First computer build

[GamerPatriot]

Hello there, 

 

I'm planing on building my first computer. My 5 year old laptop isn't working well. 

 

1. Budget and location: < $3000 us dollars. I live in America. 

 

2. Aim: I'm building this to run Photoshop and lightroom 4 or 5 well. Maybe video edit once in awhile but not my main goal. I would also like to play games on it, but nothing like COD or BF. Just something like Dayz to play with co workers. Photo and mild video editing comes first. 

 

3. Monitors: I will like to run 3 monitors in the future, but one shall do to get me started for the first few months. I would like the highest resolution for photos. 

 

4. Peripherals: Yes I will need a mouse and keyboard. I will get Asus high end sound card later so it isn't important now. I love listening to the best possible sound possible for music. No one likes to work in a quite room. 

 

5. Why are you upgrading? My HP dv7-3160us laptop is old and dated. It runs Photoshop and lightroom very slowly and can't play most modern games. 

 

So with the help of co workers they helped me reduce my builds price from around $3500+ to less than $3000. I removed anything I didn't need at the moment and could add later to get the initial cost down.  

 

Here is my list so far: 

 

CPU: Intel core i7-4930k 6 core processor. - Should help with running multiple photo editing software. Encoding videos shouldn't take too long at all with this. 

 

Motherboard: Asus P9X79-E WS - Goes inline with my workstation focused computer

 

GPU: Asus GTX760 - Wasn't too expensive or overkill for my needs. I believe it can support two or more monitors and will last me years for games like Dayz or Rift. 

 

CASE: Corsair 750D - Good amount of space for future add-ons, plus it should hold enough Hard drives for storing pictures and videos. Not to expensive. 

 

PSU: Corsair AX860 - Good quality power supply that should provide far more than I need and have room for future updates. 

 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD - Will give me fast performance for a drive that will store the OS and programs. 

 

Storage: WD Black Series 1TB 7200rpm 6gb/s drive - not expensive and should transfer data at good speeds for editing. Will add more later. 

 

Cooling: Corsair H100i CPU cooling - I heard many good things about this. Should be all I need for what I do. 

 

Mermory: G. Skill trident X series 16GB (4x4gb) DDR3 2400 - I don't believe I will need more for my needs at this point.  

 

Monitor: Asus VG248QE - even though I would prefer the PA series from Asus for editing this monitor was cheaper than the color calibrated IPS monitors. I will save for the PA279Q which is about $800. 

 

Anker wired laser mouse - nice accurate mouse will help me and programmable buttons. 

 

CM storm quickfire ultimate fullsize key board cherry Mx brown - This is what I'm most confused about. Just learned about mechanical keyboards. I like quite keyboards so I went with brown?

 

I'm sure I listed all components needed for a computer. 

 

The only problem I have so far is that I'm being told that the motherboard isn't compatible with the case and the the voltage of the memory isn't right for the chip.

 

I don't know how reliable the site pcpartpicker is however so I will wait until I can confirm. 

[Flyguygamer]

That is way overkill. 4670k/4770k and 770 is better. Get slower ram. pcpartpicker is very good. Use something like a sabertooth z87 mobo. That will go very well in the 750D. @WoodenMarker is very good with these things and I am sure he will provide a better parts list.

[CoolBeans]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor  ($194.98 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler:  NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($119.98 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($124.99 @ Microcenter) 

Memory:  Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($144.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($169.98 @ OutletPC) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card:  MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($699.99 @ Microcenter) 

Video Card:  MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($699.99 @ Microcenter) 

Case:  Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Microcenter) 

Power Supply:  SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($153.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Keyboard:  Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 

Mouse:  Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse  ($54.99 @ NCIX US) 

Other: Korean 1440P ($350.00)

Total: $2953.83

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-28 23:13 EST-0500)

[Flyguygamer]

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor  ($194.98 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler:  NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($119.98 @ Amazon) 

Motherboard:  Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($124.99 @ Microcenter) 

Memory:  Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($144.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($169.98 @ OutletPC) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card:  MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($699.99 @ Microcenter) 

Video Card:  MSI GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($699.99 @ Microcenter) 

Case:  Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Microcenter) 

Power Supply:  SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($153.98 @ SuperBiiz) 

Keyboard:  Cooler Master Storm QuickFire Rapid Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 

Mouse:  Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse  ($54.99 @ NCIX US) 

Other: Korean 1440P ($350.00)

Total: $2953.83

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-28 23:13 EST-0500)

 

A lot of gpu power for light gaming. a 770/280x is better.

[SAV1OUR]

Hello there, 

 

I'm planing on building my first computer. My 5 year old laptop isn't working well. 

 

1. Budget and location: < $3000 us dollars. I live in America. 

 

2. Aim: I'm building this to run Photoshop and lightroom 4 or 5 well. Maybe video edit once in awhile but not my main goal. I would also like to play games on it, but nothing like COD or BF. Just something like Dayz to play with co workers. Photo and mild video editing comes first. 

 

3. Monitors: I will like to run 3 monitors in the future, but one shall do to get me started for the first few months. I would like the highest resolution for photos. 

 

4. Peripherals: Yes I will need a mouse and keyboard. I will get Asus high end sound card later so it isn't important now. I love listening to the best possible sound possible for music. No one likes to work in a quite room. 

 

5. Why are you upgrading? My HP dv7-3160us laptop is old and dated. It runs Photoshop and lightroom very slowly and can't play most modern games. 

 

So with the help of co workers they helped me reduce my builds price from around $3500+ to less than $3000. I removed anything I didn't need at the moment and could add later to get the initial cost down.  

 

Here is my list so far: 

 

CPU: Intel core i7-4930k 6 core processor. - Should help with running multiple photo editing software. Encoding videos shouldn't take too long at all with this. 

 

Motherboard: Asus P9X79-E WS - Goes inline with my workstation focused computer

 

GPU: Asus GTX760 - Wasn't too expensive or overkill for my needs. I believe it can support two or more monitors and will last me years for games like Dayz or Rift. 

 

CASE: Corsair 750D - Good amount of space for future add-ons, plus it should hold enough Hard drives for storing pictures and videos. Not to expensive. 

 

PSU: Corsair AX860 - Good quality power supply that should provide far more than I need and have room for future updates. 

 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD - Will give me fast performance for a drive that will store the OS and programs. 

 

Storage: WD Black Series 1TB 7200rpm 6gb/s drive - not expensive and should transfer data at good speeds for editing. Will add more later. 

 

Cooling: Corsair H100i CPU cooling - I heard many good things about this. Should be all I need for what I do. 

 

Mermory: G. Skill trident X series 16GB (4x4gb) DDR3 2400 - I don't believe I will need more for my needs at this point.  

 

Monitor: Asus VG248QE - even though I would prefer the PA series from Asus for editing this monitor was cheaper than the color calibrated IPS monitors. I will save for the PA279Q which is about $800. 

 

Anker wired laser mouse - nice accurate mouse will help me and programmable buttons. 

 

CM storm quickfire ultimate fullsize key board cherry Mx brown - This is what I'm most confused about. Just learned about mechanical keyboards. I like quite keyboards so I went with brown?

 

I'm sure I listed all components needed for a computer. 

 

The only problem I have so far is that I'm being told that the motherboard isn't compatible with the case and the the voltage of the memory isn't right for the chip.

 

I don't know how reliable the site pcpartpicker is however so I will wait until I can confirm. 

and just add the mouse and stuff 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2Jrwu

[dizmo]

The ram's speed will be fine. You might have to OC it via the motherboard, but the Intel CPU's generally don't support anything over 1866 I believe for the 2011 chips.

A lot of the builds the others have recommended are very gaming oriented. Hence why they think that your build is over powered.

If you plan on doing video editing in the future, and don't plan on upgrading the computer for a few years I'd stick with what you've specc'd out.

 

If you're doing photo editing primarily have you considered a proper FirePro or Quadro card that supports 10 bit color?

You'd need the monitor to go with it, but if that's you end goal it might be worth going that route.

 

If you don't plan on doing extensive video editing a 4770 would probably be a better option. You can save even more money if you don't plan on doing any over clocking.

[GamerPatriot]

The ram's speed will be fine. You might have to OC it via the motherboard, but the Intel CPU's generally don't support anything over 1866 I believe for the 2011 chips.

A lot of the builds the others have recommended are very gaming oriented. Hence why they think that your build is over powered.

If you plan on doing video editing in the future, and don't plan on upgrading the computer for a few years I'd stick with what you've specc'd out.

 

If you're doing photo editing primarily have you considered a proper FirePro or Quadro card that supports 10 bit color?

You'd need the monitor to go with it, but if that's you end goal it might be worth going that route.

 

If you don't plan on doing extensive video editing a 4770 would probably be a better option. You can save even more money if you don't plan on doing any over clocking.

 

I can always go slower in ram as stated above by another member. Better to be safe from the get go. Once I get into more heavy video editing I can add more. 

I don't plan on updating for a few years so I'm trying to future proof it as mush as possible. 

 

That does make more sense to get one of those cards that supports 10bit color. From what I hear and understand is that adobe favors the cuda cores. If this is true then I will have to sell my kidney for a good quadro card. Maybe I could get one to output for the monitor's color and another lower end one for lit gaming if possible? or could a mid range quadro do both? 

[Dmon]

I've tried to stick close to the design you seem to like whilst giving you the best deals for what you will use it for.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2JsAI

 

AMD tends to handle higher res better and is cheaper then the Nvidia Counter parts.

 

I've also included the desired screen and other perihperals all for $2633.47.

[dizmo]

I've tried to stick close to the design you seem to like whilst giving you the best deals for what you will use it for.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2JsAI

 

AMD tends to handle higher res better and is cheaper then the Nvidia Counter parts.

 

I've also included the desired screen and other perihperals all for $2633.47.

 

This build is pretty nice, actually. Honestly I'd probably just get a Noctua air cooler, as the water cooler isn't really needed.

I'd also put in a Quadro card, as stated earlier.

 

In your original build you list the Asus VG monitor, I wouldn't go that route. It's a gamer oriented monitor, and sacrifices color performance as a result. If you can't go with the PA monitor you want, I'd at least go with a good IPS screen.

 

For what its worth I have a friend who does a lot of photo work (~$1500/month as a side job) and he's using my old 2700k i7 machine. Nothing fancy, no 10bit color. He does pretty well with it. He's getting me to piece together a computer for him next year when he gets his apartment, and a Quadro card is definitely going to be the way to go. They can be hard pretty for a comparable price to a mid range graphics card. Sure, they go up to $3000+ but you don't need the best.

 

I'm not sure if you can run two cards in the system at the same time. You'd probably have to switch the cable between the two which would be a pain in the ass. I'm pretty sure their not gaming oriented, so I'm not sure how they'd perform when it comes to games. I imagine it should be fine.

[Dmon]

This build is pretty nice, actually. Honestly I'd probably just get a Noctua air cooler, as the water cooler isn't really needed.

I'd also put in a Quadro card, as stated earlier.

 

Yeah, but the h100i just fits the Corsair 750D Case like a glove, and it looks nice

 

Of course its up to the op.

[dizmo]

Here's the way I'd go with the build.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($319.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler:  Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard:  Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory:  Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($169.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($145.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card:  MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card  ($359.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case:  Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case  ($129.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply:  SeaSonic 660W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($134.04 @ NCIX US)
Monitor:  HP ZR2740w 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($505.00 @ Amazon)
Keyboard:  Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire Ultimate Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($98.29 @ NCIX US)
Mouse:  Anker AK-98ANDS2368-BA Wired Laser Mouse  ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2372.24

 

It has a lot of the parts you were looking for. I went with a 2tb drive, more storage is always a plus.

The HP monitor is 1440p, so you'll have a higher resolution and it scores marginally better than the PB279Q in most tests.

The 770 is there so that the games you want to play remain playable, as the 1440p resolution requires a little more power.

I went with the 4770k i7, as it should do you for a long time, especially for your given use of light video editing.

The rest is color coded, since I assumed aesthetics were a little important with that windowed case.

 

If you decide you want to go 10bit with the PA279, you can grab a Quadro and the monitor at the same time. You might find that the IPS HP is good enough, and save a fair amount.

 

There isn't really a "best build", tons of options are out there and the ones others have recommended are great as well. Just another take.

The 4930k is a little much...but if you're like me you usually go for it anyway. Especially if you can find someone selling one online, new for cheap as there's quite a few out there.

 

For an extra $290 you can get the 4930k, Asus Sabertooth x79 board, and Kingston quad channel RAM.

[WoodenMarker]

I can always go slower in ram as stated above by another member. Better to be safe from the get go. Once I get into more heavy video editing I can add more. 

I don't plan on updating for a few years so I'm trying to future proof it as mush as possible. 

 

That does make more sense to get one of those cards that supports 10bit color. From what I hear and understand is that adobe favors the cuda cores. If this is true then I will have to sell my kidney for a good quadro card. Maybe I could get one to output for the monitor's color and another lower end one for lit gaming if possible? or could a mid range quadro do both? 

Adobe is actually one of the leaders of content creators who are pushing for OpenCL instead of/along with CUDA. If you're keeping updated with the newer versions, it would probably be better off going with AMD unless you're reliant on the CUDA-based functions.

You can do the double output thing if you use separate displays. 

 

Any examples of the type of scale for the projects and type of content in general you're working on?