Wife Build

YellowSnow

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 27, 2009
Messages
463
Hey guys. I'm posting this for my friend and his wife. I appreciate any help you can offer.


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

1.This computer will be used for HD Video and RAW image editing, web browsing, and playing audio/video media all at the same time. An example would be editing RAW images in photoshop while streaming a TV show and cruising internet forums. The editing programs being used are mainly Adobe Creative Suite 4 products. ie Photoshop, lightroom, premiere, flash. Also Corel Draw and Vegas Pro.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

2. Budget is up to $1500 including tax.

3) Where do you live?

3. Reno NV

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
4. Everything. Case, power supply, processor, memory, hard drive, video card, OS, motherboard, Monitor, DVD burner

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
5. The only part I will be reusing is a small card reader that fits into a 2.5 slot on my current computer and a 1TB 7200rpm HD that can be factored into the calculation for a power supply but not into the budget. So this would be a second internal drive.

6) Will you be overclocking?
6.No

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
7. I would like a 23"+ monitor. The monitor is the most important part of the build since all images edited go to print and the color needs to be reproduced as accurately as possible for the budget.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
8. I plan to build this PC within the month.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

9. I don't know what features I need. What I want to do is transfer large amounts of files quickly both internally and to an external drive. Also quickly capture media from devices to the computer mainly from my wife's Canon 5d Mark II. I want to be able to run a video editing program or picture editing program with very large file sizes while listening to music, browsing the web, or watching a video. And I want it to run as smooth as possible for my budget.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?

10. I would like to buy windows 7 64-bit (include that in the $1500 budget).
 
Check this out

CASE/PSU - Antec Three Hundred + Antec NEO ECO 520W both for $109.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.335364

CPU/MOBO - Intel Core i7 920 + ASUS P6T both for $498.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.339001

RAM - Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) for $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145258

VIDEO - Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 1GB for $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102876

HDD (primary) - Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB for $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

HDD (secondary) - SamsingSpinpoint F3 1TB for $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

OPTICAL - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner for $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

O/S - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit for $104.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754

Subtotal: $1,093.90
Shipping: $18.52
Total: $1,112.42

MONITOR - NEC MultiSync EA231WMI-BK 23 inch for $295.58
Shipping - $19.45
Total: $315.03

Grand Total: Computer + Monitor = $1,427.45 w/shipping
 
CPU: (141$) AMD Phenom II X4 925
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...56&cm_re=phenom_x4_925-_-19-103-656-_-Product
Motherboard: (75$ before MIR) GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._re=GA-MA770T-UD3P_AM3-_-13-128-392-_-Product
RAM: (105$) G Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193
Case: (80$) Antec 300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066
PSU: (80$) Antec Earthwatts 650
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371015&Tpk=antec earthwatts 650
GPU: (145$) Sapphire Radeon HD5750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102865&cm_re=5750-_-14-102-865-_-Product
Monitor: (599$) Dell Ultrasharp 24" IPS Monitor
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=320-8277&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063
O/S - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit for $105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116754
HDD (80$) Seagate Barricuda 7200RPM 750GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...gate_barracuda_7200.12-_-22-148-445-_-Product
OPTICAL - Blu Ray Drive / DVD Burner by LG (90$)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136162


= 1500$ exact. Note you're getting a great IPS monitor, quad core CPU, Blu Ray drive and DVD burner. I also made a note you already have a second HDD so that 750GB for your primary should be more than enough. Also the 5750 graphics card will Support DirectX 11, and bitstreams digital audio (something 100$+ sound cards do), and has support for Eyefiniti (3 monitors at once).
Hope this helps, please post any other questions you may have
 
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Nice build Stephen0983 but, for what OP is using the PC for, the Phenom II X4 955 is simply no match for an Intel Core i7 920 cpu. Adobe Premiere PO CS4 and Photoshop it simply destroys the AMD Phenom II X4 955. The Dell 24" U2410 lcd monitor is a good monitor that's similar to the HP LP2475W 24" The NEC 23" I listed is also a good 23" IPS panel for $300. The drawback is the lower res though at 1920 x 1080 vs 1920 x 1200 res on the Dell 24".
 
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Didn't think those apps needed the CPU power of an i7 920, but I never really looked at any benchmarks for them, either.
I tried following the link to the NEC monitor, I think you need to update it.
 
Borrowed some hardware from HG :) Heres the 860/ 8gb/1156 build

BTW, my wife likes the cleaner look of the Sonata III

Sonata III $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

860/ Gigabyte $362
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.332525

2 X Corsair 1600 $210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

VIDEO - Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 1GB for $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102876

HDD (primary) - Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB for $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

HDD (secondary) - SamsungSpinpoint F3 1TB for $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

OPTICAL - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner for $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

O/S - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit for $104.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
 
I like how gwarren007 thinks hehe. ;) I actually was going to put together an Intel Core i7 860 build with 8GB of RAM after I came home. gwarren007 just did it for me lol. This is a really good build. Going this route allows you to get the larger 24" Dell U2410 monitor with a higher resolution. It will push the total cost a little over $1500 though. However, you can just drop the 1TB Samsung drive since you already have a 1TB drive.

Dell U2410 24" for $513.78


Borrowed some hardware from HG :) Heres the 860/ 8gb/1156 build

BTW, my wife likes the cleaner look of the Sonata III

Sonata III $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

860/ Gigabyte $362
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.332525

2 X Corsair 1600 $210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

VIDEO - Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 1GB for $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102876

HDD (primary) - Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB for $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

HDD (secondary) - SamsungSpinpoint F3 1TB for $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

OPTICAL - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner for $24.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118030

O/S - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit for $104.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
 
You've got great choices posted already. If you want the larger monitor, go for post #8 (HG + gw). If you don't mind the lower res and want more RAM capacity for upgrades, get the X58 system HG posted in #3. If you want less performance for your money, but want to support AMD, get the Ph2 X4 posted by stephen but switch the monitor to the cheaper 24", lol. Get whatever case your wife likes... let her pick it out. :p
 
Thanks Yellowsnow.

Here is a partial list of what I have decided to do.

Case
For $25 more I can get the Antec Nine Hundred instead of the Antec Three Hundred
I like the shape of the top and a side window is pretty important to me.

Power Supply
Antec NEO ECO 620
CASE & PSU Combo $155

CPU
After doing much research and looking at quite a few benchmarks I decided that I will get the i7 920 2.66. Thanks for the added confirmation.

MoBo
I think I want to go with the GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R over the ASUS P6T for a few reasons. The GIGABYTE = 1. Slightly cheaper 2. (2) SATA 6GB 3. (2) USB 3.0 4. I have one in my current computer and it works awesome 5. It will look way cooler in my case than the ASUS :D
MoBo & CPU Combo Price
$479 w/o shipping

Video Card
Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 1GB Thanks to you guys for bringing it to my attention. I like the fact that it doesn't have a fan. I have lost 2 video cards simply because the fan crapped out.
$61 Shipped

RAM
Corsair and GSkill seem to be good memory brands but I tend to lean toward GSkill since that is what I have had for 5 years without problem. I am looking at THESE and I think I will go with the cheaper of the two unless anyone feels the $15 price difference is justified.
$170-186 shipped

OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
$105 Shipped

Optical
OPTICAL - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD Burner
$28 Shipped

Those Items bring my Newegg shopping cart total to around $1072. So I basically have around $450+/- to spend on a good monitor.

I really appreciate all the help from my friend and this forum. Please read over my latest post and give your thoughts.

Thanks again
 
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The issue I have is you using the Rosewill PSU for a build at this price. I wouldn't consider using that Rosewill PSU. I would just sell it and get this combo with the Antec 900 case.

Antec 900 + Antec NEO ECO 620 both for $154.98

Or

You should still be ok with this combo also:

Antec 900 + Antec EA430D both for $139.98
 
Thanks for the input about the Rosewill PSU. I didn't know they were such crap. I read through the link provided by gwarren007 and it gave me a lot of useful info. Thanks for that. I think I will get the Antec 900 + Antec NEO ECO 620 combo.

So what do you think about the 2 different types of Gskill RAM that I had posted? Do you think I will see the benefit of the more expensive set?
 
So now I guess the only thing I am still in question on is the monitor to get. I am willing to spend around $500 or less on a good 22-24" monitor and keep in mind that it will not be used for video games. I was looking at these two, one of which was already posted.
Dell U2410 Ultrasharp 24 inch @$514 and the NEC EA241WM-BK @$393

If you ignore the price difference, which one would you choose and why? If there are any other good recommendations I would be happy to add them.

Thank you guys for all the help thus far. I feel much more confident in my decisions after posting on this forum.
 
The Dell U2410 24" hands down. The NEC EA241WM-BK 24" is a TN panel with 160/160 vertical and horizontal view angles. You don't want this as you'll see color shifting.
 
So now I guess the only thing I am still in question on is the monitor to get. I am willing to spend around $500 or less on a good 22-24" monitor and keep in mind that it will not be used for video games. I was looking at these two, one of which was already posted.
Dell U2410 Ultrasharp 24 inch @$514 and the http://www.provantage.com/nec-display-solutions-ea241wm-bk~7NEC90H8.htm @$393

If you ignore the price difference, which one would you choose and why? If there are any other good recommendations I would be happy to add them.

Thank you guys for all the help thus far. I feel much more confident in my decisions after posting on this forum.

The NEC ea241wmi is a TN monitor. If you're using it for photo editing it's not going to give you accurate colors. Only the NEC ea231wmi is IPS which is what I'm using. But it's a 1900X1080 screen and you may want the extra resolution of 1900X1200. So between the two get the IPS Dell. The NEC 2490 IPS is nice but it's about a grand. If you can wait... NEC is releasing a professional line that should be reasonably priced this year. There's a whole thread on it in the display forum:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1473878

ARG HG beat me to it.
Good luck with your build.
 
Just wanted to let You know that Anandtech has done an evaluation on the 5450

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3734&p=4

check out the test patterns on the linked page,

this card has trouble with the deinterlacing of HD quality video

from the Anand Tech article

We’ve informed AMD of our findings, and they’re still looking in to the issue. However we believe that the problem is ultimately a lack of resources on the 5450 to handle all of this, so we’ll see what they come up with..


Also by ATI's specs the 5450 has less than half of the transistors / 282mil vs 627 mil of the next in line 5670
 
Will I be able to overclock it to 3GHz with the setup that I have decided to go with? Also, would there be a big benefit to me in doing so?

even on a long video processing job, I would imagine that going from 2.66 to 3 would result in not much real world gain. On the flip side, given a decent cooling setup it should only require a change in the bios. Personally I've migrated to leaving my stuff stock when it comes to anything that I'm using for serious work.
 
Just wanted to let You know that Anandtech has done an evaluation on the 5450

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3734&p=4

check out the test patterns on the linked page,

this card has trouble with the deinterlacing of HD quality video




Also by ATI's specs the 5450 has less than half of the transistors / 282mil vs 627 mil of the next in line 5670


Thanks for that info. What video card would you recommend knowing that at this point I need to be kind of conservative with the cost?
 
Go with a Radeon HD 4350. I believe there is an MSI or XFX on NewEgg for $43 w/free shipping.
 
I'm not the one that should be giving You advice on Vid cards, I'm just a casual user that happens to like to build his own computers, and I was passing along some information posted by CrimandEvil on a thread I started about a vid card for an old socket 478 puter I have..

but You have some extremely knowledable people on these forums and some that are profesionals in the field, I'm sure they can steer You in the right direction..

try posting Your question in the video card or HTPC forum..
 
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The reason why those video cards I listed is inexpensive is because it's not a gamer card. However, it doesn't mean that the quality is poor. Higher end 3D cards will be more expensive but, for what you do, you are not really taking advantage of the 3D performance anyways. Photos and Videos are 2D application and therefore a video card like the one I just listed earlier will be sufficient for your needs.

Oh yah, you will be able to overclock the Core i7 cpu with the setup you chose. You will need a better cpu heatsink though vs the stock heatsink that comes with the Core i7 cpu. But, 2.66Ghz to 3.0Ghz isn't anything spectacular where you will see a noticeable difference though.
 
My question wasn't worded correctly. I have Adobe Flash and I am going to be creating web interactions with it. Could that be considered 3D intensive?
 
No. it's not. 3D intensive apps would be more like pc gaming or 3D modeling software like Solidworks, Maya and Inventor to name some.
 
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