Need help with my PC!

[Lowen]

Hello everyone! My PC is nearly 4 years old now and I'm looking for advice for my next PC. A friend of mine recommended me this site because he said you people know what you're talking about.So first of all I have to say that I'm a big noob when it comes down to hardware, and thats why I'm seeking your help (I don't know how too overclock, build my own PC etc.. you get the idea).


1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Most of the time I will use my PC for gaming and webbrowsing. Word/Excell/Photoshop from time to time as well. I play starcraft 2 at a relatively high level (159 grand master), so a good fps value is really important. Right now I can't play it at ultra settings, but I wish to do so witht this next PC. I also want to play Skyrim/BF3 on ultra if possible.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

My budget is about 3000 swiss francs, which right now are about 3244 US Dollars.

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

Switzerland

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 want to buy a completely new PC, and therefore need everything new. I dont think that anyone could still need my old parts. I have checked different offers on the internet and I like this one: http://www.digitec.ch/ProdukteVergleichen1.aspx?artikel=227960,221142,227941 (the first one, digitec Zenon Z5000).

6) Will you be overclocking?

No, I don't know how it's done

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

I'm planing on buying the Dell UltraSharp U2711 69cm (27”), 2560x1440.

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

I'm planing on buying it at the end of february, 2012. I read that in January some new graphic cards will be out, so I still don't know if I should wait for this new graphic card gen, or go with the PC mentioned above.


So what do you think of this offer I found? Is 2811 Dollars too much for it? Right now I'm asking myself if that PC is enough for my needs and this resolution. I read the two articles about Skyrims and BF3's performance in the Video Cards section, but I'm not sure if a 590 GTX could reach the same fps values as the SLI 580 does.

Another thing which I was asking myself a lot: Is micro stuttering a big issue with my needs? In wikipedia it sais "Beyond dual-GPU setups, CrossFireX/SLI setups do not seem to be affected by micro-stuttering" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_stuttering). Does that mean that an SLI gtx 580 does not suffer from micro stuttering, while the 590 does?

 

[Elf_Boy]

What it comes down to is making a laundry list of ingredients to shop for then assemble.

If you can handle the intricacies of using a screw driver you should be able to put a system together yourself.

In short, and if I forget something I am sure someone will let me know, you will need the following:

Case
CPU (Decide AMD or Intel up front later decisions will be based on this)
(For what you are doing both have their good points)

Graphics Card (Decide AMD/ATI or nVidia. I am Partial to nVidia Both work)

Motherboard (based on CPU)

How much ram (DDR2 or DDR3 Dual or Triple channel based on CPU/Motherboard)

Optical Drive (DVD, Blue-ray, read only or able to burn etc)

Mass Storage (SSD and/or Hard Drives How much and How fast do you need it?)

Sound (Use built in or get sound card for better quality)

Network (Ethernet is typically built into motherboards, WiFi is not)

Powersupply (Watts based on above choices)


Operating System (Windows, Linux, etc)


And of course peripherals. Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, USB Hub, Etc

 

[susancts]

That's nicely laid out. It would be really helpful for any one coming across this thread if you could actually add the specific components with respective approximate prices that could be assembled to build a good system under 50K.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Well if you plan to buy the parts at the end of February, then come back to this thread around that time and bump it up again. Since a LOT can change in a short time (Such as hard drive prices doubling in less than a week) it's really important that we put together a build for you mere days before you make a purchase.

With that being said, your budget is plenty big to build a damn good system that will, most likely be over kill. Most of our "high" end builds consist of ~$1500 budgets, but you'll most likely need two video cards to power a display of that size, so the extra money can easily be put towards a second GPU and some SSDs.

Will your budget include the price of that display or is that separate?

 

[Elf_Boy]

Ah yes, that is a very spiffy display.

I just took a look and a stock GTX 580 with 1.5 GB of vRam can display up to 2560*1600. Just barely enough.

I would guess, though I have not looked, that any comparable card by AMD or Nvida with at least 1.5 gb ram would be able to handle the resolution.

All things considered, and depending on the specifics of the photoshop needs a SLI/xFire system might be advisable. I say this because I recall reading some photoshop filters are cuda accelerated and that might make things much smoother for large files.

As for pricing and specifics I agree prices are very volatile. Within a US $3k budget there could be room for doing things a vast number of ways. As for a $50k system, well it would all depend a great deal on what you want said system to accomplish. That budget would open many many doors. Using a ram drive for example as the boot drive or for the page file could be overly expensive and not accomplish much or provide an incredible speed boost depending on the programs and functions required.

 

[Dangman]

Hello everyone! My PC is nearly 4 years old now and I'm looking for advice for my next PC. A friend of mine recommended me this site because he said you people know what you're talking about.So first of all I have to say that I'm a big noob when it comes down to hardware, and thats why I'm seeking your help (I don't know how too overclock, build my own PC etc.. you get the idea).

Welcome to the forums! Hope you learn something while you're here!

I highly recommend that you go through our FAQ for this subforum as it is full of useful links on how to build and/or buy a PC:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1352293

I want to buy a completely new PC, and therefore need everything new. I dont think that anyone could still need my old parts. I have checked different offers on the internet and I like this one: http://www.digitec.ch/ProdukteVergleichen1.aspx?artikel=227960,221142,227941 (the first one, digitec Zenon Z5000).

So what do you think of this offer I found? Is 2811 Dollars too much for it? Right now I'm asking myself if that PC is enough for my needs and this resolution. I read the two articles about Skyrims and BF3's performance in the Video Cards section, but I'm not sure if a 590 GTX could reach the same fps values as the SLI 580 does.

The key problem with all three builds is that they have the Core i7 2600K/2700K CPus. Right now, there is little to no real world gaming performance difference between the Core i7 2600K/2700K and the Core i5 2500K. As such, it's a bit of a waste of money to get the Core i7 2600K/2700K unless you just want to spend money for no reason. So if you were buying this month, I'd recommend the 2500K over the 2600K.

If you were buying this month, I would have recommended a GTX 580 SLI setup as GTX 580 SLI will offer better performance than a single GTX 590. The Motherboard Editor here at HardOCP backs that up:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038119604&postcount=84

As for the builder themselves, I'm not familiar with "digitec". I hesitate to recommend them as a result. That and because they list "digitec 850 Watt" for their PSUs. That doesn't tell me anything about the quality of their PSUs. At least with Alienware, I know they generally use decent PSUs.

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

I'm planing on buying it at the end of february, 2012. I read that in January some new graphic cards will be out, so I still don't know if I should wait for this new graphic card gen, or go with the PC mentioned above.

I recommend that you come back in February and ask for advice then. It is too early to start planning a build as it can and will be quickly outdated or overpriced in time. Our hardware recommendations tend to change from month to month. So three months from now, our recommendations may change

In addition, there are rumors that AMD's new GPus are due out around that time. In addition, new Intel CPUs might be hitting the market around that time as well. So the setup you're planning on buying now, even after you've found one that matches what I said above, may still not be a good buy when February hits.

So please come back in February and ask for advice then. You'll get more up-to-date advice that way.

Another thing which I was asking myself a lot: Is micro stuttering a big issue with my needs? In wikipedia it sais "Beyond dual-GPU setups, CrossFireX/SLI setups do not seem to be affected by micro-stuttering" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro_stuttering). Does that mean that an SLI gtx 580 does not suffer from micro stuttering, while the 590 does?

It's not as big of an issue in general. However, as noted above, the GTX 590 isn't a good buy to begin with.

 

[Lowen]

Thank you very much for all the answers! Digitec is a rather new company here in switzerland, but they built up a good reputation for having a good customer support and offering a more or less fair price.

Like some said, I will bump this thread in february and ask then again for advice.