After getting StarCraft 2, I found out that it runs quite badly on my computer, so I am looking to buy a new desktop. I'm looking for something under $500 that can run SC2 as well as possible. Any help is appreciated.

By the way, keep in mind that I know almost nothing about computers and technology.

What computer do you have?
GFX?
MoBo?
CPU?
RAM?
If you don't know, google CPU-Z download and run it and post screenshots of its various tabs.

Probably we can either salvage some of your old computer parts or upgrade the old computer so you get an even better computer for your budget.

You will not be able to get a good prebuilt for gaming. Not at 500$ or any price for that matter. If you feel you're competent enough to put together a lego set, you can build a computer, and thus if you desire, I'll design you one.

Well, I'm planning on keeping the laptop I have right now, so I can't take any parts from this or any other computer.

And yeah, I can build a computer if I know what parts to buy, so please design one for me. Thanks!

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146058
HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074
GFX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150466
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003
Mobo + DVD combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.460899
CPU + RAM combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.456906

$524.00 after tax and ship to my zipcode, may be less for you because NJ has tax. There's also 35$ in mail in rebates bringing the final price to below 500$.

Very decent looking desktop that should easily run SCII for a cheap price. I always like checking out Ex's builds

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824114005
Or just get a monitor from goodwill.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008
$20 less. No headroom though. I was just reading online about a core 2 quad system with a gtx 280 using 305 W max, just to give you an idea of how little computers actually use. I've tried really really hard to find a better power supply for $30 or less, and I can't find one. I can't even find one for $40. Only once did I find a $42 520W unit which was much better. And just checking up on the psu shows me that there was a steal of a deal just yesterday.

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=HD-HD502HJ&title=Samsung-SpinPoint-F3-HD502HJ-500GB-SATA2-7200rpm-16MB-Hard-Drive
much better hard drive. This is the only thing that is absolutely necessary to change.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102901
25% better performance and a $10 MIR for: 3x power consumption, strong possibility of DDR3 not DDR5, and a much shorter limited warranty (2 years vs lifetime). In my experience, if something's going to go wrong, it's going to go wrong within 2 years. Ex, what does XFX do when your 5 year old graphics card dies? Do they give you a new one of equal performance (because I'm sure they ran out of the 5 year old card)?

You can safely drop down to a regor and non-heatsinked ram, but I don't think you can save $70 on a case, ram, and cpu.

Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Aug 4 2010, 7:39 pm by rockz.

Good calls there rockz.

The HDD is better, the PSU can be cut down, but the GFX, I'd go with the 5670. XFX has a double lifetime warranty. This means that as long as you have it, and if you resell it as long as the person who buys it from you has it, they will replace it.

ewiz has the absolute best prices on HDDs, and you can usually find some code somewhere for one too. I'll probably never buy a hard drive from newegg again (plus only tax in cali, for people who don't mind stealing).

more stuff. Sorry this is turning to a collection of really good deals.
http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/37542/1.5tb-samsung-hd154ui-ecogreen-f2-sata-hard-drive-$66,-2tb-western-digital-wd20ears-caviar-green-serial-ata-hard-drive
1.5 TB $66 green samsung f2
2 TB $100 green 64 MB cache caviar

Newegg's got a back to school sale:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211364
$80 RAM, code EMCYWYP35, a few combo deals
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
$20 DVD Burner, with a few combos which make it free.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130535
$50 9800 GT after $35 MIR, this thing is between the 5670 and the 4850. Double power consumption compared to 5670. Read here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138163
$50 after $10 MIR, code EMCYWYP34, Biostar 790GX motherboard. The 790GX chipset is the second best integrated graphics on the market. While I wouldn't recommend it, it's slightly better than the 9800 Pro, which meets SC2's min specs. One combo deal with ram.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
$55 640 GB caviar black, code EMCYWYP32. Very old drive, not as fast as ex's blue (I'm assuming) and def not the spinpoint, but more density.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
$30 after $10 MIR, code EMCYWYP26, 380W Antec Earthwatts, beats the corsair due to ATX 2.3 and 80+ BRONZE. It's a lot newer, too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.466466
$55 after $25 MIR, decent modular 700W modular PSU, with free DVD burner referenced earlier, and free 4 GB flash drive. $55 is a good price for this PSU, and you get 2 useful free things with it, but you have to justify spending $25 on them (since you could get an essentially equally good PSU for $30, as nobody uses 700W).