New rig to slay the denizens of Diablo 3

[bangarang]

Hi All,

I've been prowling these forums (in awe of you all) for a few days now getting ready to pull the trigger on my first custom build - been a longtime fan of Blizzard games since the times of Rock 'n' Roll Racing and The Lost Vikings. Based on performance during the D3 open beta, I fear my 2009 MacBook Pro will not keep a steady frame rate to keep me alive playing while hardcore.

So I wanted to put together a machine that is sub $1000 and would love your feedback on the specs. I'm looking to be able to play SCII and D3 with maxed out graphics. Any glaring mistakes in this build? Thanks in advance!

Case: NZXT Technologies Source 210 Computer Case (Black)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005869A7K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

SSD: SanDisk Extreme SSD 120GB GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s2.5-Inch Solid State Drive- SDSSDX-120G-G25
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006EKJCWM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_10?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Fit SSD into case: SILVERSTONE SDP08 3.5 to 2 X 2.5-Inch Bay Converter
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BH3Z8E/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Wi-fi: 300Mbps Lan 802.11 n/g/b Wireless Wifi Network PCI Card
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003OZG5NE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&m=A32VV8QE6DM094

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CRSM4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q0PT3I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA1155 AMD CrossFireX/NVIDIA SLI DVI/HDMI Dual UEFI BIOS mATX Motherboard GA-Z77MX-D3H
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007R21JX6/ref=ox_sc_act_image_6?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti FPB 1024 MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 2DVI/Mini-HDMI SLI Ready Graphics Card, 01G-P3-1556-KR
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004S5CCP4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

CPU: Intel Core i5 3450 Processor 3.1 4 BX80637I53450
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SZ0ECE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Intel Core i3, i5, i7 and AMD platforms - CMPSU-650TXV2
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LB5AZY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_9?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Subtotal: $927.98

Am I overdoing it here? Any feedback at all is greatly appreciated!

Matt

 

[Pezcore27]

While the 550ti will work perfectly for Diablo 3, I reccommend spending the extra $20 and get a much much much better video card.

SAPPHIRE AMD Radeon HD 6870 1GB GDDR5 PCIE Graphics Card - 159.99
http://www.amazon.com/SAPPHIRE-Radeon-6870-GDDR5-Graphics/dp/B005C8RTTU/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336585097&sr=1-1

also upgrade to the Crucial M4 128GB SSD. Much more reliable SSD.

Crucial 128 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive - 127.15
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT128M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JKZI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336585214&sr=1-1

 

[juniiflow]

wow, is he really going to buy the OS? -_____________- , just ask for someone else's before you buy it. it's 100 dollars off, with that u can do plenty of stuff. [adding a wayy wayy better gpu, processor, or SSD ]

nice build, and what pezore is saying is a good advised aswell :]

 

[Branden]

100% agree with pezcore.
fork over a bit more for a better GPU (it's surely affordable if you're already spending $900+), and crucial m4 is the way to go.

i'd also say you could knock a few $$ off the power supply, i swear by power PC and cooling (http://www.amazon.com/PC-Power-Cooling-Silencer-compatible/dp/B0064XAIXQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336592333&sr=1-3)

 

[bangarang]

Awesome. Thank you all! You know I was going to do the Crucial but I saw a review of the SanDisk on storagereview.com - when I went back to look at that article they didn't even compare the two in their benchmarking so... and yeah, I've heard amazing things about it. I will go with the crucial drive.

In terms of video cards - I was also looking at the GTX 560 Ti - it's a little pricier but what do you guys think? How does that compare to the Sapphire AMD Radeon - is it like a whole 'nother level or overrated or just meh?

http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Superclocked-PCI-Express-Graphics/dp/B004KZHRAM/

 

[bangarang]

Also will 600 W be fine for this setup? Thanks

 

[Pezcore27]

The 6870 and the 560ti trade blows if the 6870 even has just a mild overclock, so the 6870 is a better value.

If you are going to buy the 560ti, then for the same price newegg has the 7850, which runs circles around the 560ti.

Powercolor Radeon 7850 - 249.99

 

[Branden]

In terms of video cards - I was also looking at the GTX 560 Ti - it's a little pricier but what do you guys think? How does that compare to the Sapphire AMD Radeon - is it like a whole 'nother level or overrated or just meh?

AMD fanboys will always claim AMD>nvidia, and nvidia fanboys will always claim nvidia>AMD.
an excellent reference is tom's GPU hierarchy chart (clicky) to help you decide for yourself. as you can see the 6870 is two rungs higher than the 550ti, and the 560ti another rung higher than that.

 

[rglaredo]

saphire 7850 2gb FTW ..altough the 550ti will run diablo 3 with all on exept shadows at 50-60 fps ...get AA off and you should see an inprovement ..the 560ti is a nice card but the 7850 its almost the same or cheaper and it's better ..than 560ti ..depends where you look ..also I been looking at ebay for a used 7850 and I cant find one ..where the 560ti's and others are all over the place ...If you can find a friend to sell you a 570 for less than 200dlls like a friend did ...grab that one lol ...

 

[kdub_14]

Whats the best processor to match with the 7850 for diablo 3 and other games? i3 i5? And more specifically which model.

 

[azeem40]

i3-2120 will be just fine.