1000 Budget - Best Hardware?

S

Sync

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
121
Hey guys/gals!

I am in the process of selling my 27 iMac to go back to the PC world. I have a budget of $1000 for parts for a new PC I want to build. I have been out of the PC hardware world for a couple years so I need some insight on my best options.

The hardware I need is as follows:

CPU
Memory (At least 6g)
Video Card (Mid to High end - nothing crazy)
Motherboard
DVD burner (Dont care about blueray)
Hard Drive
PSU

If I can get decent stuff above for less than 900 than I will grab a new case too. But I have a nice Lian Li just sitting here in need of attention.

1)Primary use of the PC is graphic design via Illustrator and Photoshop. The secondary is gaming.

3) Where do you live?
Michigan
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
No reused parts
6) Will you be overclocking?
No plans but open to possibility
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24 IPS lcd/led
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
This week
9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
This depends on what video card I get. But basically just to work with the other components I purchase
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Nope I will be purchasing Win7.

Any tips? Suggestions? I was trying to go the Intel i series route but is AMD any better now a days?

Thanks for any input!!
 
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Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better. Also which Lian Li case do you have?
 
Danny Bui said:
Please answer the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST!" so that we can help you better. Also which Lian Li case do you have?
Click to expand...

Thanks! Corrected.

I don't know what the name of this lian li case is. Here is a picture maybe you can help me out?

IMG_0100.jpg

IMG_0099.jpg
 
 
Sync said:
Thanks! Corrected.

I don't know what the name of this lian li case is. Here is a picture maybe you can help me out?
Click to expand...
Can you please provide a pic of the inside of the case and the rear of the case? In case you're wondering why I'm asking about the Lian Li, some of the older Lian Li cases uses 80mm fans only, which are rather insufficient cooling for a lot of hardware these days. In addition, some of them had cramped designs for modern hardware

Depending on the next two pics you upload, we may or may not have to factor in a new case.

Also is the cost of Windows 7 part of that $1000 budget.
 
Danny Bui said:
Can you please provide a pic of the inside of the case and the rear of the case? In case you're wondering why I'm asking about the Lian Li, some of the older Lian Li cases uses 80mm fans only, which are rather insufficient cooling for a lot of hardware these days. In addition, some of them had cramped designs for modern hardware

Depending on the next two pics you upload, we may or may not have to factor in a new case.

Also is the cost of Windows 7 part of that $1000 budget.
Click to expand...

Yes the inside has room for 2 front 80mm fans and 2 back. I would also be adding a top 120 out and a bottom 120 in. This case is very NON cramped. Its huge. Almost too big.

Windows 7 is not part of the budget. This 1000 is for hardware only. I have an additional 500 which is for monitor and windows.
 
Ok I went through and here are my choices with a case included. Well below the budget. What are your recommendations for changes? Is this a decent machine? Anything I should change?

newegg.jpg
 
In addition to lt_shiro's suggested RAM changes, additional recommended changes:

- Swap out the CPU + mobo for this better quality mobo + CPU combo:
$359 - Intel Core i5 760 CPU + Asus P7P55D-E Pro Intel P55 ATX Motherboard Combo

- Definitely swap out the OCZ PSU since it's not good of a buy. Go for the Antec Neo Eco 520C 520W PSU that lt_shiro recommended earlier or the Antec Neo Eco 620C 620W if you want a bit of headroom for future upgrades. Either of those PSUs would be a major step up over the OCZ PSU.

- Due to your high resolution, I highly recommend spending the extra cash for the GTX 460 1GB version for high-end gaming. Not to mention that the extra VRAM will be make the GTX 460 compatible with this hack that'll let you to use the GTX 460 with Adobe CS5:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1532552

- Definitely go for the Samsung drive that lt_shiro linked to earlier. It's significantly faster than the Seagate 500GB you chose and offers twice the storage. Not bad for only $5 more. You'd have to be a fool to stick with the Seagate.
 
that h55 doesn't support sli/crossfire, which will limit upgrade path for adding another video card later on. you are better off with the first p55 board. you picked.
 
lt_shiro said:
that h55 doesn't support sli/crossfire, which will limit upgrade path for adding another video card later on. you are better off with the first p55 board. you picked.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. That particular H55 motherboard has only one PCI-e x16 slot. And the only way that the H55 chipset can suport dual PCI-e "x16" cards would be if that second slot were to be run off of the PCH's PCI-e lanes (the H55 PCH has only six PCI-e lanes (versus eight on the P55's PCH), which are technically PCI-e 2.0 but artificially restricted to half-speed operations). This would have created an imbalanced x16/x2 dual-GPU operation, which would have hurt performance more than if both of those slots were running evenly at x4 bandwidth.
 
Hey, why not stick to the i7 930 suggested?

If you are using Photoshop the 930 should be better.
 
SpeedyVV said:
Hey, why not stick to the i7 930 suggested?

If you are using Photoshop the 930 should be better.
Click to expand...

I take it that the OP wishes to keep the entire build at or under $1000. A decent LGA1366/X58 setup would probably cost more than that.
 
if the primary usage is photoshop. a slower video card would keep the budget under $1,000 easy



SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C - OEM $20

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $59

Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930 and GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard Combo $460

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ $120

MSI N450GTS CYCLONE 1GD5/OC GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $125

COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN3 CM690 II Basic Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case and COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active ...Combo $120

Total before S&H $904

just add another gts 450 later on
 
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SpeedyVV said:
Hey, why not stick to the i7 930 suggested?

If you are using Photoshop the 930 should be better.
Click to expand...

However, that would have pushed the OP's build over that $1000 budget unless the OP replaces some of the suggested parts with relatively crappy ones. (Or put it this way, the cheapest worthwhile build using an i7-9xx series CPU would have cost the OP much closer to $1500 than to $1000.)
 
His secondary is gaming, so what it_shiro said but with a GTX 460. and it is still under $1000.
 
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