Does this build look reasonable?

[Danil H]

Introduction

 

I have never built a PC before, though I’ve seen guides and videos about it. I think I have a good parts list, and PCPartPicker at least agrees that everything is compatible with everything else, but I wanted a second opinion from people who knew what they were doing. I originally planned to get a new computer because my laptop was manufactured in 2011, but then it became more important because the laptop decided it didn’t want to turn on anymore and the Raspberry Pi I’m typing this on sometimes crashes if I have ten tabs open when browsing the web.

 

I already have a primary hard drive and various peripherals, but need to get pretty much everything else that goes in to the computer. I only have one monitor (due to vision issues); I may replace that monitor, or want to plug in my TV at the same time, but I doubt I’ll be gaming on multiple monitors any time soon. The only thing not listed here is a Bluetooth card, because PCPartPicker doesn’t list them, I think I have one lying around somewhere, and I highly doubt whatever I go with there will affect the rest of the build.

 

My overall budget is about 1000 USD, preferably less but it would be possible to convince me to go over if there were good reason. I plan to use the computer for various moderate-to-heavy workloads, but not really optimized for any particular one: I play games, but not too much and usually a couple years old; I don’t do video editing or 3D modelling but I wouldn’t be too surprised if I decided to do either one relatively lightly, etc. The one thing I consistently do is program, but I don’t usually work on big enough projects that compile time is prohibitive. I don’t expect any issue with performance when I finish building it, but I tried to leave room to upgrade piecewise.

 

Parts list

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hCyJ9W
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hCyJ9W/by_merchant/

• CPU: Intel - Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($214.89 @ Amazon) 
• CPU Cooler: *Enermax - Liqmax II 120 96.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 
• Thermal Compound: *Arctic Silver - Ceramique 2 Tri-Linear 2.7g Thermal Paste  ($3.44 @ OutletPC) 
• Motherboard: *Gigabyte - GA-Z270P-D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($100.98 @ Newegg) 
• Memory: *GeIL - SUPER LUCE 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($108.99 @ Newegg) 
• Storage: *ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($52.69 @ Amazon) 
• Video Card: *Zotac - GeForce GTX 1050 2GB Mini Video Card  ($104.99 @ Newegg) 
• Case: *Raidmax - Vortex ATX Mid Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
• Power Supply: *Rosewill - 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($59.89 @ OutletPC) 
• Optical Drive: *LG - WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($45.88 @ OutletPC) 
• UPS: *APC - BE550G UPS  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
• Other: Arch Linux (Purchased For $0.00)

Total: $835.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-16 19:54 EDT-0400

 

 

Specific decisions

 

I decided to go with an Intel CPU instead of an AMD one because there are various reports of problems with GCC on Linux with Ryzen, it looks like it can involve other heavy mixed workloads, and I haven’t heard anything about a resolution. Most people suspect a microcode update could fix it, but it hasn’t yet and AMD has terrible customer service discussing the problem. Basically, perhaps-overzealous conservatism.

 

I went with an NVIDIA graphics card because they seem to have better Linux support than AMD cards. I went with a fairly low-level one because I don’t really need anything better.

[Zando_]

I'd get a SeaSonic M12II or S12II for the PSU. Or Corsair CXM. IDK much about Rosewill PSUs. 

[TSL]

Your GPU is a very weak part of this system, any chance you could get at least a 1060? The 7600K won't be fully utilised on that GPU (depending on what you are doing of course).

[TheCherryKing]

Make sure you have an open USB header for the Bluetooth card.

[alex_dose_stuff]

sounds good brooooooooooo

[Akinfenwa]

Upgrade to a 1050ti 4gb and grab a more reliable PSU. It's unfortunate that you can't get ryzen since it'll be a big boost in multithreaded applications but the I5 should be okay.

[Danil H]

20 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

I'd get a SeaSonic M12II or S12II for the PSU. Or Corsair CXM. IDK much about Rosewill PSUs. 

Good point; I set it to only list parts with average review of 4 or 5 stars, but in this case there’s only one review, which is probably not enough data. I’ll set it to only use brands I’ve heard of as well. Doing that, it recommends SeaSonic SSR-550RM, which has several good reviews.

 

9 minutes ago, TSL said:

Your GPU is a very weak part of this system, any chance you could get at least a 1060? The 7600K won't be fully utilised on that GPU (depending on what you are doing of course).

 

2 minutes ago, Akinfenwa said:

Upgrade to a 1050ti 4gb and grab a more reliable PSU. It's unfortunate that you can't get ryzen since it'll be a big boost in multithreaded applications but the I5 should be okay.

Since I usually don’t play graphics-intensive games, I doubt this is a particularly important issue for me. Games I play the most include Portal and Minecraft; when I said I could see myself doing light 3D modelling or video editing the emphasis was on the “light” and on the “maybe”. I could also see myself picking up other processor-intensive hobbies with no graphics component at all, unless programming for CUDA is easier than I think it is; then the GPU would be idling while the CPU was fully engaged.

 

The 1060 is more than twice the cost of the 1050, and doesn’t look like it provides enough extra for it to likely be relevant for me. The 1050 Ti is about 40 dollars more, it looks like, and the only real difference seems to be a doubling of the RAM. I’m willing to believe that’s worth it, but I’m a bit skeptical.

 

12 minutes ago, TheCherryKing said:

Make sure you have an open USB header for the Bluetooth card.

I don’t think that’ll be an issue. I don’t have that many peripherals, and in the unlikely worst case I could get a PCI bluetooth card or have an external dongle and use a hub.

[Jurrunio]

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LRVhpb
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LRVhpb/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($308.87 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($27.89 @ OutletPC) 
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver - Ceramique 2 Tri-Linear 2.7g Thermal Paste  ($3.44 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-Z270P-D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($100.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2800 Memory  ($108.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($52.69 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card  ($154.89 @ B&H) 
Case: Deepcool - TESSERACT SW ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Optical Drive: LG - WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($45.88 @ OutletPC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte - GC-WB867D-I PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($39.88 @ OutletPC) 
UPS: APC - BE550G UPS  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1003.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-16 21:53 EDT-0400

 

7700k because no one should buy a 7600k for upgrading in the future. Just not worth it.

1050ti leaves more headroom for games than 1050.

This wireless adapter has both WiFi and BT support.

 

[TheCherryKing]

4 minutes ago, Danil H said:

Good point; I set it to only list parts with average review of 4 or 5 stars, but in this case there’s only one review, which is probably not enough data. I’ll set it to only use brands I’ve heard of as well. Doing that, it recommends SeaSonic SSR-550RM, which has several good reviews.

 

 

Since I usually don’t play graphics-intensive games, I doubt this is a particularly important issue for me. Games I play the most include Portal and Minecraft; when I said I could see myself doing light 3D modelling or video editing the emphasis was on the “light” and on the “maybe”. I could also see myself picking up other processor-intensive hobbies with no graphics component at all, unless programming for CUDA is easier than I think it is; then the GPU would be idling while the CPU was fully engaged.

 

The 1060 is more than twice the cost of the 1050, and doesn’t look like it provides enough extra for it to likely be relevant for me. The 1050 Ti is about 40 dollars more, it looks like, and the only real difference seems to be a doubling of the RAM. I’m willing to believe that’s worth it, but I’m a bit skeptical.

 

I don’t think that’ll be an issue. I don’t have that many peripherals, and in the unlikely worst case I could get a PCI bluetooth card or have an external dongle and use a hub.

The PCIe bluetooth cards work by using a USB header. It makes no sense why there can't be Bluetooth cards that ONLY use PCIe. 

[Danil H]

5 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

7700k because no one should buy a 7600k for upgrading in the future. Just not worth it.

1050ti leaves more headroom for games than 1050.

This wireless adapter has both WiFi and BT support.

 

I’m with Linus on this one; the extra cost of the 7700k over the 7600k just isn’t worth it. I’ll do some research on video card RAM, but for now I’m still not convinced; if you can point me at resources for that I’d be grateful.

 

I’ll keep the wireless adapter in mind. I plan on using Ethernet, but I suppose the flexibility couldn’t hurt. Thanks!

 

7 minutes ago, TheCherryKing said:

The PCIe bluetooth cards work by using a USB header. It makes no sense why there can't be Bluetooth cards that ONLY use PCIe. 

 

Huh. I did not know that, thanks for the warning.

[Danil H]

After looking at various games I play and various recommendations online, I decided that although 2GB video RAM was more than enough for me now, game designers will start expecting more, and if it extends the life of the card by 35% I’ll be coming out ahead even just financially.

 

In addition, over the past day apparently a new motherboard and case replaced the one above as cheapest. Should I be worried that the new suggested motherboard only has 1 review, and go with the Gigabyte one anyway?

 

The updated parts list is now:

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Zk4XQV
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Zk4XQV/by_merchant/

• CPU: Intel - Core i5-7600K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($224.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
• CPU Cooler: *Enermax - Liqmax II 120 96.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($44.99 @ Newegg) 
• Thermal Compound: *Arctic Silver - Ceramique 2 Tri-Linear 2.7g Thermal Paste  ($3.44 @ OutletPC) 
• Motherboard: *MSI - Z270M MORTAR Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($98.98 @ Newegg) 
• Memory: *GeIL - SUPER LUCE 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($109.99 @ Newegg) 
• Storage: *ADATA - Ultimate SU800 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($52.69 @ Amazon) 
• Video Card: *Zotac - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB OC Edition Video Card  ($143.77 @ Amazon) 
• Case: *Zalman - Z11 NEO ATX Mid Tower Case  ($36.99 @ Newegg) 
• Power Supply: SeaSonic - G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($61.89 @ Newegg) 
• Optical Drive: *LG - WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer  ($45.88 @ OutletPC) 
• UPS: *APC - BE550G UPS  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
• Other: Arch Linux (Purchased For $0.00)

Total: $883.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-17 21:51 EDT-0400

[TheCherryKing]

Check different websites to find more reviews of the motherboard.

[Danil H]

Thank you, everybody! I’ve bought everything on that parts list (I found a bunch of positive reviews elsewhere which I think were from the same motherboard, at least) and am waiting for them to arrive.