Hi all,
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I do two main things with computers--games in windows and programming work in linux. I currently have one computer for both of these and I hate dual booting for various reasons. I am going to keep my current build for programming and linux stuff and build a dedicated windows build for games, media, etc.
This will be a gaming, media pc. It will spend most of its time in my living room on a 60in tv used to play movies/tv on my home theater system. I know smart tvs have lots of great aps these days, but I prefer the flexibility of having a separate machine. I like replaying old console games on emulators--ps2, gamecube, n64, etc and so I'd like to be able to switch between tasks without changing devices.
I will also play newer games. AC4, Far Cry 3, Deus Ex: HR, Batman, DMC, etc. The console ports will probably be good on a big screen but for most of these they will be better on a computer screen. I also have a 27in monitor which I will use this machine for desktop gaming on.
I will also use this computer for my home audio set up. I have a good receiver/speaker set up and I want to be able to take advantage of this for my higher quality classical music. I don't know if I need a sound card to bring out that potential or if a good motherboard will be enough.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I have a sample amazon part list which comes to about 700 before tax. I am OK spending this or a little more, but wouldn't mind saving if possible. I am going to take the gtx 780 from my current build and use it in this rig so I can already save the cost of the graphics card.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
San Francisco.
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.
PSU, mobo, cpu, ram, case, ssd, wireless card, soundcard?
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
GTX 780.
6) Will you be overclocking?
No.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
The tv is at 1080p and the monitor is 1440p.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I will order parts over the weekend or next week.
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.
One feature my msi board has that I really like is a spdif port and the gigabyte mobo I have does not. I imagine this gives better sound quality to my receiver than the analog output on my gigabyte mobo would.
Would hdmi audio passthrough be similar quality or should I consider a different motherboard or a sound card?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes. 64bit. Windows 7 Pro.
Final part list:
1. SeaSonic G Series 550-Watt ATX12V/EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply SSR-550RM
2. ASRock LGA1150/Intel H87/DDR3/Quad CrossFireX/SATA3 and USB 3.0/A&GbE/MicroATX Motherboard H87M PRO4
3. Intel Core i5-4570 Quad-Core Desktop Processor 3.2 GHZ 6MB Cache- BX80646I54570
4. Crucial Ballistix Sport Very Low Profile 8GB Single DDR3-1600 1.35V UDIMM 240-Pin Memory Module BLS8G3D1609ES2LX
5. Fractal Design Define R4 Cases, Arctic White (FD-CA-DEF-R4-WH-W)
6. Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE250BW
Some notes:
I still need a wireless card.
I'm not a total corsair fanboy but I want a modular psu.
I have an msi Z87M-g43 and I am happy with it but I want something different just to see what is out there. I have had gigabyte in the past and have been happy with it. I don't see any comments about it and nvidia cards, where as it is stated to support amd crossfire--is this not a good board for nvidia cards? I'm open to other boards, just not the msi board I have for the reasons I mentioned above.
My only constraint for the cpu is something that won't be a bottleneck in games. Any other suggestions are fine although I don't really like amd cpus. It seems the i5-4570 is getting recommended a lot so I would step up to that if anyone tips a recommendation that way.
No attachment to the ram. Would switch for something with a better deal.
I do kind of want to try a fractal case. I have a silverstone tek case and I don't really like it. The internal design is very clumsy which makes it hard to swap parts and the case is very loud. I want something quieter that feels more well thought out. I've seen reviews commenting as much so figure it is worth a shot. Other suggestions for pretty cases that are quiet and well laid out are welcome.
I went with the evo over the pro because it seemed cheaper. The only reason I want an ssd as opposed to a hdd is because I have an hdd for my windows build currently and I have some serious problems with it. I have a super fast internet connection (sustained dl speeds > 10MB/s) and my os seems to freak out (computer gets very slow even though it is fine playing games at 1440p with max settings) when I download new games on steam. I guess this has something to do with the hdd not being able to handle sustained high write speeds? I think this will be enough space for me. Most the games I will keep on this are tiny console roms. I can always remove steam games from my library when I am not using them to save space. Also, maybe the hdd in my other machine is broken. If other people think I shouldn't have this problem let me know.
---
Edit: I bout the asrock pro4 m per Dangman's recommendation. I got the last one on amazon and the price jumped $30!
Edit: Also grabbed the windowed case and 2 140 mm fans from newegg. Saved another ~30 on the case.
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
I do two main things with computers--games in windows and programming work in linux. I currently have one computer for both of these and I hate dual booting for various reasons. I am going to keep my current build for programming and linux stuff and build a dedicated windows build for games, media, etc.
This will be a gaming, media pc. It will spend most of its time in my living room on a 60in tv used to play movies/tv on my home theater system. I know smart tvs have lots of great aps these days, but I prefer the flexibility of having a separate machine. I like replaying old console games on emulators--ps2, gamecube, n64, etc and so I'd like to be able to switch between tasks without changing devices.
I will also play newer games. AC4, Far Cry 3, Deus Ex: HR, Batman, DMC, etc. The console ports will probably be good on a big screen but for most of these they will be better on a computer screen. I also have a 27in monitor which I will use this machine for desktop gaming on.
I will also use this computer for my home audio set up. I have a good receiver/speaker set up and I want to be able to take advantage of this for my higher quality classical music. I don't know if I need a sound card to bring out that potential or if a good motherboard will be enough.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I have a sample amazon part list which comes to about 700 before tax. I am OK spending this or a little more, but wouldn't mind saving if possible. I am going to take the gtx 780 from my current build and use it in this rig so I can already save the cost of the graphics card.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
San Francisco.
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.
PSU, mobo, cpu, ram, case, ssd, wireless card, soundcard?
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
GTX 780.
6) Will you be overclocking?
No.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
The tv is at 1080p and the monitor is 1440p.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I will order parts over the weekend or next week.
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.
One feature my msi board has that I really like is a spdif port and the gigabyte mobo I have does not. I imagine this gives better sound quality to my receiver than the analog output on my gigabyte mobo would.
Would hdmi audio passthrough be similar quality or should I consider a different motherboard or a sound card?
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes. 64bit. Windows 7 Pro.
Final part list:
1. SeaSonic G Series 550-Watt ATX12V/EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply SSR-550RM
2. ASRock LGA1150/Intel H87/DDR3/Quad CrossFireX/SATA3 and USB 3.0/A&GbE/MicroATX Motherboard H87M PRO4
3. Intel Core i5-4570 Quad-Core Desktop Processor 3.2 GHZ 6MB Cache- BX80646I54570
4. Crucial Ballistix Sport Very Low Profile 8GB Single DDR3-1600 1.35V UDIMM 240-Pin Memory Module BLS8G3D1609ES2LX
5. Fractal Design Define R4 Cases, Arctic White (FD-CA-DEF-R4-WH-W)
6. Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE250BW
Some notes:
I still need a wireless card.
I'm not a total corsair fanboy but I want a modular psu.
I have an msi Z87M-g43 and I am happy with it but I want something different just to see what is out there. I have had gigabyte in the past and have been happy with it. I don't see any comments about it and nvidia cards, where as it is stated to support amd crossfire--is this not a good board for nvidia cards? I'm open to other boards, just not the msi board I have for the reasons I mentioned above.
My only constraint for the cpu is something that won't be a bottleneck in games. Any other suggestions are fine although I don't really like amd cpus. It seems the i5-4570 is getting recommended a lot so I would step up to that if anyone tips a recommendation that way.
No attachment to the ram. Would switch for something with a better deal.
I do kind of want to try a fractal case. I have a silverstone tek case and I don't really like it. The internal design is very clumsy which makes it hard to swap parts and the case is very loud. I want something quieter that feels more well thought out. I've seen reviews commenting as much so figure it is worth a shot. Other suggestions for pretty cases that are quiet and well laid out are welcome.
I went with the evo over the pro because it seemed cheaper. The only reason I want an ssd as opposed to a hdd is because I have an hdd for my windows build currently and I have some serious problems with it. I have a super fast internet connection (sustained dl speeds > 10MB/s) and my os seems to freak out (computer gets very slow even though it is fine playing games at 1440p with max settings) when I download new games on steam. I guess this has something to do with the hdd not being able to handle sustained high write speeds? I think this will be enough space for me. Most the games I will keep on this are tiny console roms. I can always remove steam games from my library when I am not using them to save space. Also, maybe the hdd in my other machine is broken. If other people think I shouldn't have this problem let me know.
---
Edit: I bout the asrock pro4 m per Dangman's recommendation. I got the last one on amazon and the price jumped $30!
Edit: Also grabbed the windowed case and 2 140 mm fans from newegg. Saved another ~30 on the case.
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