Building a new computer.

S

Silyputy

New Member
So i got into playing Starcraft 2. Amazing game but my computer can not handle it, i have been held down by this computer for a while as far as gaming. So i want to build a gaming computer i have watched youtube videos on how to do it and i think i can do it. But my one problem is i dont know what i need in it. I know ill use it for gaming a lot. I also know i will do some HD video editing. Well and general use i just dont know how much RAM ill need i dont know a good CPU for my situation. I know i want 2 screans, but from reading another thread on here someone said dont get 2 get 3. 2 is hard to use for gaming. My budget would be somewhere around 2000 Canadian. I wont be able to buy it for a a few months as im looking for a car right now. I know computer stuff gets outdated crazy fast i just want to try and get an idea on what i will need. What do you guys think?

Thanks!
 
I use the web site "Can You Run it"
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri

It installs an app that will test your computer to see if it will run the game you select. It shows both minimum and recommended system requirements for the game. As an alternative you can skip the test and just display the system requirements for the game. Here are some examples:

Starcraft II
System Requirements (Recommended):
CPU Speed: Dual Core 2.4 GHz Processor
RAM: 2 GB
OS: Windows Vista/Windows 7
Video Card: 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better
Free Disk Space: 12 GB available HD space

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
System Requirements (Recommended):
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ or better
CPU Speed: Info
RAM: 2 GB
OS: Windows 7/8
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (512 MB) or ATI Radeon HD 4850 or better
Sound Card: Yes

If I were you I would only look at the recommended system requirements since only having the minimum system requirements may work but limit game play. Remember that even the recommended system requirements for your games you have now may not be adequate for games you want to buy in the future.

For example I built a computer in late 2009 that met all the recommended system requirements for the games I had then. By 2012 I had to buy a new video card because the one I had was not adequate for the new games I wanted.

It comes to getting a better more costly computer now that lasts longer before a new one is required or getting a less costly computer that is adequate now but may be obsolete in a year or two. The more expensive computer may only require upgrades to be usable for future games. The less expensive computer may prove impossible or too costly to upgrade to keep up with future games. In this case a totally new computer would be the best choice.
 
Thanks, ill give this a look for sure. im sure ill take the money i have and just make the "best" system i can with it.


Does anyone know what is needed to have 2 or 3 monitors? Meaning any extra boards or upgrades?
 
Two monitors would mean two video cards. Also go for an Intel system like an i5 or i7. 8 gigs of mems should be plenty.
 
Twiki said:
Two monitors would mean two video cards. Also go for an Intel system like an i5 or i7. 8 gigs of mems should be plenty.
Click to expand...


So then should i get just like 2 1 gig cards? or should i get a good card for one and use it as my gamings one and such. Then get a less amazing other one?
 
Twiki said:
Two monitors would mean two video cards. Also go for an Intel system like an i5 or i7. 8 gigs of mems should be plenty.
Click to expand...

No. Dual monitors can be done with almost any card on the market right now. It just depends on how big the display (resolution) is. You do not need 2 cards for 2 monitors.

@Silyputy what are you trying to do with 2 or 3 monitors? Are you just looking for more room to work with (not in games) or are you trying to do multiple monitor gaming?

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/ATI/5870/re5eyefinity.jpg

Starcraft 2 only uses one monitor. They restricted it because an ultra wide display would give an unfair advantage for pro gaming. There are ways to make it work, but it will look worse on the screen than just one 16:9 or 16:10 monitor. Stick to one monitor for SC2. You will be a lot happier.

I played a lot of SC2, I can help you figure out where it would be worth while to spend your money. Do you have a budget that you want to keep to?
 
Even a previous generation mid-range card such as the 6870 can play games on multiple monitors using Eyefinity, so you definitely don't need two cards to play games across two monitors.
 
My AMD HD 6950 2GB can run World of Warcraft on three 1080p (5760x1080) monitors with medium-high settings, no problem.
Frankly, I prefer having three separate desktops rather than combining it to one. There's just not enough support if you play several games.
And if you play SC2 mainly, I would recommend only have one extra monitor, and playing in 'Windowed (Fullscreen)'. Blizzard is one of the only companies I know that truly makes a good windowed fullscreen mode.
 
Last edited:
salvage-this said:
No. Dual monitors can be done with almost any card on the market right now. It just depends on how big the display (resolution) is. You do not need 2 cards for 2 monitors.

@Silyputy what are you trying to do with 2 or 3 monitors? Are you just looking for more room to work with (not in games) or are you trying to do multiple monitor gaming?

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/ATI/5870/re5eyefinity.jpg

Starcraft 2 only uses one monitor. They restricted it because an ultra wide display would give an unfair advantage for pro gaming. There are ways to make it work, but it will look worse on the screen than just one 16:9 or 16:10 monitor. Stick to one monitor for SC2. You will be a lot happier.

I played a lot of SC2, I can help you figure out where it would be worth while to spend your money. Do you have a budget that you want to keep to?
Click to expand...

Wanting to get 2 so i can have skype or a chrome ext on the other monitor. that or music. Just for the versatility it will give me. Well and again i make some lower quality 1080p videos of my paintballing so i need a computer that can render that because i record at 1080p at 60fps. So i have a lot of big files.

Wanting to keep around 2000 or less a bit over might be ok depending how much over.

Should also add i play other games and once i get a good computer ill probly play a lot more pc games.
 
Last edited:
daisymtc said:
If it is just for the tower, I don't think you need CA$2000. CA$1200 - 1500 would get you a decent one.
Click to expand...

Only thing i have right now is a mouse. And not a good one at that but been working fine for me.

Been using a laptop since about 2009. Had the same one it works fine but its outdated and can not run any game on lowest settings to save its life. :P
 
Silyputy said:
Wanting to get 2 so i can have skype or a chrome ext on the other monitor. that or music. Just for the versatility it will give me. Well and again i make some lower quality 1080p videos of my paintballing so i need a computer that can render that because i record at 1080p at 60fps. So i have a lot of big files.

Wanting to keep around 2000 or less a bit over might be ok depending how much over.

Should also add i play other games and once i get a good computer ill probly play a lot more pc games.
Click to expand...

yeah that is more than enough for a good PC. SC2 will be no problem. Are you looking to overclock at all? What software are you using for video editing? Is the $2k for PC/keyboard/mouse/OS/Monitors?

EDIT: where are you located?
 
salvage-this said:
yeah that is more than enough for a good PC. SC2 will be no problem. Are you looking to overclock at all? What software are you using for video editing? Is the $2k for PC/keyboard/mouse/OS/Monitors?

EDIT: where are you located?
Click to expand...

Im a novice at desktops and the parts needed. I dont exactly know what over clocking is. (from what i do know its giving the CPU more power and making it run at a faster HGz) So i would rather stay away from it if i can. Mainly because i dont know what im doing. As for video editing right now just movie maker. Odds are ill get a good program when i get the computer that can use it. Will need the PC dont have a keyboard have a crapy mouse i could use have been using it no problems so far. As for OS i might be able to get my hands on one but as of now we will say i need one. Need monitors also.

Located in Alberta Canada.

Want im kind of wanting to do is get a good idea what i want then wait till a boxing day sale and buy everything, or as much as i can. Then i can save myself some money for games or just getting a better part.


I know computer stuff does out of date super fast and Christmas is only a few months away but i dont mind being a few months behind i can always change out for a new part is need be.


Sorry for the long reply's, doing my best at answering.


EDIT: Fixing a few mistakes
 
ok well here is where I would start

motherbaoard: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128590
CPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116901
Or: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899

Pretty much the same chip +/- hyperthreading. they are overclockable models (K version). I know you didn't want to OC yet but I think the extra ~$25 is worth it to leave that option open for the future.

RAM: Pick your favorite. DDR3 1600 CAS 9 1.5v is what I would shoot for.

Monitor: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236174

It's really personal preference but 23" 1080 is really a good balance.

GPU and PSU kinda depend on eachother so I'll leave that out for now. Probably GTX 770/780 or AMD 7950/7970 depending on budget. you can also go lower if that is too expensive.

Case: Toss up a few that you like the looks of and we can help you figure out what is good with the same kind of styling.
 
Ok and as far as hard drives what do you think. Most people i know run an SSD and from what i know id love to put my OS on that plus a few programs i use a lot. As far as brands for HHD's is one better than the other?

As for the CPU how much "better" is that i7 vs the i5 because i have no idea. :(

Screan looks amazing.


When i get some time ill go case hunting. My best guess is in a few hours. No big rush to get all the info i need.
 
Silyputy said:
Ok and as far as hard drives what do you think. Most people i know run an SSD and from what i know id love to put my OS on that plus a few programs i use a lot. As far as brands for HHD's is one better than the other?
Click to expand...

SSDs are nice but my personal rule with them is don't skimp on other components in order to fit in an SSD. I doubt that will come into play with your budget. My favorite is the Samsung 840 Pro. 128gb is the minimum I would go 256gb is probably better for longer use. Just for reference I run Windows 7 and Ubuntu off of my 128gb SSD and still have plenty of free space.

For spinning disks I would get a 7200 RPM drive from Seagate, Samsung, or Western Digital. Pick a size that seems right for your media. 1tb is probably the minimum that most people go but that is by no means an absolute minimum. If you do a lot of media creation it might be worth it to grab 2 HDDs and do regular backups of your media in the case of failures.


Silyputy said:
As for the CPU how much "better" is that i7 vs the i5 because i have no idea. :(
Click to expand...

It all depends on what application you are running. Video editors will probably make use of more threads. i5 has 4 cores/4 threads i7 has 4 cores/ 8 threads (hyperthreading) So there will be a performance upgrade, but how much depends on the application mostly. For games there is little to no benefit to i7s vs i5s

Another thing to consider would be does the application make use of GPU processing. If it does you would be better off getting an i5 and letting the GPU handle most of the work.

Silyputy said:
Screan looks amazing.
Click to expand...

Good to hear. Other members might chime in with other opinions on what might be more important when working with videos vs gaming.

Silyputy said:
When i get some time ill go case hunting. My best guess is in a few hours. No big rush to get all the info i need.
Click to expand...

If you see something you like. Feel free to toss it in the thread. We can help you figure out what matters when choosing a case
 
Okedokey said:
SC2 is CPU limited, so spend the money on that over a GPU if that's your game of choice.
Click to expand...

Maybe over 100 fps. Not for hitting an average of 60. My i5 works well for SC2. Even in 4v4 on ultra.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/08/18/how-many-cpu-cores-does-starcraft-2-use/1

It really boils down to use Intel and OC for better performance.

Silyputy said:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119213 this case i like the looks of. Always love blue :P


As for a GPU i know i want to get a 2gb one or some other other card but again as for brand or what i have no idea. Still want to be able to run 2 monitors though. Dont know if that makes a difference.
Click to expand...

that is good case. If you like it, go for it.

GPUs I would look at nvidia 760/770/780 or amd 7850/7870/7950/7970. Any one of those would max SC2 at 1080 easy.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top