Hey there
![:) :)]()
Quite self-conscious about making a post here. I must confess my experience with hardware is pretty much nonexistent, but I've been reading a lot and trying my best to keep up with all the information. Even with the power of google, however, I believe I'm still rather lost, so I'd appreciate your help!
Approximate Purchase Date: Probably next week
Country: Brazil
Budget Range: Now, this one is tricky.. because these things get pretty expensive here in Brazil, and the amount/quality of things I can buy in here for US$1900 is no doubt much less than if I were to buy them in the US(which unfortunately, I'm not able to). The
highest I can go is R$3500 (or around
US$1900), but ideally I'd rather go lower than that.
System Usage: Can be quite varied. At this time it's mostly for Illustration(Photoshop, Illustrator, etc), InDesign, Gaming (Skyrim, GTA IV, for example), Watching Movies, Surfing the Internet, 3D Modeling, etc. Very little 3D Modeling so far (only using Rhinoceros) but that will increase this year, since I'll need to work with 3D Studio Max, Zbrush and might start working with Maya. Also, I often have to
use a bunch of those programs at the same time (Usually InDesign + Illustrator + Photoshop + Rhinoceros + Music Player + Web Browser + Live Messenger are open at the same time, which my current dated computer doesn't handle so well). Also very soon, this New Computer will be used for quite a bit of Video Editing. The computer usually
stays on for a long time (all day and all night for some days without intervals), too.
Additional Comments: For the reasons above and the desire of building a somewhat future-proof PC... the i7 2600K is the one piece of the build I'm not planning to change for an i5, for example. It'd be nice if the final build weren't too loud, but I suppose I can live with it if it does (I rather have it well cooled and stable).
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After much looking around, I managed to find a vendor that offers the following build for about $1500 (believe it or not, the cheapest vendor I could find):
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CPU: i7 2600K 3.4GHz
Overclocking: Yes (Only slightly, since the computer stays on practically 24/7 - Also given my inexperience, the vendor himself will be doing the overclock)
RAM: 16 GB of Kingston - DDR3-1333
Storage: Initially I planned to get a 60GB SSD for the OS and Software, along with a 1TB HDD, but since here the price of a 60GB SSD is about the same as of a 1TB HDD, and I've read quite a few stories of SSDs being a headache, I've opted for (2) 1TB HDDs instead (included in the price). I might opt for an SSD in the future(a year from now, perhaps) if the prices go down considerably.
Monitors: Currently using the native 1600x900 resolution of a LED monitor I have here, but I do plan to add a second (hopefully bigger) monitor to go along with it, just not so soon.
GPU: Another great dilemma of mine. An
Nvidia GTX 560 Ti SC is included in the price, but a
GTX 570 is also an option with an increase of about US$250 in price, which, despite looking at benchmarks and reviews, I still can't decide if it's worth it. I don't plan to SLI currently, because from what I heard the programs I use don't benefit so much from it.. and though I love gaming, work is still higher on my priority list. It might be interesting to have the option to, in the future but.. do you guys think it's worth buying a MOBO that supports that?
MOBO: The vendor gives two options for the same price, the
ASUS P8H67-V and the
Intel® DH67CL/VR/BL. If I didn't read wrong, the ASUS one doesn't support SLI, while the Intel one does, but I'm kind of in the dark here about the quality of Intel MOBOs... Is there a better (but not too much more expensive) option or is it a fine option for its price? Should I
ditch the option of future SLI'ing altogether and go for a different MOBO?
Additional Comments²: As I mentioned before, my knowledge of hardware is pretty much nonexistent, so I don't plan on doing much tweaking on the system myself. In fact, the less I have to tweak it the better, to avoid potential disasters (another reason I decided not to buy an SSD, yet, if I had to fix it for some reason, I would be utterly lost).
PSU: 600 Watts (Hopefully enough?)
I have no idea about the case and cooling options, either. Certainly don't want anything to fry.
Sorry for the long post, I know it's a lot of stuff, but hopefully all relevant info I can give is there.
Any help/advice/opinion is very much appreciated!