Advice on PC parts for desktop build

notek

Honorable
Jan 3, 2014
2
0
10,510
Hello,
I would like to build my first desktop from scratch, but i’m absolutely new to this. Would like to have your suggestions regarding PC parts as i know little about them. Just know what i would like to have at the end. Would be grateful if you could come with some food for thought or advices 

I’m looking at decent home desktop. I definitely don’t need powerful gaming rig as i don’t play much games, but from time to time could try one thou. I want the machine to be stable, durable, processing flawlessly what i need - office apps, browsing internet, music, HD video data streaming/watching, photo processing. In sum – want the computer that would work like a charm and do what i need. I am not going to overclock it and play games on high fps, but want it to serve for 4-5 years without major upgrades at least.

My wishes
• Graphics – something decent, that would allow to play games sometimes, but not the high end card.
• CPU – as mentioned, not going to overclock it, but want it not to be outdated in a few years. Intel Haswell series is probably the way to go?
• HSF – for safety were thinking of getting aftermarket one
• Motherboard – something reliable with decent features and enough SATA ports, maybe also USB 3.0
• RAM – would like to go with 8 GB Corsair
• HDD – reliable 1 TB disk
• SSD – reliable brand 120/128 GB
• Power supply – power efficient, low noise, durable. How many watts do i need really for what i’m going to do?
• Case – spacy, with good airflow and made from quality material. Was looking at some Corsair models actually.

Would really appreciate any advices for compatible specific parts for above mentioned positions!
Thanks in advance!

My budget is around 700-800$
 

Transmaniacon

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H87-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($98.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB Video Card ($134.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $739.88
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-03 11:40 EST-0500)

Something like this would work well. The i3 is a good CPU for office tasks, and even does well in gaming. The GTX 650Ti is a good entry level GPU that will let you do some light/medium gaming. You have room in the budget to upgrade, an AMD R9-270X would be a nice step up.

You don't need much from a power supply, that XFX one is very good. If you want to spend a little more for a modular or semi-modular one, that would help with cable management, brands like SeaSonic, Antec, Corsair, and XFX are good to stick with.

You don't need to get an aftermarket CPU cooler. Since you are not overclocking, the stock cooler will keep things cool. If you would prefer one, the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO is a great choice and only $30.
 
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