PC Build Advice

[Chromerian]

Hi everyone, I've been looking at building a PC for a bit and have posted on here before but have made a few changes and wanted to get some final thoughts on it before I buy everything.

This PC will be for Photo Editing and a bit of Gaming.

Thanks for any help!

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K
CPU Cooler: Thermalright HR-02 Rev.A(BW)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 Extreme6
Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory
SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
HDD: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair RM750 80+ Gold Fully-Modular
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Card Reader: Akasa Interconnect Pro 5.25 Inch Card Reader
Monitor: Dell UltraSharp U2413
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M65
Keyboard: Gigabyte GK-Osmium Wired Gaming Keyboard
Headphones: Creative Labs Fatal1ty Headset

 

PC Part Picker Link: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/cDhcRB

[Enderman]

Why do you have two HDDs?

Just get a 3TB seagate barracuda, or just the 2TB barracuda and a bigger SSD.

[Rheinwasser]

dont get vengeance pro ram.

you dont need 16GB either.

i would go for another motherboard.

why do you need a wd black? why to hdds? why two different ones?

what about the acx unit?

that heaset is kind of crap.

dont know about the monitor, but it looks a bit pricy.

and maybe a 240gb ssd?

 

sorry for not being in the right order.

[Chromerian]

Why do you have two HDDs?

Just get a 3TB seagate barracuda, or just the 2TB barracuda and a bigger SSD.

 

That was a recent change from having a 2TB WD Black. I originally had that because I wanted the high write speeds that the Black had for moving my photos around and processing them (did think about your second suggestion but file paths would be a pain with editting the photos having to move them to and from the SSD).

 

I changed it so that for the same price as the one WD 2TB, I get the WD 1TB (for photos etc) and the Seagate 2TB (for general storage). Is that stupid?

[Wiflare]

Do you plan on overclocking at all?

[Chromerian]

dont get vengeance pro ram.

you dont need 16GB either.

i would go for another motherboard.

why do you need a wd black? why to hdds? why two different ones?

what about the acx unit?

that heaset is kind of crap.

dont know about the monitor, but it looks a bit pricy.

and maybe a 240gb ssd?

 

sorry for not being in the right order.

 

Vengeance Pro - because I can get them for virtually the same price as standard Vengeance Ram and thought they looked better basically.

16GB - Currently on 8GB and finding it hard to run the photo editing programs that I need.

Motherboard - I wanted 2 Front USB3 Headers and there were very few options (it was this or the MSI Z97 SLI)

HDD - Answered above, unless that is stupid logic.

ACX Unit - I don't know what this is?

Headset - I don't need anything amazing, It was the cheapest (alright) headset that didn't have massive in your face mic (which I wouldn't be using often but still would like one). Do you have any other suggestions?

Monitor - For photo editing I need accurate colour representation and that one is one of the cheapest full Adobe RGB capable one. I know it is pricey but there is no point editing if I can't tell what the colour are.

240GB SSD - Thought about this in conjunction with the Hard drives but couldn't justify the extra cost.

 

Thanks for your feedback, please let me know if any of my reasoning is rubbish.

[Chromerian]

Do you plan on overclocking at all?

 

Not excessively but would like to be able to tinker with it. Never done it before but thought I would try to with this build.

[Enderman]

That was a recent change from having a 2TB WD Black. I originally had that because I wanted the high write speeds that the Black had for moving my photos around and processing them (did think about your second suggestion but file paths would be a pain with editting the photos having to move them to and from the SSD).

 

I changed it so that for the same price as the one WD 2TB, I get the WD 1TB (for photos etc) and the Seagate 2TB (for general storage). Is that stupid?

I guess that is reasonable. A larger SSD is nice because you have more space for all your programs to run on it, unless you can fit all your photo editing programs on a single 120GB SSD.

[Guest]

Please swap that awful psu for the EVGA Supernova G2 750W. The 10 year warranty on the EVGA is awesome. It is also a better psu.

 

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr

[Chromerian]

I guess that is reasonable. A larger SSD is nice because you have more space for all your programs to run on it, unless you can fit all your photo editing programs on a single 120GB SSD.

 

I think I should be able to fit the OS and main programs on the SSD so that should be alright. Yes ideally I would have a larger SSD, and I may get one in the future when prices have dropped more but I think I should be fine for the moment. Thanks for your help!

[Rheinwasser]

Vengeance Pro - because I can get them for virtually the same price as standard Vengeance Ram and thought they looked better basically.

16GB - Currently on 8GB and finding it hard to run the photo editing programs that I need.

Motherboard - I wanted 2 Front USB3 Headers and there were very few options (it was this or the MSI Z97 SLI)

HDD - Answered above, unless that is stupid logic.

ACX Unit - I don't know what this is?

Headset - I don't need anything amazing, It was the cheapest (alright) headset that didn't have massive in your face mic (which I wouldn't be using often but still would like one). Do you have any other suggestions?

Monitor - For photo editing I need accurate colour representation and that one is one of the cheapest full Adobe RGB capable one. I know it is pricey but there is no point editing if I can't tell what the colour are.

240GB SSD - Thought about this in conjunction with the Hard drives but couldn't justify the extra cost.

 

Thanks for your feedback, please let me know if any of my reasoning is rubbish.

1. ok, get that. check compatibility with big air coolers.

2. ok, get that.

3. i would get the msi one then. but only if i really really needed  usb 3.0, i dont like msi either.

4. ok, get that. didnt know that you already own them.

5. evgas cooler.

6. go to a local shop and test them out. this one doesnt look very comfortable.

7. get that as well.

8. if all your programs fit on an 120, get that, otherwise the 240 will be worth it.

[Enderman]

I think I should be able to fit the OS and main programs on the SSD so that should be alright. Yes ideally I would have a larger SSD, and I may get one in the future when prices have dropped more but I think I should be fine for the moment. Thanks for your help!

np

 

Something you could consider is buying a larger SSD first, and then purchasing one of the HDDs at a later date. You probably won't will up 3TB of storage that quickly, so you should be fine with 1 or 2TB for a while. If you buy the 120GB SSD, when you can/want to upgrade to 240GB you will need to reinstall everything on the new SSD, and you will have a space 120GB SSD not being used. So if you get the 240GB first, you won't have to worry about upgrading it and having to sell the old one or something.

[Wiflare]

What do you plan to do with your current PC when you build this one?

[Chromerian]

Please swap that awful psu for the EVGA Supernova G2 750W. The 10 year warranty on the EVGA is awesome. It is also a better psu.

 

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr

 

Thanks for the suggestion, can I ask what makes the one I have chosen "Awful" and the EVGA much better? (apart from the Warranty which is good!). I originally went for the EVGA 650W Gold but changed the the Corsair from other suggestions but I am open to changing again if there is reason to.

 

 

1. ok, get that. check compatibility with big air coolers.

2. ok, get that.

3. i would get the msi one then. but only if i really really needed  usb 3.0, i dont like msi either.

4. ok, get that. didnt know that you already own them.

5. evgas cooler.

6. go to a local shop and test them out. this one doesnt look very comfortable.

7. get that as well.

8. if all your programs fit on an 120, get that, otherwise the 240 will be worth it.

 

Thanks for the reply. I don't actually own the Hard drives yet, this was just my thought process through my storage situation. I think that I will be able to fit OS and my main programs on the 120, yes ideally I would love a 240 but maybe that will be an upgrade in the future when my needs are greater/prices come down more.

 

I wasn't keen on the MSI or the ASRock initially and did ask which people recommended and people were pretty split and said that they were both decent makes (I havn't built a pc in quite a while so wasn't to up to date with companies etc) and so went with the ASRock in the end. The 2 headers are for the Case and the Card reader otherwise I have to start routing out the back of the case which I am not keen on either.

[Chromerian]

np

 

Something you could consider is buying a larger SSD first, and then purchasing one of the HDDs at a later date. You probably won't will up 3TB of storage that quickly, so you should be fine with 1 or 2TB for a while. If you buy the 120GB SSD, when you can/want to upgrade to 240GB you will need to reinstall everything on the new SSD, and you will have a space 120GB SSD not being used. So if you get the 240GB first, you won't have to worry about upgrading it and having to sell the old one or something.

 

That is a very valid option. The latest 2 HDD idea has only been yesterday so hadn't thought it all the way through, though am currently on just my laptop with a bunch of externals so would like to move everything over (which i think is more than 2TB =/ ) so not sure how vialbe it would be. But I will definately consider it.

 

 

What do you plan to do with your current PC when you build this one?

 

 

Currently I am just on my laptop which is getting old and slow and not really able to keep up with everything. I will still keep it for portability etc.

Other than that I have an ancient tower which I haven't touched in many years which I don't really know what I will do with it.

 

How come?

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestion, can I ask what makes the one I have chosen "Awful" and the EVGA much better? (apart from the Warranty which is good!). I originally went for the EVGA 650W Gold but changed the the Corsair from other suggestions but I am open to changing again if there is reason to.

 

 

 

Thanks for the reply. I don't actually own the Hard drives yet, this was just my thought process through my storage situation. I think that I will be able to fit OS and my main programs on the 120, yes ideally I would love a 240 but maybe that will be an upgrade in the future when my needs are greater/prices come down more.

 

I wasn't keen on the MSI or the ASRock initially and did ask which people recommended and people were pretty split and said that they were both decent makes (I havn't built a pc in quite a while so wasn't to up to date with companies etc) and so went with the ASRock in the end. The 2 headers are for the Case and the Card reader otherwise I have to start routing out the back of the case which I am not keen on either.

 

This should explain it better than i can 

 

http://www.overclock.net/t/1455892/why-you-might-not-want-to-buy-a-corsair-rm-psu

[Wiflare]

 

 

Currently I am just on my laptop which is getting old and slow and not really able to keep up with everything. I will still keep it for portability etc.

Other than that I have an ancient tower which I haven't touched in many years which I don't really know what I will do with it.

 

How come?

just wondering if there were any parts available for salvaging.

I came up with this part list, I think it would suit better and it is a bit cheaper.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£256.13 @ Ebuyer)

CPU Cooler: Thermalright HR-02 Rev.A(BW) 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler  (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£95.99 @ Ebuyer) A good quality, color matching motherboard

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£111.08 @ Ebuyer) Linus swears by g.skill ram

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£55.49 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Seagate  1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  (£55.19 @ Aria PC) A hybrid drive will be faster than a wd black drive

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£52.79 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card  (£158.99 @ Aria PC) the r9 280 is just as fast if not faster than a 770

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£79.99 @ Amazon UK)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£77.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 10 year warranty. Enough said.

Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  (£51.92 @ Amazon UK)

Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire TK Wired Gaming Keyboard  (£70.78 @ Scan.co.uk) mx blues are better than mx reds in every situation, though you may want to wait for the corsair rgb keyboards.

Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired Laser Mouse  (£51.52 @ Amazon UK)

Other: Akasa Interconnect Pro 5.25 Inch Card Reader (£26.71)

Other:  Dell UltraSharp U2413 (£337.34)

Other: usb 3 header card (£14.68) so you don't need to choose between 2 not-so-great-for-the-price motherboards.

Total: £1536.29

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[Guest]

^^ The NEX isn't as good as the Supernova G2. It uses a different OEM.

[Chromerian]

just wondering if there were any parts available for salvaging.

I came up with this part list, I think it would suit better and it is a bit cheaper.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£256.13 @ Ebuyer)

CPU Cooler: Thermalright HR-02 Rev.A(BW) 73.6 CFM CPU Cooler  (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  (£95.99 @ Ebuyer) A good quality, color matching motherboard

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  (£111.08 @ Ebuyer) Linus swears by g.skill ram

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£55.49 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Seagate  1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  (£55.19 @ Aria PC) A hybrid drive will be faster than a wd black drive

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£52.79 @ Aria PC)

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 280 3GB Double Dissipation Video Card  (£158.99 @ Aria PC) the r9 280 is just as fast if not faster than a 770

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£79.99 @ Amazon UK)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£77.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 10 year warranty. Enough said.

Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-209DBK Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  (£51.92 @ Amazon UK)

Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire TK Wired Gaming Keyboard  (£70.78 @ Scan.co.uk) mx blues are better than mx reds in every situation, though you may want to wait for the corsair rgb keyboards.

Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M65 Wired Laser Mouse  (£51.52 @ Amazon UK)

Other: Akasa Interconnect Pro 5.25 Inch Card Reader (£26.71)

Other:  Dell UltraSharp U2413 (£337.34)

Other: usb 3 header card (£14.68) so you don't need to choose between 2 not-so-great-for-the-price motherboards.

Total: £1536.29

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

Sadly, doubt anything is salvagable from my old pc, it has been sitting around for several years let alone when I first got it.

 

I did not know there was such a thing as a USB3 Header card, I was looking for solutions similar to this but didn't find anything, is there any particular one you found (price seems specific) or would just any do. The annoying thing is none of the Gigabyte Z97 do colour match with the build (was looking for a blue build) but I may have to go back to the drawing board now that I know that this is an option. (Thanks you but curses you at the same time!)

 

I've not really looked much into Hybrid drives before. What are the benefits to them etc? But again, another place to research.

[Wiflare]

Sadly, doubt anything is salvagable from my old pc, it has been sitting around for several years let alone when I first got it.

 

I did not know there was such a thing as a USB3 Header card, I was looking for solutions similar to this but didn't find anything, is there any particular one you found (price seems specific) or would just any do. The annoying thing is none of the Gigabyte Z97 do colour match with the build (was looking for a blue build) but I may have to go back to the drawing board now that I know that this is an option. (Thanks you but curses you at the same time!)

 

I've not really looked much into Hybrid drives before. What are the benefits to them etc? But again, another place to research.

Gigabyte and asus are good motherboard manufacturers, msi is always a bit questionable, and I personally haven't heard anyone vouch for any others.

If color coordination is important, then you could look into the z87 boards, but they would require a bios update.

Kingston has white as well as blue ram for cheap.

[WoodenMarker]

What kind of photo editing are you doing? Programs being used?

..is the bluray drive really necessary? Are you planning to sli?

I changed it so that for the same price as the one WD 2TB, I get the WD 1TB (for photos etc) and the Seagate 2TB (for general storage). Is that stupid?

Little point doing so. The Black is only slightly faster than the barracuda. 

I've not really looked much into Hybrid drives before. What are the benefits to them etc? But again, another place to research.

SSHD's aren't worth getting when the option of ssd + combo is available.

[Chromerian]

Little point doing so. The Black is only slightly faster than the barracuda. 

SSHD's aren't worth getting when the option of ssd + combo is available.

 

I was initially looking at this http://hdd.userbenchmark.com/Compare/WD-Black-2TB-2013-vs-Seagate-Barracuda-720014-3TB/1821vs1374 which showed the write speed as over twice as fast. This is a pain for me at the moment as I spend a lot of time moving over my images and having to wait for that to happen. (I assume that multiple photo files would count under the "4K write" category)? But under the advice of above the Seagate SSHD seems to be a similar price/performance (if not better) than the WD Black.

 

I run Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom (as well as other programs at the same time) and occasionally use Video editting and CAD software for other things. It is Lightroom that is the one that makes me not want to be moving files around from the faster drives to the storage drives and back for editting as it uses a catalog system which screws up when you mess with the file paths.

 

Blu Ray is because I currently don't have any other device that can play BluRays which is a touch annoying when someone brings one around. I would be looking at £10-15 for a standard Optical Drive so £30 for a bluray drive instead doesn't seem too much more for the convenience if I ever need it. As I have said it is not essential but just a nice extra that I wouldn't mind having.

 

I am not looking to SLI at the moment (and doubt I will in the future but that depends on money and needs which I have no clue about right now).

 

Thanks for your advice.

[WoodenMarker]

the Seagate SSHD seems to be a similar price/performance (if not better) than the WD Black.

I run Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom (as well as other programs at the same time) and occasionally use Video editting and CAD software for other things. It is Lightroom that is the one that makes me not want to be moving files around from the faster drives to the storage drives and back for editting as it uses a catalog system which screws up when you mess with the file paths.

A sshd being similar price/performance to the WD Black isn't exactly a good thing. WD Blacks aren't worth the money over the cheaper Barracuda except maybe for the longer warranty.

Why would you have to move files over to the faster drive? A decent 7200rpm hdd should be fine for editing on.