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$1300 for light gaming and photoshop

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Next couple of weeks if possible

BUDGET RANGE: $1300 before rebates

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Adobe CS5 (and future editions), gaming (WOW), internet, etc...

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Speakers, keyboard, mouse

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: www.newegg.com Microcenter (Store near by)

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel, no other real preferences since this is a first build

OVERCLOCKING: Probably not

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Uneducated on the two

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Unsure

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Quiet would be nice. Completely open to suggestions or recommendations to change anything we currently have. This is our first build and some of the decisions for currently selected parts is going by recommendations I can not necessarily verify are true. I chose the case because I heard it helps at keeping the system cool. The ram comes with a $20 combo deal when linked with the motherboard, and one of the hard drives comes with a $20 combo with the power supply. Unsure whether or not the windows professional is worth another $40. Unsure whether or not the ram is suitable when compared to Ripjaw. Still need a monitor, Graphics card, and anything else I am missing. I was recommended to get a power supply that is modular, wanted some additional opinions on this. With how the numbers stand now it looks like its going to be tough to keep it under $1300 so if there is room for downgrading anything I have listed below please feel free to offer that advice. Thanks a bunch!



I7 930 - $199.99
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...

Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - $159.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

EVGA 141-BL-E757-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX X58 SLI LE Intel Motherboard $184.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL8TU-6GBPI $149.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

2 X Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $179.98

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM $99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...



More about : 1300 light gaming photoshop

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^ Why not the i5/ i7 8xx ??
And get a good P55 mobo with USB3.0 and SATA 6GB/s + 8GB of RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

PSU + CASE - I doubt you would need 750W and that big case...
Lian-Li K62 + XFX 650W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

HDD - IMO this Samsung F3 is as good
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Graphics card -
HD 5770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

And actually with the money saved, you can get a SSD as a boot drive...

Thanks for the advice... I initially wanted to try and use the I7 930 because of its sale price of $199 but Microcenter did just put up the 870 for $229. Is triple channel ram not significantly better than double channel, and are the 1333 speeds not a huge deal slower? Its difficult with my understanding the weigh the advantages of the 1366 socket builds with triple channel vs the 1156 with dual channel. Also, I heard someone say there was concern about having multiple 1TB hard drives running very hot in their build, which is why I was recommended a large case, is this not something to worry about?

Thanks a bunch!

Kevin

Edit: Also, I forgot to mention the use of photoshop and CS is not for fun and casually messing around, it's for professional use.

benalron said:

Edit: Also, I forgot to mention the use of photoshop and CS is not for fun and casually messing around, it's for professional use.


Click the following link to educate yourself about LCD monitors panel technologies; specifically panel types:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/specs.htm

What is your budget for the monitor itself? If you budget too low then you will end up buying a monitor that uses a TN panel which is not recommended for professional level graphics due to issues with color accuracy and visual artifacts.
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I was planning on having the budget for the monitor stand at about $200, do you believe that would be enough? I was considering a dell monitor, as I have heard they are actually pretty decent.

^^ If it is for professional use, then the i7 9xx is fine...
But if you wont be overclocking, then the i7 870 would actually help because it has a better Turbo mode, hence would overclock higher if needed and will perform better...
And I doubt Tri-Channel vs Dual-Channel would have any significant impact on performance...

Monitor - Dell's new IPS maybe...
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?s...

And heat wont be a concern if the case has good airflow...

That makes sense, I was not aware of the turbo boost technology in the I7 870. When comparing the two though, factoring that the 870 costs $30 more...

I7 930 MB + RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

I7 870 MB + RAM:
http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-3463938-10521304?sid=4fqfr...

Factoring the $30 processor difference, the overall difference between the two options there is about $5... so it comes down to whether or not it's more future friendly / performance boosting to have the I7 930 with 6 GB of ram at 1600 and triple channel or the I7 870 with 8GB of ram at 1333 and dual channel. Also, the comparisons between the advantages of the gigabyte MB vs the EVGA MB is somewhat confusing to me.

^ Not to forget you get 2GB of more RAM with the i7 870...
As for the Turbo boost, even the i7 930 has it, but it is not as high compared to the 870...
i7 870 - Max Turbo - 3.6GHz
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=41315
i7 930 - Max Turbo - 3.06GHz
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=41447

As for the mobo, the Gigabyte is feature rich...If you wont be going with more than 1 graphics card, then that EVGA doesn't offer any advantage over the P55 Gigabyte and also the Gigabyte board has USB3.0 and SATA 6GB/s(Though SATA 6GB/s wont matter much, but USB3.0 is certainly a good addition)

IMO if this is professional you should be spending at least 300$ on a monitor, potentially thousands.

Dell U series is typically very good. 99% of the performance of the 4000$ monitors, but for hundreds.

Thanks for the advice on the monitors.

As for the parts for the actual computer themselves I am gather then that on this budget it makes more sense to go with the I7 870 for $30 more than the I7 930? It seemed to me that if Microcenter is running the I7 930 for $200 that it would be power / cost intelligent to go with the processor on the biggest sale, but I guess if the motherboards and ram for the 1366 socket are more expensive that makes it not worth it then(probably why its on sale, it's not selling as great)?

Thanks again for all your help.

I agree with all the recommendations of gkay09 except the processor: Get the i7-930 and overclock it - the EVGA board has a dummy overclock feature if you do not want to spend the time playing with it.

Since you are concerned about heat, I recommend you add a heat sink on your CPU: Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus for $30. This is not strictly necessary, even with the mild dummy overclock, but is still good insurance.

Found a motherboard combo that includes Win 7 OS for a decent price: EVGA x58 SLI/Win 7 64 bit, Home premium



Here then is a summary:

CPU: i7-930 for $200

mobo/Win 7 for $270, before rebate of $30

HDD: 2 Samsung f3, 1 TB for $150

Save a few $ on RAM: OCZ Gold (not Obsidian) 6Gb for $160 before rebate of $30

Graphic: Saphire HD Radeon 5770 for $145 before $15 rebate.

Did you want a Blu Ray burner for and extra $50?

PSU and Case from gkay09 for $140

Cooler Master heatsink for $30

That makes it a total of $1095 (without the Blu Ray).

Add a Samsung 23.6" Monitor from Microcenter for $200 and you still have come in under budget! http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml...

I was thinking that, but I was also told to not mess around with OCZ ram when Ripjaw isnt too much more expensive and more "reliable". Also, is OCing the processor going to give me problems in reliability and durability? I dont want to drop $1300 on a computer and wear it down quickly and have to buy a new one in 4-5 years, or is that pretty much going to be required anyways?

Thanks for you help.

I don't think you understand on the monitor. Cheap monitors are made with TN panels, which have 6-bit color and bad viewing angles. Fine for gaming, but for any sort of professional editing they won't suffice.

You'll need an IPS monitor if this is more than an occasional hobby. Dell recently had a deal on a 1920 IPS 23in for 220$, normally 350$.

As long as you don't voltmod your processor and have good cooling it shouldn't really affect your lifespan.

If you wont consider overclocking, then certainly the i7 870 has the upper hand, but if you are willing to try your hand at overclocking, then i7 930 is a better option...
I still wont recommend OCZ RAMs as of now...

As for the monitor, the Dell which I linked earlier is a 21.5" version of the same monitor, sp12 is talking about and if you will be doing pro work, then certainly get an IPS monitor...

Dummy overclocking will be stable and not cause problems. If you do not like the results, there is an option on the board to reset everything back to stock settings. For day to day use, I have my i7-920 CPU with exactly the same motherboard overclocked to 3.4 Ghz. this is just slightly higher than the i7-920, and is stable under Prime-95. This is conservative among overclockers, but is noticably faster to me, while only increasing temperatures slightly. The Dummy OC feature is more conservative still.

Edit: ps - you should probably listen to sp12, since I am not really familiar with professional monitors, and he sounds authoritative.
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