Reduce the cost of this system please

[natseb]

Hi,

I am putting together a pc that will be used for photos/gaming (50/50) so need good GPU and CPU and this is what I have chosen so far. I am not interested in SLI, will be overclocking in the future. Where can I cut some costs? At the moment it turns out to be around £900 and I would like to bring it down to maybe £700-800.

i5 2500k
Asus P8Z68-v PRO/GEN 3

Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB low profile
GTX 560Ti

Corsair Force 3 SSD 120GB
Seagate Barr. 7200 1TB

Thermalright Silver Arrow CPU Cooler
Case - CoolerMaster Elite 430
PSU - Antec truepower 650W

 

[r0aringdrag0n]

1. Remove the SSD, you really won't see a big performance increase when you have a SSD. You could, however, go with a smaller SSD (40GB) to load windows onto the SSD and have everything else on the HDD so you have fast boot times.
2. Go with a cheaper motherboard, on NewEgg it costs $215 (don't know how much it costs where you're buying it from). I would go with a motherboard that is around 4/5th the price of the current motherboard (something around $175 should do) This should do the trick:
ASRock Z68 Extreme4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157250
now you have to find it on whatever site you're buying from

 

[natseb]

Thanks r0aringdrag0n. It's so difficult to remove something.
1. Maybe I could reduce the size of the SSD. Do you really think SSD will not give a big performance boost? Some people are saying something completely opposite. Need to do some research.

2. Would prefer to stay with Asus/Gigabyte/MSI. Can you suggest something?


If I would like to reduce GPU what is the next best choice - GTX 560 (not Ti)? Can you suggest anything for around £100 (~$160)?
BTW, I am in the UK and for parts I am using amazon.co.uk.

 

[Emelth]

For gaming purposes the SSDs are great for games that require a lot of loading screens (MMOs) and still it only makes it a couple seconds quicker. Really I dont see the benfit to get one if I was on a budget

 

[Emelth]

Also 560 Ti is better, if you are a gamer and want performance stick with the 570 reduce or take out the SSD.

 

[natseb]

The thing is that I wanted to install photoshop and lightroom on the SSD and keep the lightroom catalog (photo previews + photo settings) and these are being used quite a lot when using LR.

I think I will have to sell my kidney and just go for this setup.

 

[raptorxrx]

You could get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO instead of the Silver Arrow...

 

[viktorbkk]

A 120GB SSD is gonna give you more trouble than gains. A few seconds shaved off at the loading screen ain't worth installing and uninstalling your games all the time. Games are getting huge, 120GB just isn't enough.

I use a 1TB Caviar Black HDD & dual GTX570s on my system. I play all modern games maxed out at 1920x1200. I fail to see how an SSD would augment my gaming experience.

If you want to get the best experience, drop the SSD and invest as much as you can on the GPU front. Your 2500K will handle as much graphics power as you can throw at it.

Since you want to stick with a single GPU, I would recommend a GTX570 or even GTX580 if you can afford it.

 

[r0aringdrag0n]

A 120GB SSD is gonna give you more trouble than gains. A few seconds shaved off at the loading screen ain't worth installing and uninstalling your games all the time. Games are getting huge, 120GB just isn't enough.

I use a 1TB Caviar Black HDD & dual GTX570s on my system. I play all modern games maxed out at 1920x1200. I fail to see how an SSD would augment my gaming experience.

If you want to get the best experience, drop the SSD and invest as much as you can on the GPU front. Your 2500K will handle as much graphics power as you can throw at it.

Since you want to stick with a single GPU, I would recommend a GTX570 or even GTX580 if you can afford it.

He wants to lower the cost of his build not buy better components.
1. SSDs do reduce the time of loading, but ONLY if the game is stored on the SSD
2. I woul dgo with a 60GB SSD, which should be a few bucks cheaper
3. I would stick with the 560Ti, it's one of the better GPUs and it's for the mid-range gamer...any lower and you're looking at budget gaming...
4. ASUS/MSI/Gigabyte are all good Mainboard manufacturers, although ASRock is good too, since the parent company is ASUS...


EDIT: If you have not told us where you are buying your components, can you do that for us? It'll make your life easier in where we can give you the links of the items for that website.

Also, these are good motherboards:

ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131759

GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD3P
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128506

ASRock Z68 Extreme4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157250

 

[natseb]

Thanks guys. I mentioned in my second post that I am using amazon.co.uk for parts.
SSD is a tough decision. If it was only for gaming I would have dumped it already but I want to keep Lightroom there and it might help. I say might because I sitll need to do some research on that.

Re the mobo I found Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 which costs £75 and it's getting great reviews. Ok, I will not have internal USB connector but this is not something I am would pay additional £75.

The GPU - initially I've chosen GTX 570 but the overall cost was just too high for me - therefore GTX 560Ti.

 

[ujaansona]

Keep the SSD, If you use Lightroom for a living; it will make PS Lightroom load faster & also loading/saving raw images having big file size will be quick.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Remove the SSD and use a hybrid HD

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=806&Itemid=60

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148837

SSD's do give a big performance boost .... in benchmarks ..... but will ya really notice the difference if the machine boots in 16 seconds (Vertex 3) or 17 seconds Seagate HD. SSD's really shine in large file transfers....but just how much of your time does the PC spend doing that (answer very little)

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=806&Itemid=60&limit=1&limitstart=7

If ya wanna take the next step down on the GFX, I was gonna suggest the 6870, but your Adobe plans put the nix on that.

And make sure t grab a factory OC'd version with the larger coolers....usually the same price on this side of the pond ..... perty easy to OC further to 1000Mhz

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-TOP-PCI-Express-Top-Selected-Overclocked/dp/B0051BAWGU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322926240&sr=8-2

 

[natseb]

Hybrid HDD? that's totally new to me, need to check that.

The SSD in lightroom - there are so many different opinions that I have a headache already. It's not black and white at all. Maybe I will just forget about SSD for now and buy one when they improve, maybe new lightroom will bring some changes in that matter as well. This would reduce the cost quite a lot.

You're right JackNaylorPE - I am not bothered about boot times at all.

Re Radeon GPUs - I've read something somewhere that only Nvidia is supported but then elsewhere there was an article saying it's bullshit... ehhh
The thing with Radeons is that cheap Gigabyte mobo is only supporting Ati Crosfire - not that I care about this now but maybe in a few years time I will decide to buy another GPU to speed thing up and buying radeon now would make sense.

 

[natseb]

And if I want to get a readeon equivalent of 560Ti performance what would it be?

 

[r0aringdrag0n]

the Radeon HD 6950

 

[natseb]

Hmmm much more expensive than 560Ti, it's a pity.

 

[raptorxrx]

About the hybrid HDD.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9209863/Users_frustrated_with_Seagate_s_next_gen_hybrid_drive

Oh and I can't find any old 560ti's on newegg? Just me? If not than the 6950 is cheaper.

 

[raptorxrx]

NM, I found them. But it's only like 30 bones less.