bighoo93
03-20-2012, 06:39 PM
Hi folks, I'm baaa-aaaack! ;-) For some reason, I catch the New Build bug every spring it seems. In 2008 I built my first PC thanks to the help of this site and the gurus here (http://forums.mysuperpc.com/showthread.php?1550-Success!-With-a-few-temporary-snags). Last year around this time, I came back for advice on my next build (http://forums.mysuperpc.com/showthread.php?4150-Questions-for-Build-2). I greatly appreciated the counsel, but I never followed through. This time, I am here for real. The only hang up is the hard drive price spike, but I think I will just have to get over it...
It is interesting in doing research around here and putting together my preliminary ideas that relatively little has changed since last year. I guess there has not been a huge development in the latest technology. I am still looking at the same case, PSU, CPU, RAM, HD, Optical drive. The main differences are the motherboard (Z68 has since been released) and GPU (these are constantly being released, so I can take advantage of bargain hunting). Even the total price is not very different. There have been minimal price drops in most of these components, but that has been erased by the spike in hard drive prices.
As a reminder of my purposes, I mostly do regular old activities (web surfing, email, MS Office) plus basic video editing. I regretfully do very little gaming, so I think the GPU is a place where I bargain hunt. What I want is a "zippy" feel to the performance, avoiding obsolescence, and the ability to do the video editing in a reasonable amount of time. The build you all helped me with in 2008 was perfect for me at the time, but the performance has since fallen a bit, probably not due to degradation but rather to the creep of hardware requirements for new applications. Also, my kids encroach on my computer more and more, so I am ready to pass that one off to them. But if I could put one together that is at an "equivalently current" technology level for today, I would be thrilled. That build worked out great for me. I have never had a desktop remain so well-functioning over that period of time, which sounds crazy (only 4 years), but it is true. I had always purchased Dells before and they had started to degrade much earlier and were virtually unusable within 4 years. Mine was a "budget" build, and still does everything fine. It has lost a little zip, but if I weren't going to do video editing and my kids weren't taking it over, I would still be going with it.
Also, it is worth noting that I am a value hound. I don't want to get a subpar system to save a few bucks, but as long as it is going to meet my needs, I like to get the most bang for my buck. So most of my questions are about what I can get away with, and what would be worth spending the extra money on. Based on my needs, the places I think I need to "splurge" a little are the CPU and hard drive (i.e., not 5400 RPM). I have listed my initial thoughts below, which include some alternatives and questions that I was hoping for some feedback on (this is, not surprisingly, quite similar to the "a step above" scenario under the Budget Build recommendations post from 11-11-11).
Case : Antec Sonata III with 500W PSU (http://www.jr.com/sonata-iii-desktop-midtower-case-black/pe/ANT_15137/) - $99.99. Part of me wants to try something different, but I'm familiar with the Sonata III from my last build. Also, I think it is a bargain at this price, including the PSU. My only question is whether this case is likely to be behind the times in terms of size to allow a GPU or USB 3.0 (the front ports are 2.0). I mean, it is the same case I used 4 years ago. But I just love the value...
Motherboard: I have a really hard time figuring out what I should choose here. I don't even know if I should be looking at H67, P67 or Z68 or why. I just chose some Z68 mobos because that is the latest. All of these are rated 4 stars or higher at Newegg, for whatever that is worth. But I don't want to buy something unreliable or that won't meet my needs, even though these are relatively inexpensive:
GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128495&Tpk=GIGABYTE%20GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3%20LGA%201155%20Intel%20Z68) - $119
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 (http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Intel-DDR3-Motherboard-GA-Z68A-D3H-B3/dp/B00518M77U) - $115
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271) - $130
ASUS P8Z68-V LX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131781) - $110
BIOSTAR TZ68A+RCH (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138320) - $84
BIOSTAR TZ68K+ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138344&Tpk=BIOSTAR%20TZ68K%2b) - $118
BIOSTAR TZ68A+ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138319) - $116
CPU: I've never overclocked before. But it seems like the i5-2500K is built for it. I am pretty risk-averse, so I don't want to push the envelope. Is it worth it to try to save a few bucks and drop down to the 2400? Or for video editing will I see a major upgrade by breaking the bank for an i7?
Intel Core i5 2500K (http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589) - $189
Intel Core i5 2400 (http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354590) - $158
Graphics card: As I mentioned, I bargain hunt here, but don't want to go too low. Any other bang-for-buck suggestions appreciated.
ASUS EAH6670/DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121442&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Video+Cards-_-ASUS-_-14121442) - $80
EVGA 01G-P3-1431-KR GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130609&Tpk=EVGA%2001G-P3-1431-KR%20GeForce%20GT%20430%20%28Fermi%29%201GB%20128) - $55
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428) - $47
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=SAMSUNG%20Spinpoint%20F3%20HD103SJ) - $127 (same drive as last year, double the price...)
Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS (http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD%C2%B1RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ) - $21
OS Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit $90
Total is $675-775, including shipping, depending on which of the options I choose. I already have keyboard, mouse and monitor. This is a little more than I would prefer at the high end, but it would be OK, and I don't see a lot of places for savings. I would appreciate any feedback you have, in particular on the questions that I had in the post. But I am thankful to anyone who actually bothered reading this whole thing at all!
It is interesting in doing research around here and putting together my preliminary ideas that relatively little has changed since last year. I guess there has not been a huge development in the latest technology. I am still looking at the same case, PSU, CPU, RAM, HD, Optical drive. The main differences are the motherboard (Z68 has since been released) and GPU (these are constantly being released, so I can take advantage of bargain hunting). Even the total price is not very different. There have been minimal price drops in most of these components, but that has been erased by the spike in hard drive prices.
As a reminder of my purposes, I mostly do regular old activities (web surfing, email, MS Office) plus basic video editing. I regretfully do very little gaming, so I think the GPU is a place where I bargain hunt. What I want is a "zippy" feel to the performance, avoiding obsolescence, and the ability to do the video editing in a reasonable amount of time. The build you all helped me with in 2008 was perfect for me at the time, but the performance has since fallen a bit, probably not due to degradation but rather to the creep of hardware requirements for new applications. Also, my kids encroach on my computer more and more, so I am ready to pass that one off to them. But if I could put one together that is at an "equivalently current" technology level for today, I would be thrilled. That build worked out great for me. I have never had a desktop remain so well-functioning over that period of time, which sounds crazy (only 4 years), but it is true. I had always purchased Dells before and they had started to degrade much earlier and were virtually unusable within 4 years. Mine was a "budget" build, and still does everything fine. It has lost a little zip, but if I weren't going to do video editing and my kids weren't taking it over, I would still be going with it.
Also, it is worth noting that I am a value hound. I don't want to get a subpar system to save a few bucks, but as long as it is going to meet my needs, I like to get the most bang for my buck. So most of my questions are about what I can get away with, and what would be worth spending the extra money on. Based on my needs, the places I think I need to "splurge" a little are the CPU and hard drive (i.e., not 5400 RPM). I have listed my initial thoughts below, which include some alternatives and questions that I was hoping for some feedback on (this is, not surprisingly, quite similar to the "a step above" scenario under the Budget Build recommendations post from 11-11-11).
Case : Antec Sonata III with 500W PSU (http://www.jr.com/sonata-iii-desktop-midtower-case-black/pe/ANT_15137/) - $99.99. Part of me wants to try something different, but I'm familiar with the Sonata III from my last build. Also, I think it is a bargain at this price, including the PSU. My only question is whether this case is likely to be behind the times in terms of size to allow a GPU or USB 3.0 (the front ports are 2.0). I mean, it is the same case I used 4 years ago. But I just love the value...
Motherboard: I have a really hard time figuring out what I should choose here. I don't even know if I should be looking at H67, P67 or Z68 or why. I just chose some Z68 mobos because that is the latest. All of these are rated 4 stars or higher at Newegg, for whatever that is worth. But I don't want to buy something unreliable or that won't meet my needs, even though these are relatively inexpensive:
GIGABYTE GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128495&Tpk=GIGABYTE%20GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3%20LGA%201155%20Intel%20Z68) - $119
GIGABYTE GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 (http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Intel-DDR3-Motherboard-GA-Z68A-D3H-B3/dp/B00518M77U) - $115
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271) - $130
ASUS P8Z68-V LX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131781) - $110
BIOSTAR TZ68A+RCH (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138320) - $84
BIOSTAR TZ68K+ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138344&Tpk=BIOSTAR%20TZ68K%2b) - $118
BIOSTAR TZ68A+ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138319) - $116
CPU: I've never overclocked before. But it seems like the i5-2500K is built for it. I am pretty risk-averse, so I don't want to push the envelope. Is it worth it to try to save a few bucks and drop down to the 2400? Or for video editing will I see a major upgrade by breaking the bank for an i7?
Intel Core i5 2500K (http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589) - $189
Intel Core i5 2400 (http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354590) - $158
Graphics card: As I mentioned, I bargain hunt here, but don't want to go too low. Any other bang-for-buck suggestions appreciated.
ASUS EAH6670/DIS/1GD5 Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121442&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Video+Cards-_-ASUS-_-14121442) - $80
EVGA 01G-P3-1431-KR GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130609&Tpk=EVGA%2001G-P3-1431-KR%20GeForce%20GT%20430%20%28Fermi%29%201GB%20128) - $55
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428) - $47
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&Tpk=SAMSUNG%20Spinpoint%20F3%20HD103SJ) - $127 (same drive as last year, double the price...)
Optical Drive: ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS (http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD%C2%B1RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ) - $21
OS Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit $90
Total is $675-775, including shipping, depending on which of the options I choose. I already have keyboard, mouse and monitor. This is a little more than I would prefer at the high end, but it would be OK, and I don't see a lot of places for savings. I would appreciate any feedback you have, in particular on the questions that I had in the post. But I am thankful to anyone who actually bothered reading this whole thing at all!