"Budget" Starcraft 2 ULTRA setting Build?

jackmule7949

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Jun 20, 2011
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Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and PC building. I look forward to be part of this community as I learn everything there is to the PC world. I've been planning for months to build my mid-level gaming PC that can handle Starcraft II on High/ULTRA settings. I was very confused... building a PC looked like putting together a space shuttle, so I wanted to buy a pre-assembled PC from ibuypower.com, (Which had PCs that were overall around $580 that can handle Starcraft 2 on ULTRA setting with 60 FPS.. According to their benchmarks.) I was just about to order it until my friends told me that the total price costs more than all the parts together?
Now I want to build it myself as this will be a great start for future upgrades, etc. But I just can't come up with a build... I hope I'm allowed to post a question without my initial build.. =/
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Approximate Purchase Date: This week


Budget Range: ~$700 (I honestly REALLY dont' want to go over $600, but I know that's not possible to do for what I'm looking for, will go for $750 if needed)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming


Parts Not Required: Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg and Tigerdirect.


Country of Origin: US


Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Anything. (I would like the MOBO to be flexible for RAM upgrades in the future!.)

Overclocking: Maybe.. (In the future)


SLI or Crossfire: Anything


Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080


Additional Comments: Not asking for much, Quiet PC! :wahoo:


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I really can't list my builds, since I've been looking at pre-assembled rigs, =/ I had a build but it could only run Starcraft 2 on low settings. I hope I'm allowed to post without an initial build...

If I'm allowed to keep this thread.. Please help me by posting a FULL build! I'm going to an electronic store (FRYS) this weekend and try to get most of the parts retail then whatever I couldn't find I will order online!


Please help me out,
Thanks!


*Newbie question: My previous builds for ULTRA setting on SC2 with at least 60 FPS were only going for 4 GB of RAM, 500 GB Hard drive, and an AMD quad core 3.00 Ghz CPU. Focusing mainly on the video card like the Raden 6850 a high watt PSU to support Does this sound like a good build for ULTRA setting 60FPS Starcraft 2 and many MMORPG games? This is like my initial build but I just can't find the right items with the right price that sums up not more than $700!
 

z_4

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Apr 21, 2011
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Starcraft 2 is not very demanding . Here's a proof

If you could afford this build it would be great. It's 750 USD build:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

The build below is same as the above just the 6950 has been switched to 6870.
If you cannot here's another (685 USD):

Motherboard

CPU

Graphic Card

RAM

Power Supply

Case

Optical Drive

Hard Disk

Here a thumbnail :



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

If you want to further save cost consider an i3-2100. It will save you another 65$.

Here are the review of the processors. Enjoy the build.

 

striker410

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Not bad. z4, Not bad. A few changes.
-Get the XFX 6870. Save some money.
-get dual channel ram. A 2x2 kit of the same stuff would work quite well.
-get a crossfire compatible Z68 mobo.
-Drop to i3-2100. All he needs for Starcraft, BF3, and any other games.
-Swallow $30 and add the HAF 912.

That should bring OP to around $650. If you want more performance, make all changes I suggested, except keep the processor and get a cheaper 6950.

Again Z4, nice job.
 

manu 11

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Jan 6, 2011
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how about this,

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808
114$

HIS H695FN2G2M Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

dont try to unlock shaders 250$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161368

ASUS M5A88-V EVO AM3+ AMD 880G HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131733 130$

you have an upgrade path to bulldozer because its an am3+ board

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231276
50$

best you can find, low latency of 7. high performance ram kit

CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply 140$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042 60$

cheap but big

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive 60$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

optical drive, the cheapes you can find

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=1ar0c2szp7nxr 20$


total- 694
after shipping and rebates it would be less than 650$

hope i helped,
Good Luck




























































 

Taylor422

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Dec 21, 2010
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Why the Seagate Barracuda? I know Samsung got bought out, so the Spinpont F3's aren't going to be the gold standard much longer, but there should still be remaining stock.
 

jackmule7949

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Jun 20, 2011
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Thank you EVERYBODY for helping me out, this is a great community..why did I not think of coming here earlier! I will take your advice and go with your budget build, and I will get the HD6850 card as well, do I need to get a high watt PSU if I'm switching from the GTX 550ti to the HD6850? Or am I good here. :O!


Wait.. is it the Sapphire Raden HD6850 card right? with 500w PSU?
 

manu 11

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well you will not see a lot of gain going to a 6850 from a 550ti. 6950 would be a worthy upgrade. in most of the games gpu power is the most important thing than cpu power.if for starcraft, 550ti is just enough for very high settings.but if you want to play future games, 6950 would be bettter option combined with a quad core rather than dual core
 

homiezheadsup

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Mar 14, 2010
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what ever you do, get an Intel i series CPU. There is no doubt that currently Intel is the way to go when playing SC2. SC2 CPU intensive game. So try to get an i5 if you can. A sub $150 GFX will get you Ultra settings no problem. I'd also go with Nvidia on this one. GTX 460 1GB is more than enough.

from personal experience, a key point here is that even with an AMD X6 overclocked to 4GHz, it will not go above 70FPS playing SC2 in ultra. An i5/i7 can actually take Ultra up to 120fps in ultra. The same ratio applies to minimum FPS.