• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

New Build under $1700

S

stitchmanz

n00b
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
30
1: What will you be doing with this PC: Gaming (RPG – not online, action/ adventure), watching videos, lots of photo editing

2: What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included: $1,700 includes tax and shipping

3: Which country do you live in: WA, USA

4: What exact parts do you need for that budget: Case (front USB 3.0 ports), CPU, Motherboard, Memory, PSU, Video card, Cooler, Hard drive (1 SSD, 1 other), DVD Drive/burner

5: If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing: N/A

6: Will you be overclocking: possibly mild OC CPU and video card

7: What is the max resolution of your monitor: 24-inch, 1920x1080

8: When do you plan on building/buying the PC: now and the end of the weekend to take advantage of Black Friday sales

9: What features do you need in a motherboard: USB 3.0, not sure of any other features

10: Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license: Have Windows 7

As I live in WA state, I would prefer to buy at New Egg since I would have to pay sales tax (almost 10% !) at Amazon.

I have been trying to do some research on parts and for most things I have narrowed it down to the following 2-3 choices. I am open better suggestions. The important thing is that everything works well together and is stable.

===========================================
Motherboard:

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128544&Tpk=GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX

MSI Z77A-GD55 ATX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130644&Tpk=MSI Z77A-GD55 ATX

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293

I am leaning towards the ASRock especially since it is $105 at Newegg today only.

===========================================
CPU:

Intel Core i7-3770K or Intel Core i5-3570K (How big a difference does the i7 make for photoshop work?)

===========================================
power supply:

CORSAIR TX750 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Corsair HX750 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010&Tpk=Corsair HX750

CORSAIR TX850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139022&Tpk=CORSAIR TX850

CORSAIR HX850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011&Tpk=CORSAIR HX850

SeaSonic X750 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087&Tpk=SeaSonic X750

SeaSonic X850 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102&Tpk=SeaSonic X850

Do you recommend modular over non-modular? The power supplies I am considering are more than I currently need but I want it future-proof to last 5 years for video card upgrades.

===========================================
MEMORY (low profile memory)

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233197&Tpk=CML16GX3M4A1600C9

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233198&Tpk=CML16GX3M4A1600C9B

G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231558&Tpk=N82E16820231558

Any other brands with low-profile?

===========================================
cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO vs Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

===========================================
cases: I was thinking of one of the Corsair cases under $150.

The Corsair Obsidian Series 550D is on special today - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139012&Tpk=Corsair Obsidian Series 550D

Is that a good one or would one of the other Corsair's be a better choice? Any other good case/companies worth considering?

===========================================
Video card: I am leaning towards the 7950, possibly the Sapphire Vapor/Flex, Gigabyte Windforce, MSI Twin Frozr, but not sure which one is the best one to get.

===========================================
SSD (256 GB):

SAMSUNG 830 (currently out of stock at New Egg)

Is the Samsung 840/840 Pro worth considering? Or the Crucial M4

===========================================
hard drives: My main use for hard drive is data storage, so reliability is very important. I would prefer a minimum of 2TB.

===========================================
DVD Drive: Blue-ray not needed, any suggestions?

===========================================
Sound card: Do you recommend getting a dedicated sound card such as Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium.


Sorry for this being so long.

Thank you very much for your help.


Stitchmanz
 
Which version of Windows 7 do you have? Home Premium? Pro? Need to know this as this influences which RAM I recommend.

I'd recommend the MSI or Gigabyte mobos since they have reviewed well here at HardOCP. That AsRock hasn't.

CPU wise, depends on what you're doing exactly in photoshop. But it makes a large enough difference IMO to justify the cost if you can afford it and are sincerly doing heavy duty photoshop work

PSU wise, you do not need a 850W PSU at all. The general trend for PC hardware is lower power usage, not higher. Since you don't strike me as the kind of guy who's aiming for triple or quad SLI at a minimum, you do not need a 850W PSU at all. Hell your current planned setup would be fine with a 650W PSU. So even a 750W PSU is overkill and extremely "future proof". With all of that said, BUY THAT SEASONIC X-750 RIGHT NOW! That's a fantastic deal for a good quality PSU even if it's overkill. Buy it now! Buy it now!

The Evo cools better than the 212 Plus by 1 to 3C. Up to you if thats worth the extra cash.

The Corsair 550D is an excellent case.

GPU wise, I'd look for the Gigabyt or MSI.

SSD wise, the Samsung 840 is not worth looking at since it's slower than the Samsung 830. The Samsung 840 Pro is worth looking at if it's near the same price as either the Samsung 830 or Crucial M4 series SSDs. Otherwise, stick with the Samsung 830 or Crucial M4 series SSDs.

Storage wise, this Samsung has been my go-to storage recommendation for years:
$130 - Samsung Spinpoint F4 HD204UI 2TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Go for the cheapest DVD burner you can find.

Sound card wise, do you actually have good speakers where a sound card would be needed? And are you an audiophile?
 
Danny:

Thank you for your hep.

My version of Windows 7 is the Home Premium 64Bit.

What do you think about this Ares memory, it's 1866? Is there any advantage in getting 1866 vs 1600? Does the color of the memory mean anything, for example the same corsair 16GB has 3 different colors.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231560

My photoshop work will be just editing of photos, a lot of work with filters and plug-ins like Topaz.

Do you know anywhere besides NewEgg that has the Samsung 830 at a good price?

What do you think about this Seagate drive, it's $70 for Black Friday?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834

Our speakers are average, I'm not an audiophile but would like good sound for games.


Thank you

Stitchmanz
 
stitchmanz said:
My version of Windows 7 is the Home Premium 64Bit.

What do you think about this Ares memory, it's 1866? Is there any advantage in getting 1866 vs 1600? Does the color of the memory mean anything, for example the same corsair 16GB has 3 different colors.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231560
Click to expand...
Not a good choice. No you won't notice ANY difference between DDR3 1600 and DDR3 1866. So don't look at DDR3 1866 RAM at all unless it's significantly cheaper than DDR3 1600 RAM. Since you only have Windows 7 Home Premium, you really shouldn't be looking at 2 x8GB RAM sets since Windows 7 HP is limited to 16GB of RAM max. So aim for 4 x 4GB sticks of RAM instead. With that said, if you see a 2x8GB set that costs significantly less than a 4x4GB set, then go ahead and get that 2 x8GB set. Now between the Corsair RAM you linked earlier, the only difference is color. So it just comes down to whether you want black or blue colored RAM. Both Corsair RAM are good.

stitchmanz said:
Do you know anywhere besides NewEgg that has the Samsung 830 at a good price?
Click to expand...
Amazon.com, Tigerdirect.com
stitchmanz said:
What do you think about this Seagate drive, it's $70 for Black Friday?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834
Click to expand...
Doesn't seem too reliable considering the 3 stars.

stitchmanz said:
Our speakers are average, I'm not an audiophile but would like good sound for games.
Click to expand...
Try the onboard audio first and then see if you need a dedicated sound card.
 
Corsair HX850. Cable management is sooo much easier with modular.

Get 4x4gb ram... 2x8s are a waste of $$$ for your application.

Use the onboard sound... it will be fine for games and almost anything else.
 
Danny:

What recommendation do you have for the CPU:

We just ordered the Seasonic 750 PSU

I will go with on-board sound for now, I can always add the sound card if I think I need better sound.

I'll check out the 4x4 memory prices to see what the difference is.


Thank you

Stitchmanz
 
Something I have to chime in with; many years ago, I was told by the guys who ran the computer departments at work that good electrical supply was important to everything in the computer.
So for the last 20 years, I've always used an uninterruptable power supply between my computers and the line power. And, haven't had any problems with hardware. I don't know how important it is, but the UPS keeps a log of line voltage changes and there's always something in the logs about over voltage and undervoltage, so the device is doing it's job. Oh, and I have to change the batteries every 4 years or so. The electric current management and protection of the UPS is to me, worth the extra cost beyond just the benefit of being able to use the system even during a complete power failure. You can get very good UPS units refurbished for decent prices. A 400 watt (which will power most any computer which is not actively overclocked and running demanding apps) can be as cheap as $100. Specials during holiday sales are out there too. Protect your computer. Get a UPS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top