Gaming/ Photoshop build (£1250ish)

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matthewryan2k

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Oct 7, 2011
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Hello

This build is for gaming and Photoshop CS3 (specifically illustration). I intend to overclock and possibly add an additional graphics card later on and would like it to last for at least 3 years (like my current build has managed). Explanations for my choice of parts are below, hopefully that would fill you in on more detailed intentions. At the moment the build works out at about £1250 and that seems to be the sweet spot for me.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

Build
Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core
Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid
Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" SSD
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM
Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB
Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower
Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm
Corsair 760W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/matthewryan2k%40hotmail.com/saved/1Sj1


Some of my reasons for choosing

Intel Core i5-4670K it was this or the i7-4770K. I decided to go with the i5 since my use of Photoshop is probably not demanding enough to make the i7 worthwhile ( I rarely work larger than A3, 300Dpi, CMYK).

Corsair Good experience with Corsair PSUs in my current build so I aimed to go with them for this build

  • Corsair H100i I would like to overclock, so might as well get an efficient cooler
    Corsair 760W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply A good quality PSU which will be able to handle an additional graphics card later on.
    Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 a lot of the parts are corsair, so I thought I'd go with them for ram. I was thinking of going 2 x 8GB for Photoshop use, but as with the processor I thought it might be a little unnecessary .
    Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Corsair cooling, Corsair PSU, Corsair RAM. Might as well go Corsair case! Specifically the 500R in order to safely fit the H100i although choosing a case was not something I was 100% certain of

Asus My current build uses one and I've never had any issues the 3 years I've used it (usually on 15 hours a day, 7 days a week!).

  • Asus Z87-A It was a tossup between this and Z87-pro. I decided to go with the cheaper option thinking that maybe the pro featured a lot of unnecessary features I wouldn't use.
    Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB I had a tough time deciding on the brand of 770, but decided to go with Asus because of the motherboard brand. I will likely add a second card but probably won't game on more than one monitor

Thanks, Matt.
 
Solution
g-unit1111


I agree, on that budget I would drop unnecessary expenses like that and put more money in the GPU.

What is the exact name of you PSU? I recommend the Corsair HX750 PSU; a great, widely used PSU.
Click to expand...

It's actually the Corsair AX760i, it's a decent PSU but not the best that Corsair makes.

This is what I would suggest:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£183.59 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.62 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX...
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dannyboy2233

dannyboy2233

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Unless you plan on extreme OC, then H100i might be a tad excessive.
What is the exact name of you PSU? I recommend the Corsair HX750 PSU; a great, widely used PSU.
In terms of the processor, you are absolutely correct.
In terms of RAM, you are correct as well. However, if you find that it is not enough, it's not too difficult to pop two extra sticks in there and make it exactly how you want :)
As for the motherboard, I recommend the Asrock Extreme4. It's $50 cheaper, and the one you stated has no real benefits over it.
In terms of the GPU, I actually recommend the Gigabyte card, as the Windforce cooler is amazing; however, they are all great cards, so anything will work.
Other than that, great build! :)
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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I agree, on that budget I would drop unnecessary expenses like that and put more money in the GPU.

What is the exact name of you PSU? I recommend the Corsair HX750 PSU; a great, widely used PSU.
Click to expand...

It's actually the Corsair AX760i, it's a decent PSU but not the best that Corsair makes.

This is what I would suggest:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£183.59 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.62 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£150.09 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£50.42 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£110.00 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£49.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (£349.99 @ Dabs)
Case: NZXT Phantom (White) ATX Full Tower Case (£104.38 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£77.70 @ Amazon UK)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer (£13.15 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1112.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-03 20:41 BST+0100)

Then add whatever monitor and peripherals you want.
 
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matthewryan2k

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Thanks for replying.
I didn't realise the list I copied from had shortened the PSU, it's a "Corsair 760W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply" (updated in first post).

I'll definitely look into the Asrock Motherboard and Gigabyte card as another option. in regards to cooling, I did wonder if the H100i was too much; would you recommend maybe the 80i instead or avoid the water cooling altogether.

Thanks.
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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If it's your first time building I would just avoid water cooling altogether. I'm rebuilding my work rig into an X79 workstation and I just bought a Hyper 212 Evo - that's all you really need.
 
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matthewryan2k

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That's definitely a nice cheaper option for cooling. This will be my third build, but if adding water cooling is a complicated process I should probably avoid it (I'd consider myself a noob still, as far as building computers go!).

I like the look of the Phantom case (although I'd choose black), but I wonder if it's a bit too stylish for me. I seem to prefer a more basic block design although it's not too crazy, I'll have to imagine it sitting next to me.

One thing I wondered about is whether the "SeaSonic S12II 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply" would be enough in the event I pick up another gtx 770 in the future (I'd like to keep that option open).

Thanks for all the suggestions, plenty of further reading to do on all those parts.
 
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Marcopolo123

Marcopolo123

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£259.19 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£23.62 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£116.34 @ Dabs)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£113.97 @ Dabs)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (£68.39 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£45.59 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card (£315.32 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case (£79.19 @ Aria PC)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition (2-Pack) 62.7 CFM 120mm Fans (£20.54 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (£125.97 @ Dabs)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£15.95 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) (£68.35 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £1252.42
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-03 22:58 BST+0100)
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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You don't need an i7 or 16GB for a gaming rig. I'd drop both of those and put more money into the GPU. It doesn't take a lot to run the version of CS that the OP wants.
 
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matthewryan2k

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An update to the original, taking into account a few of your suggestions along with further research on the forums

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/matthewryan2k%40hotmail.com/saved/1TGT (note that the link does not include the PSU which for some reason doesn't show up in the list).

CPU Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core
CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing
Motherboard ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150
Memory G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Storage Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" SSD
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM
Video Card Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB
Case Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower
Case Fan Cooler Master SickleFlow 69.7 CFM 120mm
Optical Drive Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer
OS Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)
PSU Corsair 750W HX 80PLUS Gold Modular PSU

Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 
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