Thoughts on PC Build?

[FullFledgedYYC]

It's an all around computer... wanted something decently high end. Gaming, video editing, graphic design.... everything. It's been a long time since I did this, so I am not up to snuff on everything. I was planning to install Windows OS and a few other programs I use frequently on the SSD, am I doing this right?

Thanks!


Antec One Mid-Tower Case
ILC: 761345159708 SKU: MX37673

$69.99


Intel Core™ i7-4790K Processor, 4.00GHz w/ 8MB Cache
ILC: 735858285957 SKU: MX52609

$419.99


Asus Z97-PRO (Wi-Fi AC) w/ DDR3 1600, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit LAN, Quad SLI / 3-Way CrossFireX, Dual USB 3.1 Ports
ILC: 889349001400 SKU: MX56308

$289.99


G.SKILL RipjawsX Series 16GB PC3-10600 Dual Channel DDR3 Kit (2 x 8GB)
ILC: 848354007814 SKU: MX36557

$114.99


Samsung 850 EVO Series Solid State Drive, 120GB
ILC: 887276086064 SKU: MX55502

$94.99


WD 1TB Blue Desktop Hard Drive, SATA III w/ 64MB Cache
ILC: WD10EZEX SKU: MX40551

$69.99


EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti SC + ACX 2.0, Backplate, 6GB, PCI-E w/ DVI, HDMI, Triple DisplayPort
ILC: 843368036362 SKU: MX57628

$884.99


ThermalTake Smart Series SP-850M Modular Power Supply
ILC: 841163043684 SKU: MX44726

$129.99


BenQ XL2720Z 27in Widescreen Gaming LED LCD w/ HAS, DisplayPort
ILC: 840046030049 SKU: MX49828

$449.99

[revelations]

Toss out the WD BLUE hdd immediately, avoid WD GREEN the same.

Get an Enterprise-level drive from WD or Sg - worth the extra $$. http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX33881

Dont touch HGST or Toshiba drives either (in case you have that option).

[schocker]

With that amount of money I would go for a bigger SSD
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX56106
and replace the WD Blue with a black http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX49541

Also, personally I would switch out the PSU, I know the EVGA 220-G2-0850-XR and 0750 are supposed to be very good but a little bit more money.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&file=print&reid=380
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&file=print&reid=377

Also for the CPU/Mobo/Ram, Skylake processors should be available in a few weeks time for a little bit better performance, but the new Z710 chipset includes lots of new features and the ram would be DDR4. You might also want an aftermarket CPU cooler. Otherwise the video card is great, and gskill is good ram and case you can get whatever appeals to you.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Three suggestions from having a quick look:

1) Get a better case. Having an insulated, well made, dead-quiet case was one of the best decisions I have ever made when building a computer, and didn't add much cost. Tool-less drive bays and soft cable guides are awesome too. I also get at least a mid-tower (which you are so that's good). So much nicer to work in, and more room for future expansions. Something like this:

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX37153


2) Get a bigger SSD. You will fill that 120GB in no time especially with large applications. 240/256 GB or 512 GB. SSD's are pretty cheap these days, and larger ones usually perform a bit better too.

3) That HDD I assume is for storage only. 3-5 TB drives are so cheap these days, don't waste your time with a low-end 1TB. Grab a 3-5 TB drive or something similar. I bought a 5TB drive for $150 a couple months back.

[FullFledgedYYC]

Thanks for the advice guys, here is the changes I made:

EVGA Supernova G2 850W Power supply

Stuck with the 1TB WD hard drive... but went black. I don't need a ton of space. I think my laptop is 500GB and I am nowhere near full.

Crucial BX100 SSD 250GB (up'd the size)

Went with that Obsidian 550D case. I do like a quiet computer, so thank you for that suggestion!

[jacky4566]

Suggest a bigger SSD. You will thank yourself later.

[gwill]

I agree on the ssd. My one computer was running low... Not sure how. The kids must have been messing around with stuff

[taemo]

+1 on the SSD, had to build a replacement rig last week and went for a SanDisk 240GB SSD and it was under $100, I think it was on sale.

regarding RAM, why not get faster RAMs since you will be running i7?

[The_Rural_Juror]

I have a 240gb Sandisk Extreme SSD that you can have for $80 if you want - probably a bit faster than the BX100. Replaced it with a 1 TB version a while back, and has been sitting around since.

What about a CPU cooler if you plan on overclocking?

[Khyron]

Personally I'd drop the vid card down to a 970 and look at getting a Gsync monitor. To be technical - it's amaze-balls. And the 970 is max with no fan noise. Unless you're going 4K for non-gaming reasons.

[taemo]

went from a GTX460 2GB to a GTX960 4GB and Adobe Lightroom is a lot more quicker
Memex also recommended me the slimmer card too so I also went with a smaller mini ITX case
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX57019

[RedRayneGTI]

I built this setup for pretty much the same price bracket you're in (maybe less actually).


Asus
X99-A w/ DDR4 2133, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit LAN, 3-Way and
Quad CrossFireX / SLI (MX53827)
1 $334.99

G.SKILL
Ripjaws 4 Series 32GB PC4-17000 Quad Channel DDR4 Kit
(4x 8GB) (MX53592)
1 $314.99

Noctua
NH-D14 CPU Cooler SE2011 (MX36949)
1 $89.99

Samsung
850 Pro Series Solid State Drive, SATA III, 256GB (MX53771)
1 $199.99

WD
1TB Black Hard Drive, SATA III w/ 64MB Cache (MX49541)
1 $99.99

Corsair
RM Series RM750 Modular Power Supply (MX48187)
1 $149.99

Intel
Core™ i7-5820K Processor, 3.3GHz w/ 15MB Cache
1 $519.99

Asus
STRIX GTX970 DirectCU II OC GeForce GTX 970 4GB
PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort (MX53934)
1 $454.99

Corsair
Carbide Series 200R Compact ATX Case, Black w/ Window
(MX50542)
1 $84.99

Asus
24x DVD-RW Drive, SATA, OEM, Black (MX45542)
1 $19.99

$2,269.90



Just add your monitor.. About up-to-date as you can get hardware wise unless you want to go with Skylake CPU.

In most of the benchmarks I check, the 5820K was trading blows with the 4790K, or even beating it.. Worth thinking about.

[msommers]

Originally posted by taemo
went from a GTX460 2GB to a GTX960 4GB and Adobe Lightroom is a lot more quicker
Memex also recommended me the slimmer card too so I also went with a smaller mini ITX case
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX57019

Don't tell me that :rofl: :banghead:

Did you upgrade the power supply as well? What's the other components in your system?

I've been thinking about upgrading my motherboard and processor to speed things up and get full USB 3 sockets

[taemo]

Originally posted by msommers


Don't tell me that :rofl: :banghead:

Did you upgrade the power supply as well? What's the other components in your system?

I've been thinking about upgrading my motherboard and processor to speed things up and get full USB 3 sockets

New rig was a little under $1250
Good thing with the current/new CPUs and GPUs is that they don't require a lot of power anymore so I went with a 550W PSU.
Core i5 4460
16GB RAM
Asus Z97 motherboard
240GB SSD drive
2TB Seagate HDD
GTX960
Mini-ITX case

used an old Win7 x64 license and upgraded it to Win 10 for free.
Thing is quiet and takes little space compared to my old full size tower
Let me know if interested and I can forward you the specs

[FullFledgedYYC]

One last question... I was going to upgrade the ram as suggested to:

TridentX Series 16GB PC3-19200 Dual Channel DDR3 Kit (2 x 8GB)

problem is, when I build it on pcpartpicker.com it gives me this warning:

The G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory operating voltage of 1.65V exceeds the Intel Haswell Refresh CPU recommended maximum of 1.5V+5% (1.575V). This memory module may run at a reduced clock rate to meet the 1.5V voltage recommendation, or may require running at a voltage greater than the Intel recommended maximum.

Anyone have any other suggestions on ram to use? or will this work just fine?

[Khyron]

Use 1.5V ram not 1.65:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007611%2050008476%20600006072%20600000261&Manufactory=8476

[FullFledgedYYC]

Built it all last night, thanks for all the help and suggestions, runs great. Thanks for convincing me to get a better case Mitsu, I was blown away by the quality of that case.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by FullFledgedYYC
Built it all last night, thanks for all the help and suggestions, runs great. Thanks for convincing me to get a better case Mitsu, I was blown away by the quality of that case.

No problem, glad you like it. At first I was after a cheap case too, and now that I have it, I will never buy anything other than the best case I can find. Having a silent computer that is a breeze to work on/upgrade is a huge plus IMO.

[FullFledgedYYC]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt


No problem, glad you like it. At first I was after a cheap case too, and now that I have it, I will never buy anything other than the best case I can find. Having a silent computer that is a breeze to work on/upgrade is a huge plus IMO.

Absolutely, and it was so much easier to install the hardware and route all the wires, love it. And as you said, it's dead silent, can't even tell it is on.

[know1edge]

.

[ramminghard]

I am in a similar situation and trying to build a desktop mainly for photo/video editing and storage but am a complete rookie when it comes to building computers. Won't be doing any gaming at all and am worried that I may have gone overboard on some of the components. Also not sure if there is anything missing that I need to add on. Any feedback on the below would be awesome!


Corsair
Obsidian Series 550D Quiet Mid-Tower Case (MX37153)
$169.99

Intel
Core™ i7-4790K Processor, 4.00GHz w/ 8MB Cache (MX52609)
$439.99

Asus
X99-Pro / USB 3.1 w/ Quad DDR4 2133, 7.1 Audio, USB 3.1, Gigabit LAN, Wi-Fi AC, 3-Way CrossFireX / SLI (MX56899)
$439.99

Corsair
CX Series CX750M Modular Power Supply (MX44969)
$114.99

Samsung
850 EVO Series Solid State Drive, 500GB (MX55510)
$249.99


EVGA
GeForce GTX 960 Superclocked 4GB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort (MX57019)
$319.99


WD
4TB Se Enterprise Hard Drive, SATA III w/ 64MB Cache (MX48811)
$299.99

G.SKILL
Ripjaws 4 Series 32GB PC4-19200 Quad Channel DDR4 Kit (4x 8GB) (MX53594)
$299.99

LG
27MP77HM-P 27in Widescreen IPS LED LCD (MX57063)
$739.98
($369.99 each)

Sub Total:
$3,074.90

[revelations]

^ youre better off grabbing an off the shelf box (looks way overkill)

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX58724

[Gman.45]

You also have a 450$ x99 platform MB for a 4970k CPU - not only unnecessary, but the wrong chipset/platform. You can save 200 or even 250$ by getting the right MB, and a cheaper one as well.

[know1edge]

.

[googe]

Power supply is waaay too big. 500 is enough easily.

[ramminghard]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Went through the system configuration on the memex website and took another crack at it. Anything else that should be added on?

Corsair Obsidian Series 550D Quiet Mid-Tower Case
$169.99

Intel Core™ i7-4790 Processor, 3.60GHz w/ 8MB Cache
$399.99

Asus Z97-PRO (Wi-Fi AC) w/ DDR3 1600, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit LAN, Quad SLI / 3-Way CrossFireX, Dual USB 3.1 Ports
$299.99

G.SKILL TridentX Series 16GB PC3-19200 Dual Channel DDR3 Kit (2 x 8GB)
$169.99

WD 4TB Se Enterprise Hard Drive, SATA III w/ 64MB Cache
$299.99

Corsair CX Series CX500 Power Supply
$74.99

Memory Express Assemble Hardware + Load O/S x1$70.00

Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64 bit) OEM
$124.99

Crucial BX100 Series Solid State Drive, 500GB
$229.99

Asus GeForce GTX750 Direct CU Silent, 2GB PCI-E w/ DVI-I, HDMI, DisplayPort
$169.99

[revelations]

Im particular to GOLD series PSUs, but other than that nothing jumps out.

Personally, I go with AMD for clients as its usually far cheaper but if you are into future proofing then you cant do wrong with an i7 (even overclocked down the road).

[ZenOps]

If you are going intel, might as well go skylake LGA 1151.

Which means probably Z170 chipset (and not Z97 or X99)

It sounds like Intel intends to make LGA 1151 as standard as socket 478 and 775 were, that is to say its going to be around for a very long time and not just a few years.

The low end dual core pentiums should be out soon, which should still be faster than the G3258.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylake_(microarchitecture)

G4400 on socket 1151 should be out in the US now, and at $64 will probably take the low end away from the G3258 anniversary. DDR4 is closing in on price parity with DDR3, although there are motherboards based on Z170 that will still take DDR3.

Half precision floating point ability could be useful for graphics people (Render distances of miles away need not have single or double precision)

Spending the extra $10 to get a "Retail USB" version of Windows 10 might pay off later if they let you do even a single transfer, or are more lenient with hardware changes (like a mobo swap)

[ramminghard]

Originally posted by ZenOps
If you are going intel, might as well go skylake LGA 1151.

Which means probably Z170 chipset (and not Z97 or X99)

It sounds like Intel intends to make LGA 1151 as standard as socket 478 and 775 were, that is to say its going to be around for a very long time and not just a few years.

The low end dual core pentiums should be out soon, which should still be faster than the G3258.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylake_(microarchitecture)

G4400 on socket 1151 should be out in the US now, and at $64 will probably take the low end away from the G3258 anniversary. DDR4 is closing in on price parity with DDR3, although there are motherboards based on Z170 that will still take DDR3.

Half precision floating point ability could be useful for graphics people (Render distances of miles away need not have single or double precision)

Spending the extra $10 to get a "Retail USB" version of Windows 10 might pay off later if they let you do even a single transfer, or are more lenient with hardware changes (like a mobo swap) Ended up going with the new Skylake processor and a Z170 mobo.

Any recommendations for memory that will work best with the following combination?
Mobo: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX58574
CPU: http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX58496

[Khyron]

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX55402 - for 119 looks sharp.

[revelations]

In stock

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX59475

[msommers]

Wow that memory was a ridiculous deal!

[ramminghard]

Thanks for the recommendations guys!