Maximum PC

So a few years ago I came here looking for help with a custom desktop. You guys worked with my price range and ended up helping me put together an awesome rig that is still working great. I am basically a newb with a little bit of skill; sorry if I sound like an idiot anywhere in this post.

Anyway, I'm living on my own and need a desktop (brothers kept the old build). If I could spend $1000 that would be cool but I'm willing to go higher if I can justify the extra price. Main use will be surfing the internet, Photoshop (image editing), and a few games (nothing crazy). I'm going to run two monitors (ASUS VW246H) but exclude them from the price. Also exclude the OS (windows 7), the mouse, speakers, and keyboard.


-Leaning towards a SSD for boot / Photoshop and a 1tb drive for storage.
-I just want one DVD drive with the build but may want to add a blu-ray drive later.
-How much extra for wireless capability?
-As for the case, I'd like something decent with a few fans. Probably around $150ish. USB and other ports on the front are a major plus. Extra room inside is fine but nothing super big or really cramped please. Side window is cool as well.



Thanks for the help!
-Jim

You actually supplies the list of parts for my last PC..

Anyway, I'm trying to research everything and figure out what sets components apart. That said, I'm thinking about going with a Z77 mobo and an Ivy Bridge processor. Good choice or are they inflated due to how new they are?

Processor questions.. Any major advantage between Intel vs AMD? I'm looking at Intel currently. Is hyper-threading support worth the extra 100$? From what I've seen, people say it provides a lot of improvement.

As for motherboards, it seems like the difference between 90 and 400 dollars is the number of PCI slots and other connections..

I'm looking at RAM next. 8 vs 16gb? 16 seems like overkill.. Plus I would need to pay for a mobo with 4 RAM slots. I'm probably going to just go with 8gb.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231402
Good product?





GPU - anything to look for here? Just going with a 2gb for 250$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814131464

Heres a starting point for you....I took Klein's suggestion of the May issue of Max PC and selected to beat the Sweet Spot PC of $1300. For $100 less i got you a better SSD, Ivy bridge mobo and CPU, and a full size nice looking case so you won't be cramped in the mid size.

I know its a little over your budget but you can modify as you see fit or where you see you can save on. Others might have better input.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.12 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($142.86 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.74 @ Amazon)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($139.95 @ Mac Connection)
Hard Drive: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($129.00 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 1.25GB Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Sony AD-7280S-0B DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1158.62
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-06-14 00:35 EDT-0400)

**Now big thing is the GPU. You can shave off the $249.99 and just live with the onboard HD4000 graphics which will do fine for the simple games, minor photoshop work, and up to 3 monitors playing dvds without issue. I'd suggest this as it will bring you under the $1000 budget and you can save your money for a few months to spend and get the Nvidia 560 suggested above or better when you have the spare cash. I am using the HD4000 on my I7 right now with no dedicated GPU and I'm happy. I don't play games so if your games are 3-4 years or newer you might need to spend for a GPU, especially if you can't live with out them for a few months for you to save up additional cash. Like i said i use the onboard video and watch movies without any slowdown or lag so YMMV.

Thanks for the list...it helped a lot! I have some questions about it though.. Also, my budget is not set in stone. I just don't want to spend 2k on a computer.. You suggested one of the motherboards I was looking at. Going to go with the ASRock Z77 Extreme4 here.


CPU:

With the way this build is looking, would it be worth it to get an i7 with hyper-threading support (whatever that is..)? I plan on keeping this computer until it goes up in smoke. It's only like, 100$ more.. [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007671%2050001157%20600095610%20600315409&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=343|19-116-504^19-116-504-TS%2C19-116-501^19-116-501-TS%2C19-116-502^19-116-502-TS%2C19-116-505^19-116-505-TS%2C19-116-506^19-116-506-TS]See here.[/url]


GPU:

I was comparing the GeForce GTX 560 Ti to the HD 7850 series. The Radeon is about the same price, is much newer, and seems to have better specs. Am I missing something? [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600286742&IsNodeId=1&srchInDesc=radeon%20hd&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=48|14-130-738^14-130-738-TS%2C14-150-549^14-150-549-TS%2C14-121-623^14-121-623-TS%2C14-161-405^14-161-405-TS]See here[/url]


1TB Hard Drive:

This one seems to be very similar but has better stats and is cheaper...correct?


Case:

This one is a little cheaper and I like it.


Thanks!

Your right about the HDD, glad you were paying attention we like to throw curve balls to see if people are paying attention and do their own research.......or it was just 1am and i was half asleep. Anyway, like I mentioned i just took the Max PC Sweet PC spot and modified a little to get you Ivy bridge. I'm glad it got you thinking what you really wanted and made some modifications.

The CPU i selected is perfect and will last you years. You don't plan on doing heavy processing but if you did you can always overclock it (the K series) so no worries. I honestly don't think the hyperthreading is necessary. What it basically does is create 4 virtual cores. While it does help i highly doubt your going to be doing anything intensive enough to make use of 8 cores. Getting the 3770k would be a waste IMO.

Cases are a personal thing so if thats what you like then get it. Seems like a decent brand and it has USB 3.0 so sounds good to me.

GPU sounds good, i'd probably go with Asus but thats just personal preference.

I'm looking at the PSU and the recommended one has a lot of bad reviews on Newegg. How does the OCZ ZT look? Also is 750w enough with the changes I've made to the parts and will it hold up if I add more RAM and another GPU?

[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=Property&N=100007657&IsNodeId=1&minPrice=50&maxPrice=150&PropertyCodeValue=1314%3A58433%2C1314%3A58434%2C1314%3A58461%2C1314%3A58435%2C1314%3A58423%2C1314%3A58424%2C1314%3A58426%2C1314%3A58428%2C1314%3A58429%2C1314%3A58430%2C1314%3A58460%2C1314%3A58432&bop=And&CompareItemList=58|17-139-030^17-139-030-TS%2C17-139-025^17-139-025-TS%2C17-139-010^17-139-010-TS%2C17-171-053^17-171-053-TS%2C17-341-052^17-341-052-TS]here[/url]


Mobo:

I decided to go with this mobo instead. It has WiFi and Bluetooth plus the dual LAN. Still compatible and all?


I'm sticking with the recommended CPU (Intel i5). The 3tb hard drive would be nice, but it only has a 1 year warranty which has me a little worried vs the WD with a 5yr. I can always use external drives for extra storage.

PSU - Sure. Again it was just a suggestion that Max PC had but it makes sense since any company would never send a bad product to a review site so Max got the good one. OCZ is fine. The 750 will be fine with SLI'ing the 7850 you selected.

Mobo - WHY?? Waste of money. Do you really see yourself using WLAN plus two NICS?? The bluetooth is even excessive as you can get by with a wireless keyboard as opposed to a bluetooth one (if thats what you were going to use it for? Your OK with wanting a better board but if dual NICs, wlan, and bluetooth all at once is your reasoning then your just throwing money out the window.

Hey, this is why I'm posting here...so people like you can let me know when I'm being stupid. Honestly, bluetooth was for my phone but I really do not need it. Same for the Wifi. I think it would be nice but I could do without. I'll do some more research and post up the results.