Where to go for up to date build suggestions?

[Trajan]

I'm starting to plan an overhaul of my now 6 year old system. I noticed AnandTech hasn't recently done a recommended system build article, and while the sticky thread in this forum was a great starting point, I'm aiming to go a little higher end.

Any websites or guides that people here would recommend as legit and up to date? I've found plenty on google of course but I'm not sure which to trust and I haven't been following hardware in quite awhile.

Any specific advice is also very welcome of course and I'd be grateful, but I figure I'm being less of a pain if I read up on stuff myself, should anyone have recommendations!

UPDATE: Sorry I missed The Questionnaire! This is a terrific idea and - again - very grateful for the advice of experts!

PLEASE when you POST threads asking for input on system builds tell us...

1. PURPOSE: Primarily gaming, but also office use, some photoshop. I have a (bad) habit of keeping many apps and browsers open at once, which I know is filling up RAM.

2. BUDGET: between $1,000 and $1,500; hoping to stay on the lower end but have flexibility if there's a good argument

3. & 4. Buying parts in the USA

5. BRANDS: All of my prior builds have been Intel and NVIDIA, but I'm not religious about it.

6. EXISTING PARTS: I have an optical drive, an 850W Corsair high-end (caveat: about 5 years old; I hear PSUs have a lifespan?), two 250 GB Samsung SSDs (in RAID), a few back-up drives, case fans, and a monster sized case (ATCS 840)

Or put differently, I'm looking to get a video card, cpu, mobo, *maybe* a PSU if there's reason to be worried.

I also have these headphones (32 ohms resistance) which are certainly not audiophile but it was impressed on me when I bought them 6 years ago that they'd sound crappy without an amplifier and so I duly bought a sound card with an amp and perhaps that was stupid..? It does make me nervous about a getting a mobo that will support them, and I'd love to ditch the sound card since its redundant with what my mobo wants to do.

7. OVERCLOCKING: I am likely not going to overclock. I do want a fast system, of course, so I'm willing to spend on a faster cpu or and good chipset, but don't want to spend extra solely for higher overclocking headroom or options. One particular consideration is that I tend to upgrade my GPU every 2-3 years, but I have gone 6 years now on the same cpu and would love to repeat that, so am willing to pay for a little more future proofing.

8. RESOLUTION: 2560x1600 (60 Hz)

9. TIMING: Soon!! Although if there's a concensus that waiting 1-3 months will result in massive generational advancements.. OK. Or I could stagger the video card and the cpu/mobo build.


At first look I'm thinking:

* GTX 970 (but not averse to the 290X instead)
* i7-4790 (overkill since I won't overclock, or good future proofing?)
* No pref on the mobo but want a large RAM package and also worried about headphones
* High end RAM (I multitask a lot)

 

[mfenn]

We can give you a personalized recommendation that's specific to your situation and much more up to date than any canned guide. Just update your post with the answers to the questionnaire (you have most of them already), and we can get started.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Just to let you know, pretty much any motherboard will support fairly advanced headphone amps and DACs, since most of the time you're just going to be using USB out. This is coming from someone with a Q701 and HE400. More specific advice (which this forum loves to give, don't worry) will have to wait until you answer the questionnaire mfenn linked to.

 

[Trajan]

Thank you both and I'm sorry I missed the questionnaire! AnandTech has always been my go-to place for advice since I did my first build 10 years ago but I feel greedy/selfish asking for too much advice, at least until I've read up enough to have something meaningful to contribute back. I really appreciate how generous this community is.

 

[Ken g6]

High res monitor + powerful PSU = I'd go with the 290X. Unless you're willing to wait to see what the R9 390 looks like.

If you're not overclocking the 4790K makes sense - the only Intel CPU with stock clocks over 4GHz. If you want to save money, consider an H97 mobo.

Probably at least 16GB RAM. Higher speed does help PhotoShop, but don't pay too much for it.

Do the two SSDs have to be in RAID? (And what RAID are they in?) PS likes having a separate swap drive from the OS and programs drive.

 

[Syran]

Where in Colorado are you? If near Denver, then you have a Microcenter to access.
w/o a Microcenter, let me propose this build, minus video card (if you wanted to wait and see what the 390 looks like) for $796.45 (there is a $26.98 combo discount @ Newegg for the Motherboard, Ram, & CPU combo which pcpartpicker isn't reflecting, you can find it by clickong on the motherboard). It also includes a Corsair PSU that is just over $42 off until 2/12/15. The motherboard has a built in amp, which is supposed to be able to sense the headphones and adjust it accordingly (Never used it, so don't know how well that works).

A Microcenter will drop the price down to $746.55 + tax.

 

[Trajan]

Thanks Ken, thanks Syran. I've got the SSDs in RAID 0; I started off with a single drive and wanted more capacity, and it seemed like a good solution. I'm not sure I'm getting a noticeable speed benefit from the RAID but its been working out well practically.

Syran, I live in Boston actually, but we do have a Microcenter not that far from me - and thank you very much for the suggestions!

* Do you guys think I need a new PSU? My current PSU is 850W and working well, but is ~5 years old. I've heard they have a lifespan. Should I preemptively replace or wait until there are problems?

* I'm well persuaded on 4790K. Syran is suggesting the Asus Maximus VII Hero, and I really appreciate that (given the built in amp - nice!). Is this generally a good mobo for someone who wants high performance but isn't likely to overclock?

* If not overclocking, any need/benefit to having a non-stock cooler?

* Probably getting over my head here for no reason, but with 4 memory slots, is there any meaningful difference between doing 2x8 vs. 4x4 if the goal is 16 GB and not likely to ever need more?

 

[Ken g6]

* Do you guys think I need a new PSU? My current PSU is 850W and working well, but is ~5 years old. I've heard they have a lifespan. Should I preemptively replace or wait until there are problems?

You wouldn't want the old PSU to take out your expensive new system when it dies. And new PSUs better handle certain Haswell sleep states.

* I'm well persuaded on 4790K. Syran is suggesting the Asus Maximus VII Hero, and I really appreciate that (given the built in amp - nice!). Is this generally a good mobo for someone who wants high performance but isn't likely to overclock?

I'm not sure - seems expensive to me. In theory you could go with H97 if not overclocking, but other features might be missing. And you'd miss out on any Micro Center bundle discount. I picked a cheaper board, but I'm no audiophile.

* If not overclocking, any need/benefit to having a non-stock cooler?

It'll be quieter, and 4790K's do tend to get hot. It's not necessary, but it's nice.

* Probably getting over my head here for no reason, but with 4 memory slots, is there any meaningful difference between doing 2x8 vs. 4x4 if the goal is 16 GB and not likely to ever need more?

No. But 32GB isn't a bad goal for Photoshop either.

Here's what I put together:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($279.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: *Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: *MSI Radeon R9 290X 4GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $893.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-10 12:11 EST-0500

I dropped the CAS latency on your RAM; it's not really overclocking and it might help PS performance slightly. From this point you can do a few different things:

* If you're really into gaming you can add a second GPU for Crossfire. Or make it two regular 290s in Crossfire. Or wait and see what the 390 looks like in a few months.

* If you're really into Photoshop you can double the RAM or add another SSD for swap.

 

[piasabird]

Tom's Hardware has a website and does several gaming oriented builds every quarter.
Just think of their articles as possible suggestions. You can often just go to general hardware and see the builds other people are building.

http://www.tomshardware.com/system-configuration-recommendation-54.html

Here is their builder Marathon builds with 3 different price points. I like the way they put the charts side by side so you can see the way they were thinking.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/q4-2014-system-builder-marathon-conclusion,4024.html

 

[Trajan]

Thanks again for all the extra advice Ken (and Syran and piasa)! I've tweaked a little bit:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7KbVgs

* Asus mobo, for the amplifier, but not fully decided (need to read up and would love to save money here if I can also get an amp)
* GTX 970 for now, based entirely on history but still considering the 280 instead
* Using an excellent deal for a PSU via slickdeals, still alive on NewEgg; OEM is supposedly reputable

I'm still a little confused on the RAM issue; it looks like I could spend just a little bit more and get faster clocks - will I notice any different in performance do you think? I'm more focused on gaming performance than PS performance.

 

[Zorander]

Regarding the choice for a headamp, I suggest getting an external USB DAC/Headamp instead of spending the extra on a motherboard-mounted amplifier which inevitably: 1) is paired with other noise-inducing circuitry, 2) uses a poor to average at best codec and 3) becomes a throw-away when you upgrade again.

I use the JDS Labs C5D with my AT CK100Pro on my work laptop. Very clean-sounding piece of gem that never fails to lift my day at work. There are also many other USB-DAC choices out there, including the Fiio E7 and Meier Audio amplifier range, all of which I generally recommend over a motherboard integrated soundcard.

Cheers!

 

[mfenn]

* Asus mobo, for the amplifier, but not fully decided (need to read up and would love to save money here if I can also get an amp)

I would definitely not shell out $90 more for a motherboard just to get a headphone amp. You're better off putting that towards a proper outboard amp that you can keep for a long time. Also, you mentioned that you're currently using a sound card for its headphone amp. Any reason you can't carry the sound card over to the new build?

I'm still a little confused on the RAM issue; it looks like I could spend just a little bit more and get faster clocks - will I notice any different in performance do you think? I'm more focused on gaming performance than PS performance.

Faster RAM makes very little difference unless you're doing some specific database workloads or are using an IGP.