Need help with a PC build please

[Undercover_Man]

I want a monster gaming computer that will do NOTHING but strict gaming. I want an htpc for my future multimedia center. I want a server. I want a Mac for additional editing. And I want a pc for my main editing/browsing/cam pix/vids/etc...

I can't afford my gaming pc, so I think of all the other computers I listed, I should start with the main editing pc.

Here's the trick, the computer I build I want to be the best. But since I can't afford the best possible, I'll have to upgrade as I go. The upgrade process won't take long. Maybe 6-9 months I should have everything upgraded.

I'd rather ADD than REPLACE. For example, if the end build will have 64GB of the best memory, then I want maybe 1/4 of that for the entry build. I would be ADDing more later instead of replacing a lessor quality of the same size at a cheaper price. I don't want to have to mess with selling the replaced memory or have it sit collecting dust.

So, for now I guess, I want my sorting computer to be able to temporarily be able to play games until I can afford my gaming computer. I have a HUGE backlog of games that date back to the Doom 3/Far Cry era. So my initial editing rig won't need to be extreme powerful for current games.



1) What will you be doing with your PC?
Main purpose is editing, storage, and temporarily gaming.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Flexible range of $750-$1300 +/- $200-$300. Trying to stay closet to the lower end of that if possible. No.

3) Which country do you live in?
USA, Memphis, TN.

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 will need ALL the regular internals. 1 hard drive to begin with. Fans only. Not water cooled. I'll use my current mouse and keyboard. I have an old 17 inch CRT monitor. Being an editing machine, I think I will need a good HD monitor, but I don't think that can fit in my initial budget. I'll leave it up to you to sneak one in there if possible. I don't mind using my CRT though temporally. 1 optical blu-ray. I'm basically starting from scratch with the exception of the very few things that I can use temporarily from my 12+ year old computer to save money on the initial build.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
I will not be using any playa from my current computer. Not sure what this question means.

6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Don't have a monitor yet.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Building in about a month hopefully.

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.
Not sure other than USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I will be using Windows 7 64-bit that I already have.


I will be using programs such as the whole Adobe suite, Sony Vegas, Sony Sound Forge, ummmm..... I forget the rest of my programs. Been out of the editing scene for a while because my computer can not handle current resolutions and large projects anymore so I'm sure I'll discover newer programs to use.

OH, and this editing rig will need to eventually handle 3D editing software as well, but that can come after future upgrades.

EDIT: OH, and if it can be relatively energy efficient, that would be a plus. Not sure of that's possible though.

 

[Undercover_Man]

I hate text editing on a mobile phone. Premature submission. Still editing my answers to the mandatory questions. Sorry.

 

[andrewsmc1]

First off, have you ever built a pc? You seem to lack some basic knowledge and unless you want some major frustrations from your "super rig" you may want to do some serious homework or find someone who knows about building a custom super pc.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Please answer question number 4 with the exact parts you'll be needing.

Please read question number 8 carefully again. Your answer makes no sense.

Please read question number 10 carefully again. Do you have that Windows 7 license already? If so, which version?

A $1500 computer can be a serious editing machine and a serious gaming machine on a single monitor setup. With that being said, what kind of programs are you editing with? Some programs take advantage of GPU acceleration while others take more advantage of multiple CPU cores. So it will help us to know exactly what programs you intend to use.

 

[Undercover_Man]

I have updated the original post. I know about building PC's, but I don't have cable Internet installed yet in my new apartment and can't do heavy browsing and research. Let me know if I need to give more info.

 

[Dangman]

What the likelihood of you being able to buy parts before January 31st?
Which edition of WIndows 7 do you have? Home Premium? Pro?
How much storage do you want initially?

 

[Undercover_Man]

Before the 31st? Well, if there's a specific part that I can get a great deal on early, then I'll jump on it. But if you're talking about the whole thing in general, then it's not great unless I can save a massive amount of money. Got to pay 700+ by the end of the month.

Not sure which version of Win7. It's packed in a box still. Still in the process of moving in my new apartment. Not interested in the new Windows OS. It took me a long time to get me used to Win7 and off of XP. And I forget the main restrictions between the various Win7 versions.

Storage is cheap. And I wouldn't fill up a smaller hard drive quick enough until my first upgrade becomes possible. Plus, I can always upgrade to something bigger and use the smaller one that I start off with in my future server. I'd estimate starting off with around 500GB-1TB. Whatever saves money. Or the savings used for better parts.

 

[Dangman]

Before the 31st? Well, if there's a specific part that I can get a great deal on early, then I'll jump on it. But if you're talking about the whole thing in general, then it's not great unless I can save a massive amount of money. Got to pay 700+ by the end of the month.

Hmmm, then I'd honestly wait and come back next month when you're 1-2 weeks away from buying the parts to ask for advice. Our parts recommendations can sometimes change monthly and even weekly. So if you want an up-to-date build list, just come back when you're 1-2 weeks away from buying the parts and bump up this thread then.

Not sure which version of Win7. It's packed in a box still. Still in the process of moving in my new apartment. Not interested in the new Windows OS. It took me a long time to get me used to Win7 and off of XP. And I forget the main restrictions between the various Win7 versions.

That's why I'm asking which edition of Windows 7 you have as that will dictate the RAM situation.

Storage is cheap. And I wouldn't fill up a smaller hard drive quick enough until my first upgrade becomes possible. Plus, I can always upgrade to something bigger and use the smaller one that I start off with in my future server. I'd estimate starting off with around 500GB-1TB. Whatever saves money. Or the savings used for better parts.

Fair enough.

 

[Undercover_Man]

Well, my computer doesn't have to be up to date to the day. And the quality of PC between now and another month wouldn't be that much of a difference. Plus, this is only Stage 1 of the best editing PC. The first upgrade parts, Stage 2, will most likely be 2-3 months after the initial build when money isn't as tight.

Assume I have no restriction on RAM. I forget which version that would be, but being an editing, and temporarily gaming, PC I will be getting the OS that had no memory restrictions even if it turns out I have the cheaper version. An upgraded OS will be bought separately if needed whenever I dig up whatever I have.

 

[Dangman]

Well, my computer doesn't have to be up to date to the day. And the quality of PC between now and another month wouldn't be that much of a difference.

I should clarify: By up-to-date and change I also mean a good value. A part that's a good value now may very well be overpriced next month. As such we would not recommend that part next month. Or that part becomes OOS and therefore can't be obtained. Thats why we generally recommend no more than 1 to 2 weeks in advance. Not to mention that next month we may get more info about Intel's Haswell CPus which means that a possible change in our recommendations.

Assume I have no restriction on RAM. I forget which version that would be, but being an editing, and temporarily gaming, PC I will be getting the OS that had no memory restrictions even if it turns out I have the cheaper version. An upgraded OS will be bought separately if needed whenever I dig up whatever I have.

That would be Windows 7 Pro and above. Fair enough.

 

[Undercover_Man]

Hmmmm....ok. Well let's assume then that I will build this month and any better parts that pop up a month or so later I'll include in Stage 2. If I replace a pricey main part (i.e.: mobo, cpu, psu, gpu), I can sell it for around 90% or more of what I initially paid or just save it for my HTPC/Mac/server computers.

 

[Dangman]

Considering what you just told me in post #7, I'm not assuming that. Just wait man. It's not like you planning this early makes any real big difference.

 

[Undercover_Man]

Well I gave that time frame because if the suggested PC was on the lower end of my budget, then I'd build now and if it was on the higher end then I'd build a couple paychecks later.

 

[Dangman]

We generally try to max out whatever budget people give us when reasonable. Considering your needs and usage scenarios, I can see that build easily hitting $1500. Especially due to the monitor.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

It's very seldom a good idea to build a computer in "stages" for reasons I'm not going to get into detail with. However if you do not need a computer right this second, then it's best to wait until you have the funds to put everything together all at once. This makes your dollar go further in the build; it's hardly ever the other way around.

With that being said, I still stand behind what I said earlier. A $1500 computer will do EVERYTHING you intend to do with all of the builds you want, only you can get the job done with a single PC instead of multiple.

For reference, I built a gaming/design editing computer back in 2010 with a $1500 budget. That same computer to this day is still a strong contender with newer games, plus handling my photography design needs. A $1500 computer built today would be a good bit faster than the $1500 computer I built 2 years ago.

The only thing I would suggest a second computer for would be HTPC duties. I had my main rig setup for HTPC duties as well with a TV Tuner card and dual monitors, however switching between the TV monitor and my desktop monitor all the time just to change the channel and/or someone hitting the power button on the remote shutting down my entire PC I decided to put together a Frankenstein HTPC; which as of about 4 days ago I've replaced by a HTPC that I built from scratch with a ~$600 budget.

As for server duties, depends on what you want to accomplish with the server. If it's for backups or file serving purposes, then I would probably recommend building one for that as well.

However, for gaming, deigning and general purposes a single computer could be built to handle all of those and you wont take a hit in performance if you built two of them separately.

 

[Undercover_Man]

Yeah, ultimately, my two PRIMARY computers will be a gaming computer and a editing/browsing computer where I can turn it on and turn it off when not using it. Why? Because my gaming computer will have unlimited funding and will drain my power bill even while doing other activities other than strictly gaming. That's why I'm keeping it separate. Gaming computer will stuck energy and have unlimited funding BOTH of which I do not have right now.

I need a new computer NOW. Depending on where in my $750-$1300 budget range someone can suggest an initiative build, I will be building between ASAP and another paycheck or two. I don't mind cheaping out on a part or two as long as I can use it in another near PC or can sell it for most of what I bought it in order to upgrade a replacement part.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Yeah, ultimately, my two PRIMARY computers will be a gaming computer and a editing/browsing computer where I can turn it on and turn it off when not using it. Why? Because my gaming computer will have unlimited funding and will drain my power bill even while doing other activities other than strictly gaming. That's why I'm keeping it separate. Gaming computer will stuck energy and have unlimited funding BOTH of which I do not have right now.

That last statement is not true. The power between the two will be similar, regardless if you're gaming or the system is idling. If you're using programs that are CPU extensive, the GPU will idle and not consume much power at all. When gaming, obviously it will use both the GPU and CPU, depending on the game either one or both of them could be extensive. This also applies to software that takes advantage of the GPU for various tasks. So basically the power usage when using one computer or both computer independently (one off when not in use) will be the same.

I need a new computer NOW. Depending on where in my $750-$1300 budget range someone can suggest an initiative build, I will be building between ASAP and another paycheck or two. I don't mind cheaping out on a part or two as long as I can use it in another near PC or can sell it for most of what I bought it in order to upgrade a replacement part.

If I were you, I would build your gaming/editing all in one PC right now omitting a discrete GPU and sticking with the onboard GPU. Since our recommendations for a gaming rig or a editing rig in your upper price range (and possibly even in the lower price range as well) will automatically come with a CPU that has a GPU built into it, it wont cost anything extra nor will it change your performance when you get ready to add a GPU for the gaming purposes the rig will double as.

Therefore, I still stick by my recommendation to use your editing computer as a gaming rig and vise verse. Only building additional rigs for HTPC and server usages.

Not sure how much more I can stress that the major difference between a good editing rig and a gaming rig is two major factors.

1. The CPU. For a primary gaming rig, we generally recommend an i5 CPU. For a primary editing rig, we recommend an i7 CPU. The major difference between these two CPU families is the i7 has hyper threading (HT) where as the i5 does not. Games do not take advantage of HT so it's pointless to recommend an i7 for a gaming rig. However, the performance will not be LESS when gaming on an HT enabled CPU. Therefore spending the extra $100 for an i7 CPU for both gaming AND editing is a lot more cost effective than spending $200 on a CPU for a gaming rig and another $300 on a CPU for an editing rig, when the $300 CPU will perform just as good as the $200 CPU on a gaming platform. However, that $200 CPU potentially could have a disadvantage and not so good performance with some editing software that takes advantage of the HT.

2. The GPU. For games that take advantage of GPUs, we generally recommend the mid-high end graphics cards since games will benefit from this. The mid range being good for single display setups while the higher tiers generally benefit from multiple display setups if Crossfire/SLI is not an option or doesn't want to be used. When selecting a GPU for for software that has GPU acceleration, the higher end cards really don't show much "faster" performance that's noticeable in that situation. However, the higher end gaming cards will not be slower than those cards in that situation either.

Therefore if you spend $1500 on a rig that doubles as a gaming and editing rig; you'll have the best of both worlds and essentially, for lack of a better comparison, two $1000 rigs in one. Those numbers are figuratively used, not real figures.

 

[Dangman]

Y
I need a new computer NOW. Depending on where in my $750-$1300 budget range someone can suggest an initiative build, I will be building between ASAP and another paycheck or two. I don't mind cheaping out on a part or two as long as I can use it in another near PC or can sell it for most of what I bought it in order to upgrade a replacement part.

Again, read what I wrote earlier:

We generally try to max out whatever budget people give us when reasonable. Considering your needs and usage scenarios, I can see that build easily hitting $1500. Especially due to the monitor.

Since you said this:

Before the 31st? Well, if there's a specific part that I can get a great deal on early, then I'll jump on it. But if you're talking about the whole thing in general, then it's not great unless I can save a massive amount of money. Got to pay 700+ by the end of the month.

And since I said this:

Hmmm, then I'd honestly wait and come back next month when you're 1-2 weeks away from buying the parts to ask for advice. Our parts recommendations can sometimes change monthly and even weekly. So if you want an up-to-date build list, just come back when you're 1-2 weeks away from buying the parts and bump up this thread then.

I should clarify: By up-to-date and change I also mean a good value. A part that's a good value now may very well be overpriced next month. As such we would not recommend that part next month. Or that part becomes OOS and therefore can't be obtained. Thats why we generally recommend no more than 1 to 2 weeks in advance. Not to mention that next month we may get more info about Intel's Haswell CPus which means that a possible change in our recommendations.

I'm not sure why you keep pushing for a build list that you know that you can't afford to buy before the 31st and will be changed by the time you actually buy.

Now if you're absolutely serious that you need a PC NOW and cannot wait any longer to BUILD AND BUY THE PC (therefore not planning anymore), how much money can you afford to spend right now to get the PC before the 31st?

EDIT:

Yeah, ultimately, my two PRIMARY computers will be a gaming computer and a editing/browsing computer where I can turn it on and turn it off when not using it. Why? Because my gaming computer will have unlimited funding and will drain my power bill even while doing other activities other than strictly gaming. That's why I'm keeping it separate. Gaming computer will stuck energy and have unlimited funding BOTH of which I do not have right now.

Wait hang on. Gaming PCs don't suck up that much power these days compared to the past. In fact, having two separate PCs will use more power than than one jack of all trades PC. The power usage difference between a gaming PC and video editing PC isn't a huge as you think it us unless you're talking triple-SLI/Crossfire setups.

 

[Undercover_Man]

Oh my. My gaming computer will have multiple monitors and multiple video cards and watercooled everything and extreme everything and most likely overclocked somewhat. I'm talking ULTIMATE PC, hence the unlimited funding statement. That computer will only be used for gaming. Having a separate computer that I just use a couple hours for editing and constantly browsing will not use up as much energy as my planned gaming computer.

I just want a starting recommendation that fits my budget range. Possibly two, one for the lower end and one for the higher end. And I'll decide what to substitute between the two.

 

[Dangman]

Oh my. My gaming computer will have multiple monitors and multiple video cards and watercooled everything and extreme everything and most likely overclocked somewhat. I'm talking ULTIMATE PC, hence the unlimited funding statement. That computer will only be used for gaming. Having a separate computer that I just use a couple hours for editing and constantly browsing will not use up as much energy as my planned gaming computer.

As Skillz pointed out, the only big difference between a gaming PC and video editing PC are the GPU and CPU. Speccing a PC for gaming will provide more than enough GPU power for the video editing part and speccing a PC for video editing will provide more than enough CPU power for the video editing part. In other words the best of both worlds can easily be achieved with one rig, not two.

Look at it at this way: Say you have a budget of $1300 each for a gaming PC and a video editing PC. It would be simply more cost-effective to combine the two into one since the $1300 from the gaming PC can be used toward more GPU power, more RAM, larger SSDs, more hard drives, a better case, and even water-cooling. In terms of power consumption, it'll still end up being less than the power of two PCs.

I just want a starting recommendation that fits my budget range. Possibly two, one for the lower end and one for the higher end. And I'll decide what to substitute between the two.

So again, are you really that impatient for a build list to the point where you can't wait till February to get a solid up-to-date build list? Even though you won't be able to buy until February? Which means that any list we give you now may possibly have either outdated, overpriced, out of stock, or outperformed parts? Which also means that we would basically be giving you two build lists in two months rather than one since more than likely you're gonna ask if the build list from January is still solid? Or that we may end up recommending something entirely different depending on any news we may receive about Intel Haswell?

Since you did not answer my earlier question, I'm gonna assume that you're really not that serious about needing a PC NOW. Otherwise, you would have answered my question, right?

So do you still want that build list?

 

[andrewsmc1]

Oh my. My gaming computer will have multiple monitors and multiple video cards and watercooled everything and extreme everything and most likely overclocked somewhat. I'm talking ULTIMATE PC, hence the unlimited funding statement. That computer will only be used for gaming. Having a separate computer that I just use a couple hours for editing and constantly browsing will not use up as much energy as my planned gaming computer.

I just want a starting recommendation that fits my budget range. Possibly two, one for the lower end and one for the higher end. And I'll decide what to substitute between the two.

Look man, This thread is getting very complicating.. because thats how your making it. Come back when your READY to purchase your parts. No matter if you buy it piece by piece or save it all up your going to complete the computer at the same time. Also, if you know all about building computers you give US a parts list of parts that YOU have compiled and we will give your OUR suggestions on better parts or a less expensive part that may perform better etc etc etc.

 

[-PK-]

Modern PC's consume power based on % GPU/CPU usage. When the system is idle or web browsing they do not consume much at all. Closer to 85 Watts with a single monitor or 65 Watts with the monitor turned off.

With a good power supply and motherboard, you can overclock the CPU's turbo boost (MHz) while not touching the idle (MHz). This means the system scales within a couple nano seconds based on real-time usage. You're computer can jump from 85 watts web browsing to 400 watts SLI/Crossfire gaming just fine. So it's much better to build one PC that can do everything you need. CPU intensive games will thank you for the extra overclock and you can turn off the extra monitors when you're not using them.