New system for work

M

mschind0

n00b
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
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18
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing?
This PC is primarily for work, as I work from home. For work, under maximum usage conditions, I have Outlook open, 8-10 Word docs, 1-2 IEs open, about 10 tabs in chrome, 2 excel spreadsheets and possibly more applications. Several times I have clogged up my current PC to the point where I received memory error dialog boxes, Word shut down and I lost work. Outside of work, I plan on doing some web design: HTML/CSS etc., maybe some light Photoshop, hopefully at some point Flash, etc. I will (legitimately) be writing this computer off my taxes as a work expense.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I’d like to keep it under $2,000 not including monitors. This is flexible and I will spend more if a compelling case can be made.

3) Where do you live?
North Jersey. I see a lot of comments about Micro Centers and how they have good deals. So I looked it up and I live about 10 minutes from one and plan on getting at least my processor there.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Everything but the mouse. I have a Logitech MX518 that is great.

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 reusing anything but the mouse.

6) Will you be overclocking?
No.

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
I will be getting 2 24” monitors, not sure which ones.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP. I meant to do this over a month ago, and the prices of a few things went up in that time.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
I really don’t think so. As long as it works with all my parts, it’s fine.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yeah, this is taken care of.

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First, I want to thank in advance anyone who gives me any advice on this system. Also, before I list the parts, I want to mention a few details about this system so you’ll have a better idea of where I’m coming from and what I want.

This build was originally based on another build I found in these forums, but it’s from early September and I can’t seem to access it now, which is no matter. I made a few modifications to it as that one was for a professional Photoshop user, so I ditched 6GB of RAM, the SSDs, etc.

My friend helping me put it together is a pretty high-level IT professional, so I anticipate he’ll be able to handle any issues that come up when we assemble it.

Finally, my last computer had heating issues and ran loud. I want to be absolutely certain it has no heating problems and is fairly quiet, and am willing to get better parts than my system requires to ensure this. I’d thrown in a few dollars just to lower the system noise noticeably.

Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 - $140 Newegg
Processor: Intel core i7 920 - $200 Micro Center
Mobo: Asus P6T SE ATX - $210 Newegg
RAM: Corsair XMS3 6GB DDR3 1600 - $165 Newegg
Video Card: XFX 5850* - $290 Newegg
Sound Card: None (on board)
Power Supply: Corsair 750TX 750W - $110 Newegg
DVD Burner: LG Blu-ray Reader & 16X DVD Burner - $100 Newegg
Hard Drive: WD Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB (2X) - $220 Newegg
CPU Cooler - Cooler Master V8 - $63 Newegg
Coolant - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - $7 Newegg
Wireless Card - Zonet ZEW1642 - $22 Newegg I will be connecting to the Internet wirelessly.
Keyboard - ???? - Really could use suggestions on this. Just realized I had an oversized gaming keyboard on my spreadsheet.

That’s $1,591 so far without the keyboard, not including mail-in rebates. Below are some ancillary items, but if you have any suggestions on these they are also welcome.

Speakers - Altec Lansing VS2621 2.1 Speakers - $40 Amazon
Webcam - Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 - $87 Amazon
Headphones (home) - Sennheiser DJs HD202 - $27 Newegg
Headphones (gym) - Sennheiser PMX80 - $44 Amazon

*This was originally a GTX 260, but since I cut out 6GB of RAM and I heard this keeps things cool and quiet, and it’s a lot cheaper than the 5870 (I just learned about this card tonight), I think I’ll go with this.
P.S. Can someone explain to me how different manufacturers make the same card? For example, XFX, Sapphire, Diamond and ASUS all make Radeon 5850s. Does one company design it and then a bunch license that design and make cards? Is there any difference between the different brands? The ASUS 5850 is $30 cheaper than the XFX linked above. I haven’t bought a video card in ages but I don’t remember it being like that. I thought ATI and nVidia made all the cards…
 
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From your workload I'm not sure you actually need even a 5850 since there isn't really any 3d work there. While yes it is a more powerful video card there's not much it will do for your 2d desktop performance that a lesser card couldn't I would think. Since you are running only 2 monitors and not 3 there's no advantage there either (the 5850 I believe can run 3 monitors with the eyefinity, with two dvis and a displayport). It's true that it is quiet though and reasonably power efficient, just not sure it is worth the extra money for you but it's certainly not a bad card.

Even more ram can be of help in regards to having lotsa apps including some mem hungry ones like photoshop and flash, but 6 is probably ok for now unless you are doing those things as a pro and need to have everything else open.

You can consider the Seagate 7200.12 1TB or Samsung F3 1TB over the WD Black, as they utilize a 2x500gb design rather than a 3x333gb design. Generally the larger and fewer platters performs better for hard drives. If you don't have a brand preference consider those 2.

PS: In regards to your question about video card manufacturers, it's been like that for a while. I remember diamond and sapphire making cards for ati for a while although I think ati used to make some cards directly themselves. I'm not positive if nvidia ever did though. Generally nvidia/ati make a "reference design" now that most of the manufacturers follow when they make their own cards. In terms of differences, they have obviously different pricings potentially. Some have different warranties (EVGA lifetime is a notable one). They have different games/software thrown in. They can have different perks. One example is EVGA which has the "step up" program I believe still. If in the next few months after you purchase a card, you want to upgrade to another card, perhaps something that just came out, you can do so by sending in your old card and they will send you the new one. The good thing is they will take the value of the card as you bought it, not the value it is considering it is used and that if a new card came out the price of your current card probably went down. It's a nice perk/safety net. Some brands deviate from the reference design (this is usually in regards to the cooling) which can allow a card to be better overclocked, or run quieter than the basic reference design. These are just some of the possible differences. HOWEVER, in general most of the cards you see are essentially identical based off the initial reference design from ati/nvidia.
 
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antec 300 / EA650 $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.265998

4870 / P6T SE $355 (40mir)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.271921

12gb ram Gskill 1600 $270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231225

Blue ray $99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136174

2-1tb black $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

You really don't need that large of a video card. I set you up with a 1gb card for your tasks.
For the wireless, i pefer to use the same company that your router is: if its linklsys use linksys etc
 
Thank you Anchen and gwarren007. I incorporated your suggestions and have ordered my system.
 
Here is what I ordered:

Case/PSU: Antec 300 ATX/ Asus EA650 650W - $130 Newegg
Processor: Intel core i7 920 - $200 Micro Center
Mobo/Video Card: Asus P6T SE/ Asus EAH4870 - $355 Newegg
RAM: G.SKILL 6GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600 - $135 Newegg
Sound Card: None (on board)
DVD Burner: LG Blu-ray Reader & 16X DVD Burner - $100 Newegg
Hard Drive: WD Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB - $200 (1X for now) Microcenter
CPU Cooler - Cooler Master V8 - $63 Newegg
Coolant - Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - $7 Newegg
Wireless Card - Zonet ZEW1642 - $22 Newegg
Keyboard - Logitech G11 Gaming KeyboardX - $64 Newegg

Total: $1,275
(Total w/o keyboard, wireless card or second HDD: $1,090)

- The case/PSU I changed on warren's advice as the system I based mine on was a bit more advanced, with 2X the RAM, 2 SSDs, etc. I figure I could scale back to a more modest, mid-sized case and 650W PSU without it creating any size, power or heating issues.

- The CPU is $90 cheaper at Micro Center vs. Newegg. I'm really glad I found the thread on [H]ard Forum yesterday where someone mentioned it. Also, this alerted me to the Micro Center store near me, which came in handy as Newegg was out of the WD Caviar Black 1TB drive I wanted, and Micro Center had it, and for $10 cheaper (only 1 in stock though...lucky).
**If I get a second hard drive, should I put them in RAID 0 array?

- Mobo stays the same, but is now in a combo deal with a less powerful video card on warren's suggestion. Still, it will be by far the most cutting-edge card I've ever had as I've never had a high-end card before. When I read the reviews for it they said it was large, but the reviews for the 5850 indicated that one was even larger. If I find I want a Display Port card or need support for 3 monitors, I can upgrade then. This 4870 is just over half the cost of the 5850. Why spend for what I don't need?

- RAM is the same deal as the video card. I was just getting greedy for high-end parts I didn't need. I've known Corsair was top-line RAM forever, so I went for it, but I figure the GSkill will be plenty good and has the same speeds. I'm not a fan of the garish red color, though.

- I ended up getting the gaming keyboard. I don't use a keyboard tray, space isn't an issue and the reviews were so positive that people who bought the next version of it said this one was better. Plus I want to check out the backlight features and the macros etc. I've only ever used basic keyboards, and it's supposed to be quiet.

I kept everything else the same.
1) The OEM LG optical drive seems to be the standard and $30 cheaper than the retail.
2) The CPU cooler and coolant both got solid reviews and seem, well, cool.
3) I had already done research on the wireless card and this one had good reviews and, at least from what I saw, a lot of the Linksys cards had compatibility issues with Windows 7. I'm on Verizon FiOS, so there are no brand-name cards that match the router. I went with the cheapest, good card I could find.

All told, if you include the second HDD at $100 and the wireless card and the keyboard, the system came to $1,275 without taxes or shipping. If you took those out it would be under $1,100. I think that's a pretty good system i7 920 system for $1,100.

Now in keeping with my trend of not going overboard on this system, I only need to figure out the best 1920x1200 TN monitor to get 2 of. I was actually doing some reading in the Display forums in preparation for posting a thread there when I got the alert for tiraides' post. Someone over there posted that the new Dell U2410 is on sale now for "only" $530. Do I really want to spend $1,000 on my monitors? I should probably just get 2 Hanns G 24" for $200 apiece or even their 28" is only $310.

Either way, I'm going to be very happy. I currently work on and use a laptop with a 14" screen, 2GB of RAM and 1.8 GHz Core Duo processor. I have been running out of hard drive space for months now, deleting stuff as necessary. This system is a gigantic upgrade and will easily be the best system I've ever had, even accounting for technology improvements. I really should have bought this system months and months ago.
 
mschind0 said:
Either way, I'm going to be very happy. I currently work on and use a laptop with a 14" screen, 2GB of RAM and 1.8 GHz Core Duo processor. I have been running out of hard drive space for months now, deleting stuff as necessary. This system is a gigantic upgrade and will easily be the best system I've ever had, even accounting for technology improvements. I really should have bought this system months and months ago.
Click to expand...
I am right there with you. Actually, I am probably coming from below you. :p

HP DC7100
Just look at that beauty.

Pentium 4, 2.8 GHz
40GB Maxtor HD
512MB DDR

I'm on it right now, actually. This thing just crawls, and I'm pretty sure there's a power supply issue. Multi-tasking is totally out of the question. When I want to really stress my system, I open CorelDRAW and Firefox at the same time. That's my Prime95. Heh, sadly I got it for free from the "recycle" room at my old job a few years ago, and it was actually an improvement over the machine I had at home. :eek:

Congrats on your new build! May your tasks be multiple, and your baseclock multiplied.
 
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mschind0 said:
Now in keeping with my trend of not going overboard on this system, I only need to figure out the best 1920x1200 TN monitor to get 2 of. I was actually doing some reading in the Display forums in preparation for posting a thread there when I got the alert for tiraides' post. Someone over there posted that the new Dell U2410 is on sale now for "only" $530. Do I really want to spend $1,000 on my monitors? I should probably just get 2 Hanns G 24" for $200 apiece or even their 28" is only $310.
Click to expand...

As long as you're willing to accept the limitations of a TN panel monitor -- poor, 6-bit color reproduction, horrible viewing angles, potential backlighting issues -- the Hanns-G monitors would work fine for your needs. However, if you aren't planning on any gaming, and/or you need accurate color reproduction, you should look for a cheaper e-IPS or *VA panel monitor.
 
There seem to be quite a few LG, Acer, Samsung, and Asus 23.6" and 23" monitors on Newegg for around $200, if you are willing to give on the screen size. Also, the 24" Asus is only $219.
 
For the tasks you listed, you wouldn't really notice the difference between what you bought and an i5 + P55 + HD5750 (and those parts are still overkill) -- at least not enough, IMO, to warrant the price premium. However, while such a change would have saved you a nice chunk of cash, you had a very healthy budget to begin with; so the savings would have probably been negligible to you. What should matter, though, is that LGA1156 parts produce less heat at stock speeds, a lower end vidcard would produce less heat, and less platters in your drives would also produce less heat -- all of which lead to quieter computing (and lower power consumption). Though, my main suggestion would have been to go for a case more tailored to quiet computing, like the Antec Sonata series, or the Performance One series (Sonata 3/P183/etc). Since you have cash leftover, I'd highly suggest getting at least a single X25-M 80GB as your OS drive, and use the 1TB drives as storage for all your data.

No, don't run the drives in RAID0 unless you absolutely need the sequential I/O speed (typically needed when video editing/encoding or similar). To minimize downtime in case a HDD fails, you could run them in RAID1. Though, RAID is not a backup solution, so you should also have an external drive and/or burn to DVDs for regular backups.

Your computer is as fast as its slowest component. The main component holding your laptop back is the HDD. Toss an Intel X25-M 80GB in there and throw the current HDD into an external enclosure for extra storage -- that should speed up that laptop enough for you to take it with you when you need it on the go.

Since you work with a ton of windows, I'd suggest dual24" at the minimum. Personally, my ideal setup would be 20"portrait + 30"wide + 20"portrait, but that's just me. Monitors are rather subjective, so I'd suggest a place with a good return policy (ie. no re-stocking fee for returns) -- and I'd highly suggest checking them out in person if you can. Some people can't tell the difference between a TN and the IPS/MVA/PVA panels. However, one thing to note, if you plan on using the panel in portrait mode, double check that the horizontal viewing angles are as good as the vertical. ;)

Oh, and don't forget a good UPS, if you don't already have one! And remember, heat and power fluctuations are leading killers of HDDs.
 
Thanks for the input, everyone. I appreciate it.

Enginurd, I've read a lot of your posts and seen pics of your set-up; it's pretty sweet.

I know I could have gone for a cheaper system. I'm working on a 2+ year-old laptop so the entire purchase is already unnecessary, if I were to use necessary strictly. I wanted to get something that will last for a long time. Hopefully this will, and the better it is the longer it'll remain a decent system to use (I hope.)

I would definitely have gotten the Antec case that is designed to be quiet, even for a few more $. Maybe next time.

I really went back and forth for a while on the SSD, and now I've decided to get it for the OS/apps. The reviews are just too positive, and I heard it also helps a lot with installation time so that will be great for my friend who will have to watch some super-exciting installs. It's only $180 more than the 1 TB drive at Newegg. Unfortunately, it is sold out everywhere. I just came back from the Micro Center where I picked up my CPU and 1 TB drive and they were out of it despite the website saying they had 2 when I left to drive there. They seem to be out everywhere, including Amazon. Anyone know where I can pick up an X25-M 80GB? I can't build my system until I get one.

I am going to get an external drive for songs / backup, but that isn't necessary to build the system.

Actually, I sometimes hear the HD in the laptop making "hiccup" sounds, though I don't think it's a mechanical problem, only regular starting-up sound, it's loud and certainly doesn't sound good. So I may get one also for the laptop, but probably will wait until prices come down for that as once my new system is going I don't plan on using the laptop much.

I think my usage description was accidentally misleading. I have all those Word docs open on a regular basis, but I'm not actually working in all them simultaneously. I just have them open and alt-tab back and forth to cut-and-paste and do a quick view of the front pages. So it's more an issue of resources than screen space, as I don't really need to see them all at the same time.

But I am still not sure on the monitors. At the Micro Center I spent some time looking at displays, and 24" just felt small. I don't know why, as the largest screen I've ever used on a regular basis was a 20" widescreen and my friend's 24" has always seemed huge, but today it just wasn't. So I'm looking at 2 27" or something like your suggested setup with the smaller monitor(s) turned portrait. Maybe I'll just get a 30" and use the 20" wide on the side, but 30" are a lot more expensive than 27". Also, I've decided I really like the glossy screens a lot more than matte, which is all I've ever used. Side-by-side, it was one of those "I am never using a matte monitor again if I have my say" moments. I loved the HP glossy and everything else looked horrible compared to it. And you can see yourself in them like a mirror when they're off, which is a huge bonus. :D So that will limit my options. I'm going to start a thread on displays to try to figure out what to get.

Good tip on the UPS. I'll get that soon. I still need a few incidentals.

One other question - could you point me to a thread, maybe a sticky, on computer maintenance? In the past I haven't been very good about it (er, haven't done it at all), but it hasn't been a problem, fortunately. However, with the new one I want to perform proper maintenance and not just defrag the HD once in a blue moon when I happen to think about it (speaking of which...). Is there something on in these forums with a list of things you should do to keep your system running well, possibly with links to the software you need to use?
 
I would highly recommend Asus LCD's. They aren't super high end IPS panels or anything but I compared them first hand to Samsung, LG, Viewsonic, Benq, some Dells and to me they had the best colors. Also keep in mind that a 24" LCD looks small in a store but when you get them home and put them on a desk they're huge. I bought 2 X Asus 23" lcd's after passing on the 24" model and I'm happy I did. I built myself a 6 foot desk and I have just enough room to put my front speakers and 2 LCD's on it before running out of space.
 
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