Budget SC2 Gaming

[xarik]

Approximate Purchase Date: 2-4 Weeks

Budget Range: 300-400 Before Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Starcraft 2, then web browsing

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, Hard Drive, OS

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, open to any others I should know about

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel cpu

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1600x900 is native on this monitor, so that I guess

Additional Comments: First, I want to apologize that this is only my 2nd post and I feel that I have not given anything to this community and yet I ask for help. I will try to fix this in the future. That said, I have been researching/price watching for the past 2 months and decided I need some help to pull the trigger. I want budget parts but do not want to sacrifice quality.(contradiction I know) Highly considering g620 cpu with h61 board and using on die gpu, onto parts list.

SSD(already have) - Intel 320 series 80GB SATA II

CPU - Intel Pentium G620 $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116399

MOBO - H61 board, This part scares me.

RAM - No Idea, 2x2GB sticks

PSU - Antec neo eco 620C $70 - $15promo = $45($20 MIR) About to pull the trigger today on this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031

CASE - HAF 912 $60($10 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233&Tpk=haf%20912

GPU - No Idea, maybe none

Optical - will combo one with cpu most likely

OS - Have 32bit win7

My main concern is compatibility with motherboard. I don't want to have to update bios to support CPU, or AHCI for my SSD. Also, how picky are MOBOs as far as RAM goes?

Thank you so much in advance.
~Tim

 

[eklerus]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.836469 171.98$ OR <locked cpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.835839 219.98 $ <unlocked
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.857901 78.98$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016 54.99$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 22$
328$ or 376$
and some room to change the case and experiment crossfire with a 6570 from a friend

 

[xarik]

Thank you for the quick response.

I have not done much research on amd processors, but I intend to for the rest of the day.
The one thing I do remember reading is that while the A-series graphics dwarf the Intel G620's, cpu intensive tasks, which sc2 is, give the edge to the g620 even though it's only a dual core. I could be totally wrong, but i swear I read something/saw a benchmark of it.

After cooking/eating breakfast, I think I should have refined my question, and maybe even posted in the motherboard section.

I think I want to go with an Intel G620 and a H61 board.

Just need a H61 board that will pick up the chip with whichever bios version it is shipped with.

Admins - Please feel free to close/move this thread to MOBO section if that's more appropriate, I won't start a new thread until this is closed and/or moved.

Thanks again
~Tim

 

[eklerus]

MOBO - H61 board, This part scares me.

Maybe you will not be able to upgrade to ivy bridge so to be on a safe side buy z68
I was more concerned about gpu power then cpu power and yes going with intel will give you more cpu power

 

[eklerus]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128538 110$ OR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271 130 $ very popular board
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116399 70$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016 55$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233187 30$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119233 60$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204 22$
345 $
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131454 80$ should give you at your rezolution 50 fps with ultra quality
425$

 

[xarik]

That MOBO looks perfect, even better that one of the reviews claims to have a g850 and a SSD.

I've heard mixed feelings about thermaltake, but that psu does seem to have a decent 12v rail, but no efficiency certification, again, not sure how much I should value efficiency ratings.

Thank you so much eklerus.

 

[eklerus]

check them again i changed to a antec psu to make more money hehe
don't worry about the mobo i have a very cheap z68 gigabyte and i5 oc to 4.6 but no ssd sorry ..but it has all options intel smart tehnology usb 3.0 check gigabyte website
i would buy cheaper case and psu but love the haf series and 550w it's preaty decent you can put any card in there and will work
I updated my mobo with the latest bios and they already suport 22nm ivy bridge so no worries there

 

[Supermuncher85]

The BP550 is a solid PSU. I've been running it with a 6950 for some time now.

 

[xarik]

I think I will go with a z68 board as it seems they have better compatibility with all 1155 socket cpus.

I see a lot of posts saying just go with a H61 if you don't plan on overclocking, but when looking at manufacturer's websites, a lot require a bios update to work with the cpu I'm looking at.

Although it would be great to have a modular psu, it is not something I need and that psu only has 384W on the 12v rail and no certification.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031
I can get for the same price with the $15 off promo this weekend, plus a $20 mail in rebate.
Made by seasonic, 576W on 12v rail, and 80plus cert.
One of the few things I'm sure of is this psu, even if it is more power than I need, that's not a bad thing, especially for the price.

 

[eklerus]

Personally I like Antec and I tried to be in your budget here I am little over 400$ but it's your choice in the end you can try other sites to find those nice promo's.
Quality first fashion second and money in-between

Why did you buy an ssd ?

 

[xarik]

Eklerus, your help is greatly appreciated, thank you so much.

Just checked gigabyte site for that z68 board, and all the pentium dual cores are supported with the original bios so awesome.

I guess it was unrealistic of me to think I'd be paying less than $100 for a quality board, more ramen noodles and it shouldn't be a problem getting that one.

I'm going to go with the PSU I linked, seems to have stellar reviews and it's also an Antec.
Antec Neo Eco 620c - $35 after the mail in rebate, I just don't think I can pass that up. Might be a week or two before I get to power it up, but reviews on newegg show antec's customer service to be just as stellar as their products, just in case I do have an issue.

2 months of no starcraft make me go crazy, I will be gaming by my birthday April 11th

Thanks again,
~Tim

 

[xarik]

Harddrive in my optiplex 755 sff was slowing on it's way out.

Flooding in Thailand/hdd prices made me not want to buy a replacement.

Got a intel 320series 80gb ssd as a daily deal for 120 with a $50 mail in rebate I couldn't pass on.
Think they're going for 150 at the moment.

Figured when I got around to finally building a new comp, I could toss the ssd in new comp

 

[eklerus]

So what did you chose?
I can tell you from my own experience it's very easy to update the bios on a gigabyte board you just go to windows they have this ''touchBios''you can work with and there you can do anything you could do in a normal bios so it's simple like pressing update bios from gigabyte server

 

[xarik]

Best answer selected by xarik.