Was thinking of building a PC but a total newbie in this. Would totally appreciate some suggestions!
So, a few things you should know:
- Used mainly for photo editing (RAW files, lightroom, PS) and occasional gaming (Diablo III, fifa etc)
- Budget $1800 - 2000 (excluding monitor)
- Would like a Micro ATX case
Thanks guys!
edit: Btw do I need/should I get a liquid cooling system as well?
No, just everything included within the CPU like power supply, cooling etc
Used mainly for photo editing (RAW files, lightroom, PS) and occasional gaming (Diablo III, fifa etc)
If that's the case, prioritise CPU over GPU. Go for an i7 and a mid range GPU (R7 270X should be more then enough).
These two combined will be about $1000 including mobo and RAM.
I don't know any SA based PC stores so I can only point you in the direction of MSY and PCCG
I don't recommend any "K" chips for your CPU as OC'ing will take time and effort. Get the fastest i7 you can afford. A custom cooler is optional if you are not OC'ing. As for mobo, I would recommend the top end chipset, the difference in price for the Micro ATX mobos aren't too great.
For RAM, just go for 1600MHz or 1866Mhz, it doesn't really make a difference, though for photo editing, get >= 8GB.
Don't cheap out on a PSU, get a good reputable brand such as seasonic, silverstone or corsair. You may want to get a fanless 500W (more then enough) PSU to lessen the noise when you are editting photos, when you're gaming, the fans on the GPUs will drown out most things so that can't be helped unless you go watercooling.
With everything I've said, that should bring your budget to ball park figure of $1500, you may want to invest in an SSD and a 2T HDD and that should be about it. with a total of approximately $1800.
Very informative, thanks heaps!!
No worries mate =)
Was in your shoes two years ago.
Btw do I need/should I get a liquid cooling system as well?
That's a definitely no… liquid cooling for CPU only is a gimmick IMHO. liquid cooling for your whole PC is really only if you game alot and can't stand the loud GPU fans like me.
Stick with air cooling, see if you get annoyed by the fan noise or not. If you do, save up for a custom water loop.
@ProjectZero: Completely agree. I'm a tech and I only recommend water cooling for anything that's clocked to run incredibly hot
This comes to $1864 before Windows and peripherals.
CPU
Intel Core i5-4690K $314.00
CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-D14 $89.00
Motherboard
Asus Z97M-PLUS $149.00
Memory
G.Skill 16GB $179.00
Storage
Samsung 256GB SSD $225.00
Western Digital 3TB 5400RPM $175.00
Video Card
EVGA GeForce GTX 970 $499.00
Case
Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 $119.00
Power Supply
SeaSonic 550W $115.00
Total: $1864.00
I think this is a pretty good build for the price. Unlocked CPU allowing for overclocking and a good CPU cooler has been included to accomodate for that. Plenty of RAM to assist with working on larger files when editting. Storage wise there's a good sized SSD for OS and essential programs (upgrade to 512GB if you wish) and a large hard drive for the rest of your files. GTX 970 is one of the better value cards out there at the moment with low power consumption and good performance. Case is Micro ATX but can be changed depending on what you like. 80+ Gold Semi-Modular power supply to minimise cables in your case and to keep things neat and tidy and running steadily too.
Windows from local retailers start from $120 but can be held for around $20 if you want to try Reddit sellers. I've personally bought product keys from s5ean on that subreddit and have had no problems activating. You can save a fair bit if you want to go down that route.
Peripherals are harder to suggest depending on personal preference on key switches and so on but I've left a fair bit in your budget should you need a new keyboard + mouse.
Using StaticIce will help you get even better prices and there are plenty of videos online to help you build the thing yourself and save even more money. LinusTechTips is a channel that I personally found useful.
If the OP is a newbie, i wouldn't recommend OC'ing as it takes time to stabilise depending on the chip.
Yeah fair enough, just re-read the post and the comments and I agree. This might be better then. Same partlist except for CPU and mobo, which is now an i7-4790 and ASUS H97M PLUS.
Haha yes..no idea how to do that
Thanks!! Seems like the most expensive parts are the CPU and GPU…and your suggestion is the opposite of projectzero above (CPU>GPU)..so which one over the other for my needs?
CPU and GPU are normally the most expensive, but arguably the most important parts of the PC as well. Ignore the initial list and the CPU there. The overclocking isn't necessarily worth it for stability reasons so use this list instead. CPU is now an i7 and one of the most powerful out there within your budget but you still get plenty of GPU power for your games :)
CPU over GPU for photo editting which is the main purpose of the build, but with the list in this comment you'll have the plenty of power for editting and gaming.
Btw do I need/should I get a liquid cooling system as well?
Nope.
No liquid cooling is necessary but it depends on what you want. I have a liquid cooler but the better aftermarket air coolers available can do a similar job. I personally just prefer the look of a liquid cooler so yeah. The Noctua air cooler I listed would be plenty for you especially if you're not overclocking
Actually, I would say that a custom cooler wouldn't be necessary if you are not OC'ing. The stock cooler is made for the chip to run at loads just fine. It may be a little hotter if compared with a custom cooler, but it isn't worth the extra money if you are not OC'ing.
PS: just out of curiousity… would the d14 fit in a prodigy case? I have a D14 and that thing is HYOOOOGE!
Its been proven that water cooling is not as effective as good air cooling. The only reason people get water cooling is because its quiter and for the flex factor.
Will the GTX 970 fit in the Fractal case?
The EVGA ones will. Could be a bit snug but longer cards like Gigabyte's will need the top hard drive cage removed.
That's actually a good compromise with the removable hard drive cage. Thanks for the reply.
There is a mini ITX version of the GTX 970… not sure if it is the same in terms of specs though.
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&c…
You could get an absolute monster for that amount of money.
Asus H98M-Plus = $132.00
i5-4460 = $245.00
Samsung 840EVO 120GB SSD = $86.00
Seagate 3.5" HDD 2TB = $99.00
Kingston 8GB 1600 RAM = $94.00
AMD Radeon R9 290 (because power) = $393.00
BitFenix Prodigy Case (Because they're awesome) = $99.00
Coolermaster Thunder 500w PSU = $62.00
Total cost $1,210.00
Need wireless card? Add $20
Need TV tuner? Add $30
This leaves you enough money to buy some sweet peripherals.
These are your friend.
Sourced and built my entire Gaming PC at best bang for buck possible using these two resources.
IMO staticice is barely worth it when putting a build together, unless you have a lot of options in driving distance. Most places price pretty competitively already, and any savings gained from shopping around are probably outstripped by shipping costs.
Perhaps. But it's a great starting point and an excellent tool to ensure you're not being ripped off at your local IT store.
I use it as a baseline, find the store that has the most expensive parts the overall cheapest and with ok service and get the rest from there. If you buy the cheapest individual parts from all the different stores the postage kills it, only exception if someone is having a crazy special on 1 item like cpu or GPU
another good place to see different PC builds: http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_sg_whirlpoolpcs good for pricing and different types of builds
All of the builds that have currently been posted are AWESOME in terms of budget. If you want it for cheaper then Id recommend amazon. If you need it build, Im sure some stores can build it for you. But that may end up causing you to pay another $100 or so.
Check out www.reddit.com/r/buildapc if you want exposure to a wider array of opinions. Post a build you think you're going to use there and let the law of large numbers do its work. /r/buildapcforme if you want to see what someone else thinks you need from scratch.
Just buy the cheapest laptop you can find, then spend the remaining $1500 on whores and cocaine.
I guarantee that soon after taking my advice you will think I am a genius!
Even I don't agree here for once. OP, get a 5820K + X99 and build a box that will last for years. And $1500 for whores is less than 5hrs at a legal white brothel for a single whore in a basic room. Not counting uniforms, coke, or extras.
Best place I've seen that shows a scaling way of spending money on PC is http://www.logicalincrements.com/
I think you've pretty much decided on what you want but let me just say don't get a Seagate HDD, WD have about half the failure rate according to statistics I've seen and only cost a little more. Also if you're going to get an SSD I would go for at least 128GB or 250GB and then set aside 30GB for cache using Intel Rapid Storage. It'll speed up your other HDD ALOT, just check out this video on how HDD's get sped up with a cache here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuNKjB7-484
Is the link correct? Its showing Seagate SSHD, not how to set up cache..would like to learn how to do that
It's pretty simple, just google it. You're mobo just needs to support intel rapid storage
With a high-end Intel CPU you might not need a graphics card at all. You could put your system together without one and see how your games run on integrated graphics. You might be surprised. If you're not happy, you can easily add a graphics card later.
This page (very generally) indicates playable settings of a bunch of games, including those you mentioned, across the range of Intel HD graphics versions. I can't vouch for the veracity of the information though.
http://www.pvladov.com/2014/10/games-playable-on-intel-hd-gr…
High end Intel CPUs don't come with iGPUs, at least the mainstream X99 ones.
High-end was the wrong term then. I meant something like a 4770 or 4770k.
you're in the wrong place. go to whirlpool forums for really good advice on a build - http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/7
Was in a similar boat (similar type of usage as yours), I bought the following components and built my own. Currently on the look out for the correct monitor.
I didn't buy a separate cooler and recycled an old SSD in my build. I know that I may need to add GPU and Cooling in future but my current build looks good and works well. I am currently using windows 10 technical preview on my PC.
I did buy a over clock-able CPU and plan do add a cooler when I over clock it. For my current usage machine is really fast.
Hope this helps.
NZXT S340 Mid Tower Case Black/Red $99.00
G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 $99.00
ASRock Z97M Pro4 Motherboard $139.00
Intel Core i5 4690K $319.00
Corsair CX-750 Modular 80+ Bronze Power Supply $139.00
NZXT Sleeved LED Cable 200cm Blue $25.00
$820.00 Sub-Total:
Grand Total $886.79 including postage and credit card surcharge
Assembling wasn't that hard, I did it for the first time in an hour and another 30 mins in cable management.
PS: If you come across a decent monitor deal do give me a shout, good luck
that budget incl peripherals?