Building a Photoshop PC - HELP!

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mjordan29

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Aug 15, 2013
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10,510
going to college this year and want to build me own PC instead of buying a used mac. This isn't my strong suit so i need a little help.

budget: 500-700 dollars
uses: Photoshop almost entirely.

so i ran across this setup posted by someone - it was a setup posted a year ago so the prices may be off.

so I need to start swapping out pieces and parts to make it more efficient and cost effective.

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS12X Ball Bearing CPU Cooler ($76.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($88.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Whisper ATX Full Tower Case ($139.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($119.00 @ Newegg)
Total: $1497.91


CPU: i5-3570k as itll save me a 100 bucks. good or bad choice?
CPU Cooler: any cheaper alternative that i can save a few bucks?
Motherboard: Cheaper alternative to the above mother board?
memory: I was thinking 12 or 16gb of ram from crucial
storage: Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRX 3TB?? or cheaper 2tb to save $?
storage: Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F120GB3A-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III or the samsung above?
video card: NEED HELP! They are expensive and im not sure what i need on a price restraint.
case: save me money! whats 50 bucks?
power supply: can we save some money on the above power supply? would the cooler master extreme power plus @ 460w be enough for this setup? that carries a low price tag.

500-700 dollars any advice would be loved!

thanks,
jordan
 
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The Q6660 Inside
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The Q6660 Inside

The Q6660 Inside

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Jan 25, 2013
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To be honest, you will need a more potent setup, you risk quality as you try to scale down the prices too much, $1000 is the optimum area. This is a good option.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($144.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($58.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($184.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Full (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1098.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-15 14:12 EDT-0400)
 
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Solution
The Q6660 Inside

The Q6660 Inside

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Jan 25, 2013
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12,160

You can sell the games that come with the 7970 and you will have spent $900. The SSD must be sacrificed to the lords of sacrifice, just kidding another option too :p

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($144.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($58.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital WD Blue 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($75.66 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Full (32-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $989.58
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-15 14:45 EDT-0400)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($144.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($58.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($122.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Full (32-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1036.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-15 14:48 EDT-0400)
 
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mjordan29

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Aug 15, 2013
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Oh sweet!

well heres one for yah! would pulling some of these together work to lower the price?

CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($33.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M4 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($66.48 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 311 (Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.98 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $475.41
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-12-12 23:32 EST-0500)

shoot im stupid! there is no video card on that... i forgot the guy said he already had a few things. blah........
 
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The Q6660 Inside

The Q6660 Inside

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Jan 25, 2013
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Photoshop on that
 
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mjordan29

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Aug 15, 2013
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forgive me im confused. photoshop on the list i just put down that quotes 475 without the graphic card and cooler? is that the better alternative? that would put me at somewhere near $800.
 
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The Q6660 Inside

The Q6660 Inside

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Jan 25, 2013
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On a $900 budget, this is honestly the way2go. Sell the games and you get it around ~$850 PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($144.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($58.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital WD Blue 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($75.66 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Full (32-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $949.57
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-15 19:14 EDT-0400)
 
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The Q6660 Inside

The Q6660 Inside

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Jan 25, 2013
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Whoops, wrong Windows 8. You need to back everything up and the re install Windows to the SSD when you get one.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor ($144.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock 990FX Extreme4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($58.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital WD Blue 1TB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($75.66 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($289.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 Full (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $949.57
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-15 22:06 EDT-0400)
 
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mjordan29

Honorable
Aug 15, 2013
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10,510
so would this 880 dollar setup (without monitor) beat the $1100 macbook pro (with student discount).

13-inch: 2.5GHz
2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
8GB 1600MHz memory
500GB 5400-rpm hard drive1
Intel HD Graphics 4000
Built-in battery (7 hours)

And by the way. You have been a HUGE help to me on this build. Its nice to get reputable advice from a real person, not just look at numbers all day.
 
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The Q6660 Inside

The Q6660 Inside

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Jan 25, 2013
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The graphics are terrible, but yes, it will likely beat a low-end Macbook pro.
 
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The Q6660 Inside

The Q6660 Inside

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Jan 25, 2013
1,889
5
12,160


The graphics are terrible, but yes, it will likely beat a low-end Macbook pro.
 
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