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Tom's Hardware > Forum > Systems > New Build > [Solved] [SOLVED] First Build! Need Review ($1000 All-Purpose PC)

[Solved] [SOLVED] First Build! Need Review ($1000 All-Purpose PC)

Forum Systems : New Build [Solved] [SOLVED] First Build! Need Review ($1000 All-Purpose PC)

Hi everyone!

I'm new to Tom's Hardware but a few days of trolling have led me to believe this is a good place for advice.

I am about to start building my first computer. I've done my reading and think I have a good enough feel to get started... but I would really appreciate anyone's input on the build I am going for.

For background, I want this PC to be really fast at multitasking/data processing, solid for Photoshop/illustrator, and good enough for premier and solidworks. I've got a $1000 budget and want this thing to last.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit: CPU
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz
224.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

Motherboard:
ASUS P8P67 LE LGA 1155, Intel P67 SATA
144.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] llFullInfo

Edit: Power Supply
Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified
64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371044

EDIT: Memory
CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
74.99 (after $20 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] llFullInfo

Harddrive
Seagate Constellation 500GB, 7200 RPM, 32MB Cache
89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

EDITx2: Graphics Card
ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB 192-bit GDDR5
120.00 (after 30$ rebate)
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?f [...] 6814121390

EDIT: Case
COOLER MASTER HAF 912
49.99 (after 10$ rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119233

DVD R/W
ASUS black DVD RW
21.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204

Monitor
Acer S211HLbd 21.5'' 5ms LED-Backlight LCD Monitor
119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824009261

CPU Cooler
None additional. Just going with what is stock on the CPU

Keyboard/Mouse
Logitech MK120
18.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6823126097

EDIT: Total Costs: $945.93
--------------------------------------------------------------------

If I am missing something critical please let me know. This is literally my buying list. If something important is not listed its not because I forgot.... its that I didn't know I needed it.

Seriously, thanks in advance for all the help!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Message edited by afhaque89 on 05-23-2011 at 07:48:17 PM

Reply to afhaque89

It's the H67 that has the integrated GFX, not the P67
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131711

cheaper RAM
(2 x 4GB) Corsair CAS 9 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820145324

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ If a man speaks in the forest and no woman hears him, is he still wrong ?
Reply to JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE wrote :

It's the H67 that has the integrated GFX, not the P67
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131711

Er.. This is a newb question probably. But I thought it was the CPU that had the integrated graphics not the motherboard? On the details for the CPU it says: "Intel HD Graphics 3000". Do I need another integrated graphics chip on the motherboard as well?

Reply to afhaque89

Okay I think I follow you now, Jack

This table from another post in the forum helped understand the difference between P67 and H67.

I'm adding:
Graphics Card: ASUS ENGT430/DI/1GD3(LP) GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit
69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121397

Thanks! And thanks for the RAM recommendation. Nice little 20$ rebate

Reply to afhaque89

The case is an old design that makes cable management and HD access difficult.

For 10$ less, a far better case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119233

For the same price (ends today) $20 OFF instant.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811112319

Both have better quality fans, fit and finish. The Lian LI has much better filters.

Reply to acidrain

Quote :

For the same price (ends today) $20 OFF instant.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811112319

Both have better quality fans, fit and finish. The Lian LI has much better filters.

Thanks a lot. I might just snag this today actually.

Reply to afhaque89

LOL are you kidding me. The Lian Li sold out three seconds after looking at it.

Message edited by afhaque89 on 05-23-2011 at 01:29:10 AM

Reply to afhaque89

Don't understand your choice of HD either.

For $20 less you can get 2TB instead of 500 GB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152245

If you want an appreciable increase in boot(and application) loading speed, you need to look at adding an SSD.

It adds $215 to your build, but if you are looking to increase your productivity for the long haul, I would add a 120 GB SSD boot drive.

Other than Memory, it is what will speed your applications the greatest amount. (given your already high end CPU)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820227726

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by acidrain on 05-23-2011 at 01:39:38 AM

Reply to acidrain

Quote :

LOL are you kidding me. The Lian Li sold out three seconds after looking at it.

Sorry, bought my on Friday so you can't blame me. :ange:

I did check it still was on sale before posting.

Reply to acidrain

acidrain wrote :

Don't understand your choice of HD either.

For $10 less you can get 2TB instead of 500 GB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152245

If you want an appreciable increase in boot(and application) loading speed, you need to look at adding an SSD.

My first place for reading material was Building a Perfect PC by Robert Thompson and he made a pretty strong recommendation for sticking to 7200 RPM hard drives. Here's the quote:

Quote :

"A mainstream 7,200 RPM serial ATA (SATA) hard drive is the best choice for nearly any system. Such drives are fast, inexpensive, and reliable. The best models are also relatively quiet and produce little heat. When you design your system, use one of these drives unless you have good reason to do otherwise.

Avoid 5,400 RPM or 5,900 RPM drives, which cost less than 7,200 RPM models but have noticeably poorer performance. The exception to that rule is when performance doesn't matter. For example, you may need to store huge amounts of data that is seldom accessed, in which case performance may be less important than capacity and cost. Similarly, if you're using the drive in an external chassis for doing overnight backups, you probably don't care if the backup takes four hours to complete on a 5,400 RPM drive versus only three hours on a 7,200 RPM drive."

In any case, I can't see myself ever even getting close to 500 GB. I haven't even been able to hit 40 GB on my laptop that I've been using for the past 5 years.

As for getting the SSD drive. I'm open to it down the line, but really want to stay within my budget for now.

-------------------

But seriously thanks for the input. This was exactly the kind of review I was looking for.

If you're still around, will my graphics card suffice?

Message edited by afhaque89 on 05-23-2011 at 01:49:26 AM

Reply to afhaque89

Well, do you have a spare power cord around? one from an old system that is retired?

I have about a dozen...but I'm an enthusiast.

I thought you had the antec 650 bronze listed, but looked and you have the older 80+

This one is not only more efficient, but $25 less.

(assuming you have a spare cord around)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371044

Reply to acidrain

Quote :

My first place for reading material was Building a Perfect PC by Robert Thompson and he made a pretty strong recommendation for sticking to 7200 RPM hard drives. Here's the quote:

Yeah, that is a really simplistic approach.
Yeah, RPM has an affect, but so does platter size, areal density, cache, ATA 48-bit Address Feature, SATA Native Command Queuing Feature and about a dozen other factors.

The only way to know the real speed is to look at reviews. However, like I said, the difference in speed between any good quality modern HD is negligible. I have not read Mr. Thompsons book, but I am willing to bet that he is not keeping up with the fast pace of change in the industry. :wahoo: :lol: (or if he is, it is not reflected in adequate updates to the guide)

Message edited by acidrain on 05-23-2011 at 02:14:43 AM

Reply to acidrain

Quote :

This one is not only more efficient, but $25 less.

(assuming you have a spare cord around)

Well I've got an ancient HP Pavilion 6645. (My house is mostly laptops). Does the cord have to be anything special? Like a: "Make sure the cord says..." that I should know about?

In any case for 25$ can't I just buy myself a new powercord?

Reply to afhaque89

Nothing special, just the standard 3-slot smiley face model that has been around forever.

Quote :

n any case for 25$ can't I just buy myself a new powercord?

Yeah, $3...Just wanted to warn you, and not have you go ape-S... trying to find it in the box. :lol:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cat [...] s_id=27543

Message edited by acidrain on 05-23-2011 at 02:26:54 AM

Reply to acidrain

Quote :

Yeah, $3...Just wanted to warn you, and not have you go ape-S... trying to find it in the box. :lol:

It's funny because I just tried to dig it out.... But failed haha. 3$ is definitely acceptable

Reply to afhaque89

Best answer

on the graphics card, Adobe use GPU Compute acceleration on some high end programs (CUDA on NVDA cards) However, I don't know if has filtered down to Illustrator.

In general, the best bang for your buck on graphics cards is the mid range ($100-200)

AMD 6850 @ $150 and NV 460 say down to $120 on sale

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121390

I don't know if you need(or can use) the extra processing power.

Check to see if premier and solid works use open gl, and or Cuda. If they do, I would definitely step up to a more advanced card.

See List of GPU accelerated functions:

http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/features.html

Solidworks only list professional grade cards, but confirms that it uses Open GL for rendering.

If you are not OC(, the K in the 2600 I7 doesn't get you anything. (since you are going with the stock cooler, I assume you were not planning on much of an OC)

You can save around $100 by going down to the i5 2500 K (save you some room for light OC)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115073

You loose HT, but the hit is not as great as it might seem.

Excellent real world work load review comparing 2600 and 2500:

http://www.fudzilla.com/reviews/it [...] st?start=6

I'd be willing to bet that the $100 would be better spent on the graphics card. :wahoo:

Message edited by acidrain on 05-23-2011 at 03:45:12 AM

Reply to acidrain

You could consider going with a z68 motherboard so you can add a small SSD later and use the SSD caching features

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to cmadrid

Quote :

If you are not OC(, the K in the 2600 I7 doesn't get you anything. (since you are going with the stock cooler, I assume you were not planning on much of an OC)

You can save around $100 by going down to the i5 2500 K (save you some room for light OC)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115073

You loose HT, but the hit is not as great as it might seem.

Excellent real world work load review comparing 2600 and 2500:

http://www.fudzilla.com/reviews/it [...] st?start=6

Thanks for the comparison link. That was really eye-opening.

And you're right. i-5 2500k looks to be the better option for me. 6% faster isn't worth $90 to me, and I'm not quite comfortable enough with overclocking to benefit from the 2600's added potential in that department. (Though I might tinker around with the 2500 if something more is possible with just the stock cooler)

------------

Oh I almost forgot to ask. Even after adding the graphics card, I should still be okay with power requirements right? (Newb question I know...).

Message edited by afhaque89 on 05-23-2011 at 04:54:22 AM

Reply to afhaque89

cmadrid wrote :

You could consider going with a z68 motherboard so you can add a small SSD later and use the SSD caching features

Hey cmadrid. Do you have any simple walkthroughs on how to do this? I think its a little outside my league/time commitment to get a handle on it at this point. But thanks for the suggestion!

Reply to afhaque89

I will look for one, I've seen a few reviews that say its very easy to set up

Reply to cmadrid

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1615/1/

motherboard review.. links from there to their ssd caching review

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1612/2/

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to cmadrid

Yeah, 650 watt is enough for almost any single card system.

With the 460, your entire system won't ever be pulling much more than 350 watts.
Hence, you have plenty of cushion. You will in fact be hitting the sweet spot of optimal efficiency (in the 50% range is the most efficient for most PSU.)

Message edited by acidrain on 05-23-2011 at 06:01:52 AM

Reply to acidrain

Shoot, you forgot the OS tax. :non:

Unless you have a full version that you will transfer, OEM is the way to go.

$25 off with your MB, always check the combo's when you pick your core items.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.652924

Memory combo with CPU gets you CAS 8 1600 memory at a dollar or two less and no MIR. (instant combo verse delay)

G-Skill and Corsair are both highly rated.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.644341

Message edited by acidrain on 05-23-2011 at 05:59:06 AM

Reply to acidrain

Quote :

Unless you have a full version that you will transfer, OEM is the way to go.

$25 off with your MB, always check the combo's when you pick your core items.

Yeah I was thinking of giving ubuntu a shot... and if I got too frustrated, I'd drag myself back to Windows.

--------------

Quote :

Memory combo with CPU gets you CAS 8 1600 memory at a dollar or two less and no MIR. (instant combo verse delay)

G-Skill and Corsair are both highly rated.

This is also really good. Thanks a ton!

--------------

Reply to afhaque89

cmadrid wrote :

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1615/1/

motherboard review.. links from there to their ssd caching review

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1612/2/

Dang man. Just as I was getting into the potential of the ssd caching. The last batch of Asus z68s were sold out.

Are either of you guys familiar with the GIGABYTE GA-Z68X?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

-----

Reply to afhaque89

Gigabyte ASUS MSI ASRock z68 boards should all work similarly

Reply to cmadrid

Okay. So based on the possibility of going to SSD caching. I now have a second build to compare against. This time I'm including some bundling left-and-right and am including Windows 7. My cost ends up being 1122.90, which means I am going to have to compromise somewhere (as close to $1000 as is possible).... but this has a lot of speed potential!

Let me know if you guys think this one is better (I'd go with option 1... but its over my $1000l price point).

------------
Z68 Gigabyte Build for SSD Caching - OPTION 1
-------------------------------------------------------

Bundle 1: 389.98
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.652042

Bundle 2: 219.98 (after 20$ rebate)
Graphics Card (Switched to cheaper): ASUS ENGTS450 DC OC/DI/1GD5 GeForce GTS 450 (Fermi)
Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.653599

Harddrive (went for cheaper harddrive.): 44.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148395

Memory
CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
74.99 (after $20 rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] -_-Product

Case: 50
Cooler Master HAL 2
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?f [...] 6811119233

Monitor: 119.99
Acer S211HLbd 21.5'' 5ms LED-Backlight LCD Monitor
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?f [...] 6824009261

Power Supply: 64.99
Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] v2.3%20SLI

DVD R/W: 21.99
Some basic one...
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?f [...] 6827135204

Keyboard Mouse: 18.99
http://api.viglink.com/api/click?f [...] 6823126097

Total Costs: 1005.90 (Just about Right) ----> THIS IS WHAT I'm GOING WITH.

Message edited by afhaque89 on 05-23-2011 at 08:22:06 PM

Reply to afhaque89

------------
P67 Original Build after edits - OPTION 2
-------------------------------------------------------

Bundle 1: 259.98
Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 LE (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.652924

Bundle 2: 296.98
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz
Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Comb [...] mbo.644341

Graphics Card: 119.99
ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP/2DI/768MD5 GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 768MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121390

Harddrive: 44.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822148395

Case: 50
Cooler Master HAL 2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] gx4dypea3i

Monitor: 119.99
Acer S211HLbd 21.5'' 5ms LED-Backlight LCD Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] %20Monitor

Power Supply: 64.99
Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] v2.3%20SLI

DVD R/W: 21.99
Some basic one...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135204

Keyboard Mouse: 18.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] ljcjfvhou9

Total Costs: 1019.90

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In any case you guys have been EXTREMELY helpful for me. Like seriously was not expecting this thorough of a review. I really appreciate everyone's help!

Message edited by afhaque89 on 05-23-2011 at 11:07:37 AM

Reply to afhaque89

get the first one and buy the SSD when you get an extra bit of cash

Reply to cmadrid

Yeah, the edited first option is better.

Prices on SSD keep coming down. I'm not sold on the Caching option. It is really still a half-way compromise that is not optimized yet.
Perhaps with better OS support in the future.......

My reading of ANANDS review is that you are still better off using a separate boot drive.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4337 [...] orce-ssd/6

Read and Especially write speeds increase significantly on the larger SSD.

Save your money and upgrade to the 128 GB SSD later. By the end of the year(or a little later) they will be down to a very reasonable 1$ GB.

Once you get one, you will never go back. :lol:

Reply to acidrain

Okay. I bought option #1. Thanks everyone for the extreme amount of help given!

Reply to afhaque89

Best answer selected by afhaque89.

Reply to afhaque89

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