First Build Advice

[A144]

I've decided I want to build my next computer, and have done a lot of research over the past couple weeks and learned a lot. I've finally put together a tentative parts for my first build.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing?
The most important thing I'll need my computer to do is smoothly run Adobe Lightroom and PS Elements together. I do a lot of multitasking and often run a browser and music player at the same time as the photoshop programs. I do a small amount of light gaming (mostly an occasional game of LoL with my gamer friends).

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I'm trying to keep it under $1000, tax and shipping included.

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

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc.
I'm going to need the Case, motherboard, CPU, Ram, GPU, Storage, Power Supply, Monitor. (so basically, everything, lol.)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
Nothing is being reused, as this is my first build. I will be putting the HDD out of my external in it, but it is used solely for my photography RAW files.

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Planning on getting a 1920x1080

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Hopefully within the month.

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.
Right now I'm planning on using an SSD for OS and a 6.0Gb/s HDD for general storage.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No, I will need to get a 64-bit version of windows 7.

Here is my build on pcpartspicker. I will post individual links if necessary here.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ghqs

I'm basically looking for any compatibility issues and just any advice on if everything is adequate for my needs or way overkill, etc. I will probably be adding a few green LED fans to the NZXT Phantom case in the near future.

A couple specific questions I had was whether there was any advantage to going with 4x4gb sticks of ram vs 2x8gb sticks aside from the 2x8 being easier to upgrade later if needed (although I'd need Windows Pro to take advantage of more than 16gb of RAM.

My other question was about a power supply. I'd like a modular one, but it's not a necessity. The one I have listed isn't pricey at all, but is there an advantage of going with a more expensive similarly spec'd power supply? What is the difference aside from being more energy efficient? Are they all pretty similar as far as the number of connectors?

Thanks in advance for any advice and recommendations!

 

[eric335]

Heres my $0.02:

-The CPU is great, i have that one and i love it.
-The mobo is an ASRock, which among this forum, is not the top choice in mobos. I personally went with an ASUS. If i were you, id go with an ASUS P8Z77-V LK for like $140. This might bring you too close to your budget max, though.
-The RAM, HDD, and SSD all look good. Id bump up the size of the SSD to 128GB if you dont mind the marginal price difference (like 30$ i believe?)
-The PSU i would stay away from. OCZ is not the most reputable PSU supplier. Id personally go with an Antec, Corsair, Seasonic.
-Case is a good choice, that was my second choice, and it has fairly good cooling figures, plus it looks sweet! Although, to be honest, if you can drop 60$ off the price of the case and go with one closer to $40, you could get a bigger SSD or the ASUS mobo.



Also, you mentioned using a 6.0GB/s HDD for general storage. While some HDD advertise 6.0GB/s, i was told that they cant utilize that (and it might as well be a 3.0GB/s).

-----------------------------
That is my opinion, and it was gathered from loads and loads of research and not first-person experience.

 

[BigJayDogg3]

My .02? If you can swing it, get a 128GB ssd. The 64 gig is cheaper, true. But price to capacity wise, you get a raw deal. If you can, wait for a sale on a reputable SSD, and buy a 128 gig. Others may disagree, but I don't understand buying an SSD solely to improve boot times.

My other question was about a power supply. I'd like a modular one, but it's not a necessity. The one I have listed isn't pricey at all, but is there an advantage of going with a more expensive similarly spec'd power supply? What is the difference aside from being more energy efficient? Are they all pretty similar as far as the number of connectors?

Better power supplies are going to provide cleaner power to your components with more room for unfavorable conditions (age, heat, etc.).

My personal tastes say unless you are dealing with a case that has very little space behind the mobo tray, or you plan to sleeve your cables, nonmodular PSUs are easier to get "clean" looking since you don't have rows of connectors across the power supply.

As far as connectors go, generally speaking, the higher you go in the wattage range the more connectors you'll have.

 

[eric335]

My .02? If you can swing it, get a 128GB ssd. The 64 gig is cheaper, true. But price to capacity wise, you get a raw deal. If you can, wait for a sale on a reputable SSD, and buy a 128 gig.

Others may disagree, but I don't understand buying an SSD solely to improve boot times.

This. As i said, 128gb Crucial M4s can be had for 90$ or so every now and then.

 

[Dangman]

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

How far are you from these Microcenter locations?
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/columbus.aspx
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/mayfield-heights.aspx
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/sharonville.aspx

Here is my build on pcpartspicker. I will post individual links if necessary here.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ghqs

CPU wise, since you're not overclocking, no reason for you to get the Core i5 3570K. You'll be fine with the cheaper Core i5 3470. As noted above, I generally don't recommend AsRock mobos. I recommend the MSI Z77A-G43 mobo instead. Definitely get the 128GB version of that SSD. Get a new PSU as that OCZ PSU is not good. More on that in a bit.

A couple specific questions I had was whether there was any advantage to going with 4x4gb sticks of ram vs 2x8gb sticks aside from the 2x8 being easier to upgrade later if needed (although I'd need Windows Pro to take advantage of more than 16gb of RAM.

Only real con to a 4x4GB setup is that it may limit your overclock capability. Since you're not doing that, it's a non-issue. If you are doing a ton of work with Adobe software, I'd go for a 2 x 8GB setup and Windows 7 Pro. I recommend this RAM:
$80 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

My other question was about a power supply. I'd like a modular one, but it's not a necessity. The one I have listed isn't pricey at all, but is there an advantage of going with a more expensive similarly spec'd power supply? What is the difference aside from being more energy efficient? Are they all pretty similar as far as the number of connectors?

The one you listed is a mediocre PSU hence the low price. As noted above, the more expensive PSUs are of significantly higher quality, actually offers more power on the +12V rail where most PC parts draw their power from, and provide cleaner power. If you can deal without modular, I recommend this PSU:
$64 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU

If you really want modular, I recommend this PSU:
$80 - SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W Modular PSU

 

[A144]

How far are you from these Microcenter locations?
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/columbus.aspx
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/mayfield-heights.aspx
http://microcenter.com/site/stores/sharonville.aspx

About 2-2.5 hours from the closest one. I'm actually closer to the Detroit, MI location. It's about an hour, but we get up that way often. Is this a place I should check out?

CPU wise, since you're not overclocking, no reason for you to get the Core i5 3570K. You'll be fine with the cheaper Core i5 3470. As noted above, I generally don't recommend AsRock mobos. I recommend the MSI Z77A-G43 mobo instead. Definitely get the 128GB version of that SSD. Get a new PSU as that OCZ PSU is not good. More on that in a bit.

The i5 3470 would save me about $20. What about an i5 3550 with better stats than the 3470 and only $5 more than. From what I can tell (with my very limited knowledge), there doesn't seem to be much different between the 3550 and 3550K besides the latter being better for OC'ing. Is this correct?

Only real con to a 4x4GB setup is that it may limit your overclock capability. Since you're not doing that, it's a non-issue. If you are doing a ton of work with Adobe software, I'd go for a 2 x 8GB setup and Windows 7 Pro. I recommend this RAM:
$80 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series F3-12800CL10D-16GBXL 2 x 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM

I'm liking that one, and with the current $10 rebate, it's cheaper than the 4x4gb I was looking at. Thanks!

The one you listed is a mediocre PSU hence the low price. As noted above, the more expensive PSUs are of significantly higher quality, actually offers more power on the +12V rail where most PC parts draw their power from, and provide cleaner power. If you can deal without modular, I recommend this PSU:
$64 - Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W PSU

If you really want modular, I recommend this PSU:
$80 - SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W Modular PSU

I'll check those out. Modular isn't a must, I just thought it may be easier for my first build as I'd only have to deal with the wires I need.

-The CPU is great, i have that one and i love it.
-The mobo is an ASRock, which among this forum, is not the top choice in mobos. I personally went with an ASUS. If i were you, id go with an ASUS P8Z77-V LK for like $140. This might bring you too close to your budget max, though.
-The RAM, HDD, and SSD all look good. Id bump up the size of the SSD to 128GB if you dont mind the marginal price difference (like 30$ i believe?)
-The PSU i would stay away from. OCZ is not the most reputable PSU supplier. Id personally go with an Antec, Corsair, Seasonic.
-Case is a good choice, that was my second choice, and it has fairly good cooling figures, plus it looks sweet! Although, to be honest, if you can drop 60$ off the price of the case and go with one closer to $40, you could get a bigger SSD or the ASUS mobo.

I've tentatively upped the SSD to a 128gb as per your and others recommendations.

I'm going to look into other mobos. Funny though, I read somewhere else that people were having problems with Asus and were recommending AsRock. I had originally picked an Asus, and switched to the AsRock because it had the same features at a lower price.

After this thread, I'll definitely be getting a different PSU, possibly spending a little more. I'm getting very close to my budget. I know I should cut out some needless things, like the freakin' sweet Phantom case, but we'll see how it turns out.

And thanks again to everyone who has responded so far. I've had a similar thread up for a full day on another forum and you've already been much more helpful.

 

[Dangman]

About 2-2.5 hours from the closest one. I'm actually closer to the Detroit, MI location. It's about an hour, but we get up that way often. Is this a place I should check out?

When is the next time will you be in the Detroit, MI area? If you're already in the area for another reason, definitely a place to check out as A) they usually offer the Core i5 3570K at $190 and B) they usually have a $50 discount on a Z77 mobo when purchased at the same time as a certain set of CPUs. So in other words, you're potentially saving $70 to $90 and getting higher performance and quality for your money. But a two hour round trip + gas costs + local sales tax + time spent in that store may actually negate those savings. As such, it may only be a good idea to check out that place if you're already in the area for another reason.

The i5 3470 would save me about $20. What about an i5 3550 with better stats than the 3470 and only $5 more than. From what I can tell (with my very limited knowledge), there doesn't seem to be much different between the 3550 and 3550K besides the latter being better for OC'ing. Is this correct?

There's no such thing as the 3550K. If you mean 3570K, yes that's the big noticeable difference between the 3550 and 3570K: overclock capability. I'd still stick with the Core i5 3470.

 

[Quartz-1]

You want this for image processing so you want an IPS monitor. A proper 10 bit colour display will eat up your budget and then some, but you need to avoid the cheap TN displays which tend to be 6 bit and get to 8 bits by dithering.

 

[eric335]

You want this for image processing so you want an IPS monitor. A proper 10 bit colour display will eat up your budget and then some, but you need to avoid the cheap TN displays which tend to be 6 bit and get to 8 bits by dithering.

This.

ASUS has a 23" IPS panel that MAXIMUMPC gave great reviews of that costs $300. Not sure of the name, but it shouldnt be hard to find. An IPS panel would be big help for someone looking to do photograph editing/processing.

 

[A144]

When is the next time will you be in the Detroit, MI area? If you're already in the area for another reason, definitely a place to check out as A) they usually offer the Core i5 3570K at $190 and B) they usually have a $50 discount on a Z77 mobo when purchased at the same time as a certain set of CPUs. So in other words, you're potentially saving $70 to $90 and getting higher performance and quality for your money. But a two hour round trip + gas costs + local sales tax + time spent in that store may actually negate those savings. As such, it may only be a good idea to check out that place if you're already in the area for another reason

Not sure when I'll be up there next (my dad was just up that way today picking up a part for his '69 Camaro). But I'll definitely check them out when I am. Thanks!

There's no such thing as the 3550K. If you mean 3570K, yes that's the big noticeable difference between the 3550 and 3570K: overclock capability. I'd still stick with the Core i5 3470.

Yep, I meant the 3570K. What about the 3470 do you like? Any specific reasons you'd take it over the 3550 or 3570? From what I can tell, all four are pretty similar except the 3570K has HD4000 graphics (not a big deal with a GPU anyways). That and a about .1-.2GHz

So something else worth thinking about: would OC'ing have any benefit for me? I never really considered it because I've always thought of it as useful only for gamers. Am I right in this respect, or is there more to it than that?

If I can pick the 3570K up for under $200 though, I'll just go with that.

 

[A144]

You want this for image processing so you want an IPS monitor. A proper 10 bit colour display will eat up your budget and then some, but you need to avoid the cheap TN displays which tend to be 6 bit and get to 8 bits by dithering.

This.

ASUS has a 23" IPS panel that MAXIMUMPC gave great reviews of that costs $300. Not sure of the name, but it shouldnt be hard to find. An IPS panel would be big help for someone looking to do photograph editing/processing.

I wish I could afford to go IPS monitor right now, but it's just not possible, even if I cut out some unnecessary parts of my build, I'd still be short. Maybe in the future when I can save up some more and they come down in price. Or maybe if I was making money as a photographer, but not as much just being a hobbyist.

 

[eric335]

Not sure when I'll be up there next (my dad was just up that way today picking up a part for his '69 Camaro). But I'll definitely check them out when I am. Thanks!



Yep, I meant the 3570K. What about the 3470 do you like? Any specific reasons you'd take it over the 3550 or 3570? From what I can tell, all four are pretty similar except the 3570K has HD4000 graphics (not a big deal with a GPU anyways). That and a about .1-.2GHz

So something else worth thinking about: would OC'ing have any benefit for me? I never really considered it because I've always thought of it as useful only for gamers. Am I right in this respect, or is there more to it than that?

If I can pick the 3570K up for under $200 though, I'll just go with that.

Eh, theres more to it than that, but OCing would require some good cooling to do it safely. I got liquid cooling simply for that reason, since i want to OC eventually. If you do a ton of mass-quantity rendering, OCing would benefit you. But since its just photos (not videos), then i dont think it would make a difference worth the added cost and risk. If you in fact DO want to OC, id recommend the CM 212 EVO for your CPU cooler, i think its like $35 and its been shown to cool to (almost) all-in-one liquid loop temperatures.

Take note, though, that my OCing experience is limited to pushing the boundaries on some old Droid phones so i cant give you 100% accurate details as far as desktops go.


PS- Moar pics of the Camaro!

 

[Quartz-1]

I wish I could afford to go IPS monitor right now, but it's just not possible, even if I cut out some unnecessary parts of my build, I'd still be short.

The major point of your build is to work with images. If you cannot view them correctly, you might as well not bother. Dump the SSD instead. 8 bit IPS monitors aren't that expensive.

Edit. If you go to the display section of your build, you'll see that you can select IPS monitors for under $200.

 

[A144]

What about one of the following?

ASUS PA238Q http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236201

ASUS VS239H-P http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236288

 

[Quartz-1]

What about one of the following?

ASUS PA238Q http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236201

ASUS VS239H-P http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236288

I'm not familiar with either but I'll note that the PA238Q comes pre-calibrated.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Get the biggest SSD you can and store most of your stuff on it. The speed of the drive is so important.

 

[A144]

Ok, been a few days, but here's the updated parts list:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/gv26

I haven't changed the CPU because I don't know exactly which I'm getting yet. Other than that, I think the build is looking pretty solid, for right around my $1000 budget (I'm going to be using a small HDTV until I scrape up the cash for the IPS monitor)

 

[Dangman]

Looks ok so far.

 

[A144]

I'm probably going to go with a standard HDD until I can afford a 256GB SSD. Then I'll upgrade to that.