1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
This is a PC for my brother. He likes to play games and watches movies so those are the primary uses, but he's young and I want to be able to let the computer grow with his needs a little.
The last machine I built for someone lasted for 10 years. It started as a great gaming PC and then became a 'family appliance' for more basic web browsing and fileserving. I'd like to be able to achieve something similar with this machine.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~1500 all together. +/- is OK and I can go a little over for a compelling reason.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Massachusetts, USA.
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.
I need case, harddrive, monitor, graphics card, psu, ram, mobo, cpu and operating system.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I do have a case I could reuse if that helps me make budget. I also have cd/dvd drives and speakers.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably not, but I'm willing to spend a little more on a system that will allow it for playing around in the future.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920 x 1080. I'm thinking of a 27'' so the machine can double as a bit of a theatre. 24'' is also OK.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP! As soon as I finalize a parts list, I will order and build.
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.
RAID is a nice-to-have. None of the others are dire, but SATA 6Gb/s would be nice. Crossfire/sli are probably unnecessary as I doubt the machine will ever have more than one gfx card.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Need a new windows 7 64bit. I think Professional will be enough to use all the ram I want?
----
To be more concrete here is a rough list of parts I was thinking of. It's a little over budget, but I only shopped newegg for convenience. Choosing newegg was a little arbitrary. Willing to buy from whomever, particularly to catch some deals.
150 mobo: ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
220 cpu: Intel Core i7-3570K
30 cpu cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct
74ram: G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) SDRAM DDR3 1333
85 hd : SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 ST1000DM005/HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
360 gfx card : GTX 670
90psu : SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
185 mon: Asus VE248H Black 24"
140 os : windows professional 64 bit
----
1322 total
----
I basically accepted all of skillz suggestions and then took some of the other suggestions people posted later on in the forum. Now I'm well enough below budget to see if one of Danny's bang-for-buck cases strikes my fancy.
@athenian, how much ram do normal people use? I have 24gb in my machine and I use it. I'm a researcher though and sometimes I have to implement very inefficient algorithms to test things. I also use linux and have ~10 desktops running which eats a surprising amount of memory. I've been very tempted to buy more!
Also, I have owned (basically) both of the monitors you suggested. The BenQ broke after about.... 3 years? The Asuses (I have 2 now) are still going strong after 4+.
Thanks again everyone for the excellent input! I think I'll pick out a case and pull the trigger.
This is a PC for my brother. He likes to play games and watches movies so those are the primary uses, but he's young and I want to be able to let the computer grow with his needs a little.
The last machine I built for someone lasted for 10 years. It started as a great gaming PC and then became a 'family appliance' for more basic web browsing and fileserving. I'd like to be able to achieve something similar with this machine.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~1500 all together. +/- is OK and I can go a little over for a compelling reason.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Massachusetts, USA.
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.
I need case, harddrive, monitor, graphics card, psu, ram, mobo, cpu and operating system.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I do have a case I could reuse if that helps me make budget. I also have cd/dvd drives and speakers.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Probably not, but I'm willing to spend a little more on a system that will allow it for playing around in the future.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1920 x 1080. I'm thinking of a 27'' so the machine can double as a bit of a theatre. 24'' is also OK.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP! As soon as I finalize a parts list, I will order and build.
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.
RAID is a nice-to-have. None of the others are dire, but SATA 6Gb/s would be nice. Crossfire/sli are probably unnecessary as I doubt the machine will ever have more than one gfx card.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Need a new windows 7 64bit. I think Professional will be enough to use all the ram I want?
----
To be more concrete here is a rough list of parts I was thinking of. It's a little over budget, but I only shopped newegg for convenience. Choosing newegg was a little arbitrary. Willing to buy from whomever, particularly to catch some deals.
150 mobo: ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0
220 cpu: Intel Core i7-3570K
30 cpu cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct
74ram: G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) SDRAM DDR3 1333
85 hd : SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 ST1000DM005/HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM
360 gfx card : GTX 670
90psu : SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
185 mon: Asus VE248H Black 24"
140 os : windows professional 64 bit
----
1322 total
----
I basically accepted all of skillz suggestions and then took some of the other suggestions people posted later on in the forum. Now I'm well enough below budget to see if one of Danny's bang-for-buck cases strikes my fancy.
@athenian, how much ram do normal people use? I have 24gb in my machine and I use it. I'm a researcher though and sometimes I have to implement very inefficient algorithms to test things. I also use linux and have ~10 desktops running which eats a surprising amount of memory. I've been very tempted to buy more!
Also, I have owned (basically) both of the monitors you suggested. The BenQ broke after about.... 3 years? The Asuses (I have 2 now) are still going strong after 4+.
Thanks again everyone for the excellent input! I think I'll pick out a case and pull the trigger.
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