Help with new build. Out of the market for 5 years and lost.

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frogger42

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 2, 2007
Messages
171
With the help of this forum, I built my current desktop back in 2007. Since, then I have replaced a few parts as they have failed and upgraded a few parts as needed but I have basically been out of the game. It is finally time to build a new system and I'm hoping for help from here again.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
--Light gaming, Photoshop, Light video editing, Internet, Office, Music and Video library.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
--$1200 max, but I'd like to stay closer to $1k.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
--U.S., Western NC.
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.
--Case, Mobo, Proc, RAM, Vid Card, BluRay Drive, SSD System Drive, 2TB Data Drive, Case Fans.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
--Monitor (22" LG), Keyboard (Logitech Wave), Mouse (Logitech G5), Surge Protector, 2TB Data Drive (re-using one and adding another)
6) Will you be overclocking?
--No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
--1680x1050, 22". However I may replace it or add a 2nd monitor within 6 months.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
--Early September
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.
--USB3.0, Onboard video (as a backup), RAID would be nice.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
--Yes. Win7 64-bit Enterprise

So, last night I worked up a first draft of a build with a friend at work that is more up to date on this stuff than me. However, it is really pushing the budget. Since I have 2 months, I'm hoping maybe prices will drop or there will be Labor Day or back to school sales to lower the price, but I have to base it off what I know now.

Case - Corsair Carbide 400R - $89.99
Power Supply - Corsair HX750 - $124.99
Motherboard - ASUS Z87-PLUS LGA 1150 - $159.99
Processor - Intel Core i5-4670 Haswell 3.4GHz - $219.99
Memory - Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 - $69.99
Video Card - ASUS GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB - $174.99
Bluray Drive - LG UH12NS29 - $49.99
SSD System Drive - Samsung 840 250GB - $189.99
Data Drive - WD 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 3.5" Internal HD - $109.99
Case Fans - Cooler Master 140mm (Qty. 2) - $19.98

As someone who is not a gamer (at least not on my PC) and if I do play a game, it will probably be an older title, I don't need bleeding edge here. I do some video editing, but it is minor stuff for YouTube so it too doesn't require anything huge. I'm trying to walk the line here between avoiding overkill and making sure I have a machine that will last me another 5 years. I'd appreciate any suggestions where I can get similar power for less money with a different choice of if you see any glaring mistakes. My current build is still in my signature.

Worst case scenario, the PSU and vid card in my current machine are only about a year old and could be re-used to fit the budget, but I'd rather leave my old machine as a whole, working machine to use as a sandbox so I'm trying to avoid that.
 
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frogger42 said:
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
--Early September
Click to expand...
You're planning too early. At most, I recommend planning a month ahead of the purchase date. At best, 1-3 weeks ahead of that date since it means that the system will be more up-to-date as parts can become out-of-stock, overpriced, outdated, and outperformed in as little as a week. So I highly recommend coming back when you're 2-3 weeks away from buying before asking for build advice.

With that said, I'm going to critique your proposed setup anyway but I can only guarantee that advice is good for this month only:

The power supply you chose is really overkill for your needs. You haven't mentioned overclocking or plans for SLI. As such, a 750W PSU is not the best choice for your setup. A solid 550W PSU will be more than enough for your power needs. I would recommend just reusing your Corsair TX650 for the new PC and getting the $50 Corsair CX500 for your old system.

The motherboard is also overkill since you're not overclocking. At it's current price of $168 shipped, it's really not a good choice for you.

As of right now, the RAM is overpriced for what it is. You should spend no more than $60 for any 8GB RAM set.

As of right now, AFAIK, there aren't any free blu-ray playback software that's actually any good. Since the blu-ray drive doesn't come with any software, you may have to spend the $100 for proper blu-ray playback software:
http://www.arcsoft.com/totalmedia-theatre/

You don't need that high-end of a video card for photoshop purposes. The GTX 650 will be good enough for your needs.

I don't recommend those drives since they're really meant for DVR boxes.
 
To OP, if you kind of know what you want (and it sounds like you do) I would start looking at keyboard/mice/case/case fans/powersupply/Blueray sales now. You can easily save up to $100-$200 on small items if you plan a bit ahead.

You know 4th of july sales are here, if you see something you want, on a good sale, buy it.
No sense spending $150 on case later, if its on sale for $100 now. Or in your case, you a much better case if there is one that you want on sale and in your price range.
 
Danny Bui said:
You're planning too early. At most, I recommend planning a month ahead of the purchase date. At best, 1-3 weeks ahead of that date since it means that the system will be more up-to-date as parts can become out-of-stock, overpriced, outdated, and outperformed in as little as a week. So I highly recommend coming back when you're 2-3 weeks away from buying before asking for build advice.

With that said, I'm going to critique your proposed setup anyway but I can only guarantee that advice is good for this month only:

The power supply you chose is really overkill for your needs. You haven't mentioned overclocking or plans for SLI. As such, a 750W PSU is not the best choice for your setup. A solid 550W PSU will be more than enough for your power needs. I would recommend just reusing your Corsair TX650 for the new PC and getting the $50 Corsair CX500 for your old system.

The motherboard is also overkill since you're not overclocking. At it's current price of $168 shipped, it's really not a good choice for you.

As of right now, the RAM is overpriced for what it is. You should spend no more than $60 for any 8GB RAM set.

As of right now, AFAIK, there aren't any free blu-ray playback software that's actually any good. Since the blu-ray drive doesn't come with any software, you may have to spend the $100 for proper blu-ray playback software:
http://www.arcsoft.com/totalmedia-theatre/

You don't need that high-end of a video card for photoshop purposes. The GTX 650 will be good enough for your needs.

I don't recommend those drives since they're really meant for DVR boxes.
Click to expand...

True. Solid advice here.
 
vjcsmoke said:
Doubtful that you need a 250GB SSD for a system drive. 120 or 128 should be big enough if its just to hold the OS and main apps. Use your storage drive for well... storage.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=897176&is=REG&Q=&A=details
Click to expand...

The larger capacity SSDs outperform the lower capacity models. Plus, with nearly 200GB (if not more) of available space, the OP can install more programs and not worry about performance degradation (SSDs, like HDDs, run slower the closer they get to full capacity).

That said, I do agree with you that the OP should only use the SSD for only his most-frequently-used programs.
 
I'd love to hear you suggestions on a mobo that would better fit my needs. The biggest reason I chose that one was for the ample USB ports. I do have a lot of USB devices such as mouse, keyboard, iPhone dock, printer, 2 external hard drives for backups, etc... I guess I could always us a PCI USB card and buy a cheaper mobo. What is recommended? I also liked the number of SATA ports for expandability.
 
frogger42 said:
I'd love to hear you suggestions on a mobo that would better fit my needs. The biggest reason I chose that one was for the ample USB ports. I do have a lot of USB devices such as mouse, keyboard, iPhone dock, printer, 2 external hard drives for backups, etc... I guess I could always us a PCI USB card and buy a cheaper mobo. What is recommended? I also liked the number of SATA ports for expandability.
Click to expand...

Can't make a solid recommendation due to what I said earlier: The mobo I recommend today may not be the best choice in September due to the possibility that it can become out-of-stock, overpriced, outdated, and outperformed in that time.

So I would really hold off on doing additional research until you're 2-3 weeks away from buying the parts.
 
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