Thinking of buying a new PC
polycounter lvl 6
Hello fellow polycounters 
!
With the recent e3 and my admission at the Supinfocom school. I'm thinking of buying a new pc.
I want it to be for next-gen gaming with max settings (Assassin's Creed Unity, The Division, Star Wars Battlefront etc...)and also for concept art, illustration, (and maybe animation/modeling for school work).
My budget is around 1000$
Here's the parts I chose right now:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Lephenix/saved/H7TzK8
It will be my first build. So I'm quite new with components selection. But I did researches, and used websites to help me choose. It is quite a big move because I actually have an intel pentium, a radeon HD 5450 and 4GB of ram.
What do you think of what I have right now?
Thank you ^^.
!With the recent e3 and my admission at the Supinfocom school. I'm thinking of buying a new pc.
I want it to be for next-gen gaming with max settings (Assassin's Creed Unity, The Division, Star Wars Battlefront etc...)and also for concept art, illustration, (and maybe animation/modeling for school work).
My budget is around 1000$
Here's the parts I chose right now:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Lephenix/saved/H7TzK8
It will be my first build. So I'm quite new with components selection. But I did researches, and used websites to help me choose. It is quite a big move because I actually have an intel pentium, a radeon HD 5450 and 4GB of ram.
What do you think of what I have right now?
Thank you ^^.
Replies
Also take care of high RAM frequencies. They sound cool but it is useless if your cpu doesn´t support such a frequencies.
I don´t know if the actual intel cpus support more then 1333Mhz without overclocking... Also most of the time the higher frequencies are combined with higher latencies, so they can be slower then dimms with a lower frequency.
The 3770k supports 1600mhz ram, and $140 is not overpriced for 16GB of ram, no matter if its gaming or not, and 1333 is not any cheaper, so not sure what Wiki is on about. Maybe you're responding to Robomega and not the op? You should always get the fastest ram your CPU supports. Though looking at latency is always a good idea too.
380W power supply is probably a bit low, maybe get a 450 or 500w.
Can you explain why you changed all the parts please?
There's no OS. The RAM looks more expensive for 16GB than my setup. I don't need a 2TB HDD (I forgot to mention that i have actually 1 1TB internal HDD, and 2 external HDDS (1,5 tb and 2 tb). And why a 620W PSU when you only need 405W according to the website? Thank you.
Instead of the HDD ? I heard SSDs are quite expensive and I never used one before.
That's interesting, thanks for the explanation, do you know where I can get those, I didn't find them on pc part picker, the only one I found 4x4GB are expensive as the one I selected. Thank you.
Alright do you know if i can reuse the internal 1TB HDD I already have in the new PC. And I'll look for a SSD. And thank you for the clarification about the CPU and the ram. And I agree about the PSU, I'll look into that too. Thanks a lot!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA29P1EC5222&cm_re=samsung_ssd-_-20-147-248-_-Product
Or even http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W01AZ5378&cm_re=samsung_ssd-_-20-147-247-_-Product if you want to be really cheap.
They are still expensive when compared to large capacity HDD, but you don't generally need large capacity for an SSD (unless its the only drive, like in a laptop).
No problem, and yes you can reuse your current HDD, assuming it is a SATA drive. You may be able to reuse your power supply and case as well, depends on what it is and how old it is (buying a new psu for a new build is generally a good idea if its more than a few years old, in my experience PSUs burn out faster than any other component).
Sweet! I can remove HDD and OS from the list then?
If yes, here's my new list of components: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Lephenix/saved/H7TzK8
Thanks again.
If you have a windows license that came with a pre-built computer, or you used an OEM system builder copy, you will need to buy a new copy. If you have a full retail copy of windows, you can reinstall from the original disk.
I would look at Win 7 Pro vs Win 8 as well, you can get a Win 7 Pro (or home) OEM system builder edition (which means you can only install it on one computer) for not much more than the Win 8 you had picked out. Win 8 is sort of terrible (if you've used it and like it, feel free to ignore, if not, go to a store like bestbuy and try it out on the demo computers first).
Ah ok, it is pre-build computer, an HP Pavillon. And I actually have windows 7 64bit and I really like it. I was quite afraid to move to Windows 8 but I heard that for the next years, you'll need windows 8 for compatibility for next games and programs. But I guess I'll have the time to upgrade after. Thanks again!
So current components:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Lephenix/saved/H7TzK8
Ah ok
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct256mx100ssd1
Why did you choose the older Ivy-Bridge (3770k) instead of the newer Haswell (4770k)? The Haswell is cheaper. Is it the $20 price difference for the cheapest ATX Mainboard?
btw: is your location up to date? If it is partpicker.com is probably the wrong place to look for prices. I would use http://geizhals.de/eu/ to get euro prices. For example:
CPU: Intel Core i7 4790k (4000 Mhz, 4 Cores, 8 Threads) 295 CPU-Cooler: Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev. A (BW) 30 Maiboard: MSI Z97-G43 85 RAM: 16 GByte Crucial Ballistix (2*8 Gbyte DDR3L-1600) 75 GPU: MSI GTX 760 Twin Frozr 210 SSD: 256 GByte Curcial MX 100 85 PSU: be Quiet! Straight Power E9-CM 480W (5 Years warranty, 1 year on-site exchange service, 80Plus Gold, 91% efficiency, multi-rail design for better protection) 85 Case: Fractal Design Define R4 75 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Total: ~940Maxiumum performance and really quiet operation for the price. You could even get the MSI GTX 770 if you are willing to go slightly above 1000.
Is that really needed? Can't you just download a Windows 7 ISO from Microsoft, install it and activate your old key by phone? Read on a few occasions that this works fine. Or is the activation by phone option only available here in europe?
Well, it depends. Again, if its a third-party version like his HP version, that won't work. If its an OEM system builder copy, perhaps, I've never tried it myself.
I only know geizhals: http://geizhals.de/eu/?m=1 (important is the /eu/ in the url to get prices from all over europe), the british version of it: http://skinflint.co.uk/ (prices in pounds) or the british version of partpicker: http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/ (prices in pounds). I'm not aware of a dedicated site for users from france.
But a known french hardware forum - http://forum.hardware.fr/hfr/Hardware/liste_sujet-1.htm - has price comparisons: http://www.hardware.fr/prix/
They could probably also help you decide on components and find a dedicated website for that.
EDIT: with my really rusty french (meaning not written or spoken for the last ~15 years) I found a similar site: http://www.topachat.com/pages/configomatic.php?c=6C4uJKbMUaAN5SvJU2o77DqPpgcXu4aJoTWqqmVgd6w%3D (don't know how good the site is though).
EDIT 2: found another one: http://www.ldlc.com/Sales/BasketPage.aspx
EDIT 3: third one: http://www.materiel.net/minisites/ordinateurs_materiel_net/
EDIT 4: after looking a bit closer, the last 3 ones are only shops, not sites for price comparison. :O
Thanks again for the help!
So I chose:
Intel core i7-4770K @3.5Ghz
Microsoft windows 7 home premium Sp1 OEM 64bits
Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE
Crucial Ballistix Sport 2x8go PC3-12800
Akasa Essential Plus, 550W
Zalman Z3 Plus, White
HDD Western digital caviar blue, 1 to
Total: 648,19€
No SSD, my budget was too short, and I am actually waiting to buy my NVDIA GTX 760 Twin Frozr 2GB on Gros Bill with Watch Dogs included.
Very excited
I personally run http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116906 and its amazing. They run cooler, so I didn't need aftermarket cooling, and even in my hot ass room they stay pretty cool during renders. I do plan to add liquid cooling later on, but right now im content.
My build is http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KLqbwP
And Earthquake had recommended me to get a 240 gig SSD, and boy was he right. 120 gigs is do-able, but it can be really tight feeling.
I tried to transfer my windows boot up from a HDD to a ssd a year ago and it didn't go so well. I had to re-install windows and all my software by the end of it.
anyway that's my 2 cent once you go ssd you can never go back to hdd on boot up time!
I want to update my PC, it's starting to get old and it's starting to show (random freeze / blue screens etc.)
I currently have this :
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460
RAM: 4.1 GB
Motherboard: ASUS P5E3 Deluxe
HDD: 140 GB SSD
HDD 2: 700 GB
Would it be wise to just get a completely new system or upgrade some parts??
Budget would be about 700 euro or $900 dollars.
Mostly used for sculpting, but starting to warm up to rendering in Vray etc. a lot aswell.
Thanks!
I would replace cpu, ram, mobo, and gpu. You can keep the same drives, case, and you may need to replace the power supply (depends on how good yours is and the GPU you go with).
I had a very very similar system to yours (Q6600, P5k, 8GB ram, 560ti) and went with:
I7 3770 (you can get I7 4790 now for the same price)
Nvidia 770 GTX 4GB (2gb option will save you a bit of money)
16 GB ram
You will need a new mobo to upgrade your cpu. Don't go crazy on the motherboard. You can get a decent, do-everything-you-need mobo for around $100. Avoid the super game overclocker mobos, as you're just paying for stuff you don't need like SLI and advanced OCing features. I'm partial to micro-atx boards these days, they tend to be a bit cheaper and only have what you actually need (though pay attention to where the sata ports are in relation to the PCI-X, you don't want your GPU to block your sata ports).
I went with a 650W modular PSU, when I first got the 770 I blew out one 550W psu, and got BSODs with another, it requires a lot of power.
I was very happy with my upgrade, it made a huge difference with all cpu/gpu intensive tasks, and the 4790 is even better than my 3770.
You can save some more money by going with a 760 vs a 770, which is still a very good GPU and a noticeable improvement over your 460. You could also an Intel Xeon E3-1230 v3 instead of the 4790, its only 9% slower but you'll save $65 or so. The difference between a Xeon and an I7 is the I7 has on-board GPU, which you don't need. Both work with the same motherboard.
Thanks Justin. I'm sure this will come in handy sometime in the future!!
Thanks Joe, not really in to the whole computer building world but I'll take a look at it
Was thinking about maybe getting a complete new computer, keeping the old one for fun.
Did some work/research and came up with this :
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/bZ6t99
Any suggestions?
Remove:
Intel EXPI9301CTBLK 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI-Express x1 Network Adapter
Why: Your motherboard has a ethernet slot
Fractal Design Define R4
Why: I think the case is a little to pricey for the overall build. If you go with say, a Cooler Master N200, you'll have $40 to put somewhere else.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4CP1EP1175
Asus Xonar DG 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card
Why: Onboard sound will be fine. Unless you're spending $$$$ on a sound car it won't matter
CPU Cooler: Maybe stick with stock for now? You'll save another $35 The Hyper 212 Evo is a bitch to install by the way (at least it was for me). It's pretty heavy/large for a first time builder.
Savings: $135 if you remove/change everything I have listed. You could grab a 760 with the saved money and maybe another 8GB of ram.
edit: beefaroni beat me to it... darn.
Like beef said, especially with your CPU which can't be overclocked, stock cooler will be fine, unless you live in a really hot area I spose.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kvHM4D
If your budget is tight, reuse as much as possible, that way you can buy better hardware now which will last you a longer amount of time before your next upgrade.
The case/power supply and drives you're basically just buying redundant equipment, you're buying an even smaller SSD for a new build which is a bit silly. If buying a new SSD I would try to go 240GB at minimum. I had a 120GB in my old build, it fills up faster than you think.
Also beefaroni's advice is great, I would drop all of that stuff. Intel stock coolers actually perfectly fine unless you're overclocking or putting together a silent build.
And yes will be reformatting the old one, but thought it was about time for some upgrading
Made some slight changes, changed out the motherboard so I could get a newer processor, but just out of curiosity, how much would that change working in Max etc??
And how good of a machine is it looking at this build, huge improvement over my current one or not so much?
Will be adding more RAM later this year, so don't look at that to much.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hVcD7P
While you haven't exactly mentioned it, don't buy a cheap CPU now in plans of upgrading it later. Its simply never cost effective to do this. Buy the absolute best CPU you can possibly afford, even if that means waiting a bit and saving a little more money.
Having said all that, the I5-4590 is quite fast and very good value for the money. Unless a lot of your day to day work is spent rendering, you may not notice the difference vs a faster i7/xeon.
Your list looks better now without any excess fluff, though I would still try to fit a larger SSD on there. Its an extra $50 to go from the EVO 840 120GB($90) to the 250GB($140). Thats $0.75 per GB vs $0.56.
Between the space lost from the drive formatting (you don't actually get the entire 120GB) and Windows installation, you're already well below 120GB. Then, add in maybe 1 3D studio program (or two if you want to try out 2015 and have 2014 as a backup), game engines, adobe software (and the temp files), other 3d software (toolbag, substance, quixel, etc), maybe your current project you're working on. By the time you have all of that installed and going you're going to find that you're already close to filling the 120.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PtWhFT
Don't think I can really save on anything else
Oh one last thing, if you plan on watching DVDs on this machine, get a retail DVD drive, not an OEM one. OEM won't come with dvd decoder software that you will need to watch DVDs. Its a $10 or so well spent if you want to watch movies on your computer.
Building a computer is pretty easy, just make sure to read all the manuals and watch some tutorials. Its basically just plugging part A into slot B.
Oh also, you will need an operating system. I would suggest Win 7 pro 64bit. I think you can get the OEM system builder version for $140, or the OEM home version for $100.
Wow. I had no clue about this. Good to know.
The only thing you may not be 100% satisfied with is the amount of RAM you have. Luckily you can just pick up another 8GB at some point since your Mobo will have 2 extra slots free. But yea looks good for now :thumbup:
Thanks again for all the tips guys!