New PC time! Woo.

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Uncle Humjaba

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 6, 2006
Messages
437
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, 3D modeling (SolidWorks), photo editing, occasional video and music editing

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~$1200, but negotiable

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
US, South Carolina

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
The box and everything in it. Case, cpu, psu, memory, boot drive, video card

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Peripherals (Monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers) and 1TB WD Black storage drive

6) Will you be overclocking?
Whatever I can reliably get on air. I've been running my Q6600 with Xigmatek S1283 for 5 years at 3GHz. So whatever I can set and forget and get that kind of longevity out of.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
23" 1080p. May be getting a second one

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Relatively soon

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
USB3, SATA 6Gb/s, That's about it

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Windows 8 Pro x64

Through a family member's EPP program I can get an Intel 4770k and Intel 525 240gb SSD for $359. I can get Intel's DZ87KLT-75K motherboard for an extra $200 (about $60 under retail), but if I can find another motherboard that is of similar quality for less that'd be fine. I plan on keeping this computer for the next 5 years, as I have for my current system (Q6600 + GTX 260 I built in 2008).

Current parts I've picked out:
NZXT Phantom 410 Case - $84
Thermalright True Spirit 120M - $43 (would something else be better? or is factory cooler good enough?)
Gigabyte GTX 770 - $410
Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3-1600 - $60
Corsair CMPSU-650 TX 650 Watt PSU - $125
Motherboard - (??)
Intel 4770k CPU/ Intel 525 250gb SSD - $359
 
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What level of overclocking are you interested in?
Thermalright True Sprit 120M is a good cooler, but falls between the Cooler Master 212 EVO and the $50-60 range.
True spirit should reach anout 4400 overclock at a guess, more depends on particular chip.

Haswell needs more cooling tha Ivy Bridge, at the same overclocks.

Motherboard and RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121773

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128604

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131980
 
Really, stock clock speed should be plenty fast, but I'd be happy with 4.2-4.4GHz.

That ASUS is a pretty sweet deal with the free RAM...
 
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Uncle Humjaba said:
Really, stock clock speed should be plenty fast, but I'd be happy with 4.2-4.4GHz.

That ASUS is a pretty sweet deal with the free RAM...
Click to expand...

I looked at your list. Unfortunately, the PSU that you linked to is now seriously overpriced for such an older design (it's not even a v2, but an original, lower-quality first revision). It has been obsolesced twice - first by the recently discontinued TX650v2, now by the CP-9020038-NA. Worse, it is sold by a third party vendor but fulfilled by Amazon. That third-party vendor charges extremely high prices for a lot of stuff, including that outdated version of the TX650 PSU. $125 shipped is way too high for that model PSU even if it were the currently shipping revision since that PSU costs only $93 shipped at Newegg.

By the way, you used the wrong link to the TX650 sold via Amazon. Here is the correct link:

Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Core i3, i5, i7 and platforms - TX650 - $76

As I had noted, that PSU is a ripoff at $125 shipped. But directly from Amazon (instead of coming from a third-party reseller and merely fulfilled by Amazon) at $76.50 shipped, it is a great deal.
 
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One more question - is there anything coming between now and the beginning of September that would be new (worth waiting for) or would cause prices to drop significantly?
Edit: Damn, waited too long and the free RAM deal is gone :(
 
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Nothing as far as I know

Now that the RAM deal is gone and the fact that you're doing 3D modeling, go for a single 8GB set of RAM since that will let you upgrade to 32GB of RAM without having to replace any RAM. I recommend something like this:
$59 - Corsair CMX8GX3M1A1333C9 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
 
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Uncle Humjaba said:
How does XMS3 hold up to overclocking against, say, something like this?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CRSM4I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I'd say I should never need more than 16GB, but knowing SolidWorks... :p
Click to expand...
The Vengeance RAM should overclock better. However there's really no point to overclock the RAM as Intel setups see very little to no real world performance difference between DDR3 1333 RAM and DDR3 2400 RAM. Not to mention that overclocking newer Intel CPUs doesn't touch the RAM at all. So you're better off just getting more RAM rather than faster RAM for SolidWorks. Not to mention that particular Vengeance RAM has tall heatsinks which may interfere with the installation or orientation of most air-cooling HSF.
 
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