I'm in the research phase of building a new PC and was just curious to see if anyone had any recommendations for parts. It's been a while since I've had to go through the process of building one, so any ideas/advice would be seriously appreciated. Also, if anyone happens to know of a UK site/store that sells PC parts, send 'em my way! Back in the US, I'd normally have used something like TigerDirect or NewEgg, but I'm having a bit of trouble finding something comparable. I've been recommended Novatech by a friend, and happened to stumble across MicroDirect last night while searching for parts... is there anywhere else similar to these? My main PC-usage concerns would be graphics editing (i.e. the ability to run Photoshop CS6 smoothly) and casual gaming. I don't do a *lot* of gaming, but definitely need the ability to play Borderlands 1 and 2 and Diablo 3, as I am sorely missing them. :3 Anyway, this is what I've got so far... The Essentials Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) Motherboard Proc: 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 3770K 3.50GHz Socket LGA1155 - I've personally always felt like AMD is better value for money (and I have always used them in the past), but the i7 seems to rank fairly well and there doesn't seem to be anything comparable that's within the same price range. Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB GDDR5 - For the sole purpose of Physx capabilities? I've always used ATI in the past. Don't know too much about Nvidia/EVGA. RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel - Might add more later. OS Drive: SanDisk Extreme SSD SATA III 2.5" 120GB - Don't know much about SSDs as I've never had one, but this one seemed to have the fastest read/write speeds for the price. Would something bigger be recommended for the OS and programs? PSU: Novatech PowerStation Black Edition 750W Silent ATX2 Modular Power Supply - Off-brand but has great user reviews. Case: Zalman Z11 Plus Black Tower Case - Never heard of this brand before, but thought it was a well-priced case with an alright design and lots of space for fans. Have personally always used Antec in the past, but those seem to run a bit higher in price. Other Stuff Liquid Cooling: Corsair Hydro Series H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - Had an H50 on my old machine and never had any issues. Just looking for a bit of an upgrade this time around. HDD: SeagateBarracuda 2TB 64MB Cache Hard Drive SATA 6 Gb/s 7200rpm - HDD is not a huge concern as I have two externals with around 4Tb of space. Mainly I'm just concerned with an SSD to run the OS/programs, but will probably look for an HDD in the future. Have never gone wrong with Seagate. Finally... any opinions on Win8 vs. Win7? I'm not really interested in hearing about how much the Win8 GUI "sucks," or whatever, as obviously it's a bit different from what Microsoft has done in the past. Most of the reviews I've checked out focus solely on the differences between the Win8/Win7 GUIs. I'm more concerned about processing capabilities or other differences between the two.
Wow - you're looking at a pretty high-end build. First, from what you said in your post, this would be a bit of an overkill. Motherboard, you can pick any that you like - it's really personal preference as long as it fits your needs. CPU, from what you said, is overkill, especially for gaming and graphics editing. You will see very little advantage of an i7 3770k over the i5 3570k in gaming, which I currently have on my build. The real advantage of having an i7 processor over the i5 is if you are doing CPU intensive processes that take full advantage of the multi-core and Hyperthreading (Intel's proprietary virtual threading) technologies. Most of these processes, especially in newer games and Photoshop, will defer the graphics processes to the GPU. Secondly, if you can wait, I would highly suggest the Haswell process coming out in around June over the current Ivy Bridge. The Haswell release will have perfected the 22nm lithography, and probably address the issues (namely overheating when overclocking). In addition, there will probably be a large performance boost and if the Ivy Bridge release prices were any indication, they will be good value. Graphics Card is whatever suits you. Depending on how much you use it for gaming/graphically intense processes, this will probably be one of the more important components in your build. RAM, haha just like me, you chose 16 GB. I can tell you, it is also overkill, but since memory is so cheap anyways, I paid the extra $7, and I never have to worry about that becoming an issue. SSD/OS Drive. Okay, here is where it can get interesting. SSD is a bit of a hassle size-wise if it is the only thing that you install on. 120 GB, I can tell you that I will easily eat that up with programs alone. What some people do is install only their most used programs in the SSD and make sure they install the rest of their programs onto their HDD. This works 95% of the time, unless a program tries to access the drives/folders incorrectly. The only problem with this is trying to move installed programs - you'll have to reinstall. Another option is to create a symbolic link of your User directories from the SSD to an HDD - this is a good solution if you are a heavy file-storer in your Documents/Music, etc. folders. Finally, and the setup I have now because I'm too cheap to buy a separate SSD big enough to fit the other options: Depending on the operating system that you are running, you can use a new technology that Intel has included in the Z77 motherboards standard (and probably Haswell) as well known as SSD caching, but it is for Windows only. The motherboard will calculate the files/sectors that are used the most on your HDD and store them in your SSD (max of 64 GB) for fast access. All your other, remaining files are stored in your HDD. Granted, if you are dual-booter (which I am with Linux), I bought a separate, smaller SSD to put my version of Linux on. If you are not a Windows user...well, this isn't an option for you. PSU. If you are interested in power saving, try 80+ standards, Gold being the best. Liquid Cooling might actually be needed for the Ivy Bridge processors because they just run so hot. But honestly, my fan setup is working fine, but granted, I don't overclock over ~4.2 GHz. Once you go over around ~4.4-4.5, you'll really begin to notice heat becoming a factor, but then again, overclocking that much are pretty much for benchmarks and overclocking fanatics.
Thanks for the response! Please forgive me if this post seems a bit snippy - I had a reply typed up and then my computer decided to crash so I'm a bit annoyed at the moment. :/ I kind of figured this was heading into swatting-a-fly-with-a-sledgehammer territory, but I'm determined to build something that won't need replacing/upgrading in the immediate future. I think my husband just wants something badass that he can brag about to his buddies. Whatever. He's a bigger gamer than I am, although I'm not quite sure to what extent - the machine we have at the moment is not really cut out for gaming... and is dying. Motherboard We're now looking at this one (ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Intel Z77 Socket 1155) as it offers Crossfire and SLI capabilities, whereas the last one just had Crossfire. The only benefit I see from doing this is allowing the ability to change graphics card brands (if I wanted) and being able to run more than one. Which is something we plan to do in the future. Processor Thanks for the input on that - I personally thought the i7 was a bit much. But again, not sure what kind of games my husband gets into when he's able. However, based on what you've said, it may indeed be more prudent to go with the i5 3570k as - you're right - the benefit will be almost unnoticeable for the price. And as for the Haswell... I wasn't even aware of that upcomimg release. I definitely wanted something well before June, but it may in fact be more sensible to wait. Will do a bit more research on that - thanks for the heads up! This is exactly why I like to run these type of things by others before going through with them. RAM I had your exact same thoughts - 16GB will be WAY more than enough for anything, really, but for the price... why not? SSD I was/am definitely worried about the size of the SSD... Currently I'm using 125GB on my C drive, which is a bit unnerving. SSDs are so expensive per GB, and I don't really want to pay the price to get a bigger one. I only run Windows - though that's not to say it won't change in the future in the form of a dual-boot - so the last option you mentioned sounds best for me. Does the motherboard automatically do that, or is it a feature you need to enable somewhere? All that said, do you feel the boost in speed by using an SSD is worth the price? I've presonally never actually seen one in action, but hear only good things about them. PSU Thanks for that - I'll look into it. It couldn't hurt! ETA: The PSU I've been looking at does include 80+ technology. Liquid Cooling Honestly, this might not even be necessary for this machine. My last one was overclocked, and so had the H50, but I don't think I'll actually sit down and mess with the new one at all. The case I'm looking at has plenty of fan space, so that may be all that's needed. Again, thanks for all your input - you've definitely given me quite a bit to research and think about. I really appreciate it!
Here's a video from Intel overviewing the Intel Smart Response Technology (SSD Caching): http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ ... video.html The only thing is - you have to setup your two hard drives (SSD and HDD) in RAID mode before installing Windows. If you install Windows in AHCI, you will need to make special Registry edits before you go into RAID mode. Otherwise, Windows will give you BSODs. After you have installed Windows, just go to Intel's Download Center and download Intel's Rapid Storage Technology. After installing, there should be a tab called 'Accelerate' in the program's GUI where you can accelerate your HDD with your SSD. Note that despite the video showing Intel's own SSD, the technology is compatible with any SSD. Regarding the processor, definitely checkout the Haswell CPUs. If you do decide to wait and get one, I'd love to hear the feedback because I got the Ivy Bridge 3570K because my other computer died. So I was forced to - but I really wanted to wait for the Haswells. If you must get a new computer right now, then by no means is Ivy Bridge bad. It's already blazing fast. Honestly for your cooling solution, I would usually go for air cooling unless you really need the liquid (for extreme OCing). Remember, the bigger the fan, the smaller the noise. I have 5 fans + CPU cooler - this thing runs extremely cool. If you're wondering about my case, I got the Rosewill and it was a really nice case actually: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811147061 It's discontinued but it was really nice
Thanks so much for that video and the explanation. That really helps! Hy husband's first instinct was to wait until the Haswells come out. The one thing that I'm worried about regarding the new procs is the price. Even looking at the 3770Ks, we'd be paying $70 more for it in the UK than in the US. Gotta love tax! Hopefully, like you said, the Haswells will be good value for money. It's just difficult to know which choice to make when there are only vague ideas of how much the Haswell line will cost. Decisions, decisions... At what temp does your system normally run with only fans? It'd be nice to be able to save the $120 I'd be spending on liquid cooling if it's not necessary. Nice case! I had an Antec Nine Hundred before and absolutely loved it. Too expensive over here, though. Basically I just want something to hold my computer parts - it doesn't have to look badass. But I think I got lucky with the one I found. 8D
Well, I think Intel is lowering their processor prices because desktops are slowly going obsolete anyways. Only people looking to build servers/hardcore gamers really build their own computers anymore. Everything is going mobile - thus why Intel has invested in their Clover Trail project. My system runs at around ~35-40 C under light workload. Maxes around 45-50 under a heavier workload.
About £1200 for everything - let's just say... more than I'd orginially intended. I don't know how I missed this, sorry. That makes complete sense, about the prices... Guess there isn't as much of a market for components as there used to be. Those temps aren't bad for only air cooling. Unfortunately I've been overruled in the liquid cooling department so I'm preeetty sure my processor's gonna be ok. Thanks for the figures. Just out of curiosity, what kind of graphics card are ya running?
Currently, I'm using the built-in Intel Graphics 3000 inside the Ivy Bridge chip, but I may upgrade it if I find the need and money (mostly the latter)
Lighting, I read this and I can't help but to notice the bit you said about going mobile and just curious about what it really means. Are you saying that people are more interested in powerful laptops as opposed to desktops? I am in the process of building my desktop too but the information is clearly so much more different than the last time I built one (And Billy helped me with it so you can take a guess how long ago THAT was :yup: )
Not just laptops, but tablets seem to be taking the world by storm at the moment, as well. I think people these days are just more interested at having options at their fingertips, wherever they are... not so much in the beefed-up rigs at home. That's how I took it, anyway, and it makes sense. So many different tablets have been released over the past few years and they seem to be "the thing" to have if you want to keep up with the times.
Well, when laptops first came out, people still preferred desktops because of their superior performance and because the laptops could not handle all of their daily needs. They were too slow and thick. Now, as everything gets faster, you don't have to have a desktop to play simple games. Laptops can handle multi-tasking just as well as a desktop, and only hardcore gamers, programmers, and companies still need desktops. Everything else is going mobile - look at phones, for example. We had a survey at school asking whether people access the internet more on their phones or computers. Phones are now the majority - and add in the new tablet trend. That's perhaps why Intel, after the release of their Haswell processors, is going to cease production of desktop motherboards. They're not selling well enough in that department. Now, you might be one of those people that prefer a desktop because of its speed or price/performance. But if you can hold onto your current computer and wait a little bit, the prices of ultrabooks/tablets are going to go down significantly. Those things can handle almost anything a normal person would want in a computer. The reason I got a desktop was because I liked the price/performance and I need the power. But if you don't really find the need for a desktop, then laptops, ultrabooks, or tablets (Android > Apple btw) are the way to go.