Programmer PC with light gaming

[kossel]

Hi

I'm planing to upgrade my old PC, here are my needs:

I'm a developer, I will use my PC running mainly those heavy IDE (eclipse, Intellij IDE, debugger etc). I would like my (java) software compiles at good speed. I don't do render nor video edit stuff. sometime I enjoy playing not graphic demanding games like dota2, SCII and League of legends. I would like to play those games at max (all on, 1080, highest details with atleast 60fps stable, My old gtx460 almost handled that)

budget: no more than 600 usd (including tax).
country: USA (must be at amazon.com )
I only dislike WD harddrives
I will reuse my current chasis and SSD, so the budget is for the rest of parts
I dont need OC or other fancy stuff like water cooling, leds etc.
I would like to save some money on my electric bill...
I use dual 24'' 1080 display
I'm going to buy in June/July

thanks for your suggestions!

 

[Ken g6]

budget: no more than 600 usd (including tax).
country: USA (must be at amazon.com )

Got some Amazon gift cards? Can you tell us your sales tax rate from Amazon? Or at least what state you're in?

I'm going to buy in June/July

I don't suppose you can wait until Intel's next CPU architecture, Skylake, comes out in August?

 

[kossel]

Got some Amazon gift cards? Can you tell us your sales tax rate from Amazon? Or at least what state you're in?



I don't suppose you can wait until Intel's next CPU architecture, Skylake, comes out in August?

I'm not from US, but I'm going to there for a short English course in Texas, newegg doesn't accept non US credit cards

I wish I could wait for skylake, but there still no price details. I think in mid-low range PC there won't be much difference between haswell and skylake

 

[Ken g6]

So, taxes mean your budget before taxes (in Texas) is ~$560.

Do you need Windows in that budget? And where in Texas will you be? Will you be near the Houston or Dallas Micro Centers?

Edit: Also, I just realized you didn't say if your current case is ATX or Micro-ATX.

 

[Ken g6]

Given that you really have to use Amazon, and need Windows, but can use an ATX mobo, this is what I came up with, assuming 6.25% sales tax:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($126.41 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.05 @ Amazon)
Memory: *Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($56.52 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.50 @ Amazon)
Video Card: *Zotac GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($138.11 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: *Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($52.05 @ Amazon)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($109.41 @ Amazon)
Total: $598.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-07 15:17 EDT-0400

I couldn't even fit an i5 in there.

Are you sure Amazon is the only place you can order from? NCIX is basically Canadian, so they might take your foreign credit cards.

 

[Cerb]

The above stuff, and also, what is your current SSD, and case? If you can move your case, is there a reason you can't move over your PSU? Microcenter proximity could mean much better performance, or lower cost, depending on their deals of the week (a motherboard discount when buying certain Intel CPUs).

 

[inachu]

Hmmm this made me think... what if everyone here gifted everyone else for a new pc. sounds like a pyramid scheme but I think it could work out if enough people here did it.

 

[riahc3]

Hmmm this made me think... what if everyone here gifted everyone else for a new pc. sounds like a pyramid scheme but I think it could work out if enough people here did it.

Would never work

 

[riahc3]

Given that you really have to use Amazon, and need Windows, but can use an ATX mobo, this is what I came up with, assuming 6.25% sales tax:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel Core i3-4150 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($126.41 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B85 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($69.05 @ Amazon)
Memory: *Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($56.52 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Seagate Barracuda ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.50 @ Amazon)
Video Card: *Zotac GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($138.11 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: *Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($52.05 @ Amazon)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($109.41 @ Amazon)
Total: $598.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-07 15:17 EDT-0400

I couldn't even fit an i5 in there.

Are you sure Amazon is the only place you can order from? NCIX is basically Canadian, so they might take your foreign credit cards.

Even though you only program, I highly suggest you go for a low level entry i5. It will last you more years than a i3.
Always pair up your RAM. Don't ever get 1 stick. Double it up at least. Hell if in your budget 4 x 2GB (in normal scenario, you would do 2 x 4GB)
Honestly, disliking a HDD company is stupid. You need to grow up like I did. I was a Seagate fan all my life and I bought my company WD and they work awesome. Drives fail. Deal with it.
Honestly, I don't think you are gonna get much of a jump in your video card. I wouldn't buy right now a video card; See how the system does with the one you have and then upgrade if necessary.
PSU looks decent.
Being a programmer I would NEVER get a Windows 8.1. Always get Windows 8.1 Pro. This way you can have all the functions possible and test again Hyper-V VMs which is included in the Pro licences. http://www.kingoflaptops.com/Accessories/Windows-8-Professional-64-Bit-System-Builder-OEM Here is is for 20 bucks more. Its worth it.

 

[mfenn]

Even though you only program, I highly suggest you go for a low level entry i5. It will last you more years than a i3.
Always pair up your RAM. Don't ever get 1 stick. Double it up at least. Hell if in your budget 4 x 2GB (in normal scenario, you would do 2 x 4GB)

Can you suggest a configuration that gets the OP an i5 within his budget?

Going to 4x2GB doesn't make sense, using 4 DIMMs does not increase performance on LGA 1150 platforms (in fact it slightly lowers it due to looser command rate). Plus it maxes out the available slots. Dual-channel operation (2x4GB) is preferred if it can be fit into the budget.

 

[Cerb]

Here's another option:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9691362&CatId=2313

There will be others like this around, coming and going. Optiplexes like that, and non-Edge Thinkcentres tend to be good values. Upgrade the RAM, add a GTX 750 Ti or similar R7/9 (260-270X), and off you go. Not quite as fast a new one, but it would get you a nice quad for a reasonable price, and is a fairly upgradable system, as far as storage and peripherals go. Just resize the C: partition, close to your SSD, and reboot, to not have to deal with the HDD, nor have to do a scratch Windows install.

 

[kossel]

Hi all, thanks a lot for all your kindly suggestions.

Sorry I forgot to mention I can reuse my current Win7 Pro license, ( I bought it with student discount long time ago). my current SSD are samsung evo 840 250gb and a OCZ vertex 460 480gb. my current CASE is a standard size case, just like the optiplex 790, not small form factor nor gaming case.

thanks

 

[riahc3]

Can you suggest a configuration that gets the OP an i5 within his budget?

Going to 4x2GB doesn't make sense, using 4 DIMMs does not increase performance on LGA 1150 platforms (in fact it slightly lowers it due to looser command rate). Plus it maxes out the available slots. Dual-channel operation (2x4GB) is preferred if it can be fit into the budget.

You have 2 dual channels vs 1 dual channel. Im sure there are boards ready for this.

I also mentioned that 2 x4GB is recommended.

There is a i5-4570TE... http://ark.intel.com/compare/75468,77486 Not worth it but still Id save a bit more money and try to go with at least a i5.

 

[riahc3]

Hi all, thanks a lot for all your kindly suggestions.

Sorry I forgot to mention I can reuse my current Win7 Pro license, ( I bought it with student discount long time ago). my current SSD are samsung evo 840 250gb and a OCZ vertex 460 480gb. my current CASE is a standard size case, just like the optiplex 790, not small form factor nor gaming case.

thanks

Great, you have $100 to spend on getting a slightly better processor that will last you more than you Windows license (as you get a free upgrade to Windows 10)...

 

[Cerb]

You have 2 dual channels vs 1 dual channel. Im sure there are boards ready for this.

No, it's just dual channel, not 1 or 2 dual channels.

 

[DaveSimmons]

1 x 8 GB RAM is fine since there is a discrete graphics card. Sure, 2 x 4 GB would be a little faster but not enough to worry about.

Spending the extra $100 to move up to an i5 should be the first change.

 

[mfenn]

No, it's just dual channel, not 1 or 2 dual channels.

:thumbsup: correct. Adding multiple DIMMs to a channel only increases memory capacity, it does not increase throughput.