Very first-ever build-enthusiast $1,100-1,200

[canhcutvl]

Approximate Purchase Date: Hopefully August when the money is ready
Budget Range: $1,100 - $1,200 after rebate, including shipping and tax
System Usage from Most to Least Important: programming (visual studio,MS SQL, Java, etc), Adobe photoshop, video editing, net surfing, HD movies watching, I don't think I will game tho
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: any popular website with good customer+return services + cheap price
Country: WA, US => No slow super saver Amazon unless they are 10% cheaper than other sites as I have to pay tax there.
Parts Preferences: no preference as long as durability-quality-price balance
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: widescreen 1080+ depend on what deal I can get when the build finish
Additional Comments: I can no longer stand my 5-yr old Core2Duo 2GB RAM laptop so I want to build a new one because no prebuilt satisfy my need.
I would like to have the build to cater my need and software upgrade for at least 3.5 yrs to come. Potential reuse for the next build is a plus

■

My questions are: the config already max out my budget, so could you guys have a look to see if there is any imbalance / non-compatible issue / redundancy that can be cut back? Thanks a load

This is my very first diy build so i really scare i may screw up something and the whole bunch of expensive toys have to be thrown away
So here is the list I come up with :

■+ CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770
■+ Stock CPU Cooler
■+ Mobo: Biostar TZ77B ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
■+ Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
■+ SSD: SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128B/WW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
■+ SATA disk: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
■+ Graphic card: GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series GV-R685OC-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX
■+ Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Enforcer SGC-1000-KWN1 Black SECC / ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX PS2 / EPS 12V
■+ COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200 R4-LUS-07AB-GP 200mm Blue LED Case Fan
■+ PSU: Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-550 550W Continuous @ 50°C, 80 PLUS GOLD Certified, Single +12V Rail, ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92, SLI Ready, CrossFire Ready, Active - PFC Power Supply
■+ Blu-ray Combo: LITE-ON H/H Internal BD Combo with Nero Essential SATA Model IHES312-98
■+ Wifi adapter: (I don't have direct access to the router)Rosewill RNX-N300X PCI Wireless Adapter

Tools to buy: Rosewill RTK-045 45 Piece Premium Computer Tool Kit

The list also available here

 

[obsama1]

All compatible. But get a different PSU. Rosewill PSU's are oft unreliable.

 

[canhcutvl]

oh thanks, do you have any recommendation for 80 PLUS GOLD 550W?

 

[obsama1]

Found one that's $10 more, and is Platinum certified! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371055

 

[dudewitbow]

All compatible. But get a different PSU. Rosewill PSU's are oft unreliable.

No rosewills psu is better than it was before. the capstone series is a solid series of psu. the capstone is a superflower made PSU.

here's a few reviews on the different wattage models
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5698/rosewill-capstone-450w-and-650w-80plus-gold
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=266

ever since the few years have gone by, some companies have made alot of changes with their psu line. rosewill being one of the biggest contenders. the hive series, which is essentially an OCS ZS psu, the capstone series and the green series was a good start for the company(who is part of newegg). they got their name good enough now that they are now shipping off platinum certified psus

if you are one of the people who tend to only say corsair/seasonic/antec etc, then that isnt the best way to buy a psu.

 

[obsama1]

Apologies, I didn't know that info!
Seriously, because some people on other forums say to stay away from RW.

 

[dudewitbow]

Apologies, I didn't know that info!
Seriously, because some people on other forums say to stay away from RW.

They are usually people who are single track mind and never learned the ins and outs of psus. EVERY maker of psus has at least a few bad units, some make the effort to change(i.e rosewill was one of the few) others dont (coolermaster). if this was talking about the rosewill psus before the recent years, i would whole heartedly agree. Its just ones job though to weed out what is a good psu and what is a bad one. even coolermaster has a decent psu somewhere among all the very bad ones.

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page2917.htm

heres the history of the rosewill psus. notice the large gap of non certified psus towards the middle. that was rosewills failure of a psu age. the bottom of the page would be their newer models, which all have some form of a decent review and are 100% useable

 

[canhcutvl]

Thanks guys, I think I will go with the cheaper one (in the same cert class) at the time I buy, since they are similar in quality.
How about RAM? Is it too little? and the SSD? It's kind of expensive to me but ppl say once you go SSD u nv come back

 

[SingingThroughTheStorm]

SSD is good, at a pretty solid price. If you want to cut back in pricing a little you can wait on a deal as Crucial M4 128GB drives pop up for $100 and lower from time to time. Granted the Samsung will outperform the Crucial in speed.

The Rosewill is nice, although seems sort of pricey. Overall the build looks pretty solid though. Good luck!

 

[bctande1]

Approximate Purchase Date: Hopefully August when the money is ready
Budget Range: $1,100 - $1,200 after rebate, including shipping and tax
System Usage from Most to Least Important: programming (visual studio,MS SQL, Java, etc), Adobe photoshop, video editing, net surfing, HD movies watching, I don't think I will game tho
Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: any popular website with good customer+return services + cheap price
Country: WA, US => No slow super saver Amazon unless they are 10% cheaper than other sites as I have to pay tax there.
Parts Preferences: no preference as long as durability-quality-price balance
Overclocking: No
SLI or Crossfire: No
Monitor Resolution: widescreen 1080+ depend on what deal I can get when the build finish
Additional Comments: I can no longer stand my 5-yr old Core2Duo 2GB RAM laptop so I want to build a new one because no prebuilt satisfy my need.
I would like to have the build to cater my need and software upgrade for at least 3.5 yrs to come. Potential reuse for the next build is a plus

■

My questions are: the config already max out my budget, so could you guys have a look to see if there is any imbalance / non-compatible issue / redundancy that can be cut back? Thanks a load

This is my very first diy build so i really scare i may screw up something and the whole bunch of expensive toys have to be thrown away
So here is the list I come up with :

■+ CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770
■+ Stock CPU Cooler
■+ Mobo: Biostar TZ77B ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
■+ Memory: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
■+ SSD: SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128B/WW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
■+ SATA disk: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
■+ Graphic card: GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series GV-R685OC-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX
■+ Case: COOLER MASTER Storm Enforcer SGC-1000-KWN1 Black SECC / ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX PS2 / EPS 12V
■+ COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200 R4-LUS-07AB-GP 200mm Blue LED Case Fan
■+ PSU: Rosewill CAPSTONE Series CAPSTONE-550 550W Continuous @ 50°C, 80 PLUS GOLD Certified, Single +12V Rail, ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92, SLI Ready, CrossFire Ready, Active - PFC Power Supply
■+ Blu-ray Combo: LITE-ON H/H Internal BD Combo with Nero Essential SATA Model IHES312-98
■+ Wifi adapter: (I don't have direct access to the router)Rosewill RNX-N300X PCI Wireless Adapter

Tools to buy: Rosewill RTK-045 45 Piece Premium Computer Tool Kit

The list also available here

CPU - A 3770 is very good, a 3930 would be ideal, but the 3770 is no shrug, so you're good there

MOBO - Good

Memory - This is where you really have to step it up. You will most likely be running several CPU-intensive applications at once and that will guzzle memory space. So I'd say you have to go up to 12GB at least, 8GB is simply not sufficient.

SSD - Good, you can install the OS and a few apps like Photoshop on there.

HDD - Good

GPU - This is honestly a toss-up. You can go a lower costing GPU if you'd like, because a 40$ less GPU will not show any substantial decreases in video-rendering, certainly not in photoshop, but in 3D modeling then probably. Nevertheless, IVY bridge has a very very good Integrated GPU to speed up these processes. So, in essence, a 6850 will be fine, but don't be afraid by going lower.

Case-- Good

PSU - Try a more reputable 550w like Antec. Rosewill's aren't the best you can get at the moment

BLU RAY AND WIFI are ok.

I'd say here focus most of your energy into getting the best CPU performance, SSD performance and RAM. These will affect your app performance the most.

 

[dudewitbow]

PSU - Try a more reputable 550w like Antec. Rosewill's aren't the best you can get at the moment

GAh, you are just proving what i just stated above. You should never judge a company as a whole on products. judge them by the specific models, only novices in the psu world would give such advice.

 

[venur]

I wouldn't run a bioastar mobo on a 1200$ budget, Asrock make good mobo at a low price.

 

[bctande1]

GAh, you are just proving what i just stated above. You should never judge a company as a whole on products. judge them by the specific models, only novices in the psu world would give such advice.

Ok, that makes sense, I agree.

Damn, no reason to go as far as declare me a "PSU novice" - calm yourself, dude.

What I recommened certainly wasn't a bad recommendation and be bolding reliable was not implying that Rosewill wasn't at all reliable, I simply said they weren't the best at the moment, which, while true, may not have held significance because he isn't running heavy duty components. I recommended a lower wattage PSU, so I emphasized it be reliable on the other elements that make a PSU good quality.

 

[dudewitbow]

Ok, that makes sense, I agree.

Damn, no reason to go as far as declare me a "PSU novice" - calm yourself, dude.

What I recommened certainly wasn't a bad recommendation and be bolding reliable was not implying that Rosewill wasn't at all reliable, I simply said they weren't the best at the moment, which, while true, may not have held significance because he isn't running heavy duty components. I recommended a lower wattage PSU, so I emphasized it be reliable on the other elements that make a PSU good quality.

the only problem is, the capstone series(which is gold certified) IS a good unit and I even posted up reviews of it. it does score high, and saying it isnt as good as antecs would just be a mishap saying as psu buying is all about price and effecientcy. when buying a psu, it isnt the brand you look at, you look at the manufacturer. the reason why so many people say seasonic/antec/corsair is because some of antecs and corsairs models are seasonic based. so what about the ones that aren't? that's where who knows and who doesn't kicks in.

 

[bctande1]

Yes. You are comparing specific series of PSUs, in which case, you are right, and I've agreed to my mistake. But I made my statement of the basis of their device history as a whole, which I see you pointed out -- But I don't think such a shallow mistake warrants such a passionate counter-arguement, as to call the person a PSU novice. Ok, I didn't keep up with PSU reviews, I see your a hive 550w owner yourself, so I guess I can see where the passion comes from, no offense, of course. I think where your lob-sided is your un-warranted decloration of my, I guess apparent, ignorance.

You could've said I should keep updated or I should re-look at my reviews, but PSU novice, the vet has spoken... I guess..

 

[dudewitbow]

Yes. You are comparing specific series of PSUs, in which case, you are right, and I've agreed to my mistake. But I made my statement of the basis of their device history as a whole, which I see you pointed out -- But I don't think such a shallow mistake warrants such a passionate counter-arguement, as to call the person a PSU novice. Ok, I didn't keep up with PSU reviews, I see your a hive 550w owner yourself, so I guess I can see where the passion comes from, no offense, of course. I think where your lob-sided is your un-warranted decloration of my, I guess apparent, ignorance.

You could've said I should keep updated or I should re-look at my reviews, but PSU novice, the vet has spoken... I guess..

the emotion didnt come up as i was defending it hard, it came up because i had to explain it twice, in the same thread

 

[bctande1]

Aye, well, to end this maturely, I've learned something today, and in the end, you were right, so thanks. Were here to help the buyer, and apart from the PSU, I think I did good, no need for this to become an argument.

 

[canhcutvl]

CPU - A 3770 is very good, a 3930 would be ideal, but the 3770 is no shrug, so you're good there

MOBO - Good

Memory - This is where you really have to step it up. You will most likely be running several CPU-intensive applications at once and that will guzzle memory space. So I'd say you have to go up to 12GB at least, 8GB is simply not sufficient.

SSD - Good, you can install the OS and a few apps like Photoshop on there.

HDD - Good

GPU - This is honestly a toss-up. You can go a lower costing GPU if you'd like, because a 40$ less GPU will not show any substantial decreases in video-rendering, certainly not in photoshop, but in 3D modeling then probably. Nevertheless, IVY bridge has a very very good Integrated GPU to speed up these processes. So, in essence, a 6850 will be fine, but don't be afraid by going lower.

Case-- Good

PSU - Try a more reputable 550w like Antec. Rosewill's aren't the best you can get at the moment

BLU RAY AND WIFI are ok.

I'd say here focus most of your energy into getting the best CPU performance, SSD performance and RAM. These will affect your app performance the most.

Thanks a load, I kind of figuring out GPU is not the most important performance factor for my build and I used the rest of the budget for it.

From u all's advices I will go through the list again and see how it changes then. Thank you all, have a wonderful holiday!

 

[canhcutvl]

Best answer selected by canhcutvl.

 

[canhcutvl]

guys I have revise the list here http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353508-31-very-first-ever-build-enthusiast-revision#t2657612 please come have a look