It's time to retire my old Westmere system as I've got a brand new Haswell 4770 sitting in front of me. It's been almost 3-4 years since I've looked into building a new system, so I've been reading a lot of build threads here and at SPCR.
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
This is my general day to day system. Primarily, this means the usual office stuff along with heavy usage of Lightroom and moderate use of PS. I occasionally deal with large panoramas, which is why I was leaning towards 16GB ram instead of 8GB.
I do game occasionally on this, and would like it to be strong enough to run games at at least medium settings. Recent games: Skyrim, DOTA 2, various inde games.
I am also targeting this to be a quiet system - i don't mind if I can hear the fans a little while gaming, but in normal usage, I want it to be quiet
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
I've got a budget of $1000, although I'd like to keep that lower (say around $800) and maybe pick up a new monitor or two down the road.
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
US
4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.
5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Intel
6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Processor - Core i7 4770 - 95W (not a typo) - 3.6 GHz
SSD - 240GB Intel SSD 520 series
HDD - 1TB WD Blue
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Probably keep at stock - as mentioned above, I value stability & !noise
8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
Currently, I run 1 24" monitor @ 1920x1200 and a 20" monitor @ 1680x1050
I would eventually like to replace these with newer monitors (dual). Unsure what resolution, min would be 1920x1200
9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.
Now(ish)
X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
No
Updated List:
CPU: i7 4770 (Owned)
Heatsink: Thermalright HR-02 ($53)
MB: Asus H87-PRO $120
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 1.35V ($115) or
G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR 1866 1.5v ($127-$12.70=$114)
GPU: MSI Geforce 760 2GB $260
Case: Unknown - Looking for a quiet case - I'm leaning towards Fractal Design R4 just because I see it mentioned a lot ($110)
PS: SeaSonic X650 $140-$21-$15=$104
SSD : 240GB Intel SSD 520 series (Owned)
HDD : 1TB WD Blue (Owned)
Monitors: Dell Ultrasharp 2405FPW 25" LCD @ 1920x1200 (owned)
Sceptre 20" WSXGA+ LCD @ 1680x1050 (Owned)
DVDDrive: Asus 24x DVD ($20)
Keyboard Mouse: Might just reuse my current wireless setup, open for wireless suggestions
Total: $504+ $278 = $782
Am I missing anything? Or is there perhaps other options I should look at?
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
This is my general day to day system. Primarily, this means the usual office stuff along with heavy usage of Lightroom and moderate use of PS. I occasionally deal with large panoramas, which is why I was leaning towards 16GB ram instead of 8GB.
I do game occasionally on this, and would like it to be strong enough to run games at at least medium settings. Recent games: Skyrim, DOTA 2, various inde games.
I am also targeting this to be a quiet system - i don't mind if I can hear the fans a little while gaming, but in normal usage, I want it to be quiet
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
I've got a budget of $1000, although I'd like to keep that lower (say around $800) and maybe pick up a new monitor or two down the road.
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
US
4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.
5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Intel
6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Processor - Core i7 4770 - 95W (not a typo) - 3.6 GHz
SSD - 240GB Intel SSD 520 series
HDD - 1TB WD Blue
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Probably keep at stock - as mentioned above, I value stability & !noise
8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
Currently, I run 1 24" monitor @ 1920x1200 and a 20" monitor @ 1680x1050
I would eventually like to replace these with newer monitors (dual). Unsure what resolution, min would be 1920x1200
9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.
Now(ish)
X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
No
Updated List:
CPU: i7 4770 (Owned)
Heatsink: Thermalright HR-02 ($53)
MB: Asus H87-PRO $120
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 1.35V ($115) or
G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR 1866 1.5v ($127-$12.70=$114)
GPU: MSI Geforce 760 2GB $260
Case: Unknown - Looking for a quiet case - I'm leaning towards Fractal Design R4 just because I see it mentioned a lot ($110)
PS: SeaSonic X650 $140-$21-$15=$104
SSD : 240GB Intel SSD 520 series (Owned)
HDD : 1TB WD Blue (Owned)
Monitors: Dell Ultrasharp 2405FPW 25" LCD @ 1920x1200 (owned)
Sceptre 20" WSXGA+ LCD @ 1680x1050 (Owned)
DVDDrive: Asus 24x DVD ($20)
Keyboard Mouse: Might just reuse my current wireless setup, open for wireless suggestions
Total: $504+ $278 = $782
Am I missing anything? Or is there perhaps other options I should look at?
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