Hey team,
I work in IT so have decent computing knowledge but will need some help building a PC if that's cool?
The main thing I need to know is what processor/graphics card is currently the best for my budget (aiming for a total build cost of around 1K). As well as gaming I also will use the rig for making games/3D editing. I'm intending to use Win 8 so please also bare this in mind. A fast boot time would also be cool :)
Thanks in advance for your advice :)
On that budget you're probably looking at a high-end i5 and an Nvidia GTX 660 or a similar mid-range ATI card. An SSD for fast boot times is likely to be outside your price range too, unless you buy a small one that just has space for Windows. You might also want to look at a prebuilt system as Windows will make up a large part of the cost of a home-build and OEMs get it for much less.
You should probably also check the requirements of your 3D software and see whether it works best with Nvidia or ATI before deciding on the graphics card, and if you'll be doing lots of 3D rendering, check some benchmarks comparing the i5 to AMD's new CPUs which have more cores. They're worse at single-threaded performance so they tend to drop behind in games, but rendering typically uses as many cores as it can get.
With 1k budget thats easy with a ssd for the OS and a few games comes down to if your going to overclock the processor and wich brand card runs your software best.
I wouldn't say easy: when I set out to build an 'awesome' gaming PC I ended up at about $2000 (Canadian, so I'd expect it to be a bit less in US dollars) with tax and shipping. I had to scale back GPU, SSD size, motherboard and RAM to get it down to $1500.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zerk
Someone did post a link to a prebuilt system in one of the other threads recently with an i5 and GTX 660 for $800, so that looked like a good deal if the OEM is OK (never heard of them so I've no idea whether they build good hardware).
That was my link and here is a build. $885 without the operating system. Ready to overclock.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ndg5
The Ibuypower PC is a good company but use cheap ram and PSU also bad about not stress testing the PC.
Yeah, that should be pretty good, and just under $1k with Windows included. Does the $885 include tax?Quote:
Originally Posted by Zerk
Cheers guys, ah that's site's really cool! Sorry, I should've mentioned I'm based in the UK and I'm guessing that site won't ship over here? But it does mean my budget equals around: $1,500 although if I have to grab the parts over here I don't think they'll translate with the exchange rate exactly.
I also have a ton of HDDs I'll re-use, just gonna buy a tiny SSD for the OS, I should also be able to grab a cheap copy of Windows 8 from work :)
I'm sort of more inclined to go with Nvidia over Radeon, haven't had a good experience with my Radeon card in my current PC - from what I understand the current offerings for my budget from both manufactures are pretty equal?
Well thats easyQuote:
Originally Posted by crimsonnight
http://www.scan.co.uk/3xs-overclocked-bundles. Downgrade the overclock to 4.3 GHz
3XS Radius - Intel Core i5 3570K - Overclocked to 4.5Ghz - Updated Nov 2012LN1198 *Operating System Not required* (System Tested under Win 7 HP)
LN45053 2GB EVGA GTX 670, 28nm, PCIe 3.0 (x16), 6008MHz GDDR5, GPU 915MHz, Boost 980MHz, Cores 1344, DL DVI, DP, HDMI+Free Games
LN45492 3XS OCB Z77 Radius - Intel Core i5 3570K
LN45113 3XS-MODERATE-OVERCLOCKING- Check Build
LN47571 2 x 4GB Corsair 3XS Only Vengeance LP Black 1600Mhz C9 Module
LN37704 650W Corsair Enthusiast Series 650TXV2UK, 85% Eff', 80 PLUS Bronze, SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, Quiet Fan, ATX v2.31, PSU
LN44185 Asus P8Z77-V, Intel Z77, S 1155, DDR3, SATA III - 6Gb/s, SATA RAID, PCIe 3.0 (x16), DisplayPort/ DVI-D/ HDMI, ATX
LN45425 be quiet! Dark Rock 2 Dark CPU Cooler Sockets 2011/1155/56/1366/775 & AMD inc 135mm SILENT SilentWings PWM Fan
LN42829 Intel Core i5 3570K,1155, Ivy Bridge, Quad Core, 3.4GHz, 5 GT/s DMI, 650MHz GPU, 6MB Smart Cache, 34x Ratio, 77W, Retail
LN41202 Scan Overclocked Bundle Range
FREE NVIDIA + Borderlands 2
FREE NVIDIA + Assassin's creed 3
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/zalma...r-case-w-o-psu
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/64gb-...-write-160mb-s
EDIT on the bundle change the OC to 4.3 add the PSU and video card, and change the MB. Take your pick of CD/DVD drives.
This was great advice, similar to what I would have said but I didnt have time to reply first read.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward M. Grant
An SSD will be the biggest factor to fast boot time. Well that and Windows 8.
I'd make this system.
i7+mobo+16GB Ram
find out what card (drivers) nVidia or AMD is best optimized for the 3d rendering you do
120GB+ SSd + 1-2TB secondary
~550W PSU
Case with good quiet airflow.
If you want to get work done, the i7 is worth the breaking the typical gaming mold (where i5 is good enough). An OC'd i5 is all you need for gaming but the extra cache and other features of i7 will serve you well usually for productivity.
All this is sure to put you over budget. There is a PC part picker for the UK. I'd start with an i7-3770 +mini ATX mobo and see if you can make it work in a reasonable budget.
This site's absolutely perfect, thank you!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Zerk
Sorry, the build you're recommending is under: Intel Z77 Chipset - Overclocked Bundles, but is it the 3XS Smart/Radius/Edge/Nanu that you're recommending?
So if I add the case and SSD to my order they'll build the whole thing for me?
I obviously have no experience with this site, do you think they'll have sales on around christmas?
Do you agree with skidawgz, do you think it's worth me upgrading to an i7?
Cheers again for your help everyone!