Greetings,
I've been out of the game for awhile and haven't kept up with the latest in greatest in the desktop world. I awoke to find my laptop completely dead this morning, and have decided to go with a desktop/netbook setup for home/travel instead of my one-size-fits-all gaming laptop previously.
So, I am looking at spending around $1000 for a desktop, exclusive of a monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, and other external accessories.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Immediately. My HTC EVO isn't going to cut it for primary computing now that my laptop is shot.
BUDGET RANGE: Roughly $1000 after rebates. Looking to hit the sweet spot for price/performance. I can be flexible, but don't want to pay out the nose for increased performance past the "point of diminishing returns"
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Photoshop (semi-serious photo editing, occasionally dealing with 300mb photo images), Gaming (Everquest 2, Starcraft 2, etc)
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: I do need a monitor, but will deal with it in a separate budget. Might get a new keyboard/mouse, but again, have one for now so not too worried about it.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg has always served me well, but if it saves me a significant amount, Ill go elsewhere.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: Currently eying an Intel processor either i5 or i7, but heart inst set on anything
OVERCLOCKING: Yes, eventually. Chances are out of the box I should be able to run almost anything. I generally don't overclock until my stuff is nearing the end of its life cycle.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Doubtful, unless it falls into the budget. I'm not against it, but id rather go with a more powerful single option then add a second in the future (when they are cheaper)
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 24" 1920x1200 likely, might be talked into a 1920x1080
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I'm an adult. I don't need flashing lights, LEDs, or other non-essential frills.
Ok, now that thats out of the way...
The budget isn't completely firm, but I'm not looking to spend a bundle on this build. This kind of fell on my lap with the departure of my laptop, so I need to keep the budget within control.
Heres a rough idea of what I was thinking:
OS: Windows 7 OEM: $100
CPU: Intel i5-750 $195
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 $140
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 460 1GB $230
Memory: 4GB GSkill Memory $90
HD: 1TB 7200 RPM Western Digital HD $90
Optical Drive: whatever, $25
Case: Antec 300 $70
Power Supply: whatever, $60
That comes to about $1000.
I could substitute the i7-930 and go with a socket 1366 build...
i7-930 $290
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R $210
Brings the total to closer to $1165
Are either of those an intelligent build? Is the extra money for the 1366 build worth it? Would it be worthwhile to spend the money to upgrade to 8gb RAM?
Then for the monitor I'm looking at the 25.5" Asus on newegg for ~$280 (1920x1200) or the 24" 1900x1080 Dell for ~$200.
Comments suggestions or general bashing would be great.
Thanks fellas.
I've been out of the game for awhile and haven't kept up with the latest in greatest in the desktop world. I awoke to find my laptop completely dead this morning, and have decided to go with a desktop/netbook setup for home/travel instead of my one-size-fits-all gaming laptop previously.
So, I am looking at spending around $1000 for a desktop, exclusive of a monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, and other external accessories.
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Immediately. My HTC EVO isn't going to cut it for primary computing now that my laptop is shot.
BUDGET RANGE: Roughly $1000 after rebates. Looking to hit the sweet spot for price/performance. I can be flexible, but don't want to pay out the nose for increased performance past the "point of diminishing returns"
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Photoshop (semi-serious photo editing, occasionally dealing with 300mb photo images), Gaming (Everquest 2, Starcraft 2, etc)
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: I do need a monitor, but will deal with it in a separate budget. Might get a new keyboard/mouse, but again, have one for now so not too worried about it.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg has always served me well, but if it saves me a significant amount, Ill go elsewhere.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: Currently eying an Intel processor either i5 or i7, but heart inst set on anything
OVERCLOCKING: Yes, eventually. Chances are out of the box I should be able to run almost anything. I generally don't overclock until my stuff is nearing the end of its life cycle.
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Doubtful, unless it falls into the budget. I'm not against it, but id rather go with a more powerful single option then add a second in the future (when they are cheaper)
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 24" 1920x1200 likely, might be talked into a 1920x1080
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I'm an adult. I don't need flashing lights, LEDs, or other non-essential frills.
Ok, now that thats out of the way...
The budget isn't completely firm, but I'm not looking to spend a bundle on this build. This kind of fell on my lap with the departure of my laptop, so I need to keep the budget within control.
Heres a rough idea of what I was thinking:
OS: Windows 7 OEM: $100
CPU: Intel i5-750 $195
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 $140
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 460 1GB $230
Memory: 4GB GSkill Memory $90
HD: 1TB 7200 RPM Western Digital HD $90
Optical Drive: whatever, $25
Case: Antec 300 $70
Power Supply: whatever, $60
That comes to about $1000.
I could substitute the i7-930 and go with a socket 1366 build...
i7-930 $290
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R $210
Brings the total to closer to $1165
Are either of those an intelligent build? Is the extra money for the 1366 build worth it? Would it be worthwhile to spend the money to upgrade to 8gb RAM?
Then for the monitor I'm looking at the 25.5" Asus on newegg for ~$280 (1920x1200) or the 24" 1900x1080 Dell for ~$200.
Comments suggestions or general bashing would be great.
Thanks fellas.
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