Another Computer thread - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

malcolmk14 · 08-26-2010, 11:20 AM

Price matched on shopbot.ca, what changes would you make to this system?

The most resource-intensive thing I'll be doing on it is SC2. I also want to be able to upgrade a little in the future if necessary.

ThermalTake V5 Case - $60.99
Intel i5 760 2.8 GHz Processor - $214.99
ASUS P7H57D-V EVO Motherboard - $146.82
Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) XMS3 PC3-12800 RAM - $94.26
Western Digital 2TB SATA II w 64 MB cache - $99.99
ASUS DRW-24B1LT 24x DVD-RW Optical Drive - $29.99
eVGA GeForce GTX460 768 MB - $204.94
Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750 W Power Supply - $102.29

Total - $954.27

Edit: I can spend a little bit more but would prefer not to go over about $1,200 when all is said and done (software included).

dissentowner · 08-26-2010, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Price matched on shopbot.ca, what changes would you make to this system?

I would buy a Mac instead.

Bobblehead · 08-26-2010, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I would buy a Mac instead.

And this crap is why Apple/PC animosity occurs.

malcolmk14 · 08-26-2010, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I would buy a Mac instead.

In case that was a serious reply, I thought about it but I'm a little more comfortable with Windows than with the Mac OS.

I'm just going to stick with what I'm comfortable with since I don't think Mac has anything to offer me personally that a PC doesn't.

dissentowner · 08-26-2010, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

In case that was a serious reply, I thought about it but I'm a little more comfortable with Windows than with the Mac OS.

I'm just going to stick with what I'm comfortable with since I don't think Mac has anything to offer me personally that a PC doesn't.

Fair enough answer.

FlamingStuffedTiger · 08-26-2010, 12:46 PM

I'd swap out that Caviar Green with a Caviar Black or an SSD. Since hard drives are generally the slowest component, I like to pick the faster option at the expense of capacity, especially if we are talking about the main drive.

I'd also think about getting the newer 1GB version of the 460. Probably not a worthwhile upgrade for SC2, but I think it will make a difference when you want to upgrade for future games. I suspect it will might be easier to SLI two 1GB cards than two 786MB cards at that time...

Some people might disagree with me here, but I would consider downgrading the processor if gaming is the most resource intensive thing you will be doing. At present, most games I know of don't make use of more than two cores on the processor anyways. Might be worthwhile downgrading to an i3 or a dual core version of the i5. It's hard to say tho because games could always be made to take advantage of more cores in the future. Just something to think about.

Bobblehead · 08-26-2010, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlamingStuffedTiger

Some people might disagree with me here, but I would consider downgrading the processor if gaming is the most resource intensive thing you will be doing. At present, most games I know of don't make use of more than two cores on the processor anyways. Might be worthwhile downgrading to an i3 or a dual core version of the i5. It's hard to say tho because games could always be made to take advantage of more cores in the future. Just something to think about.

A buddy of mine who has 8 cores in his box (a Mac) was watching specifically for how the load was disbursed while playing SC2 and said he saw all the cores being utilized fairly equally. He had thought the same thing as you about 2 cores, but that isn't what he saw. Although he did say he thought his system was constrained by the CPU so that may have muddies his results.

I have a quad core system but haven't picked up SC2 yet, so I haven't checked for myself.

mykalberta · 08-26-2010, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I would buy a Mac instead.

He said he wants to spend no more than $1200.

- whats the price difference between i7 and i5, at work I notice a considerable difference with same RAM. If its too significant I would double the RAM.

dissentowner · 08-26-2010, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mykalberta

He said he wants to spend no more than $1200.

What is your point?

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...32.aspx?path=a

Vulcan · 08-26-2010, 01:31 PM

I'd look at the Coolermaster CM 690 II because of it's cable management.

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/22...R/RC_692_KKN2/

and spend the rest on an SSD.

Supposed to be a big sale at NCIX on Friday evening.

ZedMan · 08-26-2010, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissentowner

What is your point?

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...32.aspx?path=a

Between the graphics card and windows' better performance in general, the above PC will run triquetras around the iMac for gaming.

That aside, I second the WD black series. SSDs are very nice but games take a lit of room now a days. If you ONLY play SC2 it may not be an issue, but personally on a desktop I would only run an SSD as an OS drive and back it with a traditional HDD.

dissentowner · 08-26-2010, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZedMan

Between the graphics card and windows' better performance in general, the above PC will run triquetras around the iMac for gaming.

I will give you the gaming part but did you just say Windows performs better then Snow Leopard? HAHAHAHAHA!!! I like Windows 7, it is the best Windows yet so far but it is not even close to SL in performance let alone the programs like iLife and iWorks which are incredible value packaged into the OS. Plus, if you want to game you can always put Windows 7 on your Mac and have both OS's. Windows better performance in general...thanks for my big laugh of the day!

malcolmk14 · 08-26-2010, 03:01 PM

With all due respect please don't turn this thread into a Mac vs PC battle. I'm not interested in buying a Mac. I'm not an Apple hater, I have an iPhone, a few iPod's, and I've recommended MacBook's to my friends in the past.

I just want a PC.

Thanks.

Regorium · 08-26-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissentowner

What is your point?

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...32.aspx?path=a

Are you being serious? I feel like you're baiting.

OP:The only thing is I would splurge for that i7. At mem express it's about a $70 price premium, but from everything I've read it's worth it.

I disagree about the 1GB card vs the 768MB. At higher resolutions (ie. high end of 1920x1200 and higher) you will start to see the performance diverge due to memory. However, if you are like most people still stuck at 1680x1050 and perfectly happy, the 768MB will offer you just as much performance.

Phanuthier · 08-26-2010, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissentowner

What is your point?

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...32.aspx?path=a

lol 1 cent below $1200

win

PS : Linux!

Hanni · 08-26-2010, 03:47 PM

The i7 is a nice, I have one. However your not going to see any difference until you get into 6+gb of ram and multi-GPU's. So if you do want to future proof and go with an i7 you will have to make sure your motherboard can support those future upgrades as well.

None of this matters if you are planning on getting 32bit windows 7. If you are going with a 32bit version then you'd be wasting your money on an i7.

I also agree with the Caviar Black hdd.

llama64 · 08-26-2010, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

A buddy of mine who has 8 cores in his box (a Mac) was watching specifically for how the load was disbursed while playing SC2 and said he saw all the cores being utilized fairly equally. He had thought the same thing as you about 2 cores, but that isn't what he saw. Although he did say he thought his system was constrained by the CPU so that may have muddies his results.

I have a quad core system but haven't picked up SC2 yet, so I haven't checked for myself.

I'm fairly ignorant about core usage on windows, does Windows XP/Vista handle multiple cores properly? I'm fairly certain Windows 7 does well enough but it's hard for me to accurately test since I'm too cheap to buy more then a Core2Duo for my PC.

Starcraft 2 runs fine with the default setting of "High" on my PC:
2.4gHz Core2Duo
4GB DDR2 Ram (I may have this wrong.. been a while)
Radeon 4850
250gig 7200 HDD Seagate

I can scale it up to Ultra and play at a rate of about 20-25 FPS, but I prefer being over 30 FPS at least. Thankfully Starcraft 2 isn't a game where FPS will affect your performance.

Also gave the game a spin on my Macbook Pro for fun. It's very playable at the lowest graphics settings (prob one step up too) on the laptop when it's set to using "Energy Saver" graphics (the recent graphics update helps a lot). I'm sure enabling the performance graphics card would be a significant boost - but Macs are for work, PC's are for games.

sclitheroe · 08-26-2010, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlamingStuffedTiger

I'd swap out that Caviar Green with a Caviar Black or an SSD. Since hard drives are generally the slowest component, I like to pick the faster option at the expense of capacity, especially if we are talking about the main drive.

This is sound advice. The WD green drives are meant for mass storage, not fast storage like you want for your OS drive.

Raekwon · 08-26-2010, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

This is sound advice. The WD green drives are meant for mass storage, not fast storage like you want for your OS drive.

He is asking for computer advice, not sound advice . . .

Hanni · 08-26-2010, 04:05 PM

I'm not an expert but my understanding is that all updated versions of XP/Vista/7 can handle multiple core processors. Specifically, 32bit versions can handle up to 32 cores and 64bit versions can handle up to 256 cores.

The biggest limitations are:
1) 32bit versions of windows (more specifically 32bit processors) cannot utilize any more than 4gb of ram. Whereas 64bit supports some ridiculous number.
2) Although 64bit is slowly becoming the standard, most applications (including SC2) are still designed for a 32bit environment. Meaning if you have a high end system it still won't be utilizing what you have.