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Build my dad a new computer

TheBuzzer

TheBuzzer

HACK THE WORLD!
Joined
Aug 15, 2005
Messages
13,024
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
He is mainly going to be doing business programs on it. He will remote desktop to this pc. He will do some light casual gaming and watch movies and videos. He loves to have tons of stuff open and have 3 monitors of 24 inches.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
He is rich but not a gamer so I would say budget will be 1500 not too sure on this

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

Canada
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
case,cpu,cooling,ssd hdd,ram,mobo,psu,paste,gpu

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
No parts will be reused, except for monitors, mouse and keyboard

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
He got 3x 24 inchs

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

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI
Usb 3.0 and prob good build in sound.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes Window 8 pro 64 bit.


Help me chose what is best for him. Sometimes I wonder if I just buy a dell and swap the main hdd with an ssd. He wants a new computer asap. also ssd prob should be at least 200+ GB

Also if the case should be small (mid tower size) and quiet. No need for some big fancy case.

btw, he might get 3x30 inch displays later on
 
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What's your definition of "light casual gaming"?
What are these "business programs" your father are using?
Are you near this Microcenter location?:
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/tustin.aspx

Preliminary feeling is that you probably won't need to spend more than $1000 on this.
 
the gaming will be donno sample games like bejeweled, poker games, etc.
word / excel / outlook / photoshop (mainly to view the artwork files and not to edit it) / some stock program/ webbrowser/ some qq internet tv chinese program. Those are the programs he have runnning most of the time.

I am not too near a microcenter, but the tustin location i can reach still.


he wants a fast computer, one that can feel really snappy with so many programs open at the same time. i want to just upgrade his comps hdd to ssd, his old comp is like a core 2 duo at like 2.4 i think


however , if i am replacing his comp i am hoping to replace with a nice fast ivy bridge computer for him.
 
You can do essentially anything you want with that budget. Identify concerns about form factor, size, noise, and aesthetics.

Personally, with that budget I'd build around an low-power Core i7-3770S ($305) with a low-noise heatsink like a Zalman CNPS7x ($45), and a big SSD (512GB M4 for $400) with no HDD to keep things quiet.

That leaves you over $700 for MB, case, PSU, RAM, GPU. Don't need anything fancy here. $100 for an MSI Z77A-G41, case of your choice, $80 for a ~500 watt PSU (Corsair, etc), $80 for 2x8GB RAM, $100 for a case of your choice. Toss a Gigabyte GTX 660 in there for $230 and you're looking at $1340 for a very fast, quiet system.

$100 more will get you a BD burner, some good thermal paste, and a quiet fan. $1440.

Of course, if he doesn't mind if his computer sounds like a jet, you can toss in a 3 TB drive and a 3770K instead.
 
he will mind nose.

based on the hard drive space he uses, he doesnt use much at all. i was wondering if getting him two intel 240gb and raid 0 them. will that even have much a speed difference compared to 1 ssd?

btw: today i already ordered him a synology nas with 2x 3tb red wd hdd. that is already like 700 dollars. also ordered him the sony vaio duo 11 the better one which was like 1500.

also preorder two leap motion so he can use motion on his windows 8 desktop.

I have left to order is what to replace his main desktop.
 
RAID 0 is totally pointless and only significantly increases the chance of a failure. A single modern SSD by itself is so fast it's ridiculous and there is no noticeable advantage to RAID 0.

Definitely go with an SSD-only system, but don't bother to RAID them. You want to less chance of failure, not more. Deliver something to him that Just Works.
 
ya i was thinking raid 0 ssd might not do any performance increase at all. just a single good fast ssd should be good.


so danny bui got an idea of what my dad want?
 
FWIW, considering that you're building a big NAS, a good place to save money is the SSD. $180 or $200 for a 256 GB drive would be plenty. I wouldn't dial back on the CPU though.
 
ya i am looking into getting him a good 256gb ssd drive.

So far the build is made up of:
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
EVGA 02G-P4-2670-KR GeForce GTX 670 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - OEM
Intel Core i7-3770S Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 65W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770S
CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power ...


however maybe the gfx card i chose is way too powerful for him.
 
Don't do ASRock. Go with Asus, MSI, or Gigabyte. MSI and Gigabyte in particular have a certification (MSi's is Military Class III, I forget what GBs is) for their boards made with the highest-quality components.

The rest looks pretty good to me. Yeah, the 670 might be a bit much. What do you mean by "gaming"? What does he play?
 
kumquat said:
Don't do ASRock. Go with Asus, MSI, or Gigabyte. MSI and Gigabyte in particular have a certification (MSi's is Military Class III, I forget what GBs is) for their boards made with the highest-quality components.

The rest looks pretty good to me. Yeah, the 670 might be a bit much. What do you mean by "gaming"? What does he play?
Click to expand...

some web games, nothing serious.
 
kumquat said:
Yeah, don't waste his money with a 670.
Click to expand...

ya but what gfx card is good in handling lot of displays and pumping out enough pixels being able to play 1080p video while having other stuff open.
 
I still wonder what I should get I changed some parts and end up with this now:


MSI Z77A-G45 Thunderbolt LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9
ASUS HD7770-DC-1GD5-V2 Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video ...
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power ...
Intel Core i7-3770S Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 65W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770S
Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner, Bare Drive, 3D Play Back (WH14NS40) ... - OEM
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G - OEM
 
I don't.

Why did you choose that motherboard?

Ditch the Core i7 3770S. The only reason why the Core i7 3770S uses less power is because it's clocked lower. The idle power between the Core i7 3770S, 3770, and 3770K will be the same. It's only at full load that you'll notice a difference in power usage and even then it's not that big of a difference: 10W at most. So basically, I don't see the point in getting a slower CPU whose lower power you won't honestly notice.

Now your father should be fine with a CPU like the Core i5 3470. But if you really just want to spend money, go for the Core i7 3770. Either way, don't go with the Core i7 3770S.

That RAM isn't a good choice IMO due to the tall heatsinks it has. That means that it'll interfere or prevent you from install many 3rd party air-coolers out there. Not to mention that it's overpriced for what it is. I recommend this RAM instead:
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-2x8GB...PDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1358469478&sr=1-2

Video card wise, the newegg ratings for that GPU doesn't look good. Go for a different HD 7770 card.

AS5 is basically outdated due to its required curing time. Since you're not overclocking, the stock thermal paste and HSF should be fine. Even if you do want 3rd party thermal paste for whatever reason, there are better thermal paste out there for the money like the Arctic Cooling MX4.
 
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DooKey said:
That HX650 is overkill for what you are buying. Downgrade to a 500w psu. The Antec Neo Eco 520 would be just fine and save some good bucks.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030

Also, the stock TIM is just fine with the stock HSF. Don't waste your time with the AS5.
Click to expand...

i like module type psu.

my dad wants an i7 even though it might not affect him much. I was confused about the i7 in how it would be more quiet based on the other guys fact. i know a good case should be quiet and cool.

ok i wont get the thermal paste.


i chose that motherboard because it is z77 and the build in sound should be good and price doesnt seem too high
 
danny bui the ram you recommend is 1333 MHz and not 1600 mhz will that make much a difference?
 
TheBuzzer said:
i chose that motherboard because it is z77 and the build in sound should be good and price doesnt seem too high
Click to expand...
Its price is high if you're not going to use the Thunderbolt feature. In other words, unless you're absolutely positively going to use the Thunderbolt feature, that motherboard is pretty overpriced considering that there are better quality mobos or around that price range.

However considering your father's needs, he should be fine with the MSI Z77A-G43.
TheBuzzer said:
danny bui the ram you recommend is 1333 MHz and not 1600 mhz will that make much a difference?
Click to expand...
Nope.
 
ok i end up with this now:

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X 100358VXL Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support ...
Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770
MSI Z77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
CORSAIR XMS 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX16GX3M2A1333C9
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power ...
Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner, Bare Drive, 3D Play Back (WH14NS40) ... - OEM

mainly i am trying to find a gfx card that is decent enough with two dvi ports because i know his monitor are all just dvi connection, i think one have hdmi. So i dont need to go out of the way getting dvi to hdmi convertor or displayport to dvi convertor.
 
Are you planning on using the onboard video? That would let you connect that 3rd monitor to the video card without the use of an adapter.
 
Danny Bui said:
Are you planning on using the onboard video? That would let you connect that 3rd monitor to the video card without the use of an adapter.
Click to expand...

nope, well i am quite sure i have some adapters lying around my place. if i couldnt find any to hook up his previous setup.
 
No by adapter I mean active displayPort to DVI adapters. In order to use three monitors with AMD video cards, that 3rd monitor has to be connected via displayPort or a displayPort to DVI/HDMI adapter. Do you actually have those adapters?
 
Danny Bui said:
No by adapter I mean active displayPort to DVI adapters. In order to use three monitors with AMD video cards, that 3rd monitor has to be connected via displayPort or a displayPort to DVI/HDMI adapter. Do you actually have those adapters?
Click to expand...

but based on the ports on the gfx card it seems like there are two dvi and 1 hdmi and 1 display port.


so i cant just use the 2 dvi and 1 hdmi?
 
TheBuzzer, Have you considered getting your dad an iMac? You can order an SSD with an iMac.

iMac 27" + 2 thunderbolt displays would be good. You might be able to use more monitors with daisy chaining the TB displays which would be good if he's into trading.
 
TheBuzzer said:
so i cant just use the 2 dvi and 1 hdmi?
Click to expand...
Nope, not with AMD cards. HDMI and DVI are digital connections. Most current AMD cards only support two digital outputs/connections simultaneously. So while the AMD card may have three digital connections, it only has enough power for two of them.

With that said, Sapphire has their own tech that allows them to have three simultaneous digital connections but only for cards carrying the "FLEX" name. Like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102960

Alternatively, there's always the GT 640 and any Nvidia GT 6xx series card above it (GTX 650, GTX 650 TI, etc). Those actually support three simultaneous digital connections at once.
 
Danny Bui said:
Nope, not with AMD cards. HDMI and DVI are digital connections. Most current AMD cards only support two digital outputs/connections simultaneously. So while the AMD card may have three digital connections, it only has enough power for two of them.

With that said, Sapphire has their own tech that allows them to have three simultaneous digital connections but only for cards carrying the "FLEX" name. Like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102960

Alternatively, there's always the GT 640 and any Nvidia GT 6xx series card above it (GTX 650, GTX 650 TI, etc). Those actually support three simultaneous digital connections at once.
Click to expand...

i am fine going with nvidia, which card would you think will go good?



Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770
MSI Z77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
CORSAIR XMS 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX16GX3M2A1333C9
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power ...
Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner, Bare Drive, 3D Play Back (WH14NS40) ... - OEM
ASUS GTX650TI-O-1GD5 GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
 
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So do you think what I chose should be good?

Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770
MSI Z77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
CORSAIR XMS 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX16GX3M2A1333C9
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power ...
Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner, Bare Drive, 3D Play Back (WH14NS40) ... - OEM
ASUS GTX650TI-O-1GD5 GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

If so I am quite ready to start buying the parts
 
The PSU is still overkill. I recommend this instead:
$80 - SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W Modular PSU

As for the video card, I think you're over-estimating just how much performance is needed. At most, I recommend the GTX 650.
 
Ok now it is at:

SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
GIGABYTE GV-N650OC-1GI GeForce GTX 650 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770
MSI Z77A-G43 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
CORSAIR XMS 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX16GX3M2A1333C9
Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner, Bare Drive, 3D Play Back (WH14NS40) ... - OEM
 
Well the main thing is I don't want his comp to feel slow at all, ya I might be overestimating but hopefully he will enjoy the computer with the stuff and not be like it feels the same as a 500 dollar dell.
 
The hardware is plenty fast. The graphics card will have zero effect on windows. You won't be able to tell the difference between a GTX 690 and a 640 except in games.
 
well i am not too sure what type of gaming he might do. i am quite sure nothing too intense but who knows maybe there will be some gambling game that uses full gfx power.
 
TheBuzzer said:
well i am not too sure what type of gaming he might do. i am quite sure nothing too intense but who knows maybe there will be some gambling game that uses full gfx power.
Click to expand...

LOL, no there won't be. Remember: Not all gamblers have PCs capable of handling such games.

Turn that "sure" into "know". Ask your dad what games he plans on playing and if there's ever a chance for him to play actual 3D games.
 
There probably aren't any really graphics-intensive Windows games he'll play. For the money you save by getting a GTX 650 you can go buy him a PS3 to go with it.
 
well if it can handle 4k videos just fine it should be fine. most likely he will get 4k displays in the near future.
 
So mainly the gfx power is needed for the pixel fill rate i guess. not really for gaming but not sure if that matters as much
 
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