1st build for office use

[MrMarbles]

Hello, and TIA for your help. I want a system built for my office, that is very versatile for everything other than gaming. I want it to be slight overkill for my needs, and i would rather not worry about the number of open programs slowing me to a crawl.

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: within 30 days

Budget Range: up to $1500, excluding monitors

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Microsoft Office - typically have outlook, several spreadsheets, a few documents, and some pictures open, Pandora, regularly do photo editing in Nikon Capture NX and Photoshop and sometimes get into dreamweaver, youtube and surfing - No gaming.

Are you buying a monitor: Yes - would like suggestions on multiple monitors


Do you need to buy OS: Will use Windows 7

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com

Location: Woodstock, GA

Parts Preferences: INTEL CPU

Overclocking: Maybe, although i'm not sure of the point with my usage behavior


Your Monitor Resolution: I'm open to suggestions



And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I want something faster, quieter, and more versatile

Browsing the forum and doing some research has led me to this:

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501

ASRock Z77 Pro4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157296

G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-1333C9D-16GAO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231556

Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, come with Five Fans, window side panel, top HDD dock
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147107

Seagate Constellation ES ST1000NM0001 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SAS 6Gb/s 3.5" Internal Enterprise Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148868

Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441


I'd like to hear about recommendations on a moderately priced video card to go with the above, or your recommended setup.

Of the components i've listed, where is the most obvious overkill, and where is the least?

Would it make sense to install Windows and Photoshop on the SSD and use the HDD for everything else?

Thank you all

 

[g-unit1111]

Microsoft Office is *NOT* that resource intensive - even on massive power point presentations you can get by with an i3-2120 and about 1/2 the RAM. If you use heavy duty CS5 (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc) then the use of the 3770K is justified. But you could probably get by with about 1/2 the CPU.

 

[MrMarbles]

Microsoft Office is *NOT* that resource intensive - even on massive power point presentations you can get by with an i3-2120 and about 1/2 the RAM. If you use heavy duty CS5 (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc) then the use of the 3770K is justified. But you could probably get by with about 1/2 the CPU.

Thanks g-unit.

I neglected to mention that i often have streaming baseball games in a separate window, which help me rationalize going "a little overboard" on the cpu. I had the Olympics going last week, and caught about every other 50meters in the races. It quickly pissed me off.

I currently have an i5 on my laptop and it has trouble with the NIkon Capture NX2 software, which is also pushing me toward the i7.

Thank you for your reply.

 

[DarkOutlaw]

Go with:

i7 3770k cpu
Asrock z77 Extreme4 motherboard
GSkill 2 x 4GB 1600-9-9-9
Any decent Case
Any decent 500w-600wPSU (corsair/OCZ are good)
I would say skip the SSD.
2 x 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drives in RAID 1
Whatever GPU you think you may need with the money left over. If you want big the GTX 660 ti just came out for $300. If that is too much the 6850 is about $160.

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks g-unit.

I neglected to mention that i often have streaming baseball games in a separate window, which help me rationalize going "a little overboard" on the cpu. I had the Olympics going last week, and caught about every other 50meters in the races. It quickly pissed me off.

I currently have an i5 on my laptop and it has trouble with the NIkon Capture NX2 software, which is also pushing me toward the i7.

Thank you for your reply.

Well online streaming doesn't really put as much of a strain on the CPU as you would think. I run stuff off Youtube and HBO Go all the time without crippling the CPU on my computer. Now the image capture software - I can see that putting a huge strain on CPU usage.

Any decent Case
Any decent 500w-600wPSU (corsair/OCZ are good)

I keep telling you - you can never generalize on builds like that when people come here looking for specifics. That's not a good way to go. There's so much hardware out there that you need second and third opinions sorting the good from the crap. That's how crap brands like Raidmax, Apevia, and Xclio get purchased that are likely to fall apart on you in six months when brands like Antec and Corsair are better built and will last longer.

2 x 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drives in RAID 1

No. RAID setups are far more likely to set up drives for failure than the SSD / HD combo will. And with the ridiculous premiums being charged on higher capacity WD Black hard drives - that is not worth it in the slightest.

 

[MrMarbles]

Well online streaming doesn't really put as much of a strain on the CPU as you would think. I run stuff off Youtube and HBO Go all the time without crippling the CPU on my computer. Now the image capture software - I can see that putting a huge strain on CPU usage.

Any decent Case
Any decent 500w-600wPSU (corsair/OCZ are good)

I keep telling you - you can never generalize on builds like that when people come here looking for specifics. That's not a good way to go. There's so much hardware out there that you need second and third opinions sorting the good from the crap. That's how crap brands like Raidmax, Apevia, and Xclio get purchased that are likely to fall apart on you in six months when brands like Antec and Corsair are better built and will last longer.

2 x 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drives in RAID 1

No. RAID setups are far more likely to set up drives for failure than the SSD / HD combo will. And with the ridiculous premiums being charged on higher capacity WD Black hard drives - that is not worth it in the slightest.

g-unit,

Based on your response, it sounds like you like the SSD and HDD combo. Does everything else i listed make sense?

Thank you both.

 

[strife_ff7]

You could go with this setup.

cpu i7 3770 non-k $310 overkill but if you want it get it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116502
mobo your pick is good
ram g.skill ares 8gb 1600 little bit faster $45 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546
hdd wd 1tb $117 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
ssd samsung 830 128gb $119 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163
case your pick is good
video card sapphire 7770 $135 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102993
monitors asus 23" $300(2x$150) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236175
do you need a psu if so antec 450w $40 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045

 

[MrMarbles]

You could go with this setup.

cpu i7 3770 non-k $310 overkill but if you want it get it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116502
mobo your pick is good
ram g.skill ares 8gb 1600 little bit faster $45 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546
hdd wd 1tb $117 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533
ssd samsung 830 128gb $119 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163
case your pick is good
video card sapphire 7770 $135 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102993
monitors asus 23" $300(2x$150) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236175
do you need a psu if so antec 450w $40 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045

Thank you strife. That's very helpful.

Regarding audio - i listen to a lot of music in my office, via headphones and speakers. Would i benefit from an external soundcard, or would the mobo sound be fine?

 

[strife_ff7]

No you don't need a sound card.

 

[MrMarbles]

No you don't need a sound card.

Thanks.

Sorry, but one more question - get two of the 8gb ram packs for a total of 16, or just stick with 8 total. gracias.

 

[strife_ff7]

8gb should be good.

 

[g-unit1111]

g-unit,

Based on your response, it sounds like you like the SSD and HDD combo. Does everything else i listed make sense?

Thank you both.

Yeah that will make it much easier than trying to setup a RAID. I don't encourage people to fall for expensive storage gimmicks (Velociraptor, Revodrive, etc), nor do I want people to trust their drives to something that's likely to fail. Replacing a CPU is easy. Replacing your data - not that easy.

 

[SikkoB]

I think your origonal Ram was good, Windows uses a good 2GB+ the standard 4 years ago was 4GB. Also the more IE and background processes you have open the more RAM it will need to keep it running pristine.

I like the NZXT Phantoms and any Cooler Master Computer cases. If you are looking for wow factor look at the silverstone/Lian Li lines they are sleek and modern looking without the lights like gaming PCs.

You might want to go a little smaller on the SSD 128 GB is alot for an office computer unless you have one hilatious Microsoft Outlook .pst file.

Just my 2 cents

 

[g-unit1111]

I think your origonal Ram was good, Windows uses a good 2GB+ the standard 4 years ago was 4GB. Also the more IE and background processes you have open the more RAM it will need to keep it running pristine.

I like the NZXT Phantoms and any Cooler Master Computer cases. If you are looking for wow factor look at the silverstone/Lian Li lines they are sleek and modern looking without the lights like gaming PCs.

You might want to go a little smaller on the SSD 128 GB is alot for an office computer unless you have one hilatious Microsoft Outlook .pst file.

Just my 2 cents

I like Silverstone cases but they are really expensive when you could go with something like the Corsair 500R for like 1/2 the cost.

 

[MrMarbles]

I think your origonal Ram was good, Windows uses a good 2GB+ the standard 4 years ago was 4GB. Also the more IE and background processes you have open the more RAM it will need to keep it running pristine.

I like the NZXT Phantoms and any Cooler Master Computer cases. If you are looking for wow factor look at the silverstone/Lian Li lines they are sleek and modern looking without the lights like gaming PCs.

You might want to go a little smaller on the SSD 128 GB is alot for an office computer unless you have one hilatious Microsoft Outlook .pst file.

Just my 2 cents

Thanks Sikko. You hit the nail on the head. My pst file(s) contain about 8 years worth of every email i've sent and quite a few i've received. I'm a packrat when it comes to sent emails. I also run a program called Neo Pro that allows me to effectively search through my pst files.

So, at any given time, i'll have the following running: Outlook, Neo Pro, Pandora or streaming sports, 6-8 tabs in a browser, Itunes, Excel, Word and/or powerpoint, and possibly Photoshop.

If i could get any benefit whatsoever out of the 16gb memory, that's what i'm inclined to do. I'd hate to bottleneck it for $50.

I'll check out the cases. This is a home office with an under-the-desk pc, so wow factor wouldn't do too much for me.

 

[SikkoB]

Yeah they are really expensive but thought I would just put an option out there. I dont know what kind of office environment or where the computer is going to be at but the cases that silverstone offer dont look like gaming cases but they are nice cases still.

 

[g-unit1111]

Yeah they are really expensive but thought I would just put an option out there. I dont know what kind of office environment or where the computer is going to be at but the cases that silverstone offer dont look like gaming cases but they are nice cases still.

Where I work we use the cheapest crap imaginable (Raidmax, Apevia, Ultra, you name it) - I have a HAF 912 and I think it's the nicest case in the whole office. :lol:

 

[SikkoB]

We have dell computer mini-atx cases but they are so small and the front break on them easily. The company I am in always goes with the lowest bidder lol.

 

[MrMarbles]

Problem! - thanks for everything so far, but i'm having an issue with the bench test:

I ended up going with the

Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116502

ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157279&Tpk=asrock%20z68%20pro3%20gen3

G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-1333C9D-16GAO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231556


And the Corsair 500r case.

I have the memory cards in the dual channel slots, the power button from the case hooked up, the cpu inserted, the heatsink fan on, and the PSU plugged in. I also have an HDMI from the video card to the monitor. The ATX power connector is plugged in, as is the ATX 12V power connector.

When i push the power button, the video card fan fires up, and the fan in the case fires up. The cpu fan, although plugged in, does nothing. Deductive reasoning tells me the motherboard isn't getting power. Any suggestions?

My skill level is pretty obvious through this post, so hopefully it's something obvious.

TIA

 

[MrMarbles]

UPDATE - CPU fan is now running.

So, CPU fan, Power fan, Video Card fans.....all running. Monitor showing no input.

 

[strife_ff7]

Have you installed the OS already?

 

[MrMarbles]

No, it is a new build and i was trying to get to post outside the case before going any further.

I'm not getting a beep, nor am i getting anything on the monitor, which is hooked to the hdmi on the video card.

I've tried about everything i can think of.

I don't have a speaker hooked up to the mobo, but it should still beep, correct? My assumption is that something woukd also light up on the mobo.

Psu appears fine, as it's powering all the fans.

I'm not sure how to isolate the mobo, memory, or video card to troubleshoot, as i dont have another pc that can handle these components.

 

[strife_ff7]

Take the video card out and connect the monitor to the mobo using a dvi or vga cable.

 

[SikkoB]

HDMI connections should be used only for large 32"+ monitors imo. On my samsung the HDMI connection the icons were blurry and didnt look good.

 

[strife_ff7]

Did you connect the pci-e 6-pin connector to the video card? Because the mobo will power the video card's fans so it would look like its working but just the fans would be.