Help me Build a PC

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Milutiche

172 posts

Master Geek
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#62834 15-Jun-2010 21:04

Im thinking of getting a new PC, ive got a Presario CQ60 that I currently use for everything from internet to photoshop and divx converting and its getting a bit slow -this http://configure.ap.dell.com/dellstore/print_summary_details_popup.aspx?~lt=print&c=nz&cs=nzdhs1&fb=1&l=en&oc=t210109nz&s=dhs&leadtime=&showleadtime=False

Is what you can get from Dell for about $2500
The i7 860 looks like the processor I want to base my system on but I need help with the following

motherboard,
ram, (probably 6gb?)
gfx card,
hdd,
case & psu
cooling
DVD,
Monitor (24inch minimum)

things I dont care about

TV tuner,
Bluray,
Speakers,
wireless or blutooth,

Im going to be doing lots more photo editing in the future 15mb raw files saved as 80mb tiff
I'll probalby do a bit of gaming also but not too much.
Ill also be quite keen to have a go at overclocking.

If we could nudge it under $2k the wife would be most happy

Im confident enough to assemble the system myself if you think I could do it cheaper in parts.

Cheers, Jason

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439 posts

Ultimate Geek

#342259 16-Jun-2010 11:40

Is what you can get from Dell for about $2500
The i7 860 looks like the processor I want to base my system on but I need help with the following

ot

please let us know a bit more about what games are you gonna be playing... are you gonna be using photoshop CS5 and Corell draw etc.

the ideal is Fast ram and low latency too.
Mobo with over thousand FSB overclocking
Cases are important for cooling, i bought a flash raidmax one and air flow was not good.
DL dvd will do
Raptor hd or fast SATA will do
GFX card it all depends on what games
Ram i use Corsair Dominator low latency and overclockes nicely too. Amount of ram depends on OS and programs you wil be running.
very important to choose a good PSU check watts and efficiency percentage.
good luck.

Andy

xpd

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#342286 16-Jun-2010 12:26

If youre not into heavy gaming then have a read... its a few years old but I think it still holds true ($$=USD)

=================================
"For photoshop the ONLY thing you need is a card that supports the resolution you need to run at. And really every $50 card will do this. Note: Anything you spend over $50 will be pissed down the drain, $30 would most likely be just fine.

For a 30" monitor you may need a dual-link card or whatever, that you;d have to reasearch.

But seriously, do a test and throw an old dusty GPU in there and watch how wonderful photoshop works. If you throw a $300 card in there you will not notice any difference. Photoshop speed is not done in the GPU. "
==================================

Our marketing machines at work have 8800's etc in them... paid oodles for them new... could have got away with a card costing 30% the price the 8800's cost.

XPD / Gavin

LinkTree

k1wi

484 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#342287 16-Jun-2010 12:31

If you're going i7 860, you're looking at 4gig vs 8 gig, rather than 6 gig as they come in pairs, not triples like the 900's. In general you probably don't need any more than this at present and it keeps a couple of slots spare for the future when the price/capacity is likely to be more in your favour.

The main benefit of building your own 800 is that if you go the Dell route overclocking is completely out of the picture. The i7's are probably the easiest generation of chips to OC, though you do need to take a bit more care with the 800s because they have fewer power pins than the 900s. OTOH, Dell does have a better deal on the Operating System, even after they take their cut.

In terms of CPU cooling, I recommend holding off on purchasing a third party cooler until you have tested it for a while. Even though the stock cooler is pretty light, unless you push the OC envelope it is probably more than enough when in a case with good airflow.

Just to correct GamerOC, any i7 build doesn't really have a FSB, generally speaking any midrange P55 motherboard from the likes of Asus, Gigabyte or MSI will be what you need. Basically the most important thing to do is match the features of the board to your requirements. I.E. are you going to be running software RAID? Do you really really want USB3 on the motherboard (probably pays to) or are your prepared to wait a while and just grab an add-on card in the future... I always advise spending a bit more on a mobo as opposed to spending a bit less on one, but there is no need to go OTT with them.

I recommend keeping an eye out over @ pricespy.co.nz

Add: one thing to note with regard to the previous post on GPU... There is a massive push towards GPGPU, with everything from Flash 10.1 being offloaded to the GPU. In this regard if you can afford something between the 5670 and ATI 5770 GPU I would tend to encourage that - a decently priced DX 11 card that will probably save you a few $$'s on power.

vinnieg

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#342291 16-Jun-2010 12:50

$450 i7 930
$299 ASRock X58 upto 4x PCIe graphics cards!!!(overkill i know, but awesome)
$281 Corsair XMS3 Twin3x pack 6GB
$238 4870 1GB or 5770 1GB
$240 2x 1TB F3 Samsung Spinpoints(fast)
$170 Silverstone LC17S silver
$195 ST75EF 750W Silverstone PSU
$82 Scyth Mugen II Rev. B cooler
$38 Benq DW240S DVD-RW
$407 Benq V2400 Eco in whitish silver
= $2401

Would be a good setup, the 930 is just $5 more expensive than the 860 and supports trip channel, it'd leave you with plenty of options for upgrading too

Although the case and monitor can be changed to black or even a different brand, I just thought colour coding it in silver/white would be nice :)

I have moved across the ditch. Now residing in Melbourne as a VOIP/Video Technical Trainer/Engineer.

Milutiche

172 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#342374 16-Jun-2010 16:41

Cheers for the replys, as far as games - I dont have any in particular I will be playing, it will be more of a buy a game if it suits the PC situation.
And currently using PSE7 and Lightroom, havn't tried CS5 yet.
I would like to be able to cary out divx encoding while performing other tasks, currently thats not an option and ive also made some 1080p 60fps timelaps videos that take far too long with the compaq.

samwooff

219 posts

Master Geek

#342408 16-Jun-2010 17:50

Photoshop used to be CPU only until CS4 when it all changed and they added GPU acceleration, CS5 is meant to use the GPU even further so definitely don't skimp on the graphics card if you're going to be using the latest versions.

Vinnieg's build looks pretty close to what 2500 could get you, though I might change a few things round brand wise and maybe get a nicer screen like HP's ZR24w.
If you want to keep it under 2k you'll probably have to go for the i5 750, which is no bad thing as it doesn't lose anything to the i7s once overclocked bar hyperthreading which doesn't seem to kick in a whole lot when i use CS5 on my 920.

Desktop: i7 920, GTX 275, asus P6T, antec 1200, 6gb ram, 1tb spinpoint f1, 1tb spinpoint f3, Logitech Z2300, Zero DAC, Shure SRH440
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Home Theatre: 32" loewe CRT, Harmon kardon amp, dvd player, image 418 speakers, rega planar 25 turntable :)

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Basher

85 posts

Master Geek

#343734 21-Jun-2010 12:19

* CPU --- Intel i7 860 4x 2.8Ghz Quad Core Socket 1156, 8MB L3 Cache, Super processor! Turbo Boost
* Motherboard --- GIGABYTE P55-USB3 USB3.0 LGA1156 Intel P55 Express Chipset DDR3 2200, HD Audio
* Memory --- Transcend or Kingston 8GB DDR3-1333 Memory
* Hard Drive --- West Digital 1000GB SATA2 Hard Drive
* DVD Writer --- SATA 24x Speed Optical DVD Writer
* PC Case --- Silverstone Gaming Case (PS02, Side window, Blue Light 14cm Fan) with 650W Power Supply
* Video Card --- Radeon HD 5770 1GB DDR5 PCI-Ex16 HDCP Ready with HDMI
* Audio --- 8 -Channel High-Definition Audio
* Monitor--- ASUS VH242H 23.6" HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor Full HD 1080P resolution 1920 x 1080
* Network --- Gigabit LAN
* USB Port --- 2 Front USB, 8 Rear USB2.0, 2 Rear USB 3.0

Dont know if its any good as i know very little about PC but they sell these for 2500 on trademe;)
* OS --- Windows 7 Home Premium Version (64bit) with Disc and COA

Homebuilt PhenomX4 955 3.6ghz.
Ubuntu 11.04 64bit.

Basher

85 posts

Master Geek

#343761 21-Jun-2010 13:19

would cost about 2200 to buy seperately with pricespy prices

Homebuilt PhenomX4 955 3.6ghz.
Ubuntu 11.04 64bit.

Milutiche

172 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#386870 1-Oct-2010 18:17

Hi, just got back from Europe and now its time to get this ball rolling again,
Found this http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=319438143 on TM, looks pretty good to me, the guy selling recomends a SSD to run the OS, either 60gb or 120 gb (at $520)
Anyone have any experience using a SSD for windows? how essential is it?

Thanks
Jason

samwooff

219 posts

Master Geek

#386876 1-Oct-2010 18:36

That trademe build is alright, it will be cheaper if you assemble it yourself of course especially since that computer only comes with a trial operating system meaning you still have to buy a full version after 30 days.
The things I don't like about it are theres no mention of which model the PSU and motherboard are so I'd have to assume they're cheap ones.
The case and the screen don't look super amazing either.
I think you should hand pick the components yourself, you'll save a bit of money and have fun building it too :)
SSDs are much faster than HDDS, it'll speed up loading, booting etc. May be helpful with loading large RAWs etc in photoshop.

Kaos36

709 posts

Ultimate Geek

#386888 1-Oct-2010 19:20

or you could build the Lamborghini of PCs' includes a built-in Xbox 360. Yours for just $22,799 lol

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/lamborghini-of-pcs-yours-for-just-22799-20100928-15vak....

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nakedmolerat

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#386930 1-Oct-2010 21:13

I suggest you get your new rig from CL (computerlounge). Revo and the rest will be able to help you putting parts together. I ordered my complete system and have them sent to me in less than a week! Good build quality, excellent cable management, warranty and support. Checkout the the CL forum HERE.

Milutiche

172 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#387024 2-Oct-2010 08:39

That Lamborghini PC looks as if it would do the job, lol
I will look at computer lounge, Thanks

Milutiche

172 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#387025 2-Oct-2010 08:43

I forgot to mention, the thing I do like about the TM option is the 18 month warrenty and the 30k+ positive feedback

Milutiche

172 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#387309 3-Oct-2010 09:25

Ive been looking on computer lounge but I have also found this PC which I like the look of
http://www.onlinesale.co.nz/p.php?ssid=4ca77bb3a653f&c=1511

I think it has everything im looking for at just only over $2k

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