New Core i5 Build

[yowen]

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

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
around $600

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

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 attached a screenshot of all the parts I need

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Case, I learned from my last go around that if I want to use my Centurion I have to improve airflow, I am not afraid to cut into the case. What would you guys recommend for an air filter type deal for my additional fan(s)

6) Will you be overclocking?
I might dabble, but my current CPU choice may not allow? But let's just say my CPU choice isn't influenced by it.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Have a 23 inch 1080p LCD

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Within 2 weeks, but I can wait if you guys see anything significant on the horizon.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
I'd like it to be future proof as can be, what comes into play here? Currently my budget doesn't allow for much of a motherboard

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Have 64bit


I posted here a while ago but had to make an emergency family related trip, so it got put on hold, so here is my second attempt at getting a new desktop.

In my Q/A above here I had some questions, Figured I'd highlight some that I was wondering about in particular:
Should I filter air coming into my case (if I modify it).
Is there new products/price cuts on the horizon that would be worth waiting for.
Should I allow for more money for the motherboard and cut some cost on other hardware?


Picture of what I had in mind:

(-10 coupon code on harddrive not included in total)


Forgot to add, I dont live near a microcenter.

Thanks for your input guys!

 

[Dangman]

Do note that if you're using Newegg combo deals in that list, they may expire at the end of the month. So come back in a week and bump up this thread to make sure that you can use the September Newegg combo deals.

Also, ditch that crappy PSU. I recommend this higher quality PSU instead:
$70 - Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W PSU

Case, I learned from my last go around that if I want to use my Centurion I have to improve airflow, I am not afraid to cut into the case.

A few Centurion 5 mods that I think you should take a look at:
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032256035&postcount=106
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1510817
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1462066

Though there's still the issue of fitting: Your video card choice just barely fits inside that case. So freeing up space around the GPU should be a priority as wel. Also try to fit a 120mm fan in front.

Though you sure you want to go through all that work for such an old case? A new case is only $60 these days:
$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 ATX Case

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
I'd like it to be future proof as can be, what comes into play here? Currently my budget doesn't allow for much of a motherboard

Whether or not a motherboard will be "future-proof" is largely dependent on whether or not it has features, options, or even layout that you may need (not want but need) in the future. That may mean a second PCI-Ex16 slot for another video card or multiple PCI-E slots for multiple video cards and hardware RAID controllers or just having firewire, eSATA, and USB 3.0 for external drive use. So it's really dependent on what you might need in the future.

Should I filter air coming into my case (if I modify it).

IMO, no considering how little air that case already gets. A filter will just decrease that even further.

Is there new products/price cuts on the horizon that would be worth waiting for.

Depends on your definition of "horizon". Rumors are saying that new AMD CPUs and GPUs are due sometime this year. Other rumors have Intel releasing their new CPUs this year as well. Again, all rumors.

]
Should I allow for more money for the motherboard and cut some cost on other hardware?

Maybe depending on what exactly you want in a motherboard. Re-answer question 9 again without that ambiguity.

 

[yowen]

Thank you Danny,

Am I correct that Gaming pretty much trumps all my other uses for this computer, so thats probably what I should build it for.

Right now I'd like to game at 1920x1080 at high settings, is the gfx card I picked going to cut it? I imagine it would.

Is there any hint as to what sort of socket the new Intel stuff will have? I imagine it would require a new MOBO.

Good call on the end-of-month I will not be buying by the end of this month. So I may have to check whats going on next month.

You are right about the case, it may be more trouble than it's worth, but lets leave the case out of the budget either way.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

What version of Photoshop do you use, since the newer (CS4 and up I believe) make use of Nvidia's CUDA technology which means you'll benefit more using a Nvidia based card instead of an Ati card.

 

[Dangman]

Am I correct that Gaming pretty much trumps all my other uses for this computer, so thats probably what I should build it for.

Yes and no: Just how often do you use Photoshop? And what are you doing in Photoshop? Depending on your answers, you may need to swap video cards to a Nvidia card as Adobe software do take advantage of Nvidia's CUDA tech.

Right now I'd like to game at 1920x1080 at high settings, is the gfx card I picked going to cut it? I imagine it would.

It's ok for it. Just don't expect 60FPS at high settings and keep the AA level down a little

Is there any hint as to what sort of socket the new Intel stuff will have? I imagine it would require a new MOBO.

Well actually one of the two new Intel CPU brands/type is supposedly backwards compatible with current P67, H67, and Z68 mobos. The Ivy Bridge CPUs is basically just a faster SB CPU with faster onboard video. The other new Intel CPU, Sandy Bridge-E, will require a different socket altogether (socket LGA 2011). More info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_2011

 

[yowen]

Photoshop I don't do anything too crazy, dont even really know in what sort of functions CUDA would come into play. I do photo manipulation, photo editing, I make graphics/images for my websites and I do batch operations on large quantities of photo's.

As for the mobo, how is onboard audio these days? Don't really see myself needing USB 3. Would you guys see any obvious reasons that I might have missed that you wouldn't go for my current choice of mobo?