Newbie- Small Diablo 3 Computer/ HTPC

[vegeta13613]

I would like to to build a second computer as a HTPC/ Diablo 3 rig. I am looking to get a fairly steady 45-60+ FPS on D3 with all settings maxed, on 1080p. Also, I am on a pretty tight budget. Under $800, if at all possible. The real problem is I want something that isn't a pain to move around like my HAF 912 is. Something I could perhaps sling under one arm and carry without killing myself, but isn't so tiny that it is a huge pain to work in. I plan on moving this computer from house to house multiple times per week. My computer knowledge is pretty lacking, so I figured I should come here for suggestions.

Here is what I came up with in my research...

i3-2120 CPU
http://www.Newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=19-115-077

2 x 4GB Ripjaws
http://www.Newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-231-428

128GB SSD (I have a spare spinning drive if I need it as well)
http://www.Newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-148-442

Biostar micro ATX Motherboard (not sure if this will be my best bet, but it was suggested to me)
http://www.Newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-138-357

Mini case with 600w PSU
http://www.Newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=11-163-170

If you see anything I should rethink (motherboard?) or have any other suggestions on the build, I would appreciate it.

 

[Wolfshadw]

You're going to have to rethink either your case or your motherboard as the two are incompatible. The case will only accept a Mini-ITX board and your selected motherboard is Micro-ATX.

-Wolf sends

 

[vegeta13613]

You're going to have to rethink either your case or your motherboard as the two are incompatible. The case will only accept a Mini-ITX board and your selected motherboard is Micro-ATX.

-Wolf sends

True enough. At the moment I haven't really made any decision on the case, so a micro ATX motherboard may very well be an option. At this point it is only in there as it was suggested by a friend. Assuming I do get the case, I will definitely keep in mind that I need to find a different motherboard.

 

[obubdeno]

Well first question I need to ask is... Are you located within an Hour of Microcenter? Because I personally just got i5-2500k + Extreme4 Mobo which would anywhere cost $340+ with tax, for $245 with tax, because of their cheap cpu's and $50 off sale with purchase of a mobo.

Next, you didnt list a gpu, what you have listed I dont see anywhere near $800 at the moment, but then again you didnt list a gpu.

 

[lordofdeath242]

the IGP(integrated graphics processor) on the I3 is not really suitable for any kind of gaming, and barely so as a htpc. Amd's a better value at that price for in igp setup
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106001

 

[vegeta13613]

Well first question I need to ask is... Are you located within an Hour of Microcenter? Because I personally just got i5-2500k + Extreme4 Mobo which would anywhere cost $340+ with tax, for $245 with tax, because of their cheap cpu's and $50 off sale with purchase of a mobo.

Next, you didnt list a gpu, what you have listed I dont see anywhere near $800 at the moment, but then again you didnt list a gpu.

No Microcenter anywhere close. Looked at the 2500k. Seems a bit overkill for my needs. Probably not for me when considering Newegg pricing. Right now, I am pretty set on a Gigabyte 6850oc for the GPU.

 

[obubdeno]

Alright, well I can tell you this right now, you will not be running 60fps in Diablo 3 on all maxed settings unless your running a 2500k+ or better. Blizzard games are ALWAYS Cpu intensive compared to GPU. If you wouldnt mind turning off shadows/liquid detail you would be okay. But the 2500k is not overkill because achieving good gameplay on full maxed settings in a blizzard game requires a very good processor.


(I play wow/d3 and just upgraded my system so I know)

 

[mouse24]

Alright, well I can tell you this right now, you will not be running 60fps in Diablo 3 on all maxed settings unless your running a 2500k+ or better. Blizzard games are ALWAYS Cpu intensive compared to GPU. If you wouldnt mind turning off shadows/liquid detail you would be okay. But the 2500k is not overkill because achieving good gameplay on full maxed settings in a blizzard game requires a very good processor.


(I play wow/d3 and just upgraded my system so I know)

I suggest taking a look at benchmarks bro

As for the OP, I would suggest looking at the 7750 for an add in card, it performs near the level of a 6770.

ITX board: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157311

 

[Chainzsaw]

I just wanted to add to this discussion. Especially @mouse's graph.

Not too sure where those tests were done in D3, however my computer (specs in sig), plays D3 at about 60FPS and can slow down to even less FPS in Inferno mode with lots of enemies shooting spells at you and running around (I can get over 100FPS without VSYNC depending on location and enemies).

However most of the time you should see what that graph shows, however once you get into the meat of things, there might be some slow downs.

Everything maxed out at 1080P. Just a FYI for the OP.

 

[obubdeno]

Yes, mouse you cant take those benchmarks into real world play. Chain is correct. With my old processor everything turned up yay 90fps in wow. Problem is wow benchmarks flying through the air in unpopulated areas with no intense graphical things occuring. So when it coems time to actually raid/pvp/be around other people you will be getting no where near that fps. Benchmarks aren't everything especially in blizzard games.

 

[FinneousPJ]

I think it's best to leave overclocking for another system. Here's what I got

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($70.56 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($254.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 430W ATX12V Power Supply ($26.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $699.48
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-19 14:45 EDT-0400)

 

[vegeta13613]

So, a 6850oc and the i3 should get me decent performance in D3, just maybe with a few options turned down. If I get the cash, go for a 2500k and maybe a slightly better video card. I think I get the basic idea here. Any thoughts on motherboard/case?

 

[vegeta13613]

I think it's best to leave overclocking for another system. Here's what I got

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3V Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($70.56 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($254.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair 430W ATX12V Power Supply ($26.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $699.48
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-19 14:45 EDT-0400)

Excellent! Going to have to wait to look this over until I get home, but I really appreciate the build. Any thought on if cheaping out on a slighly less expensive video card will hurt my D3 gaming very much?

 

[obubdeno]

6850 + i5-2500k would be ideal. Try and find a few extra bucks for that 2500k.

 

[mouse24]

Hmmm, true I would have liked them to do a bit more extensive d3 benchmark. But I really doubt you NEED a i5 to get 60fps maxed, though as I have never played it I guess I gotta go with more reliable sources such as yourselves

Oh and +1 to the build by finneous

Side note: whats up with the cpu scaling? http://www.techspot.com/review/532-diablo-3-performance/page5.html Their review has a 3.3 phenom 2 x2 beating a 3.1 athlon 2 x4. Does the game only use 2 cores or something?

 

[DarkOutlaw]

Alright, well I can tell you this right now, you will not be running 60fps in Diablo 3 on all maxed settings unless your running a 2500k+ or better. Blizzard games are ALWAYS Cpu intensive compared to GPU. If you wouldnt mind turning off shadows/liquid detail you would be okay. But the 2500k is not overkill because achieving good gameplay on full maxed settings in a blizzard game requires a very good processor.


(I play wow/d3 and just upgraded my system so I know)

Yeah D3 does not care which intel i processor you buy. I am running a 2500k w/ gtx 550 ti and im getting 100 fps average with everything turned up. If you are just going for 60fps, then the i3 with at least the 550 ti would do it. 4GB of ram. D3 is heavily hard drive demanding, so if anything you should get a SSD for your OS and game installs.

 

[vegeta13613]

So, the finneous build with a Gigabyte 6850oc and I should be set, even if the video card holds me back a little bit?

 

[obubdeno]

So, the finneous build with a Gigabyte 6850oc and I should be set, even if the video card holds me back a little bit?

a 6850 O/C a little will not hold you back at all in D3. And, to the other poster...

An SSD will not improve the actual FPS of a game at all. what it will do is load zones faster, load game up faster. But once its actually open and running, there is no difference

 

[vegeta13613]

Sounds good. I think I will probably go with the finneous build with a 6850 video card. I am going to do a bit more research and see if the i3 2120 will be good enough for my needs, as there seems to be some debate on that subject.

 

[DarkOutlaw]

a 6850 O/C a little will not hold you back at all in D3. And, to the other poster...

An SSD will not improve the actual FPS of a game at all. what it will do is load zones faster, load game up faster. But once its actually open and running, there is no difference

Do your homework and read the bnet forums. D3 is constantly accessing the hard drive, some even go as far as to install all needed files to a usb drive and play the game like that. This is a seriously stupid issue that Blizzard created because they didnt create the program to load the needed files into RAM like normal games. Its called shitty programming.

Sounds good. I think I will probably go with the finneous build with a 6850 video card. I am going to do a bit more research and see if the i3 2120 will be good enough for my needs, as there seems to be some debate on that subject.

My GTX 550 ti runs D3 @ 100FPS (i purposefully set the max FPS to 100 to prevent any kind of throttling). On paper the 6850 stock is better than the 550 ti, and as you can see from this chart that has already been listed, the i3/i5/i7 all perform nearly the same.

 

[obubdeno]

Do your homework and read the bnet forums. D3 is constantly accessing the hard drive, some even go as far as to install all needed files to a usb drive and play the game like that. This is a seriously stupid issue that Blizzard created because they didnt create the program to load the needed files into RAM like normal games. Its called shitty programming.



My GTX 550 ti runs D3 @ 100FPS (i purposefully set the max FPS to 100 to prevent any kind of throttling). On paper the 6850 stock is better than the 550 ti, and as you can see from this chart that has already been listed, the i3/i5/i7 all perform nearly the same.

http://media.bestofmicro.com/F/P/336229/original/CPU cores.png

Could you find me the thread? Cause I have never heard of such a thing.

Also what is your setup and are you overclocking? Benchmarks show average of 50fps on a GTX 550 ti in d3 with everything turned up.


EDIT: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/4927102942

Maybe you should do your homework, because like stated in this thread I said... faster loading times, but FPS 0 change whats so ever.

 

[DarkOutlaw]

I am at work I will have to access it when I get home. But if you look under tech support, one of the recommended stickies even says, posted by the bnet moderators, turn off indexing, it will speed things up. It should be one of the bottom stickies under technical support. Trust me, We have come up with some crazy crap that boosts diablo 3 performance, especially on laptops.

I'll let you find out my specs for yourself...it shouldn't be that hard...

 

[obubdeno]

I am at work I will have to access it when I get home. But if you look under tech support, one of the recommended stickies even says, posted by the bnet moderators, turn off indexing, it will speed things up. It should be one of the bottom stickies under technical support. Trust me, We have come up with some crazy crap that boosts diablo 3 performance, especially on laptops. I'll let you find out my specs for yourself...it shouldn't be that hard...

Trust me I know what your saying and yes an SSD will *speed* things up as in speed up loading times/installation times. But it wont Improve the actual frame rate of a game.

 

[DarkOutlaw]

Trust me I know what your saying and yes an SSD will *speed* things up as in speed up loading times/installation times. But it wont Improve the actual frame rate of a game.

Normally no, but Diablo 3 does not load the level into RAM like it should, it pulls the data for the terrain, monsters, items, etc from the hard drive. So when you come up to a new area, the game "stops" and your FPS drops to 0 until it loads whatever it needs. This causes a great deal of microshuttering in the game.

 

[vegeta13613]

The Fractal 1000 case supports video cards up to 210mm in length... the Gigabyte 6850 is about 230mm... looks like I'll bee looking for a different video card.