Just starting out, first build

[hiddenjumprope]

Hello everyone, I just joined thanks to a friend pointing me to this forum for tips and such. I've never built a computer before (though I did tear down, and put back together, a old macbook pro at work. One of my jobs is a tech assistant at my college).

 

So with a lot of help from friends who know a heck of a lot more than me, I've learned a little bit and with their suggestions I put together this build:
 

PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor 
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory 
Storage:

Crucial V4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive 
Seagate  2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Enthusiast Edition Video Card 
Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3 ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply 
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor 
Total: $1057.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-29 13:18 EDT-0400

 

My goal with this PC:

I am going to school for graphic deisgn, so I constantly work with mutiple adobe programs open. I am a horrible muti-tasker, I'll have indesign, illustrator, photoshop, skype, and firefox open at one time sometimes. I also do some light gaming.

I want it to last awhile. I hope that in doing this, when my wonderful laptop dies, since I have a powerful desktop at home I will only need the laptop to do some schoolwork, which does include the adobe suite, so it would still need to be decent, but not quite the enxpensive monster I have (an Asus G75VW). I got lucky that I got it for $800, as at the time it was going for $1,200-1,500. Basically I hope it'll save me some money in the long run, in terms of upgradeability/futureproofing and being able to buy cheaper laptops for travel as they wont be my main computer anymore.

 

On my current laptop I have 8gb ram and an i7 CPU, but I hear the i7 would be overkill in my build unless I am doing some heavy rendering, which I don't.

 

OS notes: I had windows 7 on an older macbook pro of mine so I'm going to see if I can transfer that to this PC (it is OEM, but I hear mixed results about being able to transfer it). If not, I am prepared to pay the $70 for windows 8.1 (with student discount).

 

The case I picked comes with 3 fans, and a friend who majorly helped me with this has the same case and has had no problems with cooling.

 

My budget is idealiy not over 1k (I'm not really including the monitor, as I've been wanting one to hook up to my laptop anyway).

 

So does this seem to be a solid build?

[Guest]

Going to pcpartpicker right now.

[Cazzer505]

Hm.... let me have a look on pcpartpicker

[ProdigyzMined]

Your motherboard supports overclocking with that Z97 chipset, but you have the non-k varient of that CPU, which won't overclock. You should either upgrade the CPU to the 4690k, or save a few bucks and get an H97 board, or really any board with the 1150 socket.

[hiddenjumprope]

Your motherboard supports overclocking with that Z97 chipset, but you have the non-k varient of that CPU, which won't overclock. You should either upgrade the CPU to the 4690k, or save a few bucks and get an H97 board, or really any board with the 1150 socket.

 

I don't care to overclock, I currently don't see a reason to do so (for myself). Reason I picked this motherboard was the intergrated USB 3.1.

[Cazzer505]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rRsHt6 

 

Pretty good for the money

[Jakeman797]

Hello everyone, I just joined thanks to a friend pointing me to this forum for tips and such. I've never built a computer before (though I did tear down, and put back together, a old macbook pro at work. One of my jobs is a tech assistant at my college).

 

So with a lot of help from friends who know a heck of a lot more than me, I've learned a little bit and with their suggestions I put together this build:

 

PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor 

Motherboard: Asus Z97-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory 

Storage:

Crucial V4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive 

Seagate  2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive

Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Enthusiast Edition Video Card 

Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3 ATX Mid Tower Case 

Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply 

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer

Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor 

Total: $1057.62

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-29 13:18 EDT-0400

 

My goal with this PC:

I am going to school for graphic deisgn, so I constantly work with mutiple adobe programs open. I am a horrible muti-tasker, I'll have indesign, illustrator, photoshop, skype, and firefox open at one time sometimes. I also do some light gaming.

I want it to last awhile. I hope that in doing this, when my wonderful laptop dies, since I have a powerful desktop at home I will only need the laptop to do some schoolwork, which does include the adobe suite, so it would still need to be decent, but not quite the enxpensive monster I have (an Asus G75VW). I got lucky that I got it for $800, as at the time it was going for $1,200-1,500. Basically I hope it'll save me some money in the long run, in terms of upgradeability/futureproofing and being able to buy cheaper laptops for travel as they wont be my main computer anymore.

 

On my current laptop I have 8gb ram and an i7 CPU, but I hear the i7 would be overkill in my build unless I am doing some heavy rendering, which I don't.

 

OS notes: I had windows 7 on an older macbook pro of mine so I'm going to see if I can transfer that to this PC (it is OEM, but I hear mixed results about being able to transfer it). If not, I am prepared to pay the $70 for windows 8.1 (with student discount).

 

The case I picked comes with 3 fans, and a friend who majorly helped me with this has the same case and has had no problems with cooling.

 

My budget is idealiy not over 1k (I'm not really including the monitor, as I've been wanting one to hook up to my laptop anyway).

 

So does this seem to be a solid build?

you might want a slightly better video card if you want to game, maybe a 960, if you're willing to spend a bit more

[hiddenjumprope]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rRsHt6 

 

Pretty good for the money

 

I'm sorry, that link goes to a 404 page....

you might want a slightly better video card if you want to game, maybe a 960, if you're willing to spend a bit more

Hmm, I'll take a closer look and consider it thanks!

I don't do a ton of gaming and what I do is more like: Minecraft, Child of Light, Sim City type things. So not sure. But I'm still new to the gaming market, my mom banned video games when I was a kid heh.

[Jakeman797]

I'm sorry, that link goes to a 404 page....

Hmm, I'll take a closer look and consider it thanks!

I don't do a ton of gaming and what I do is more like: Minecraft, Child of Light, Sim City type things. So not sure. But I'm still new to the gaming market, my mom banned video games when I was a kid heh.

Even if you don't do too much heavy gaming, CUDA could help if you do content production

[Cazzer505]

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rRsHt6) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rRsHt6/by_merchant/)

 

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54460) | $166.95 @ SuperBiiz 

**Motherboard** | [MSI H81M-E35 V2 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-h81me35v2) | $59.99 @ Mwave 

**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f314900cl10d16gbxl) | $89.99 @ Newegg 

**Storage** | [A-Data XPG SX900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asx900s3256gmc) | $79.99 @ Amazon 

**Storage** | [seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | $46.99 @ NCIX US 

**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp42966kr) | $199.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Case** | [NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-cas340wb1) | $62.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220gs0550v1) | $79.99 @ NCIX US 

**Wireless Network Adapter** | [Asus PCE-N10 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-wireless-network-card-pcen10) | $18.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Monitor** | [Asus VS248H-P 24.0" Monitor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-vs248hp) | $168.99 @ SuperBiiz 

 | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |

 | **Total** | **$974.86**

 | Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2015-06-29 13:57 EDT-0400 |

[hiddenjumprope]

Even if you don't do too much heavy gaming, CUDA could help if you do content production

Good to know, it's not that much more expensive. I don't see to much of a difference between the two, but I am still quite the newbie.

And yes, I do a lot of content prodution.

[Jakeman797]

the 750 ti has 640 cuda cores

the 960 has 1024 cuda cores

 

so it has almost double the cuda cores

 

also it has direct x 12

[hiddenjumprope]

 

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rRsHt6) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rRsHt6/by_merchant/)

 

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54460) | $166.95 @ SuperBiiz 

**Motherboard** | [MSI H81M-E35 V2 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-h81me35v2) | $59.99 @ Mwave 

**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f314900cl10d16gbxl) | $89.99 @ Newegg 

**Storage** | [A-Data XPG SX900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asx900s3256gmc) | $79.99 @ Amazon 

**Storage** | [seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | $46.99 @ NCIX US 

**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp42966kr) | $199.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Case** | [NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-cas340wb1) | $62.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220gs0550v1) | $79.99 @ NCIX US 

**Wireless Network Adapter** | [Asus PCE-N10 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-wireless-network-card-pcen10) | $18.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Monitor** | [Asus VS248H-P 24.0" Monitor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-vs248hp) | $168.99 @ SuperBiiz 

 | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |

 | **Total** | **$974.86**

 | Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2015-06-29 13:57 EDT-0400 |

 

thanks for the suggestions, I forgot to say I'm not going to add a Wireless card for now as I'll just use an ethernet cable.

Also I read a lot of reviews that there are issues with the baracuda line of Seagate. Also I want 2TB for harddrive. Is the ADATA a trustworthy brand for SSD?

I'll take a closer look at the rest of the suggestions, especially the monitor as I didn't notice that when I was looking. Though not sure if another inch is worth $10 haha.

[mroz10]

Get 4690k, or H97 board. Chances are you don't need 16gb of RAM. And get a better GPU. If you want CUDA or lower power, go with NVidia GTX 960 or 970, If you want better OpenCL or pure gaming power go with AMD R9 380 or 390

[Guest]

For photoshop and other stuff he's been doing:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/q8d83C

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/q8d83C/by_merchant/

 

CPU: AMD A10-7700K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($89.99 @ Micro Center) 

Motherboard: Asus A88X-PLUS ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($56.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($94.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: A-Data XPG SX900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.89 @ OutletPC) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($32.99 @ Micro Center) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $459.82

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-29 14:02 EDT-0400

 

This is super cheap, but it has 16gb of RAM for all multitasking he needs, and a really powerfull onboard GPU (photoshop gets insane GPU acceleration from these APU's so why not?)

You have 2133mhz RAM so it means the onboard GPU is even going to be good for entry/mid gaming and you have a Motherboard that's good enough so you can even OC on it (a88x)

You have 2tb's of storage and a SSD, but if you want to go crazy, pair it with a r7 240 (HD 7750) and get away with it like a bawz...

No, but seriously, for what he's doing this is good enough.

[hiddenjumprope]

the 750 ti has 640 cuda cores

the 960 has 1024 cuda cores

 

so it has almost double the cuda cores

 

also it has direct x 12

Ok cool, I'll think about it. Thanks for the suggestion!

[mroz10]

thanks for the suggestions, I forgot to say I'm not going to add a Wireless card for now as I'll just use an ethernet cable.

Also I read a lot of reviews that there are issues with the baracuda line of Seagate. Also I want 2TB for harddrive. Is the ADATA a trustworthy brand for SSD?

ADATA makes great SSDs, I use a barracuda, it's fine, though spend extra money and get a WD Black drive instead.

[hiddenjumprope]

Also again, my goal with the motherboard I picked was that it has USB 3.1. There aren't many options for 3.1 and this seemed to be the best in my price range for a motherboard.

[hiddenjumprope]

 

For photoshop and other stuff he's been doing:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/q8d83C

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/q8d83C/by_merchant/

 

CPU: AMD A10-7700K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($89.99 @ Micro Center) 

Motherboard: Asus A88X-PLUS ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($56.98 @ Newegg) 

Memory: Mushkin Blackline 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($94.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: A-Data XPG SX900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.89 @ OutletPC) 

Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($32.99 @ Micro Center) 

Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($34.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $459.82

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-29 14:02 EDT-0400

 

This is super cheap, but it has 16gb of RAM for all multitasking he needs, and a really powerfull onboard GPU (photoshop gets insane GPU acceleration from these APU's so why not?)

You have 2133mhz RAM so it means the onboard GPU is even going to be good for entry/mid gaming and you have a Motherboard that's good enough so you can even OC on it (a88x)

You have 2tb's of storage and a SSD, but if you want to go crazy, pair it with a r7 240 (HD 7750) and get away with it like a bawz...

No, but seriously, for what he's doing this is good enough.

 

 

 

 

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rRsHt6) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/rRsHt6/by_merchant/)

 

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54460) | $166.95 @ SuperBiiz 

**Motherboard** | [MSI H81M-E35 V2 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-h81me35v2) | $59.99 @ Mwave 

**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f314900cl10d16gbxl) | $89.99 @ Newegg 

**Storage** | [A-Data XPG SX900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/a-data-internal-hard-drive-asx900s3256gmc) | $79.99 @ Amazon 

**Storage** | [seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st1000dm003) | $46.99 @ NCIX US 

**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-02gp42966kr) | $199.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Case** | [NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-cas340wb1) | $62.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Power Supply** | [EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220gs0550v1) | $79.99 @ NCIX US 

**Wireless Network Adapter** | [Asus PCE-N10 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-wireless-network-card-pcen10) | $18.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Monitor** | [Asus VS248H-P 24.0" Monitor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-monitor-vs248hp) | $168.99 @ SuperBiiz 

 | *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |

 | **Total** | **$974.86**

 | Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2015-06-29 13:57 EDT-0400 |

 

Alright finally took a look at the suggested motherboards:

I want to stick with Intel, I know AMD isn't as bad as some make it out to be and it's a good affordable option, but I want to be safe and I'm familiar with intel and know it works and does what I want. So I can't use first suggested motherboard.

The 2nd one, viable but I don't really want a micro-ATX, can fit more on a full one and I don't care about size that much.

I will consider a new motherboard possibly though,  I can live without USB 3.1. It just was suggested I go for it as a futurproofing thing.

[hiddenjumprope]

Alright, here is the updated build:

I took one of the SSD suggestions, and picked out a different motherboard alltogether.
 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8jD3GX
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8jD3GX/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($214.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-Pro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($106.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: A-Data XPG SX900 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate  2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: PNY GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Enthusiast Edition Video Card  ($139.74 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($59.04 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VS239H-P 23.0" Monitor  ($150.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1048.58
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-06-30 15:01 EDT-0400

 

EDIT: Realized I accidentally put in the old build, which had no changes *facepalm*

Edited June 30, 2015 by hiddenjumprope

[Guest]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kqXPTW

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kqXPTW/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220 V3 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($190.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Asus Z87-A (NFC Express Edition) ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($59.00 @ Newegg) 

Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($83.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($82.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($69.89 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 750 1GB Video Card  ($99.98 @ OutletPC) 

Case: Thermaltake Versa H25 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($37.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Power Supply: EVGA 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($49.99 @ NCIX US) 

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer  ($12.99 @ Newegg) 

Monitor: Acer G236HLBbd 60Hz 23.0" Monitor  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $787.80

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-01 06:39 EDT-0400

 

You can even swap 750ti to gt610 and still be good to go.