Building New Rig for SC2, critiques please!

[quillian]

Hello,
I'm looking to build a new desktop for sc2 and some future gaming. I'd like to keep it pretty budget, but have some viability over the next few years. A friend suggested this setup, can you let me know if it works well, or where I might make cuts to save money?

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

ASUS M5A97 AM3 AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767R

ipjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231445

EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625

SILVERSTONE Strider Plus ST50F-P 500W ATX 12V v2.3 & EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256065

 

[FinneousPJ]

Definitely change the GPU to 6850 or 6870. You could save some money going with 4 GB RAM which is still enough for games today.

 

[quillian]

Cool thanks for the reply. What's the reason for switching to radeon 6850? I'd seen some other meh reviews for the card I listed, so trying to find the best for my needs.

 

[cutebeans]

Definitely change the Mobo to AM3+.

Get this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128490

You will have the option to upgrade your CPU when you feel that the phenom isn't cutting it. An AM3 board is a dead end.

Get this PSU. Cheaper, great quality.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027&Tpk=CX%20500w


The 550 ti is one of the worst card for price/performance. Your best bet is 6870.

 

[quillian]

awesome, thanks! The PSU was definitely something I was looking to save on.

isn't the motherboard i linked to am3+?
ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131767R

I'm a nub so maybe I'm missing something. if the one you referenced is significantly better for this setup it's totally worth $6 =P Just trying to be well informed.

 

[FinneousPJ]

The mobo in the OP is AM3+...

 

[FinneousPJ]

The Gigabyte mobo would be a worse choice.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

I'll suggest the AS Rock Z68 Extreme 3 for $124.99 which will do 8x/8x crossfire/sli (only 2% slower than 16x/16x. this means 98fps instead of 100fps).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271


for an SSD, I'll suggest this 90 gb model:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233204

 

[FinneousPJ]

The Z68 wouldn't work very well with a Phenom II though

 

[cutebeans]

Sorry, didn't see that.

 

[FinneousPJ]

Yeah. I don't know why it says AM3 but if you look closer it's a 970 chipset which is AM3+ Anyway I think the system in the OP is very nice to begin with but yeah, change the GPU.

 

[quillian]

Thanks for all the analysis!

One review suggested XFX Radeon HD 6790, as performance was similar. You think I should go up to the 6850 though? Which model would you recommend?

Whoof, SSD is way expensive per GB, worth it to get one for the kind of performance I need? (SC2, Steam, liveStreaming, some newer games over the next couple years)

 

[FinneousPJ]

I recommend the 6800-series but if you think the review makes a good point then go for it. A SSD will not offer increased frame rates but rather a more responsive system due not having to constantly wait for the HDD.

 

[quillian]

Thanks for all the help, I think i've settled on the radeon 6850 and the power supply you suggested. Overall saving a bit of money and getting more performance! I'm looking forward to the new rig!

 

[ScrewySqrl]

The Z68 wouldn't work very well with a Phenom II though

*DOH*

Stupid of me Still you might want to wait a week and see if you can jump right to a 6150

 

[quillian]

The Z68 wouldn't work very well with a Phenom II though

*DOH*

Stupid of me Still you might want to wait a week and see if you can jump right to a 6150

6150 what? I won't be starting ordering till next week, is something coming out I should be aware of?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

AMD's newest chips are due out Oct 12. Bulldozer. 8150 8-core $245. 8120 8-core: $205, 6150 6-core. $190

 

[cutebeans]

I hope so. Planning to buy a phenom ii in a while. A price drop is definitely what I need.

 

[AlExAlExAlEx]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125401

If you could squeeze this in, it would make dramatical improvements to your FPS.(Frames Per Second)

 

[quillian]

Hey guys, so I noted that the radeon 6790 is even cheaper than the 550 right now, and performs better in some tests.

Would going this route hurt me too much in the long run to save a few $? it notes that it is crossfire ready, which I take to mean I could install a second card later?

 

[ScrewySqrl]

the 6790 is a step below the 6850, good enough up to 1600x900 res.

I'd wait just a coupel more days and look into bulldozer

 

[xxsk8er101xx]

Just so you know the new AMD bulldozer 8 core is just a quad core with something similar to Intels hyper threading.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

sorta.

its 8 integer cores paired up in modules, it'll act like a 4-core with very muscular hyperthreading