Graphic Designer computer help!

[hwangmihee]

Hi everyone! I've been following Linus on YouTube for years.. Watched him on YouTube for years but was never really a forum person and was kinda always really scared to post anywhere.

But today I decided to because I'm completely stumped. I'm a student at BCIT going into Graphic Design and hell is it fun and interesting. Long story short I want this to be a full time thing once 

 

I finish school and I'm looking to build a PC that can handle specific programs.

A list of things of main programs I use are:

Photoshop
Illustrator
InDesign
Chrome(I use tabs like CRAZY)
Minecraft (Heavy modded)
Skyrim (Heavy modded)
League of Legends

Now my budget is $2,000(CAD).. (but if there is a extremely compelling reason to go over, I have 600$ of my own money to throw into this) for the following:

PC + 1 x 2560x1440 monitor.

The only thing I'm really set stone on is a bitfenix prodigy case as pretty much fell in love with it, a motherboard that has amazing built-in audio as mITX has only 1 expansion slot, and a completely

 

silence build! No fan noise, no coil whine and I have tons of questions maybe someone on this forums can answer.

 

[CPU] i5 vs i7? Now the difference in money is obviously there, it's a big 100 dollars between the i5 4670k and the i7 4770k, but is there a difference for the programs I use? Does it even need to be a k part?

Meaning do I even need to overclock? Should I just go for the cheaper versions of the i5, i7?

 

[CPU SINK] I've been looking at the Noctua DH14 because its one of the best air coolers I heard? and it's completely silent with the noctua fans. Also it fits snugly into the bitfenix case. Are there better options?

[GPU] Now after the nVidia drop in price, is the GTX 770 "in the price range" for me? Or is it completely unnecessary for the games I play and just go to 760 or some Radeon card? Thanks.
 

[MOBO] I'm looking at the ROG Impact only because of that built in audio. Is it really worth it though? I know it costs quite a bit but if it could be fit into budget, i'd love it.

 

[CASE] RED Bitfenix Prodigy , no questions asked!

[PSU] Now it needs to be 160mm in length and completely modular for it to work in the case. I've been looking at Corsair, Seasonic, and Silverstone for a modular PSU. Which one is best and which wattage 

 

should I be looking for?

[sTORAGE] I'm looking to stick with just 2x 128gb SSD or 1 256GB SSD. Which one is better? Should I even consider HDD? I have a 4tb external and a 500GB external already. I only ask because I want 

 

complete silence. Also is WD Green drive really good/ worth it?


Thankyou for anyone just reading this wall of text. I'd love any questions/answers for me.

Thankyou all!

[edit] I forgot ram -.- I'm noob. 

[RAM] Is 8GB still the standard I should go for? Or is 16GB the new thing. Worst time to build a PC when ram prices so high

[ciprian97pop]

I know it's over the buget but I don't care. It's awesome

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($249.50 @ Vuugo) 

CPU Cooler:  Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($87.99 @ Newegg Canada) 

Motherboard:  Asus MAXIMUS VI IMPACT Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($221.53 @ DirectCanada) 

Memory:  Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($132.59 @ Newegg Canada) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($187.25 @ Vuugo) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card  ($499.99 @ Memory Express) 

Case:  BitFenix Prodigy (Red) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Memory Express) 

Power Supply:  EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Memory Express) 

Monitor:  Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($599.99 @ Amazon Canada) 

Total: $2128.82

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-30 16:17 EDT-0400)

 

do you really need that monitor? that's the reason this build is over $2k =/

[Adnanklink]

what about the bitfenix prodigy M, also WD greens are good

[cjeffcoatjr]

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1VdG2

Price breakdown by merchant: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1VdG2/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1VdG2/benchmarks/

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($249.50 @ Vuugo) 

CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler  ($98.93 @ Amazon Canada) 

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VI IMPACT Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($221.53 @ DirectCanada) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($169.14 @ DirectCanada) 

Storage: PNY XLR8 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($212.99 @ Newegg Canada) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card  ($499.99 @ Memory Express) 

Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Red) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Memory Express) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Memory Express) 

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer  ($26.98 @ Newegg Canada) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($103.34 @ TigerDirect Canada) 

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($599.99 @ Amazon Canada) 

Total: $2332.37

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-30 16:31 EDT-0400)

[hwangmihee]

 

I know it's over the buget but I don't care. It's awesome

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($249.50 @ Vuugo) 

CPU Cooler:  Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($87.99 @ Newegg Canada) 

Motherboard:  Asus MAXIMUS VI IMPACT Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($221.53 @ DirectCanada) 

Memory:  Mushkin Blackline 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($132.59 @ Newegg Canada) 

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($187.25 @ Vuugo) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card  ($499.99 @ Memory Express) 

Case:  BitFenix Prodigy (Red) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Memory Express) 

Power Supply:  EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Memory Express) 

Monitor:  Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  ($599.99 @ Amazon Canada) 

Total: $2128.82

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

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-30 16:17 EDT-0400)

 

do you really need that monitor? that's the reason this build is over $2k =/

 

I need a monitor like that because it's essential I have a 2560x1440 monitor for future Graphic work. 1920 is just not enough anymore for me.

 

[hwangmihee]

what about the bitfenix prodigy M, also WD greens are good

I choose the regular bitfenix because of the price differences and also, just the way the MOBO is sitting on the case is just sex appeal for me. I like the GPU facing me and the heatsink facing up. Not sideways.

Thanks! I might go for SSD + green drive.

[ShadowRaven]

Hi everyone! I've been following Linus on YouTube for years.. Watched him on YouTube for years but was never really a forum person and was kinda always really scared to post anywhere.

But today I decided to because I'm completely stumped. I'm a student at BCIT going into Graphic Design and hell is it fun and interesting. Long story short I want this to be a full time thing once 

 

I finish school and I'm looking to build a PC that can handle specific programs.

A list of things of main programs I use are:

Photoshop

Illustrator

InDesign

Chrome(I use tabs like CRAZY)

Minecraft (Heavy modded)

Skyrim (Heavy modded)

League of Legends

Now my budget is $2,000(CAD).. (but if there is a extremely compelling reason to go over, I have 600$ of my own money to throw into this) for the following:

PC + 1 x 2560x1440 monitor.

The only thing I'm really set stone on is a bitfenix prodigy case as pretty much fell in love with it, a motherboard that has amazing built-in audio as mITX has only 1 expansion slot, and a completely

 

silence build! No fan noise, no coil whine and I have tons of questions maybe someone on this forums can answer.

 

[CPU] i5 vs i7? Now the difference in money is obviously there, it's a big 100 dollars between the i5 4670k and the i7 4770k, but is there a difference for the programs I use? Does it even need to be a k part?

Meaning do I even need to overclock? Should I just go for the cheaper versions of the i5, i7?

 

[CPU SINK] I've been looking at the Noctua DH14 because its one of the best air coolers I heard? and it's completely silent with the noctua fans. Also it fits snugly into the bitfenix case. Are there better options?

[GPU] Now after the nVidia drop in price, is the GTX 770 "in the price range" for me? Or is it completely unnecessary for the games I play and just go to 760 or some Radeon card? Thanks.

 

[MOBO] I'm looking at the ROG Impact only because of that built in audio. Is it really worth it though? I know it costs quite a bit but if it could be fit into budget, i'd love it.

 

[CASE] RED Bitfenix Prodigy , no questions asked!

[PSU] Now it needs to be 160mm in length and completely modular for it to work in the case. I've been looking at Corsair, Seasonic, and Silverstone for a modular PSU. Which one is best and which wattage 

 

should I be looking for?

[sTORAGE] I'm looking to stick with just 2x 128gb SSD or 1 256GB SSD. Which one is better? Should I even consider HDD? I have a 4tb external and a 500GB external already. I only ask because I want 

 

complete silence. Also is WD Green drive really good/ worth it?

Thankyou for anyone just reading this wall of text. I'd love any questions/answers for me.

Thankyou all!

[edit] I forgot ram -.- I'm noob. 

[RAM] Is 8GB still the standard I should go for? Or is 16GB the new thing. Worst time to build a PC when ram prices so high

HERE IS MY SUGGESTION FOR YOUR COMPUTER BUILD

 

http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1VfxD

[WoodenMarker]

There's a Prodigy M which is basically a micro atx version of the original Prodigy but the same size. There's no red though.

The i5 will game just as well as the i7. You don't need to oc but you could if you want to. Things like illustrator and photoshop run just fine off of the i5. 

The NH-D14 isn't actually silent. It's pretty quiet though. 

You'd want a 780 for 1440p.

ROG impact isn't worth it just for the sound. z87 mobos have decent sound in general so don't worry too much about that. You should probably get an external card if you really care about sound. 

Caviar greens are almost silent but they are slightly slower than 7200 rpm alternatives. 

8GB ram is fine but you might as well go 16GB since you should get 2 sticks for dual channel and an itx mobo only has 2 slots. 

 

Here you go: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/1VrYW

Remove the stock case and heatsink fans.

Use the Hyperborea for the 212 Evo. Use the S12A's for front intake and rear exhaust. 

[cp65]

As a Graphic Artist myself, I recommend getting 16 GB of ram or more and a second smaller monitor. You'll need the extra memory for any large graphic files you might work on. I have 16 and can usually only open one large file at a time because of the amount of memory used. As for the second smaller monitor, you can put all your tool bars on the second monitor so they won't be in your way while you work on your graphics. You'll save time because your workable space will be larger without the tool bars, so you won't have to zoom in and out as much.

[WoodenMarker]

As a Graphic Artist myself, I recommend getting 16 GB of ram or more and a second smaller monitor. You'll need the extra memory for any large graphic files you might work on. I have 16 and can usually only open one large file at a time because of the amount of memory used. As for the second smaller monitor, you can put all your tool bars on the second monitor so they won't be in your way while you work on your graphics. You'll save time because your workable space will be larger without the tool bars, so you won't have to zoom in and out as much.

Larger files in graphic design is usually held back more by the virtual memory which is on the drive than the system memory most of the time. If you're working slowly with large files, you're most likely better off with a faster stratchdisk like a ssd than adding more ram. More ram helps, but not much when you're working with a +100GB file. 

The second display is a good idea and I'd pretty much say near required for any type of multitasking or content creation. A 1440p IPS panel might be a great investment though for the zooming in and out reason.