i5-750, <$1250, PS/Lightroom/video editing

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Now
BUDGET RANGE: Fairly flexible. < $1250 preferably.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Multitasking is most important to me: Lightroom, Photoshop, iTunes with very large library, Firefox with mult tabs, Office, video editing, etc. I will be playing no games at all.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: KB/M, speakers, monitor, DVD drive, OS (64-bit)

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg, zipzoomfly

OVERCLOCKING: just a touch likely

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680 x 1050 now, 1920 x 1080 in the future


So, again there will be no games played at all, but will be playing HD videos. For reference, right now I have a GeForce 7600GT using dual monitors and it seems to do the job fine for now. I currently need only one video card; however, I will likely be upgrading to a 3 monitor setup (1920 x 1080) in the future. So, it might be more cost efficient to just add a second card in the future, or should I get one of the single GPUs that can support > 2 monitors? My current 7600GT will be given away with my current computer, so it will need to be replaced.


1. Antec P183
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811129061

2. Corsair CMPSU-620W - I've used the 520W version in my previous build and have been very pleased, although I might get the non-modular version to save money.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139002

3. i5-750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115215

4. HSF: will either do mild OC with the stock HSF or a budget aftermarket. Any suggestions?

5. Gigabyte P55-UD3R, although I might bump up to the UD4P ($30 more) mostly for the integrated firewire, still debating this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128401

6. RAM: G.Skill 4GB DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH x 2 for a total of 8GB - I went with this version because there is a newegg combo with the mobo that makes the price difference between this and the cL9D-4GBNQ moot. Does anyone know specifically if this RAM works with the above mobo? The last build I did I had to setup custom timings to get the RAM to work. Most of my apps are RAM intensive.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231278 -

7. Video card: I'm all ears on this one. Again, using 2 monitors now, 3 in the future (could be up to 1 year), no gaming at all. Definitely would like to keep it below $200. Would something like this run 3 monitors at once and suit my needs?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102824

8. HD: I'm planning on getting one of the Intel SSDs: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] t=celebros


Right now I'm around $1150 with newegg combos and assuming a $150 vid card and a $30 HSF.

Thanks so much for any constructive criticism / advice. I've been building for about 10 years, but my last was 2 years ago, so I'm not completely up to date on everything.

You could consider a HD 5750 considering that it supports 3 monitors with only one card, altho you don't need a card that powerful if you arent going to game and you can get one off newegg for $130. So it fits into your budget and will last quite a while. If you were willing to wait, ATI will soon (don't know how soon) come out with a less powerful card that will support 3 monitors and be just as useful and probably less power-intensive, and possibly less expensive.
And this is a pretty good budget CPU fan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835186134 $34
Neither the specs on newegg nor the specs on gigabytes' site specify 1600Mhz memory as being compatible with that mobo, so I if was you I would look for another mobo to support 1600Mhz memory, or get 1333Mhz memory with low latencies and timings. Getting 2 sets of this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227478 $90 will keep the price the same, and simple.
If you could keep it under budget, then the better multi-tasking CPU would be the i7-860, but the i5 is still really good.
And I remember reading that that Intel SSD was a good one.

Yea, do that.