First Buil / $1500

[bboy-borrego]

This will be my first build.This is the computer I've been using for the past 5 years:
Gateway GT5064
Intel Pentium D Processor 820 EM64T
MS Media Center Edition 2005
Graphics Media Accelerator 950
2x 512mb Ram ( Installed 2 GB)
250GB SATA HDD.
450 watt PSU
17" Monitor
It cost me about $1,000 back then, and I'm way behind on an upgrade. I bought an 8600gt for it, but I messed it up and I've been using the onboard graphics(Try not to laugh) for about 8-9 months now, and it's been hell. I'm a graphic designer and I would like something that will let me work with photoshop and other graphic programs with ease.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Photoshop/Illustrator - Maya - Zbrush - Light gaming (TF2,)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1500 will be willing to go up to $2000 if it's worth it. Tax Included

3) Where do you live?
Los Angeles, CA. Live about 30mins. from Fry's.

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.
CPU - Motherboard - PSU - RAM - HDD - CPU Cooler/Heatsink with Fan - Case - DVD Burner - Video Card - Memory Card Reader - 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.
Keybaord - Mouse - 17" Monitor(Will be purchasing a 24" soon) - Speakers - Wacom Tablet

6) Will you be overclocking?
Don't know how.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
17" Monitor(Will be purchasing a 24" soon)

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 support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
Firewire - Crossfire or Sli

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Will be buying Windows 7 64bit

Would like to get as much RAM as possible(8GB+), It would help out allot with Photoshop. I don't really care about aesthetics when it comes to case's, as long as everything fits, and it keeps everything cool, its fine with me. Since this is my first build, I will be needing allot of help with BIOS and anything related to it, so please, if you can guide me, it will be appreciated.

 

[Dangman]

I'll let someone do the whole speel about Sandy Bridge.

For now, here's a prelim build:
$180 - AMD Phenom II X6 1055T CPU
$90 - Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H AMD 880G HDMI mATX Motherboard
$104 - 2 x Corsair CMV4GX3M1A1333C9 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$180 - MSI GeForce GTX 460 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$60 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$80 - Antec Truepower New TP-650 650W PSU
--------
Total: $694 shipped

I went with Amazon.com since they do not charge tax to CA residents. I recommend picking out your own case (avoid the ones that comes with a PSU). Some case recommendations:
$50 - Cooler Master Elite 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$50 - Thermaltake WingRS 201 VJ60001N2Z ATX Case
$55 - NZXT M59 ATX Case
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Case
$80 - Cooler Master RC-590-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$80 - Cooler Master CM690 II Basic ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$110 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$160 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case (US Shipping Factored in) (Fill in the ++++ with "N C I X" without the spaces)
$160 - Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium ATX Case (US Shipping Factored in) (Fill in the ++++ with "N C I X" without the spaces)
$160 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver ATX Case (US Shipping Factored in) (Fill in the ++++ with "N C I X" without the spaces)
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$200 - Cooler Master ATCS 840 RC-840-KKN1-GP Full Tower ATX Case
$200 - Lian Li PC-B25F ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$240 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$300 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
$330 - Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ07B Full Tower ATX Case

Since you live near a Fry's, go there one day and check out the cases in person.

 

[bboy-borrego]

That HAF 922 case look great. Not sure about the ram though, and whats Sandy bridge?

 

[Dangman]

Sandy Bridge is Intel's new line of CPUs that's due out on January 5th.

AS for the RAM, the reviews on Amazon.com are bad but the newegg reviews show that RAM is actually pretty decent.

 

[bboy-borrego]

Will there be a big difference between the 1055T and one of the Sandy Bridge CPU's? I also would like to get more ram, any other RAM you recommend? I also was expecting to spend $1,500 to $2,000 on the new build, is the build you setup on the High-end side?

 

[Dangman]

Will there be a big difference between the 1055T and one of the Sandy Bridge CPU's? I also would like to get more ram, any other RAM you recommend? I also was expecting to spend $1,500 to $2,000 on the new build, is the build you setup on the High-end side?

More than likely there will be a difference between the two CPUs. If you look at the RAM I recommended, I did write "2 x". So that means 8GB of RAM right there. If you need more RAM, just get four of that RAM set for a total of 16GB of RAM.

The setup I recommended is more of a mid-range build than anything. The problem is that due to your light gaming requirements, I did not see a reason for a card higher than the GTX 460 1GB.

Due to your $1500 to $2000 budget, I would recommend waiting till Sandy Bridge is released before buying a new PC. So come back in mid-January and ask again for a build list.

 

[bboy-borrego]

Alright I'll wait till mid-January. Thanks

 

[modulus]

I'll let someone do the whole speel about Sandy Bridge.

The whole speel about sandy bridge goes something like this:

Intel is releasing the next generation of processors in early January called Sandy Bridge. Personally I enjoy tech stuff and get a certain amount of satisfaction from getting "the latest stuff" so I'll be building a new machine in January based off Sandy Bridge.

If you feel the same way then maybe you should wait too.

If you don't really care and just want a better, faster computer, then it doesn't matter a whole lot whether you build now or later.

 

[WinSomeLoseNone]

The whole speel about sandy bridge goes something like this:

Intel is releasing the next generation of processors in early January called Sandy Bridge. Personally I enjoy tech stuff and get a certain amount of satisfaction from getting "the latest stuff" so I'll be building a new machine in January based off Sandy Bridge.

If you feel the same way then maybe you should wait too.

If you don't really care and just want a better, faster computer, then it doesn't matter a whole lot whether you build now or later.

Think waiting for the sandy bridge release hoping for a price drop in the current i7 is worth it? Doubt I'll be able to afford the new sandy bridge in Jan, but if the i7 Gets cheaper I'd be VERY happy.

 

[/usr/sbin]

Since you do lots of graphic work, and you are looking for a 24" monitor, I'd suggest looking at an IPS paneled monitor instead of a TN paneled monitor.

 

[bboy-borrego]

Since you do lots of graphic work, and you are looking for a 24" monitor, I'd suggest looking at an IPS paneled monitor instead of a TN paneled monitor.

Do you have any monitors in mind? I've been looking at different monitors lately, mostly at the Dell Ultrasharp monitors, still not 100% on which one.

 

[Dangman]

Do you have any monitors in mind? I've been looking at different monitors lately, mostly at the Dell Ultrasharp monitors, still not 100% on which one.

I recommend this IPS monitor:
$286 - NEC EA231WMI-BK 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor

 

[bboy-borrego]

I recommend this IPS monitor:
$286 - NEC EA231WMI-BK 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor

Nice to see you recommended this monitor. I've been narrowing down the monitors and the NEC EA231WMI-BK is in my top three along with Dell U2311h, and the NEC 2490WUXI, of course more research is needed.

 

[djkest]

With that kind of a budget, an HD6850 and 8GB of RAM might not be a bad idea, as well as an 80GB SSD for faster bootup (in addition to the hard drive) / less lag in windows. You'd still be within your budget.

 

[/usr/sbin]

With that kind of a budget, an HD6850 and 8GB of RAM might not be a bad idea, as well as an 80GB SSD for faster bootup (in addition to the hard drive) / less lag in windows. You'd still be within your budget.

The 8GB RAM and SSD, I'd agree with

However for the video card, he's only doing light gaming (TF2, etc).

 

[patric]

If he's using CS5 for Photoshop, he'd be better off sticking with the GTX 460 1GB card for CUDA support as well.

 

[bboy-borrego]

At the moment I'm using CS3, its the only version i can use with my current set-up but, I do plan on upgrading to CS5 when I'm finish with the build. An SSD is a good idea, expensive, but still have to see what else is recommended for me. So far I'm sticking with HAF 922 case, and pretty sure with the NEC 2490WUXi monitor.