I think Costco has a computer with the specs I want for cheaper than I could build...

Lisa.Lisa · March 20, 2016

4 hours ago, stconquest said:

@stconquest I appreciate the time you took looking into and explaining this.

The reason I liked the i7 is I've read that the i7 is the best cpu for photoshop. And I thought I'd read that if I had a good CPU like the i7 then I might be able to get away without a graphics card. Or I could try it without a graphics card and then always add one a bit later if I find that I do want one.

The most important things to me are fast and ability to multi-task well (I often have multiple more demanding programs open at the same time). I thought maybe I should get one that I could overclock in case I wanted to make it faster in a few years. But then maybe in a few years I'll just want to buy new parts.. =\ And my other reason was the i7 6700k has a faster speed than the i7 6700 (4.0GHz vs 3.4GHz).

stconquest · March 20, 2016

11 minutes ago, Lisa.Lisa said:

@stconquest I appreciate the time you took looking into and explaining this.

The reason I liked the i7 is I've read that the i7 is the best cpu for photoshop. And I thought I'd read that if I had a good CPU like the i7 then I might be able to get away without a graphics card. Or I could try it without a graphics card and then always add one a bit later if I find that I do want one.

The most important things to me are fast and ability to multi-task well (I often have multiple more demanding programs open at the same time). I thought maybe I should get one that I could overclock in case I wanted to make it faster in a few years. But then maybe in a few years I'll just want to buy new parts.. =\ And my other reason was the i7 6700k has a faster speed than the i7 6700 (4.0GHz vs 3.4GHz).

No problem. It is fun to learn.

I did try to make you a CPU heavy (no GPU) 6700K build, but it hit the $1420 mark after taxes. You do get another advantage with the K-Series CPU and a Z-Series motherboard: Fast RAM 3000MHz+.

The advantage to the 6700 is not the clock speed, but the mulit-threading capabilities. The 6700 boosts to 4GHz, the 6700K boosts to 4.2GHz (running stock). The non-K CPU will serve you well for upwards of five years easily.

I really wish I had found performance numbers comparing CPU workloads and GPU workloads for the respective programs you plan to use. My pragmatic side tends to play it safe, which is why I recommended the four core i5 coupled with a CUDA capable GTX 960.

At the end of the day, what I can say for certain is the Dell is not a good value.

NumLock21 · March 20, 2016

The Costco build deal ends on 3/20/16, after that regular price is $1,470

Here is X99 build for a bit less, but you go get 6 cores of computing power. I purposely configured the ram at dual channel so you can have room for future upgrades and then get up to quad channel.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($519.00 @ Canada Computers)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII S524 Ver 2 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($50.75 @ Vuugo)
Motherboard: ASRock X99M Extreme4 Micro ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($199.88 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($46.30 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($46.30 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Sandisk Z400s 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($53.98 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series:DT01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($57.99 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($181.50 @ Vuugo)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.98 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Rosewill 600W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($99.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0 DVD/CD Writer ($17.34 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB (32/64-bit) ($126.90 @ shopRBC)
Total: $1454.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-20 14:29 EDT-0400

Damn Canadian currency sucks...

Same exact parts, all I did was switch from CAN to US on the top right

Spoiler

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($351.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII S524 Ver 2 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock X99M Extreme4 Micro ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($168.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($34.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($34.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Sandisk Z400s 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($40.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Toshiba Product Series:DT01ACA 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 2GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Corsair 100R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Rosewill 600W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($68.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0 DVD/CD Writer ($19.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full - USB (32/64-bit) ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1084.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-20 14:30 EDT-0400