New build for PhD

[jpnadas]

Hello, I have been using computers for a long time but have never build one myself. I have a good knowledge of computers but a massive lack of knowledge when it comes to brands, prices and furthermore where to shop (I would probably get everything from Amazon and Newegg). Let me add in that I have just moved to the UK from Brazil, and things here are quite different from what I am used to.

 

I am starting my PhD here and I have £1000 to buy a computer, I wish to make the most of it. I have read on this thread that it is preferable to let you guys give me the suggestion of parts rather than posting my own list in here.

 

Can anyone please help me?

 

1. Budget & Location

I am buying from Glasgow (UK) and have a budget of £1000. I think I could extrapolate the budget, but not by much, so maybe £1050 would be the most I could go.

2. Aim

The most demanding task of the system will be performing numerical simulations using matlab and mathematica, so a good processor and a good amount of RAM are in order. (I imagined a latest generation i7 with 16 GB of RAM).

Also, less demanding, I will use it to write papers and my thesis using LaTeX, as well as browsing scientific journals as part of my research. For this I am aiming for 2 19-24 inch screen monitors.

I do not require a lot of storage space, so perhaps a 240GB SSD would be enough for me.

I do not require it to run Windows, but I have a Windows 10 license that I could use, so that does not have to be included in the budget.

Also, a more office looking case would be good.

3. Monitors

2

4. Peripherals

A comfortable keyboard and a wireless mouse.

5. Why are you upgrading?

I need a computer for the PhD.

 

Thank you very much in advance!

[bgibbz]

What do you intend to use the machine for? gaming? any specific applications? do you need a monitor, Keyboard, or mouse? 

 

 

edit - just noticed text below, couldnt see with dark theme  

[Guest]

Something like this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£305.94 @ Aria PC) 
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler  (£55.24 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI Z170-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£87.60 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  (£154.25 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£77.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Toshiba 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£35.94 @ Aria PC) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card  (£229.88 @ Ebuyer) 
Case: Zalman Z3 ATX Mid Tower Case  (£34.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£68.80 @ Alza) 
Total: £1050.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-01-09 17:04 GMT+0000

[Loagster]

I think this build would be good: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Loagster/saved/#view=79YWZL (view attached image)

 

for £970 I think this would be good. The i5-6600k is essentially a i7-6700k but 200mhz slower. 64GB of ram is essential if you need to store large amounts of data. 64GB of ram might be useful. The 1070 FTW is great for doing floating point calculations, and the ASUS motherboard is minimalistic but works great. All packed in the Fractal Design Define R5, a nice office looking PC case.

[ImperialSteele]

3 minutes ago, Loagster said:

The i5-6600k is essentially a i7-6700k but 200mhz slowe

Ehhhhh and with 2mb less cache and no hyper threading. Anyways, the 7600k is out now, at only 10 bucks more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117728&cm_re=7600k-_-19-117-728-_-Product

[Loagster]

Just now, ImperialSteele said:

Ehhhhh and with 2mb less cache and no hyper threading. Anyways, the 7600k is out now, at only 10 bucks more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117728&cm_re=7600k-_-19-117-728-_-Product

Good point.

[ImperialSteele]

4 minutes ago, Loagster said:

64GB of ram is essential if you need to store large amounts of data.

Wah?

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Loagster said:

I think this build would be good: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Loagster/saved/#view=79YWZL (view attached image)

 

for £970 I think this would be good. The i5-6600k is essentially a i7-6700k but 200mhz slower. 64GB of ram is essential if you need to store large amounts of data. The 1070 FTW is great for doing floating point calculations, and the ASUS motherboard is minimalistic but works great. All packed in the Fractal Design Define R5, a nice office looking PC case.

Less threads, slower clocl speed. Also use uk pcpp as some parts in US does not available in UK or might have different pricing

 

[ZestyJalapeno]

If your thesis is research/technical based, then most likely you will be very mobile and needing your PC (personal experience with my own thesis) In which case the only solution is a laptop. I would suggest the Dell XPS 13 but the i7/16gb option is a bit pricey. 

 

Currys PC/World is selling a top-end outgoing Inspiron for £850.

 

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-15-7000-15-6-laptop-silver-10153659-pdt.html

 

Core 17, 16GB ram, 256gb ssd and a GTX 940M in a very thin and good looking form factor. 

[Loagster]

1 minute ago, ImperialSteele said:

Wah?

yeah that didn't make sense

 

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Dogeystyle said:

If your thesis is research/technical based, then most likely you will be very mobile and needing your PC (personal experience with my own thesis) In which case the only solution is a laptop. I would suggest the Dell XPS 13 but the i7/16gb option is a bit pricey. 

 

Currys PC/World is selling a top-end outgoing Inspiron for £850.

 

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-15-7000-15-6-laptop-silver-10153659-pdt.html

 

Core 17, 16GB ram, 256gb ssd and a GTX 940M in a very thin and good looking form factor. 

It's not even a quad core...

[ZestyJalapeno]

 

2 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

It's not even a quad core...

H Y P E R T H R E A D

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Dogeystyle said:

 

H Y P E R T H R E A D

Yeah, my i3 has hyper thread, it's also an i3. 

[ZestyJalapeno]

1 minute ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Yeah, my i3 has hyper thread, it's also an i3. 

How is that relevant to the discussion?  He said he needs it for MATLAB, among other things. I have extensive experience with Matlab and unless you're planning on brute forcing a mission to Mars it will run fine on any quadcore, hyperthreaded or otherwise. (used it on a locked Ivy Bridge, which the 7500U in this is definitely faster than) .The important thing is that each core has at least 2GB of memory to feed it during the simulation.

[jpnadas]

18 minutes ago, Dogeystyle said:

If your thesis is research/technical based, then most likely you will be very mobile and needing your PC (personal experience with my own thesis) In which case the only solution is a laptop. I would suggest the Dell XPS 13 but the i7/16gb option is a bit pricey. 

 

I have my personal notebook which I intent on using for writing the thesis on the fly, the computer will be to use at the university.

 

[ZestyJalapeno]

2 minutes ago, jpnadas said:

I have my personal notebook which I intent on using for writing the thesis on the fly, the computer will be to use at the university.

 

Fair enough

[jpnadas]

By the way, thank you very much for all the fast replies, I liked deXxterlab97 suggestion, sounds like a great machine but I need to include the peripherals on the budget, so 2 monitors + mouse and keyboard.

 

 

[D3faulT]

I put together this for 1321.22, while over your budget, I included cheap monitors, a wireless mouse, and a good keyboard. Anyone feel free to edit my parts list as seen necessary

@jpnadas have you considered a ulrtrawide monitor instead of 2 smaller ones?, If so I got some to reccomend 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qdbpVY

[jpnadas]

1 minute ago, D3faulT said:

have you considered a ulrtrawide monitor instead of 2 smaller ones?, If so I got some to reccomend 

I have never used a ultra wide monitor, but I think it could do the job, as I could keep papers and matlab opened at the same screen. whats your suggestion on that?

 

[D3faulT]

@jpnadas

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Curved-27-Inch-Monitor-C27F591/dp/B01CX26VNC/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1483983545&sr=1-3&keywords=gaming+monitor&refinements=p_n_size_browse-bin%3A3547807011

 

I have it, it has AMD Free sync, Curved, 27'', comes with speakers in it for 246.65 with amazon prime. 

[jpnadas]

2 minutes ago, D3faulT said:

@jpnadas

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Curved-27-Inch-Monitor-C27F591/dp/B01CX26VNC/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1483983545&sr=1-3&keywords=gaming+monitor&refinements=p_n_size_browse-bin%3A3547807011

 

I have it, it has AMD Free sync, Curved, 27'', comes with speakers in it for 246.65 with amazon prime. 

Looks amazing! I will try to play a little with the budget to see if I can fit that in. 

 

I will still need to stick within budget, including peripherals, since I am not the one doing the purchase (its the university).

 

[D3faulT]

17 minutes ago, jpnadas said:

Looks amazing! I will try to play a little with the budget to see if I can fit that in. 

 

I will still need to stick within budget, including peripherals, since I am not the one doing the purchase (its the university).

 

@jpnadas

I have done some work on the budget and got it down to this

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TRg3sJ

If you are comfortable for low quality keyboard/mice I found a wireless combo (kb/mouse) listed below

https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-MK270-Wireless-Keyboard-Mouse/dp/B00BP5KOPA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1483984758&sr=8-5&keywords=keyboard

[jpnadas]

Hi all,

 

thank you very much for all your great replies!

 

Unfortunately I just found (through submitting the request form) that the University does not allow for the student to suggest the parts, I must suggest specs and they will try to fit it within the budget.

 

Again thanks for your great and fast replies and I am sorry about this.