Hello again, [H]ardForum! It's been nearly seven years since my last personal PC build, and since then you've helped me build a machine for my parents and make a few upgrades. Thanks! You haven't steered me wrong yet, so I'd like to ask for your recommendations on a new machine. I'll be moving the current machine into the living room to serve as a Home Theater PC, so apart from its storage drive, nothing can be cannibalized from it. I'm not sure where the template is for these requests, but I'll just go with the old questions I've answered in the past:
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Let's ballpark it at $1500, including rebates, not including tax, shipping, or any other costs. As before, if you think that there's a particular part that could be upgraded if I splurged a few hundred dollars more, let me know. I can flex a little if there's a nice upgrade that just can't fit into the $1500 budget with everything else.
3) Where do you live?
New England, USA.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Basically, the case and everything that goes in it.
I have a 1 TB SSD to mirror my Dropbox files, and I plan to just transfer that over from the old machine.
6) Will you be overclocking?
I'm not into overclocking or exotic cooling systems, so just something that's good out of the box is best for me.
7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have?
I have 2 monitors, one at 4K resolution and the other at HD 1920x1080. That's not likely to change anytime soon. I'd like to run games at max resolution on the main monitor when it's supported.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Over the next month.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
I'll buy a new Windows 10 license, which we do not need to include in the $1500 budget.
I think that's about it! Thanks in advance!
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
- Gaming: I like being able to run slightly older games at maximum settings, and I don't usually buy games right when they're released, so I don't need the absolute best of the best. For reference, I upgraded my graphics card on the current machine in 2015, and I've been pretty happy with its ability to run most of the games I play. So now I want something better, but the absolute best isn't required. If my budget allows for the best? Then sure.
- Image/Video Editing: I now use the Adobe suite of products for image and video editing, so a graphics card that works well for that is needed, as well as plenty of RAM and local storage.
- Music/Movies: I'll be managing my MP3 library and watching BluRay movies. I assume that most modern systems will be able to output multichannel surround sound, which would be nice, even though I don't use it right now.
- Other: Web browsing, word processing, communication apps, all your basic home computing needs not already listed above.
Let's ballpark it at $1500, including rebates, not including tax, shipping, or any other costs. As before, if you think that there's a particular part that could be upgraded if I splurged a few hundred dollars more, let me know. I can flex a little if there's a nice upgrade that just can't fit into the $1500 budget with everything else.
3) Where do you live?
New England, USA.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Basically, the case and everything that goes in it.
- Case - I'd like a case that's dark or black in color. The last case that I got is great, and I love that it's roomy, has easy access panels, and the ports on the front are good. I have a cat, though, so I'd like to avoid a case that has fabric covers over any of the vents. All metal is good. Unlike in the past, this machine will just sit on the floor next to my desk, and there's plenty of clearance, so size shouldn't be an issue. If it's super tall (significantly taller than the average case) then it could be a problem, but I'd need to measure the table it's under to see the maximum height.
- Motherboard
- CPU
- Video Card & Sound Card
- Power Supply
- RAM - The current machine has lots (the old build says 16 but I think I have 32 GB) and even though I don't think I've ever truly needed all of it, I love not having to worry about it. So please include another stupid amount of RAM.
- Hard Disk - I have a 1 TB SSD to mirror my Dropbox files, and I plan to just transfer that over from the old machine. For running the OS and programs, my 256 GB SSD is a little cramped and I have to swap out installed games a lot, so let's go bigger. I assume/hope that storage has gone up and costs have gone down in the SSD world since then.
- Bluray/DVD writer
- Any other devices/slots (extra USB ports, etc) that I might need - I do tend to plug in a lot of peripherals like connectors for phones, microphones, a scanner, etc, so extra USB 3 ports might be a good idea.
I have a 1 TB SSD to mirror my Dropbox files, and I plan to just transfer that over from the old machine.
6) Will you be overclocking?
I'm not into overclocking or exotic cooling systems, so just something that's good out of the box is best for me.
7) What size monitor do you have or plan to have?
I have 2 monitors, one at 4K resolution and the other at HD 1920x1080. That's not likely to change anytime soon. I'd like to run games at max resolution on the main monitor when it's supported.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Over the next month.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
- I need a Firewire port for an old camcorder.
- I'm connected to the internet via ethernet cable and the next machine will be too, but if they have motherboards or cards that include Wifi capability, that might be handy (but it's not a must-have if it's pricey)
- I use a wireless LG mouse and wired headphones, but it looks like most wireless mice use Bluetooth these days, and I have bluetooth headsets too, so assuming it's a common enough feature, I'd like Bluetooth support built in to this machine.
I'll buy a new Windows 10 license, which we do not need to include in the $1500 budget.
I think that's about it! Thanks in advance!
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