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

No, you don't need to buy any of that to make it ready for SC2. It'll run it I'm sure. The processor is a little "slow" at only 2.1 but I don't know how quick that is with a triple core.

And yeah the video card is fine.

 

I do pity AMD, they used to be the best overclockers

I think people give AMD more flak than they deserve for their performance. The x2 6400 black box processors stood up admirably to the intel 6600's, and were quite a bit cheaper. These days it's so much more about the video card though. Run 3DMark 06 with an intel 8400 vs an AMD phenom 2 and the results will be within 5% of each other. To be fair on overclocking, it's a double edged sword.

Even the best overclockers in the processor market become more unstable over time. In fact, most processor die's are done in huge wafers that contain thousands of individual chips. Each chip is clocked higher and higher until it becomes unstable, then the clock speed is dropped a bit, locked (with a cap on the multiplier if it's intel) and sold for the appropriate amount, be it an 8200, 8400, etc.

With overclocking, you're only hoping that better cooling than what the manufacturer intended will result in more stability at a higher speed. Almost all processors can be clocked up 100mhz, even AMD's, and the core 2 series is famous for being highly overclockable, sometimes up to 40% of it's base speed. Its not free though, overclocking requires overvoltage, which will burn out transistors in the CPU over time. There's millions of them there, so it isn't a sudden change, and lower temperatures significantly help reduce the frequency of scarring, but it's still there.

All in all, its nice for bragging rights, and can help your bootup time by a few seconds, but as long as you have at least a dual core 2-3ghz, its probably not going to make a difference.

 

You AMDers make me cry on the inside

 

:laugh: Don't blame us Jon, it might be slow but it's more than a recommended requirement for surfing and editing.

 

I'm an EX-AMDist

I was a big supporter of AMD up until they failed with the Phenom line. Core 2 was cheap, fast, huge overclocking margins (my E8400 clocked at 4.0GHZ with the stock heatsink), and ran very cool. I want to love AMD, i really do, but they did it to themselves on this one. It pains me to go with the same company responsible for the Pentium and Celeron series, but i just can't hate the Core memory architecture, its too elegant.

 

*shrug* As more of a software guy I hate AMD because of its driver issues. You're better off going with a third party driver than theirs...

I mean Christ, look at their "legacy" driver scheme. It doesn't even WORK.

 

So use Pentium. I7 should be just fine for the next 3-4 years. At least for standard applications.

 

The power supply and the Video card have been deactivated, and im looking for a motherboard that works with this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214 and 3 *2.0GB ram cards

 

The i7 is a quad core which steps up the compatibility issues to a whole new level. I would suggest going with a dual core that's faster (and cheaper) and just replacing it for a faster one as technology progresses and prices come down. Unless you're doing intensive video or effects editing you shouldn't need a quad.

As far as finding a motherboard that's compatible with that processor you'll need to consult more sources than me as I simply don't have the time to look into it. You could consult a parts dealer or maybe Newegg support. What I might suggest you do is look at motherboards on Newegg until you find one that offers a combo deal or "customers also bought" with an i7 processor on it and then make sure it has 4 DIMM slots for RAM and supports 8 GB of RAM. It will specify the RAM capacity in the specifications.

When ordering parts you should go from the most complicated item to the least complicated. So you should always start with the motherboard and then progress from there since it ties everything together and therefore will be the majority of your compatibility issues. Then work your way down to video card, processor, etc until you get to your DVD drive.

 

Well thanks for the help, I figured i should just get the best processor i can afford and work from there lol. I'm not very tech saavy so i don't know what has compatibility issues and stuff.

 

I'm suprised this has not been updated. The new system requirements for the beta are now out. I understand that the shipped product this summer will most likely have slightly different system requirements, however I'd like to get the member's of this forum's take on the newly released official system requirements for the beta.

Sorry I don't have a link to them off the top of my head, but I believe it is on the main page of this site.

 

i have no idea what tech sites you've been reading, but AMD has none of these problems. Or maybe you're just 6-7 years out of date. i dunno. i don't know what you mean by "shorter processor life" or where you get your data, every single AMD chip i've ever owned became out of date long before it ever stopped functioning. as far as overclocking, for both intel and AMD chips i generally get about 20% overclocks on average (on air cooling, no major overvolting). no big winners on either side.

bottom line:
Intel for high end.
Either for midrange ($200ish) processors
AMD for low end ($100ish) processors.

no, no, no. in gaming, you begin with the best video card you can afford and go from there. keep in mind the rule of diminishing returns: after the mid-range or so ($200) if you double your money, you'll only be getting 30% more performance.

 

Heres for the most important part.
http://www.tech-forums.net/pc/f76/read-first-updated-power-supply-guide-221778/

 

Just a heads up that I updated the article, all new links and everything so it should work for a couple months!

 

spent 455 on my new desktop,
OPERATING SYSTEM:WINDOWS 2.6.1.7600
()CPU TYPE:AMD ATHLON(TM) II X4 620 PROCESSORCPU SPEED (GHZ):2.62
SYSTEM MEMORY (GB):3.874
GRAPHICS CARD MODEL:NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 250GRAPHICS CARD DRIVER:NVD3DUM.DLLDESKTOP
HARD DISK SIZE (GB):426.697
HARD DISK FREE SPACE (GB):319.927


All you have to do is fine sale items I'm running mine on max settings 1080p 24" monitor w/ average 62fps.

 

Would this config run SC2 on Ultra, or Extreme settings?

 

I didn't know there was an "extreme" setting but I guarantee this will run that.

 

Tom's Hardware, the biggest guys in the industry, disagree with you. Check out their recommendations for the month of April: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-geforce-gtx-480,2598-3.html

I have a Nvidia, too, but there's no denying that Radeon offer good cards at good prices. Your contention, frankly, is unfounded.

 

I hate when someone tromps in here and posts a link like it denies the existence of years of experience.

Nvidia cards perform better. Period. You want to take specific instances and run laboratory tests on them? Fine. Do that. And the numbers come out to be comparable to each other. But when you pop those two cards into computers that overheat, have bad power supplies, are run ragged 24/7, Nvidia will come out on top 100% of the time.

Their cards are better just like Intel processors stand up better than AMD processors, and Western Digital hard drives never fail while Hitachi goes in the garbage after three months.

You can point to all the articles you want from Tech sites that are paid to "review" components fair and square. I know what works when I put it in my desktops, and I know what I replace after three weeks.

When it's cost v. cost and the Nvidia card is the same price or $10 more for a 1GB GTS 250 and the AMD card is actually more expensive for the comparable performance, I don't see how I couldn't recommend the Nvidia card. Especially when the ATI card is made by some Chinese knockoff brand rather than PNY or Gigabyte.

 

That ram is actually pretty expensive.. I built my computer last year and got GSkill 2x2gig sticks for 42.99.. Which in a year has jumped to 109.99
Heres the link.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...31145&cm_re=gskill_ram-_-20-231-145-_-Product