TUTORIAL: Buying a Computer for StarCraft 2 for under $650

lol, glad I asked.

 

Where I am living, I can actually get a 760 for 10 bucks less than the 750.


And the differences between the Blues and the Blacks 500GB are:

1. Number of processors: 1 vs 2
2. Cache: 16 MB vs 32 MB
3. Warranty: 3Y vs 5Y

CPU utilisation is lower with a Black (not big of a difference - 2% lower than a Blue)
Speed - more or less 10 MBps advantage over the Blue

LOL, you're not asking for much - just a 50% decrease in prices, as the X25-m 160 retails in Canada over 400. If I can get a Crucial C300 64GB or OCZ Vertex 2 Extended 60GB for 120, I'd still be quite happy.

I give you credit for this one. Turns out SC2 doesn't give a flying f**k about more than 2 cores, but cache and speed are more than welcome. There's an article I found prooving your point:

http://www.techspot.com/review/305-starcraft2-performance/page13.html




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Updated some links, etc., fixed the IDE drive link. How did I miss that? Wasn't very obvious... I didn't think they even SOLD IDE drives anymore... sheesh.

 

OK there's my list of components for an AMD SC2 rig:

Case: $39.99 NZXT GAMMA Classic Series GAMA-001BK Black Steel - cheap, looks cool, with up to 6 fans to cool your components
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146061

PSU: $89.99 (69.99 after MIR) CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W - after MIR this baby is an even greater deal. It has the right mix of everything I am looking for in a PSU.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

M.B. AMD: $89.99 ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 (Are you for real :wacko: - in Canada Newegg asks for this 119.99 plus 12.99 for shipping )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157198
To make sure your memory will work without issues make sure you check the Memory QVL BEFORE you purchase it. There's a link to the current QVL:
http://www.asrock.com/mb/memory/870 Extreme3.pdf

CPU: $99 AMD Phenom 2 X2 555BE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=Phenom_2_X2_555-_-19-103-846-_-Product

Cooler: $34.99 XIGMATEK HDT-S1283
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233003

Memory: $102.99 G.SKILL ECO Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231321

HDD: For the speed freaks out there:
$259 Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAA128MAG-1G1 - 1.8 inch, zip-tie mount
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...359&cm_re=crucial_c300-_-20-148-359-_-Product

For the people who actually can spell patience:
$74.99 Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

DVD RW: $21.99 Asus or LiteOn
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106334

Video card: $229 GIGABYTE GV-N460OC-1GI GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=geforce_460_1gb-_-14-125-333-_-Product

An Intel MoBo and CPU will follow

 

Well, Intel slashed 50% off their prices when they released the G2's. I'm just hoping for more of the same with the G3.

 

forever

So I ordered everything I posted a few pages back about a week ago and got rush delivery so I can start putting this puppy together but I am still waiting on one of the fans, cd/dvd drive, and the ramm and the video card, I am kind of at a stand still. I have installed the motherboard, installed my processor on it and installed the power supply. I know I sound dumb but this is the first computer I have built so I am ready to see the end result, plus I bought Starcraft 2 and told myself I will NOT play it until it is played on my new computer and it is killing me a little more every single day.

 

Lol I know how you feel man. I am waiting on my psu, ram and hard drive. After that I will be redy for battle net! As far as puting everything together tho its uber easy. Just remember when pluging in your case wires that the collerd ones are + and black or white are ground. Oh and you dont need to buy thermal past couse it comes with the cpu.

 

So im trying to figure out what to do for an op system. Any sigestions? Should I get windows 7 basic and then get the update derect x . Or should I find someone that still has vista? Its so fregin expensive.

 

Windows 7 Home Premium OEM is around $100. If you know a college student, you might be able to get a license for cheap.

 

Will I have to update the derect 10? Or is it fine as it is? I havnt been able to find any info on what it comes with.

 

That is where I am on this too, I turn the computer on and im in the stage where I need to put an operating system on to do anything. I am thinking about going with old school windows xp because it is easier to get a bootable iso and because I have heard in so many cases that it has less restrictions to downloading and uploading and gaming. Computer is beautiful though. I added some extra led fans and it glows like a champ and as quiet at a mouse.

 

Windows 7 comes with DirectX 11 although it's recommended to update to the latest runtimes when you get it. No idea what restrictions you're referring to. Windows 7 works just fine for me and it handles resources and networking better than XP did.

As for the installation, I just installed Windows 7 from a flash drive. Base OS install took less than 30 minutes which is kinda surprising. I always set aside at least 2 hours for an XP install.

 

I am having trouble putting a operation system on my computer. It is built and purring like a jubgle cat but I need a bootable verson of windows 7 torrent or something becasue I cant find a good copy to download that is bootable and will actually work with I put it in the computer, I have tried 2 different downloads of XP and 2 different windows 7 downloads i have gotten. Does anyone have anything that they know will work and has used or is using it??? Please help, I have a 700$ computer and a copy of starcraft 2 I cant play until I get past this part. ) :

 

Sounds to me you're just not burning the discs right. By the way, while Windows 7 will allow a 30 day trial if you don't put in a license code, you're still going to need to buy a license eventually.

 

I have been trying everything to burn them right and usually I can burn anything but I am guessing the versions I download are bad. How much does a licenes cost?? Any other suggestions that perferably wont cost me any money? Ive almost exausted my expenses on building the computer its self.

 

License cost - that depends. Windows 7 Home Premium OEM costs around $100. If you're a college student, it can be quite a bit less, maybe even free. Check your Computer Science department. If not, sorry, don't think you'll be able to get it for free.

Hmm, methinks the thread title should be changed to $750 PC to take care of the mandatory Windows license. Linux isn't really an option and I highly doubt people have spare Windows licenses just lying around.

Snow Leopard ($29) might be an option if you go Hackintosh but that's a gray area.

 

@lostcause44

Leaves me kinda speechless - you're paying for your favorite game 60 bucks, but you can't gulp the 100 bucks for an OS to run it on. Just kidding! There are plenty of places to get Windows 7 for free (.torrent file extension), but I don't think promoting piracy will bring this forum any honor, so I'll restrain myself from disclosing information that could leave to intellectual property theft.

We as gamers share also a certain degree of geek-iness and curiosity is one of many qualities that distinguish us from the less technical PC users. So use yours to look for the right solution to your predicament.

Get an ISO file and burn it (don't just copy the iso on the dvd, ok).. Free tools to make bootable disks from iso are: ImgBurn or CDBurnerXP.If you are still having difficulties burning the iso to dvd you can create a bootable usb drive. Instructions how to do it:
http://www.askvg.com/create-windows...indows-7-usbdvd-download-tool-from-microsoft/

 

If this bootable usb works you will be my hero. I have been so stressed trying to get some kind of good OS on my computer to play my game and have a computer worth talking about in my household. I have a HP laptop and the motherboard messed up on the optical drive connection so I have no optical drive on my laptop so this usb deal seems like my knight in shinning armor. If any other suggestions come up or anything let me know, i am going home on my lunch to try the bootable usb out and hopefully Im not to much of a dummy and can make it work.

 

So my laptop is not adequate enough to run sc2 because it will start to overheat, so I am looking into building a new desktop computer. How does this look? Are all the components compatible? And will this run sc2 on ultra high settings?

($55)Power Supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153116

($65)Computer Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811166004

($221) Motherboard + Processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.456515

($121)GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...339&cm_re=geforce_9800-_-14-130-339-_-Product

($113)RAM - http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...w?ie=UTF8&qid=1282761084&sr=1-2&condition=new

($48)Hard Drive - http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...282761302&sr=1-1&seller=&colid=&condition=new

($23)CD/DVD Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204

Total - $646

 

what about a monitor? whats the one is the best for a good value? i could probably use an old one but a new one would be nice