PC Build for Family Friend

[Drake10114]

Hello,

So a family friend (married to my cousin), is needing to replace her mac for a work/home pc. She runs her own photography business w/ numerous clients. Her budget is $1,500 and wants to be building it/have it built with in the week (basically wants no down time and get rid of the crap Mac she has).

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($407.25 @ Vuugo) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler  ($43.10 @ DirectCanada) 
Motherboard: Asus - STRIX Z270-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($259.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($154.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($138.50 @ Vuugo) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($89.05 @ Vuugo) 
Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($131.99 @ PC Canada) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($122.86 @ DirectCanada) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($128.50 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $1476.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-10 16:07 EDT-0400

 

Reasoning for Parts:

CPU: i7's have IGPU's, and since she will be upgrading this in 6 months to dual monitor, she can hopefully find a decent gpu that isn't horribly overpriced. Would have went w/ AMD Ryzen 7 or 5, but no IGPU, means I have to go Intel.

MOBO: Went w/ this, due to having onboard wifi, and allowing her the option to upgrade in the future to a k cpu and a better cooler and OC.

CPU Cooler: Good enough for what she needs, room has no A/C, and wants to make sure the computer lasts, so this will be enough for that. That and can't OC.

Memory: Cheapest Ram, for 16gb from a good brand at 2400Mhz.

Storage: Seagate is good and reliable

SSD: Good quality and fast boot

PSU: High quality, and allows easier cable management. Reason for large size is due to no GPU yet and allows for expandability, without any worry on hitting the max PSU wattage.

Case: Allows her to modify the case later on as she sees fit.

 

She wants a legit copy of windows 10, and would rather not do kinguin/reddit for $20.

 

She will be using this for income so stability is a factor. The use will be photo editing, some video editing (I imagine from shoots??), and rendering out some images.

Did I miss anything critical.

GPU will be later, due to the massive spike in certain cards which I'd be recommending..

Would it be worth it to upgrade to WD Blacks? They are almost $100 CAD more.

 

She will be buying these in Canada (probably from Amazon, due to her having prime and needing speed for shipping), so prices are in CAD.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Get a 7700k the extra clock speed is worth it.

 

Those drives are fine, blacks are only a bit faster.

 

Id get a 1050. There still cheap and more than faster enough for this work.

 

 

 

 

[Drake10114]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Get a 7700k the extra clock speed is worth it.

 

Those drives are fine, blacks are only a bit faster.

 

Id get a 1050. There still cheap and more than faster enough for this work.

 

 

 

 

Was debating on the 1050ti, but Idk how critical having a gpu is for photo editing.

Will consider the i7-7700k, since it's base clock is 4.2ghz, which even w/o OC, is faster.

Ty for the drive info.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Drake10114 said:

Was debating on the 1050ti, but Idk how critical having a gpu is for photo editing.

Will consider the i7-7700k, since it's base clock is 4.2ghz, which even w/o OC, is faster.

Ty for the drive info.

depends on programs. Photoshop uses it a good amount a basic gpu will be much better than the igpu for many thing. Lightroom doesn't really care.

[Mister_Cro_Noob]

10 minutes ago, Drake10114 said:

Hello,

So a family friend (married to my cousin), is needing to replace her mac for a work/home pc. She runs her own photography business w/ numerous clients. Her budget is $1,500 and wants to be building it/have it built with in the week (basically wants no down time and get rid of the crap Mac she has).

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($407.25 @ Vuugo) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler  ($43.10 @ DirectCanada) 
Motherboard: Asus - STRIX Z270-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($259.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($154.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($138.50 @ Vuugo) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($89.05 @ Vuugo) 
Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($131.99 @ PC Canada) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($122.86 @ DirectCanada) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($128.50 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $1476.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-10 16:07 EDT-0400

 

Reasoning for Parts:

CPU: i7's have IGPU's, and since she will be upgrading this in 6 months to dual monitor, she can hopefully find a decent gpu that isn't horribly overpriced. Would have went w/ AMD Ryzen 7 or 5, but no IGPU, means I have to go Intel.

MOBO: Went w/ this, due to having onboard wifi, and allowing her the option to upgrade in the future to a k cpu and a better cooler and OC.

CPU Cooler: Good enough for what she needs, room has no A/C, and wants to make sure the computer lasts, so this will be enough for that. That and can't OC.

Memory: Cheapest Ram, for 16gb from a good brand at 2400Mhz.

Storage: Seagate is good and reliable

SSD: Good quality and fast boot

PSU: High quality, and allows easier cable management. Reason for large size is due to no GPU yet and allows for expandability, without any worry on hitting the max PSU wattage.

Case: Allows her to modify the case later on as she sees fit.

 

She wants a legit copy of windows 10, and would rather not do kinguin/reddit for $20.

 

She will be using this for income so stability is a factor. The use will be photo editing, some video editing (I imagine from shoots??), and rendering out some images.

Did I miss anything critical.

GPU will be later, due to the massive spike in certain cards which I'd be recommending..

Would it be worth it to upgrade to WD Blacks? They are almost $100 CAD more.

 

She will be buying these in Canada (probably from Amazon, due to her having prime and needing speed for shipping), so prices are in CAD.

Z270 board with locked cpu gave me cancer. If Ryzen doesnt have iGPU that doesn't mean you can buy an dedicated like GTX 750 Ti. WD Blacks ? Nah rather get WD Purple.

Here is wayyy better buiild : 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($283.25 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($133.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($179.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($138.50 @ Vuugo) 
Storage: Western Digital - WD Purple 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($134.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($89.05 @ Vuugo) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($187.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case: Corsair - 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ Memory Express) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit  ($180.95 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $1493.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-10 16:29 EDT-0400

[Drake10114]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

depends on programs. Photoshop uses it a good amount a basic gpu will be much better than the igpu for many thing. Lightroom doesn't really care.

Ahh okay, is $200 CAD fine for a 1050ti?

She said she can spend more than the $1500 budget, so I can fit this card into it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  ($201.88 @ Amazon Canada) 
Total: $201.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-10 16:28 EDT-0400

[JoostinOnline]

3 minutes ago, Drake10114 said:

Was debating on the 1050ti, but Idk how critical having a gpu is for photo editing.

Will consider the i7-7700k, since it's base clock is 4.2ghz, which even w/o OC, is faster.

Ty for the drive info.

Look for a used 6700k if you want to overclock. The 7700k has heat spikes. I'm not sure why people keep recommending it. Or better yet, get a Ryzen 1700 with a cheap GPU. 

 

For photo editing, just get a used 750 Ti. You'll save money that way and it's still plenty powerful. They're like $40, and one of the greatest graphics cards ever made IMO. Price to performance is amazing and it gets all its power form the PCIe slot. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Drake10114 said:

Ahh okay, is $200 CAD fine for a 1050ti?

She said she can spend more than the $1500 budget, so I can fit this card into it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card  ($201.88 @ Amazon Canada) 
Total: $201.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-10 16:28 EDT-0400

yep that card looks fine.

 

Id probably save a bit on a cheaper case and a smaller psu. A 360w will be fine.

[Drake10114]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

Look for a used 6700k if you want to overclock. The 7700k has heat spikes. I'm not sure why people keep recommending it. 

 

For photo editing, just get a used 750 Ti. You'll save money that way and it's still plenty powerful. 

Ahh okay, yeah was just remembering the 7700k's have heat spikes.

Idk about buying used parts, since I think she wants warranties on everything and just peace of mind in terms of it being new.

 

2 minutes ago, Mister_Cro_Noob said:

-Snip-

As stated, it would allow upgradeability in the future, since it's easier to swap out a cpu than an entire damn mobo+cpu.

She is fine w/ running igpu for now, and then buying a gpu later.

Not really a wayyy better build, since clock speed matters for photo editing.

And that HDD is bad lmfao? 5400 RPM compared to 7200rpm?

[Drake10114]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

yep that card looks fine.

 

Id probably save a bit on a cheaper case and a smaller psu. A 360w will be fine.

Having a larger PSU it allows her to not have to upgrade incase she wants to add more stuff, etc.

Case is pricey, but I think the fact you can add/move everything around makes it worthwhile.

[Mister_Cro_Noob]

Just now, Drake10114 said:

And that HDD is bad lmfao? 5400 RPM compared to 7200rpm?

Did you take into count that those boys are reliable just like WD Reds

[Mister_Cro_Noob]

1 minute ago, Drake10114 said:

As stated, it would allow upgradeability in the future, since it's easier to swap out a cpu than an entire damn mobo+cpu.

She is fine w/ running igpu for now, and then buying a gpu later.

Not really a wayyy better build, since clock speed matters for photo editing.

And that HDD is bad lmfao? 5400 RPM compared to 7200rpm?

Just get this build : 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($283.25 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($133.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($179.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($138.50 @ Vuugo) 
Storage: Western Digital - WD Purple 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($134.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($89.05 @ Vuugo) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($187.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case: Corsair - 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ Memory Express) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit  ($180.95 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $1493.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-10 16:29 EDT-0400

[Drake10114]

5 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

Look for a used 6700k if you want to overclock. The 7700k has heat spikes. I'm not sure why people keep recommending it. 

 

For photo editing, just get a used 750 Ti. You'll save money that way and it's still plenty powerful. 

Now is the 7700k just hot regardless of OC, or will it turbo w/ the 212X and run fine? She is in a heat wave, so she doesn't want the PC to fry, due to being too warm.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Mister_Cro_Noob said:

Did you take into count that those boys are reliable just like WD Reds

all drives are similar in reliability for a desktop, and you make backups to keep the data safe, so a drive failure won't cause data loss.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Mister_Cro_Noob said:

Just get this build : 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($283.25 @ Vuugo) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($133.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($179.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($138.50 @ Vuugo) 
Storage: Western Digital - WD Purple 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($134.99 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($89.05 @ Vuugo) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SC GAMING ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($187.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case: Corsair - 200R ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ Memory Express) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($99.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit  ($180.95 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $1493.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-10 16:29 EDT-0400

why purple and segate?

 

the 1600 is a good amount slower than the 7700k in photoshop and simmilar programs.

[Drake10114]

1 minute ago, Mister_Cro_Noob said:

-Snip-

How about no, I said I ruled out Ryzen, no idea why you keep trying to push it.

[Drake10114]

3 minutes ago, Mister_Cro_Noob said:

Did you take into count that those boys are reliable just like WD Reds

Seagate is just as reliable, and you back stuff up onto cloud services, etc. 

[Drake10114]

5 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

-Snip-

Would using better thermal paste, like IC Diamond/Arctic Silver help lower the temps on an i7-7700k and allow it to safely turbo slightly while remaining cool?

[JoostinOnline]

3 minutes ago, Drake10114 said:

And that HDD is bad lmfao? 5400 RPM compared to 7200rpm?

I think he's saying that because it's Seagate.  Supposedly their new drives are better, but they've earned a very bad reputation over the years for (relatively) high failure rates, and you don't just bounce back from that.  I won't be buying Seagate again for a long time.

 

For opening/saving files, 5400RPM is fine.  Not as good as 7200RPM, but there isn't a huge difference.  I wouldn't recommend WD Black unless you're willing to put up with the noise.  It's not super loud, but these days people are pretty picky about computers being as quiet as possible.

 

The heat spikes aren't really something to worry about if you aren't overclocking.  It's better than a 6700k at stock speeds.  That being said, I stand by my suggestion that you get an R7 1700 and a 750 Ti.  A 750 Ti will easily handle dual monitors, and you'll have double the cores and threads of an i7.

 

PS: I'm sorry if it sounds like we're being overly critical.

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, Drake10114 said:

Would using better thermal paste, like IC Diamond/Arctic Silver help lower the temps on an i7-7700k and allow it to safely turbo slightly while remaining cool?

the chip will hit turbo just fine on that cooler, the temp complaints are mainly from people overclocking them.

[Drake10114]

Just now, JoostinOnline said:

I think he's saying that because it's Seagate.  Supposedly their new drives are better, but they've earned a very bad reputation over the years for (relatively) high failure rates, and you don't just bounce back from that.  I won't be buying Seagate again for a long time.

 

For opening/saving files, 5400RPM is fine.  Not as good as 7200RPM, but there isn't a huge difference.  I wouldn't recommend WD Black unless you're willing to put up with the noise.  It's not super loud, but these days people are pretty picky about computers being as quiet as possible.

 

The heat spikes aren't really something to worry about if you aren't overclocking.  It's better than a 6700k at stock speeds.  That being said, I stand by my suggestion that you get an R7 1700 and a 750 Ti.  A 750 Ti will easily handle dual monitors, and you'll have double the cores and threads of an i7.

 

PS: I'm sorry if it sounds like we're being overly critical.

She already said the i7 is final lol.

But clock speed is more important than having more cores, at least for photo editing, We weighed both options.

Good to know about the heat spikes, I think running at 4.2ghz w/o boosting, will be more than enough speed.

I have never had a seagate drive fail for me, so bizarre that they are known for that.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

I think he's saying that because it's Seagate.  Supposedly their new drives are better, but they've earned a very bad reputation over the years for (relatively) high failure rates, and you don't just bounce back from that.  I won't be buying Seagate again for a long time.

it was a bad batch of 3tb's and 1.5tb's the rest of the drives are fine, there were some bad ones in the 90's and early 00's but that was a different time.

 

2 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

For opening/saving files, 5400RPM is fine.  Not as good as 7200RPM, but there isn't a huge difference.  I wouldn't recommend WD Black unless you're willing to put up with the noise.  It's not super loud, but these days people are pretty picky about computers being as quiet as possible.

FOr photo stuff, id keep the lightroom catalog(or eqv) on your ssd and your current projects. Then keep your old projects on the hdd, and the speed of the hdd doesn't really matter.

[Drake10114]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

the chip will hit turbo just fine on that cooler, the temp complaints are mainly from people overclocking them.

Ahh okay, I'd rather go w/ a Cryorig H7.. but $140 for that is BS.

I'll recommend a good paste to help lower the temps better.

My PC in my signature, has basically been blowing cold air since I have built in.

[Drake10114]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

it was a bad batch of 3tb's and 1.5tb's the rest of the drives are fine, there were some bad ones in the 90's and early 00's but that was a different time.

 

FOr photo stuff, id keep the lightroom catalog(or eqv) on your ssd and your current projects. Then keep your old projects on the hdd, and the speed of the hdd doesn't really matter.

Having it faster allows for it to be accessed quicker, which I imagine if she is storing client photos on it, having it be quick is a bonus.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Drake10114 said:

Having it faster allows for it to be accessed quicker, which I imagine if she is storing client photos on it, having it be quick is a bonus.

but it won't matter, the hdd is only storing projects that are done, and exported. You don't normally go back to them. Everything thats current is on the ssd, which will be much faster than any hdd.