Starcraft 2 ultra settings Build.

[Goweeuhd]

I am using a laptop and the graphics card sucks... unfortunately I can't replace it, so I'm thinking of putting together a desktop pc. Here's what I'm thinking so far.

Thermaltake Armor A90 Gaming Mid-Tower Chassis With Cable Management Water Cooling SSD Support And Tool-Less Installation
Newegg.ca - Thermaltake Armor A90 Gaming Mid-Tower Chassis With Cable Management Water Cooling SSD Support And Tool-Less Installation VL90001W2Z

Hard drive
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.ca - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Do you guys think this hard drive will last? From the feedback it seems it crashed a lot on people.

Power Supply
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Newegg.ca - CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

MOBO
ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
Newegg.ca - ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Graphics card
ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Newegg.ca - ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU/2DI
upport Video Card

RAM
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9
Newegg.ca - CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C9

CPU
AMD Phenom II X4 970 Deneb 3.5GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ970FBGMBOX
Newegg.ca - AMD Phenom II X4 970 Deneb 3.5GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ970FBGMBOX

Will all this stuff work together? Is there anything here that you guys would recommend I choose something else?
I do care about price, but I want a CPU that will last for games in the future. Maybe I'd be better off getting a better graphics card..? Also, would it be better to just get a radeon graphics card since I'm looking at an AMD CPU?

I was looking at this site that said the 260 would be ideal for starcraft 2.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty GPU & CPU Performance > Final Thoughts - TechSpot

"At 1920x1200 using the ultra quality settings, anything faster than the old GeForce GTX 260 is a little pointless and that's saying a lot in our opinion. For those better used to extreme resolutions, the newly released GeForce GTX 460 graphics card
appears to be the ultimate weapon in StarCraft II. This card was able to match the GeForce GTX 480 and Radeon HD 5870 graphics cards even at 2560x1600. Therefore we can safely and happily conclude that you won't need to spend over $200 to enjoy StarCraft II in all of its glory at any resolution. "

CPU:
"The problem lies in that StarCraft II will only utilize two cores and as a result a Phenom II X4 965 will not be any faster than a Phenom II X2 555. This proved to be a real issue for older quad-core processors like the Core 2 Quad Q6600, which delivered very poor performance even when overclocked to 3.0GHz. When testing we found that a minimum frame rate of 30fps was ideal, sadly the Q6600 only allowed for a minimum frame rate of 22fps when coupled with the mighty GeForce GTX 480.

"CPU clock speeds and thus overclocking can help enhancing StarCraft II performance considerably. We saw a whopping 32% performance increase when boosting the frequency of our Core i7 920 processor from the stock 2.66GHz to 3.70GHz, a 39% overclock. The Core i5 750 produced a massive 40% gain in average frame rates from a similar overclock, which is incredible.

"Therefore while it is possible to enjoy StarCraft II on its entirety with a budget-minded graphics card, ideally you will want to spend at least $200 on a Core i5 750 processor and then some.

This is why I'm looking at the 3.5Ghz quad-core not only cause it will last since it has 4 cores but because since starcraft 2 only utilizes 2 cores, and it is 3.5Ghz it seems ideal.

Do you guys agree with this? Or would i be better off just getting an intel CPU to go with the graphics card?

[glc]

I'd get a fast Intel i3 or i5 dual core, but that's me - I don't do AMD builds.

[Nikon]

sc2 likes cores, and doesnt really use hyper threading, so the phenom II x4 should be just fine. in the end though, the cpu is always the bottleneck in this game. doesnt matter what you have, even the 980x cant pump more than 40 ish fps in large games. the 460 will play sc2 on ultra just fine.

[Khalil]

You can't go wrong with an AMD Phenom Quad Core. There will be other games you will want to play later not just SC2 that will more than likely take advantage of the Quad. I think you made a great choice by going with AMD. Intel would not be a bad choice but there is absolutely nothing wrong with AMD rigs, fact is they sell everything they make.
AMD has a great following and sell everyting they make without advertising, this should give you an idea of the quality of the product. I would say go for it and enjoy!

[Goweeuhd]

So everything I listed there is compatible? I've never put a computer together before, and know very little about this stuff. I don't know what 980x is and I don't know what 460 is.
Also, will the geforce graphics card work well with the AMD cpu?

Originally Posted by glc I'd get a fast Intel i3 or i5 dual core, but that's me - I don't do AMD builds.

Why don't you do AMD builds?

[glc]

I don't do AMD builds due to stability and quality issues in the past which cost me a considerable amount of cash and time in warranty issues. I'm just as much an Intel fanboy and AMD hater as Khalil is an AMD fanboy and Intel hater. Same reason I build exclusively with Asus motherboards - all the other brands have screwed me at one time or another in the past. I only do Intel processors with Asus motherboards that have Intel chipsets.

[klutzmonger]

Personally, I use both. My laptop is an i5, but my current desktop based build I'm working on is a AMD X6. Other builds before that include: C2D, C2Q, AMD Opteron 165, and others. I can honestly say from my experience that each have their quirks, but, when operating properly, both brands perform very well. Remember to check multiple sources for reviews and information. Don't rely on just one person's experiences to make up your mind for you - it's your money and your decision.

I agree that you want fast cores. As the data showed, faster is better. As far as brand that's a choice you have to make.

980x and 460 are referring to models of video cards. As far as I know, a Geforce (a Nvidia branded card) should work in an AMD barring any quirkiness(chipset issues, driver problems, etc). It pays dividends doing ample research before making a purchase. Kudos to you.

klutz

[glc]

No, a 980x is a $1000 i7 6 core CPU.