Let me say currently, I'm still rocking in the Intel Q era, and haven't built a PC in 3 years since.
Most things that will be recycled from my current build to my new build will be: Hard drives, my SSD, my sound card (XFi Titanium), my current case (Lian Li V2000B, I love it), and all its fans/fan controller.
EDIT: Lessened standards for mobo + PCpart list in later posts, build almost/fully complete. 12/29/13
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming at max settings. Video editing. Video streaming. Possible Adobe RAW editing when I get more goodies for my DSLR.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget can go as high as $1800 incl tax+shipping.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible
North of Denver, CO. The Microcenter in South Denver is 1 hr away from where I live. I also have Amazon Prime..
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.
CPU, Mobo, Memory, GPU, and PSU.
Advice needed on Motherboard, Memory, PSU for now. Maybe aftermarket fans too, since I don't see silent Scythe fans from the 2009 era being sold anymore.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Basically like I said above, a PCIe X-Fi titanium sound card, a second gen MLC SSD from Intel, and random assorted WD HDDs for storage.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Hopefully, yes, I want to finally take the plunge and overclock. I've been too scared before.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Currently 1920x1200. Maybe double the width, aka 2x 1920x1200 if I can find another great IPS panel 16:10 monitor, but I'll be consulting the Monitor subforum for this.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP!
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.
DEFINITELY NEEDED IN THE MOTHERBOARD:
> 6+ SATA (for HDD connections), preferably all on the same chipset
> 1 or 2 eSATA OR not included and use an eSATA PCIe
> Reliable
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7.1 64bit Pro, student license
I already have a few things in mind, but need help on the others:
1) I really want the nVIDIA GTX 780 Ti. Most likely getting EVGA as I've never used or trusted other brands and their RMA programs. I'm really a wuss who loves his comfort zone.
2) I'd prefer the i7 4770K, I'd like to hit those 4.3+ GHz overclocks I see.
3) I'll be using a Corsair H75 all in one liquid cooler. I have an old H50 but it's going on 4 years, I don't want the pump to die and fry my new mobo/CPU.
4) I really need those SATA/eSATA ports, and due to that, I can only find 3 motherboards that meet my criteria:
..a) MSI Z87M GAMING LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
..b) EVGA Z87 FTW (141-HW-E877-KR) LGA 1150 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
..c) ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87 LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
I'm leaning again towards EVGA due to familiarity/comfort zone, MSI doesn't look half bad even if its a micro ATX, because I only need 2 PCI-e for sound card + GPU (I don't like SLI/Crossfire, I experienced too much microstutter back in the day and issues), and ASUS while looks good and gets decent reviews, makes me scared of its TUF protection thing that could be a dust magnet/screw eater when building, as well as my experience with ASUS in my old job where I found ASUS mobos failing left and right from the Pentium and Core 2 eras.
I'm clueless about what brands are good for Memory, Power Supplies (since I heard a lot of companies now got bought out or use shoddier factories to subcontract), and what motherboard I listed above or haven't found that will meet my needs and also play nice with all other components.
Most things that will be recycled from my current build to my new build will be: Hard drives, my SSD, my sound card (XFi Titanium), my current case (Lian Li V2000B, I love it), and all its fans/fan controller.
EDIT: Lessened standards for mobo + PCpart list in later posts, build almost/fully complete. 12/29/13
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming at max settings. Video editing. Video streaming. Possible Adobe RAW editing when I get more goodies for my DSLR.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget can go as high as $1800 incl tax+shipping.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible
North of Denver, CO. The Microcenter in South Denver is 1 hr away from where I live. I also have Amazon Prime..
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.
CPU, Mobo, Memory, GPU, and PSU.
Advice needed on Motherboard, Memory, PSU for now. Maybe aftermarket fans too, since I don't see silent Scythe fans from the 2009 era being sold anymore.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Basically like I said above, a PCIe X-Fi titanium sound card, a second gen MLC SSD from Intel, and random assorted WD HDDs for storage.
6) Will you be overclocking?
Hopefully, yes, I want to finally take the plunge and overclock. I've been too scared before.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Currently 1920x1200. Maybe double the width, aka 2x 1920x1200 if I can find another great IPS panel 16:10 monitor, but I'll be consulting the Monitor subforum for this.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP!
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.
DEFINITELY NEEDED IN THE MOTHERBOARD:
> 6+ SATA (for HDD connections), preferably all on the same chipset
> 1 or 2 eSATA OR not included and use an eSATA PCIe
> Reliable
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7.1 64bit Pro, student license
I already have a few things in mind, but need help on the others:
1) I really want the nVIDIA GTX 780 Ti. Most likely getting EVGA as I've never used or trusted other brands and their RMA programs. I'm really a wuss who loves his comfort zone.
2) I'd prefer the i7 4770K, I'd like to hit those 4.3+ GHz overclocks I see.
3) I'll be using a Corsair H75 all in one liquid cooler. I have an old H50 but it's going on 4 years, I don't want the pump to die and fry my new mobo/CPU.
4) I really need those SATA/eSATA ports, and due to that, I can only find 3 motherboards that meet my criteria:
..a) MSI Z87M GAMING LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
..b) EVGA Z87 FTW (141-HW-E877-KR) LGA 1150 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
..c) ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87 LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
I'm leaning again towards EVGA due to familiarity/comfort zone, MSI doesn't look half bad even if its a micro ATX, because I only need 2 PCI-e for sound card + GPU (I don't like SLI/Crossfire, I experienced too much microstutter back in the day and issues), and ASUS while looks good and gets decent reviews, makes me scared of its TUF protection thing that could be a dust magnet/screw eater when building, as well as my experience with ASUS in my old job where I found ASUS mobos failing left and right from the Pentium and Core 2 eras.
I'm clueless about what brands are good for Memory, Power Supplies (since I heard a lot of companies now got bought out or use shoddier factories to subcontract), and what motherboard I listed above or haven't found that will meet my needs and also play nice with all other components.
Last edited: