Building a gaming computer

**videoman1994** · May 16th, 2012, 10:35 PM

Hey guys. I am in need of some expertise. I have a person asking me to build a computer good enough to run diablo 3. What parts would you recommend?

Cheap is a plus as he is headed to college next year and I'm sure he doesn't want to pay buckets of money.

Also, anyone know any brand name computers that would also be good enough to run it? By good enough I mean at least of medium settings.

Thanks for the help in the long run. I am not as up to date as I used to be on computer parts.

**SoloCamo** · May 17th, 2012, 02:51 AM

Well just to clarify here and give us more detail; cheap can mean $3,000 dollars to one person and $300 to another. What is his actually budget limit?

Also, what size monitor does he intend to use? Does he need an operating system as well?

**ShyguyXPC** · May 17th, 2012, 03:14 AM

exactly. (definition of cheap)

I tried piecing together something with a newer Ivy Bridge Quad core, and then even dropped it down to the fastest Sandy Bridge Dual core, and was still costing $850 or more with the OS, and this was with a relatively lower AMD Radeon HD 7770 in it.

**Fulskasy** · May 17th, 2012, 09:50 PM

Diablo 3 does not require a high spec to play with. This is their minimum requirement.

Windows® XP/Vista/7 (latest service packs) with DX 9.0c
Intel Pentium® D 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 4400+
NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800 GT or ATI Radeon™ X1950 Pro or better
1 GB RAM (XP), 1.5 GB (Vista/7)
12 GB available HD space
DVD-ROM (required for retail disc versions only)
Broadband* Internet connection
1024x748 minimum resolution

Basically, it's not gonna cost you more the $700

**ShyguyXPC** · May 18th, 2012, 12:01 AM

minimum requirements, is not the same as running at Medium settings, which is what they asked for, your listing minimum specs which are for minimum settings.

and the specs that I listed as trying to piece together are far from high specs, it was all moderate to lower moderate spec hardware.

**videoman1994** · May 18th, 2012, 09:31 AM

On the question of price. He's thinking around 750-1500. Can go a little over if needs be. He's also going to college so hard drive space is something that I'm thinking about now.

**ShyguyXPC** · May 18th, 2012, 02:28 PM

I have to work in a bit, but I can piece together the list I had in mind the other night and post it later, wasn't exactly top end, but it had everything minus the Monitor, Keyboard, mouse, and speakers. And was a good lower mid range system with plenty of expansion/upgrade potential.

**ShyguyXPC** · May 19th, 2012, 03:51 AM

build list about half way between minimum and max budget.

Newegg.com - NZXT Source 210 Elite White Steel with painted interior ATX Mid Tower Computer Case w/ Black Front Trim

Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - Acer S231HLbid Black 23" 5ms HDMI LED-Backlight LCD monitor Slim Design 250 cd/m2 ACM 12,000,000:1 (1000:1)

Newegg.com - XFX CORE Edition FX-777A-ZNF4 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Newegg.com - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Newegg.com - Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Keyboard

Newegg.com - Logitech G500 10 Buttons Dual-mode Scroll Wheel USB Wired Laser 5700 dpi Gaming Mouse

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9

Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-2130 Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32130

Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 2011/1366/1155 and AMD FM1/AM3+

Newegg.com - LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal 12X Internal Blu-ray Drive 3D Playback & M-DISC Support Model UH12LS29 LightScribe Support - Blu-Ray Drives

Newegg.com - Intel 330 Series Maple Crest SSDSC2CT060A3K5 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TZ77XE3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

That would be everything needed, except a Mouse pad, Speakers/headset, and Bluray playback software.

For about $60 more a newer Ivy Bridge Quad core could be added:

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-3550 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53550

(and would be worth it IMO)

But as listed above the total before shipping is $1,177.86

There's $25 in Mail in rebates as well.

Since you mentioned him going to college next year, I figured given the budget, might as well make it last a while, which is why I'd recommend the Quad core above and why its in the $1000+ range.

The PSU is enough to run the system as is, as well as with a 2nd Radeon 7770 in Crossfire. Even with the Quad core CPU there is enough power there.

the motherboard uses latest Intel Z77 chipset, has USB 3.0, SATA 3rd Gen, SLI & Crossfire capable, Ivy Bridge Supporting, along with PCI Express 3.0 support with an Ivy Bridge CPU.

the RAM is 8GB which should be enough for now, as well as 1600MHz, so if they wanted to OC a little down the road they can.

The SSD is one of the newest out by Intel and are actually pretty good. Its only 60GB, but that should be enough to use for the OS, and some frequent use Programs with the rest of the stuff installed on the 1TB HDD.

Blu ray Player with DVD Burner function. Along with that a 23" LCD with LED backlight, DVI/VGA/HDMI inputs, and 1080p resolution.

Good gaming keyboard with LED backlit keys (I have the same one and it really does help in low lighting with the lit keys), as well as the anti ghosting key feature.

Laser gaming mouse, decent, I would of added the MS Sidewinder X3 Laser but it was no longer listed on Newegg, usually around $30 or so for it for a cheap decent laser gaming mouse.

I have used a Logitech G5 for 3 years now, and this G500 is the replacement for it. Currently using a Gigabyte M8000X Laser gaming mouse instead.

the CPU cooler is decent, I just got the 212+ model, (there's the 212, 212+ and 212 EVO, each one is just a slight improvement on the former), and its a big heatsink, but not as big as some of them out there, and for its size its actually not that heavy, what adds weight to it is the fan they have on it, the EVO just has 2 fans on it I think, the 212+ only has one, but you can add a 2nd if needed.

The case, is nice for the price, and well built, has USB 3.0 front mounted Ports which is only now starting to be more common on cases, months ago, this was the only case you could get in this price range with any 3.0 ports on it.

Some weight could be shaved out of this list, but with the budget in mind and mentioning of going off to college he'll want something to last for a while, especially if he gets into other games other than Diablo 3, its nice to have a rig that will handle almost anything. Which is why I'd recommend the i5 Quad core Ivy Bridge above.

one thing that could be shaved out to save some costs would be the SSD and CPU cooler and just use the stock intel cooler.

The only other thing I can think of is toss in a tube a good Thermal Paste in to the list, Arctic Cooling or Arctic Silver brand (Ceramique 2 for the AS stuff, or MX-2/MX-3 for the AC stuff)

could probably even save some money on the Keyboard/Mouse choices if their not too picky about those.

but I wouldn't change much else, aside from maybe the GPU or Case, this way it leaves Upgrade potential/options later down the road.

**videoman1994** · May 22nd, 2012, 09:37 AM

Thanks for all the help Shyguy. From what he told me today, he just needs the tower. Also he kind of wants it to be a little cheaper, so I am going to shave where I can. However I am going to go with the motherboard, videocard, and processor.

Is there any way to cheapen it more? Otherwise I'll see if he wants to pay that much.

EDit: Also, I checked the motherboard and it doesn't seem to have onboard wireless. Could you recommend a wireless card? Or will any wireless card really work?