building a new pc, need advice!

September 23, 2012

well it's been a few years and im coming into some good money in abut 5 weeks. im looking to build a high end / current desktop system. i just need some advice on what would be considered "current" hardware to tide me over for awhile. budget wise im thinking about $1500-$1700. plus ill be selling my current rig for about $650.

case: i always go with coolermaster: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216 . "open to other ideas too."

lcd: ill be buying at best buy "i like to see them in person" it will be a HP and a 25-27".

ill be buying windows 7 ultimate oem. i may also be dual booting with mountain lion osx86.

need advice on:

cpu: intel quad core... no more than $300

gpu: nvidia, no more than $250-275

mobo: asus of course.

ram: either gskill or ocz, id like to use 12-16gb dual channel.

psu: id like to get another 850watt.

hdd: probably a 750gb sata and im considering a ssd as well.

dvd drive: blue ray / dvd / cd burner. probably lg or liteon?

thanks!

September 23, 2012

so far i have:

case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216

hdd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

gpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826

psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153106

ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231560

mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131819

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116502

os: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116997

blue ray / dvd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106369

ssd: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147163

total w shipping: $1,503.70

pretty good build?

September 23, 2012

Great build! If you can afford 50 more bucks, get this for your HDD

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136533

I swear by Caviar Blacks! :) They are well worth the money! Above you said you are considering an SSD? Get it! It's probably the best thing since sliced bread.

September 23, 2012

Great build! If you can afford 50 more bucks, get this for your HDD

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136533

I swear by Caviar Blacks! :) They are well worth the money! Above you said you are considering an SSD? Get it! It's probably the best thing since sliced bread.

thing is i currently have a 750gb drive and i don't even use half of it lol. i may look for windows 7 elsewhere, see if i can find a better deal as i still have to get a new lcd that will probably be around 200-$250.

September 23, 2012

thing is i currently have a 750gb drive and i don't even use half of it lol. i may look for windows 7 elsewhere, see if i can find a better deal as i still have to get a new lcd that will probably be around 200-$250.

Is there a reason why you need W7U? The only difference between Professional and Ultimate is Bitlocker and language packs. Personally, get Professional. It will save you some money. :)

September 23, 2012

i dunno ive just always used ultimate but yes i may look into professional as well. hopefully some of this stuff will be on sale by the time i order. im sure ill have to make a few adjustments.

forgot to add a 3rd party heatsink/fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16835106185

September 23, 2012

forgot to add a 3rd party heatsink/fan: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835106185

Go with this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

If your going to get a 25-27" screen for gaming you might want to get something better then a GTX 660.

The ASUS P8Z77-V LK might do everything you want for less then then ASUS P8Z77-V PRO.

September 23, 2012

I wont be gaming at all really. I am open to suggestions on the nvidia gpu. Id like to not go to much higher price wise.

As far as the cheaper asus board it seems the ram i chose wouldnt work. http://www.gskill.com/products.php?index=486 . So ill probably stick to the one i picked.

September 23, 2012

I wont be gaming at all really. I am open to suggestions on the nvidia gpu. Id like to not go to much higher price wise.

As far as the cheaper asus board it seems the ram i chose wouldnt work. http://www.gskill.co...s.php?index=486 . So ill probably stick to the one i picked.

I think you should get a Macbook Pro or HP Envy or one of Sony's notebooks. They're all quad-core and come with good GPUs. I don't think investing on a desktop is a good decision if you won't be gaming. Also, you could wait for a bunch of Windows 8 machines coming next month with touch screens. :D

September 23, 2012

Please save yourself some grief and get some speed for your sequential AND random read/write speeds. I have two 240GB Neutron series CORSAIR in RAID 0 (1GB transfer rate) - but since you are only interested in 120GB - here's the one I would go with: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820233342

September 23, 2012

As far as the cheaper asus board it seems the ram i chose wouldnt work. http://www.gskill.co...s.php?index=486 . So ill probably stick to the one i picked.

Where does it say that?

September 23, 2012

Where does it say that?

Scroll down on the gskill website. It lists board compatibility. I also downloaded the asus pdf and its an older board.

Please save yourself some grief and get some speed for your sequential AND random read/write speeds. I have two 240GB Neutron series CORSAIR in RAID 0 (1GB transfer rate) - but since you are only interested in 120GB - here's the one I would go with: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820233342

Hmmm.. ive heard great reviews on the samsumg ssd i listed. Ill keep yours in mind though. And yeah im only getting the 120gb for a windows install. Ill also have another hdd for misc items or programs. As i said i may revise my list a bit as i get closer to purchasing.

September 23, 2012

i dunno ive just always used ultimate but yes i may look into professional as well. hopefully some of this stuff will be on sale by the time i order. im sure ill have to make a few adjustments.

Don't know what the pricing is on Win8 Pro, but if they are comparable, go with Win8, even if you don't plan on using. You get downgrade rights with Win8, so you can still legally use Win7 Pro, but you've always got a Win8 license if you decide to use it instead.

September 23, 2012

Great build! If you can afford 50 more bucks, get this for your HDD

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136533

I swear by Caviar Blacks! :) They are well worth the money! Above you said you are considering an SSD? Get it! It's probably the best thing since sliced bread.

I think im gonna buy this hdd so thanks for mentioning it.

Anybody have any other gpu recommendations or did i pick a decent one? Also remember i dont game much if any.

September 23, 2012

Scroll down on the gskill website. It lists board compatibility. I also downloaded the asus pdf and its an older board.

Do you really think gskill can test over a 100 boards just to make sure it works with ever single one and for asus to do the same?

September 23, 2012

Don't know what the pricing is on Win8 Pro, but if they are comparable, go with Win8, even if you don't plan on using. You get downgrade rights with Win8, so you can still legally use Win7 Pro, but you've always got a Win8 license if you decide to use it instead.

What do you mean downgrade rights? Anyways i plan on skipping w8 totally. This rig will run w7 + mountain lion.

Do you really think gskill can test over a 100 boards just to make sure it works with ever single one and for asus to do the same?

If you go to the asus website and download the pdf for the board the ram i picked isnt supported. Plus it appears to be an older board from the one i chose. But thanks.

September 23, 2012

Do you really think gskill can test over a 100 boards just to make sure it works with ever single one and for asus to do the same?

Well why not? Most companies have a QC division just for this purpose lol

September 23, 2012

If your going to get a 25-27" screen for gaming you might want to get something better then a GTX 660

Well ive heard this is a great card. Plus i dont game. My current xfx 5770 can utilize my hp 25" so im sure the 660 is a good upgrade.

Well why not? Most companies have a QC division just for this purpose lol

+1. ;) also thats why theres compatibility lists on the asus website. They are updated frequently.

speaking of monitors ill probably be getting this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+25%26%2334%3B+LED+HD+Monitor/1791143.p?id=1218291944678&skuId=1791143#tabbed-customerreviews. hopefully it will be on sale when i go to get it. ive had good luck with hp's and i love the glossy display.

September 24, 2012

I know you are going to think I'm nuts, but don't skip Windows 8. I use it exclusively at home and at work. With the 660 GTX card you are looking at, you can support more than one monitor. Do you plan to have more than one display eventually? When win 8 starts up with more than one monitor - one gets the desktop and the other gets the modern UI.

You can have both in desktop if you click the desktop tile - but in any case - even if you hate the new modern UI - the ton of benefits you get with Windows 8 desktop is absolutely worth it. Now here's a cool kicker, with the board you are looking at, you can enable Hyper-V (version 3.0!) with your new system and run any other OS if you wish.

September 24, 2012

By the way, NeoWin has an article on the new Samsung 840 Pro: https://www.neowin.net/news/techspot-samsung-840-pro-ssd-review but I don't see it as much as a review - I might have missed seeing page 2. :) If it performs well though, that might be a good counterbalance to the Neutron series by CORSAIR.

September 24, 2012

If you go to the asus website and download the pdf for the board the ram i picked isnt supported. Plus it appears to be an older board from the one i chose. But thanks.

Its a list of ones that have been tested nothing more, where does it state that its not supported in black and white?

Their is no newer or older when comparing the same chipset in the same range just what features one has to the other.

ASUS P8Z77-V LK Release Date: April 16, 2012

ASUS P8Z77-V PRO Release Date: April 10, 2012

Links for Release Date

http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/asus-p8z77-v-lk/4014-3049_7-35223981.html

http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/asus-p8z77-v-pro/4014-3049_7-35163106.html

October 2, 2012

anybody got any other recommendations before i place my order in a few weeks?

does anyone think this ram might be a better choice? : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231571

October 11, 2012

sorry to keep bumping this but im getting ready to order by months end and i think i have a complete build. wondered what everyone thought and if any changes could be made? i really wanted a higher end build this time.

psu: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817153106

mouse: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16826104577

ssd: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820147164

mobo: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131819

router: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16833122378

monitor: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824176194

hdd: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136533

keyboard: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16823126043

gpu: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130809

ram: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231571

case: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119216

cpu: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116502