i5 and hyperthreading doesn't help for gaming (there are exceptions); it helps for well-threaded tasks though. Streaming is a well-threaded task for example, but at the same time, if you're spending extra for processing power, you might as well overclock an i5. I'd lean towards the i5 with overclock personally, but that's just me.

The PSU you chose is overkill at 650W and it's not the best quality. You should get the 550W Rosewill Capstone, which is a better quality unit and it's less overkill. The indicated wattage doesn't matter as much as the quality of the PSU.

If you're set on not overclocking, then that case is a solid budget case. Not sure about the pricing, so all I can do is recommend you might look at the Fractal Design Core 1300 or the Core 2300. Those are also good cases, though if you had to choose between those and the N200, it might be best to look at pricing and maybe look at some features that you might like (cable routing for example).

There's no need for an aftermarket cooler if you're not going to overclock. The CPU itself doesn't produce that much heat at stock voltage and the stock cooler is sufficient. Some say the stock cooler is noisy, I personally use my computer with the stock cooler less than 1m away from me and I'm not bothered by its noise at all. If you like the idea of silent cooling though, I recently found out about the Titan Dragonfly 4, which is a cooler that is perfect for very quiet operation on a non-overclocked system. It's a tall cpu cooler though, make sure the case can fit it, if interested: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Titan/Dragonfly_4/7.html

The GTX 780 Ti is overkill for 1080p gaming and it's a nuke for Dota 2. I guess it fills the ticket for being able to play graphically demanding titles at max settings, however this card is powerful enough to do 1440p gaming.


Thanks a lot for the advice. I'm hesitant to overclock simply because I'm completely new to building a PC and have zero experience with hardware/computer maintenance. I'm paranoid I'd set it up wrong and cause damage. I'll definitely consider it for a future build depending on how this one goes.

In regards to cases, what exactly are the possible benefits/drawbacks to paying more/less? It seems to be mostly paying for aethetics and minor features.

Will drop the aftermarket cooler and switch PSU. Should I just get a GTX 780?

Also would the i5 4690 be sufficient for streaming?

Cheaper cases may have worse finish / fit, maybe paint that scratches off, thinner metal or otherwise cheaper materials, fewer drive bays and other features, worse fans, fewer fans, worse dust filtering, hard drive mounting that makes the whole thing rattle, etc. If you're not frequently transporting the thing, working inside it for upgrades, or pushing performance (either needing advanced cooling for overclocking or strict performance / noise tradeoffs and considerations for a quiet-optimized build), I wouldn't much worry about getting something past the $50-60 level or so.

Even a GTX 780 is probably on the high side.

On August 07 2014 01:36 Fibbz wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 07 2014 00:13 Incognoto wrote:
On August 06 2014 23:49 Fibbz wrote:+ Show Spoiler +

What is your current build?

Summary
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
AMD Athlon II X2 250 42 °C
Regor 45nm Technology
RAM
4,00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK Computer INC. M4A87TD (AM3) 39 °C
Graphics
G2320HDBL (1920x1080@60Hz)
1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (CardExpert Technology) 41 °C
Storage
931GB Seagate ST31000528AS ATA Device (SATA) 34 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C ATA Device
TSSTcorp DVD-ROM SH-D163C ATA Device
Audio
High Definition Audio-Gerät
Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

I hope this is enough. I really dont have a lot of knowledge regarding the technical stuff.


What is your monitor's native resolution?

1920*1080

Why do you want to upgrade? What do you want to achieve with the upgrade?

I got a lot of freetime now and saved up some money. I would love to stream my SC2 games or at least be able to make some videos for YT.

What is your budget?

up to 500€ atm. If I could not achieve the streaming setup I would save up longer to go for a better one...

What country will you be buying your parts in?

Germany.

If you have any brand or retailer preferences, please specify.


I think I can recommend you getting the i5 4690 and a motherboard to go with that. This should be able to play starcraft 2 quite nicely and you'll still be able to stream at 1080p30 quite nicely. you can push to 1080p48 with some tweaks / compromises on in-game settings. I tested this with my own rig just to make sure, things work out quite nicely. I have a 3.6 GHz Haswell i5 4670, the i5 4690 can go to 3.9 GHz, so the 4690 should be able to get the job done.

http://www.amazon.de/Intel-i5-4690-Prozessor-3-90GHz-Sockel/dp/B00K5J2252/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407337618&sr=8-1&keywords=i5 4690

http://www.amazon.de/Asrock-H81M-HDS-Mainboard-micro-ATX-Speicher/dp/B00EOBXPXK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407337641&sr=8-2&keywords=H81M

The ASrock H81-HDS seems well priced and it is compatible with devil's canyon: http://thepcenthusiast.com/list-of-8-series-motherboards-compatible-with-intel-devils-canyon/

So that's €235 for a CPU / motherboard that should be able to get the job done.

I might use the remaining money for another stick of 4 Gb RAM, to get your rig to 8 Gb (which is nice to have, 4 Gb can be limiting in some cases). Streaming sc2 at 1080p48 put me at 3.5 Gb of RAM being used. You could also get a better GPU.


Thank you :D

Do you think my old GTS 450 will be able to get the straming done or do I need a better one?

The graphics card doesn't make a difference for that. It's all processed on the CPU unless you're offloading encoding to special-purpose hardware.
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20344 Posts
August 06 2014 19:13 GMT
#7173
The graphics card doesn't make a difference for that. It's all processed on the CPU unless you're offloading encoding to special-purpose hardware.


I think it does somewhat in terms of performance hits if you have a particularly bad one - been told that, anyway (with 200 series etc)
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
kaykaykay
Profile Joined July 2012
Singapore637 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-08-07 08:49:05
August 07 2014 07:57 GMT
#7174
On August 05 2014 21:53 Ropid wrote:
You need to mention what parts you mean exactly.

There's Seasonic PSUs that are worse and there's some that are just as good.

There's Corsair Hydro stuff that is less performance than the air cooler mentioned and will never really beat it, and there are some that can do it easily. The Hydro series is generally sold with very fast (and noisy) fans. That's a big reason why the smaller ones can compete with the large air cooler mentioned. The air cooler is sold with a fan that's slow and quiet in comparison. If you let the fans run slow on the Hydro series stuff, the small models lose and even the big models will have problems to beat it.


Referring to the CORSAIR Hydro Series H110 ,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181035

and the SeaSonic X-1250,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151109


added both newegg links for comparison, this is for the high-end gamer specs listed in the OP.

Is liquid cooling that much better?
Starve the ego, feed the soul.
Incognoto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
France10239 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-08-07 10:09:16
August 07 2014 10:04 GMT
#7175
On August 07 2014 16:57 kaykaykay wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 05 2014 21:53 Ropid wrote:
You need to mention what parts you mean exactly.

There's Seasonic PSUs that are worse and there's some that are just as good.

There's Corsair Hydro stuff that is less performance than the air cooler mentioned and will never really beat it, and there are some that can do it easily. The Hydro series is generally sold with very fast (and noisy) fans. That's a big reason why the smaller ones can compete with the large air cooler mentioned. The air cooler is sold with a fan that's slow and quiet in comparison. If you let the fans run slow on the Hydro series stuff, the small models lose and even the big models will have problems to beat it.


Referring to the CORSAIR Hydro Series H110 ,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181035

and the SeaSonic X-1250,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151109


added both newegg links for comparison, this is for the high-end gamer specs listed in the OP.

Is liquid cooling that much better?


It's better, but let's say that for 15% better cooling, you're going to pay 50% more or something.*

A nice high-end air cooler does the job really well.



* obviously the math is skewed, it's not really 50%, but in terms of cost-efficiency clcs aren't as good as high end air
maru lover forever
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20344 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-08-07 14:34:56
August 07 2014 13:41 GMT
#7176
Noise for noise, they're not really better. If you want to run noisy fans, you can do that on air too, adding a ty-143 to true spirit 140 power i hear cuts temps by >5c. $115 for a cooler with only two normal stock fans is not very good.

Liquid is good, but the closed loop kits are not good enough (compared to a custom setup with better liquid, pump, block, more rad area) to pull away from good air cooling. It doesn't make sense to pay more for them unless you specially want the size or other stuff (to fit into a small case etc)
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
wussleeQ
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States3130 Posts
August 07 2014 16:25 GMT
#7177
Anyone think the 880 will be worth getting or should I just wait for the 20nm? I'm honestly in no rush but need some time to save funds for it.
BW -> League -> CSGO
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20344 Posts
August 07 2014 16:33 GMT
#7178
There's basically zero confirmed actual information on it aside from pretty wild speculation that it's 28nm maxwell past 780ti performance @200w tdp and ~$450 so hard to say.

I'm probably gonna wait for the big gpu because if it's anything like Kepler, the big one (780ti) will outperform the medium one (680/770) by like 1.7x.

Also nvidia is known for being stubborn with price drops unless forced, there was a time where 770 cost 1.6x+ as much as 7970 for like three months before they price dropped them. Wouldn't surprise me for it to be priced high, then be at two thirds of that cost in 6 months to a year.
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Ognam
Profile Joined October 2011
United States798 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-08-07 23:40:45
August 07 2014 23:39 GMT
#7179
Processor (CPU)
Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard
ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Performance ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory (RAM)
Crucial Ballistix Elite 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Video Card (GPU)
MSI GeForce GTX 780 3GB TWIN FROZR Video Card
Primary Storage
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM
Secondary Storage
Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Power Supply (PSU)
Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Case
Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case

Also getting:
Monitor
Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor
Keyboard
Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard

So I went and did more research and came up with this so far. Any feedback/suggestions for this? It totals to be in my ~$1500 range which is nice.

Is the i5 4690 sufficient for streaming? Also is the amount of storage overkill?
skyR
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada13817 Posts
August 08 2014 00:25 GMT
#7180
Change Corsair CX600 for a Rosewill Capstone 450.

Change GTX 780 to a GTX 760.

Use money saved for better monitor or a second monitor (or both if budget allows).

Makes more sense for someone concerned with DOTA 2.

Only you are able to determine whether the amount of storage is overkill or not.. we do not know your usage patterns.
Prev 1 357 358 359 360 361 746 Next
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 32m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 1895
GuemChi 527
actioN 375
Hm[arnc] 83
Dewaltoss 76
sSak 75
Aegong 30
yabsab 21
Noble 18
Dota 2
febbydoto181
Other Games
summit1g14591
ceh9459
WinterStarcraft437
Happy224
XaKoH 186
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1000
BasetradeTV44
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH340
• LUISG 25
• Letter147
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 1
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota2287
League of Legends
• Rush1482
Upcoming Events
IntoTheTV X SOOP
3h 32m
herO vs SHIN
Percival vs ByuN
RotterdaM Event
8h 47m
Replay Cast
16h 32m
GSL
1d 3h
Replay Cast
1d 16h
GSL
2 days
Shopify Rebellion Sundays
2 days
Spirit vs Mixu
Replay Cast
2 days
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
Shine vs Rush
WardiTV Weekly
3 days
[ Show More ]
Monday Night Weeklies
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Light vs EffOrt
PiGosaur Cup
4 days
Kung Fu Cup
5 days
The PondCast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1

Ongoing

K-JUNGMAN
ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Calamity Invitational
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSA
Acropolis #5 - GSB
Acropolis #5 - GSC
SC4ALL II: Brood War
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Copium Cup
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Disclosure: This page contains affiliate marketing links that support TLnet.

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.