Starcraft 2 is going to come out soon, and I wanted to build a computer for my cousin.

 

This is what I have so far. Some of the components, I don't really care for but am not sure of alternatives.

$110 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition

$80 BIOSTAR TA790GX XE

$95 G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB)

$115 XFX Radeon HD 4770 512MB 128-bit GDDR5

$100 Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200

$65 COOLER MASTER eXtreme Power RS550

$40 COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-BWN1-GP Black Steel

$605 Total

It's not the best but I guess it's alright

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135250

Not the latest chipset, but the price is extremely nice.

 

Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220468

 

I changed these two so you get ddr3+am3.

 

Heatsink: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103064

 

Cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103652

 

Psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030

 

A little bit more expensive, but improved.

(you need the heatsink since the cpu is oem)

 

Also you might need some thermal paste, Arctic Silver 5 catches for around 5 bucks.

Thanks. It'll end up higher cause of monitor/OS, but so it goes.

Choose another brand for the graphics card, I've seen a few video cards that were fried in the last few months, and they were all XFX cards.

Shall do. What version of vista should I get/what monitor would be best.

Shall do. What version of vista should I get/what monitor would be best.

Don't get Vista now that Windows 7 is out...

 

For Monitor it depends on what he (or you?) want to do, I suggest a 19 or 22"

You could save some money by getting a smaller hard drive. ~$45 for a 320gig. Use other older hard drives for backup/media, if you run out of space then buy a bigger one. By that time 1TB might be $45.

Fail. Which version of WINDOWS 7 should I get?

At least Professional

At least Professional

Premium should be just fine.

Choose another brand for the graphics card, I've seen a few video cards that were fried in the last few months, and they were all XFX cards.

 

Satisfied XFX user here. I've had no problems with my 8800GTS ever, apart from the fact that the G80 chip runs hot. Going to be picking up a VaporX 5770 in the coming months, anyway. I've never used an XFX ATi card, so the story may be different there.

 

The build is pretty decent overall, but the graphics card could struggle a little at anything over 1680*1050 game depending. Don't expect to run anything brand new maxed out. If you're just playing Source games, you should be set. Also, Home Premium is sufficient.

OK. I think it would be used for SC2.

Looks good.

I own a XFX 4850 which is pretty much the same graphics card performance wise and its great.

 

I brought this HDD not to long ago and I really like it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

 

If your spending that much on a psu I would get a corsair, but thats just be as I love corsair.

Friend of mine had a Coolermaster Extreme Power PSU and it died on him and killed off his 9800GT in the process. The PSU is the part of the computer where you least want to cheap out on, it supplies your whole computer with power so it is a priority. Go with Corsair or if you don't have the money, try an OCZ PSU. They have a great warranty policy and are a very trusted brand. :)

 

As for the other things, I personally have a Phenom II x3 720 and I love it. Don't listen to anyone who tells you you should get a quad core because you don't need it. That x3 chip has exceptional performance and is a good overclocker as well. I know as well from experience that some motherboards are a bit picky with G.Skill RAM, try corsair maybe?

 

That's all I can suggest really. :P Good luck on your build!

At least Professional

Premium should be just fine.

If you plan on playing legacy games/using old software, then the XP mode in Pro/Ultimate will be useful to you.

At least Professional

Premium should be just fine.

If you plan on playing legacy games/using old software, then the XP mode in Pro/Ultimate will be useful to you.

Doesn't Premium come with a compatibility mode? So even if you wanted to play an older game, you could do it. Just without the emulation.

That's a solid, mid-range build you've got, although like others, I'd recommend a Corsair PSU. Even the 400W one should power your build, and it's sleeved as well. As far as the processor goes, that one has an unlocked multiplier and sometimes can run four cores. As indy500fan stated, 1TB is a lot of room, and unless your cousin has a lot of movies or disc backups, it might be overkill.

 

BTW, XP mode is nowhere near as satisfying as installing a real version of XP on a second partition if you need it. Chances are, though, that you won't, since only really old games aren't in 32 or 64-bit format, and Windows 7 runs pretty much anything modern.

 

Another thing in regards to the case: Cable management without space behind the motherboard tray might be a real pain. You'd be better off saving some money from the other parts and buying a Cooler Master HAF 922 or CM690 or something like that. Besides that, the case you chose would have horrible airflow, and your parts need it to stay cool.