Here's a cut and paste I gave out earlier this week. This is for a guy who told me he wanted to spend under $1000 and wanted to be able to play SC2 at high FPS and no longer be the last guy to finish loading games. He also wanted to buy Windows which added $1000 to the cost.
I went ahead and priced out some options for you. One major decision I made was to go for a Micro ATX system. This means the motherboard will be a bit smaller size so the case can be a bit more compact. All the motherboards are relatively full featured for the things you need. The major things it’s missing are crazy RAID hard drive controllers and the technology to run multiple video cards. The price difference should be pretty negligible, but I’ve taken to preferring the smaller systems simply because I prefer more compact.
Here’s how this will work. Choose an option from each section and then add up the total cost.
Section A – Primary sytem
Option 1: AMD system.
The primary difference here is that you have 4GB RAM instead of 6GB and are using an AMD setup which will perform 10-20% slower in CPU and memory operations compared to the Intel system. This may equate into a few fps less in game, but should be pretty negligible in all of todays games as it’s still a beefy quad core system. If you want to upgrade the RAM, you’d go to 8GB instead of 12GB like the Intel system. You likely won’t use much beyond the 4GB for gaming and mild photoshop work though.
CPU - $170
Micro Center - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 238345 (must buy in store at Microcenter to get the deal)
Motherboard - $100
Newegg.com - ASUS M4A88TD-M AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s AMD Motherboard
Memory - $70
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
Subtotal: $335
Option 2: lower Intel system
This system will have the same RAM amounts as the AMD system and will perform 10-20% faster for CPU operations. The hard drive throughput may be limited in the future due to this board not having the new SATA 6.0, but it should not limit you now.
CPU - $230
Micro Center - Intel Core i7 870 Processor Boxed 339804 (must buy in store at Microcenter to get the deal)
motherboard - $120
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-H57M-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel H57 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Memory - $70
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ
Subtotal: $420 (difference from AMD: $85)
Option 3: faster Intel system
You’ll be getting a system with 6GB RAM instead of 4GB and will be 10-20% faster than the AMD system. You’ve got the capability to upgrade to 12GB of RAM instead of 8GB vs AMD if you get into heavy 3D and photoshop work that may use up your RAM. This will come at a higher price though. This Intel system does not have the hard drive limitation of the lower intel system.
CPU - $230
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBNQ (must buy in store at Microcenter to get the deal)
motherboard - $230
Newegg.com - ASUS Rampage III Gene LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
memory - $110
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ
Subtotal: $570 (difference from AMD: $235)
Section B – Case and Power Supply
Option 1: An ultra compact case. This case should provide exceptional cooling and hold all your fun bits while not breaking the bank. There are cheaper options though.
Case - $80
Newegg.com - Antec Mini P180 White Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case
Power Supply - $70
Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply
Subtotal: $150
Option 2: Slightly larger but cheaper than the last case.
Case - $60
Newegg.com - Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Power Supply - $70
Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power ATX12V Ver.2.2 / EPS12V version 2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply
Subtotal: $130
Option 3: An even bigger case that glows and stuff. It comes with a power supply so you don’t buy one along with it
Case and Power Supply - $180
Newegg.com - Antec Nine Hundred + EA650 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 650W Power Supply
Subtotal: $180
Section C – Video Cards
I’m just going to sort this by power (and, of course, price). Pick where you want to spend. Every one of these cards is new and should play SC2 wonderfully
ATI 5770 - $150
Newegg.com - ASUS CuCore Series EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (will play SC2 wonderfully, but may have trouble with newer games)
Nvidia GTX 460 - $170
Newegg.com - ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
ATI 6870 - $245
Newegg.com - ASUS EAH6870/2DI2S/1GD5 Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity (may have trouble finding the good ones in stock as they’re new and sexy)
Nvidia GTX 580 - $560
Newegg.com - ASUS ENGTX580/2DI/1536MD5 GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) Overclocked 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (yes, I know it’s freakin expensive. I wouldn’t recommend it for that reason)
Section D – Hard Drives
Option 1: Just a 1TB hard drive
1TB hard drive - $90
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Subtotal: $90
Option 2: a 1TB hard drive for storage and a smaller SSD. This SSD would provide for enough space for your OS, a couple Adobe programs, and 1-2 games. Everything else would need to go on the storage drive as your main SSD drive will run out of space quickly if you aren’t paying attention.
1TB hard drive - $90
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
60GB SSD - $140
Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Subtotal: $230
Option 3: a 1TB hard drive for storage and a larger SSD. This SSD would provide some additional wiggle room to install additional games and programs. You will likely eventually need to watch your storage though as even the large SSD is 1/8 the size of your 1TB storage drive.
1TB hard drive - $90
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
120GB SSD - $235
Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD3-2VTX120G 3.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Subtotal: $325
Section E – Other stuff
You’ll need a DVD burner and an OS. Add $20 for the burner
DVD Burner - $20
Newegg.com - ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 - $100
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems
My Recommendation
Considering your pricing point and what you’re looking for, I’d recommend the following:
AMD System: $335
Case Option 2: $130
GTX 460: $170
Drive option 2: $230
Section E stuff: $120
Total: $985
I tried to keep you under the $1000 mark but the OS can really cut into things and make it tough. Still though, there’s a sub $1000 system with an SSD that’ll play any game out there now.
