Custom PC Configuration

Vladimir007 · Jun 30, 2014

Hello experts,

I am building desktop computer for the 1st time. I do light video editing in Sony Vegas and light video gaming. I also plan to use it for development of websites in WordPress, little bit of Photoshop - tasks I don't need much power. Still, I want to make it powerful and last a long time. I have put together this configuration. I am 100% certain about the computer case you see below - I love the look and feel of it and it has great ratings on the Internet. I have two 24 inch monitors - one is Display Port and another one is DVI. So I have picked a video card which supports both inputs so I don't have to buy adapters. Computer case supports 4 Hard Drives, so I want to use up all slots with 3GB Hard Drives and use the front bay for RAID 1 solution. I plan to store data on one top Hard Drive on the front and with RAID 1 setup that data should automatically copy itself to the 2nd Hard Drive. If I ever need to go somewhere and I need data from desktop, I plan just to pull out 2nd Hard Drive from hot swapable bay at the front and take it with me. I hope this can work. I am realying on someone experienced out there to tell me if it will.

And last, if things get complicated, I will take my build to local Fry's and they said they will let me work on it under guidance of technician which is great.

Here is my configuration:

Computer Case
Case: http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-EVO-Rev/dp/B00F... $98.15
With case, purchase Blue LED Fans: http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-JetFlo-120-Performa...
And I plan to use one of the fans that comes with the case and make it exhaust fan.

Hard Drives
Main Hard Drive 500 GB SSD: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-... $240

RAID 1 Solution for backup: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-3-5-Inch-Internal... $99 – 3TB Seagate Barracuda
RAID 1 Solution (2nd drive) http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-3-5-Inch-Internal... $99 – 3TB Seagate Barracuda

4th Hard Drive I will put inside of the case: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-3-5-Inch-Internal...

MEMORY
16 GB Memory http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-... $ 155

Power Supply: http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Toughpower-ATX12V-EPS... $151.06

Mother Board: http://www.amazon.com/MAXIMUS-VI-HERO-Motherboard-Gener... – 190 USD

CPU http://www.amazon.com/Intel-I7-4771-1150-Processor-BX80... (I am not interested in overclocking, so I will use this CPU as it is my understanding that it is the latest and it is withing my budget)

Video Card: http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Superclock-Dual-Link-Graphic... – 140 USD

I appreciate any help and guidance from experts in the community on this.

Thank you so much!

Vlad

g-unit1111 · Jun 30, 2014

Well it's a pretty good start - you should definitely consider changing out the PSU. Thermaltake PSUs are not known for quality. You want at least a Seasonic G series or a EVGA Supernova G2. You're also spending way too much on the primary drive - you should cut back on that and spend more money elsewhere, especially if you've got two 3TB drives for storage. What's your overall budget?

Vladimir007 · Jun 30, 2014

@g-unit1111,

Thank you for recommending a better PSU. I will go with EVGA Supernova G2 you recommended. I read all the reviews at http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-80PLUS-Certified-220-G2-0750-XR/dp/B00IKDETOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404159085&sr=8-1&keywords=EVGA+Supernova+G2 and it indeed is fantastic unit. The only reason I went with Thermaltake is because it has that software which allows you to measure how much electricity your computer is spending, but in retrospect, I probably would not be using it much.

Per your suggestion, I also reduced the size of primary Hard Drive to 250 GB and this has cut costs to 140 USD for the primary drive. My budget for this computer is about $1,600 and I already have Windows 7 64-bit so I am not including this into budget estimate.

So my new configuration looks like this now:

Computer Case
Case: http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-EVO-Rev/dp/B00FB45WPI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403731444&sr=8-1&keywords=haf+xb+evo $98.15
With case, purchase Blue LED Fans: http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-JetFlo-120-Performance/dp/B00E20SSZ8/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403906317&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Sickle+Flow+High+Performance+120MM+R4+Series+BLUE+LED+Case+Fan
And I plan to use one of the fans that comes with the case and make it exhaust fan.

Hard Drives
Main Hard Drive 250 GB SSD: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-EVO-Series-2-5-Inch-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403731920&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+ssd $140

RAID 1 Solution for backup: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST4000DM000/dp/B00B99JU4S/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1403732076&sr=8-10&keywords=internal+hard+drive $99 – 3TB Seagate Barracuda
RAID 1 Solution (2nd drive) http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST4000DM000/dp/B00B99JU4S/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1403732076&sr=8-10&keywords=internal+hard+drivehn $99 – 3TB Seagate Barracuda

4th Hard Drive I will put inside of the case: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST4000DM000/dp/B00B99JU4S/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1403732076&sr=8-10&keywords=internal+hard+drive

MEMORY
16 GB Memory http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10/dp/B006EWUO22/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1403738269&sr=1-2&keywords=16+GB+Memory $ 155

Power Supply: http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-80PLUS-Certified-220-G2-0750-XR/dp/B00IKDETOW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404159085&sr=8-1&keywords=EVGA+Supernova+G2 - $113

Mother Board: http://www.amazon.com/MAXIMUS-VI-HERO-Motherboard-Generation/dp/B00CXIVEA2/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1403738058&sr=1-2&keywords=motherboard+i7 – 190 USD

CPU http://www.amazon.com/Intel-I7-4771-1150-Processor-BX80646I74771/dp/B00EUTW24E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403846831&sr=8-1&keywords=i7+4771 (I am not interested in overclocking, so I will use this CPU as it is my understanding that it is the latest and it is withing my budget)

Video Card: http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Superclock-Dual-Link-Graphics-02G-P4-3753-KR/dp/B00IDG3IDO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403734769&sr=8-1&keywords=evga+gtx+750+ti+2gb – 140 USD

When I add all this up, I am under $1,500. Please let me know if I am missing anything or what else I could improve on.

Case $98.15
HD SSD $140.00
RAID 1 HD 2 $99.00
RAID 1 HD 2 $99.00
4th HD $99.00
Power Supply $113.00
CPU $300.00
Video Card $140.00
Memory $155.00
MotherBoard $190.00
Extra Fans $50.00

Total $1,483.15

g-unit1111 · Jun 30, 2014

You don't need to spend $50 in extra fans as your case will include several already and you won't be using those until you get your CPU fan installed. Try something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790S 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Performance ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($105.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M550 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($156.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($147.51 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($147.51 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($23.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1443.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Search

Custom PC Configuration

Vladimir007

Reputable

g-unit1111

g-unit1111

Titan

Vladimir007

Reputable

g-unit1111

Titan

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page