I need a new computer for a certain artistic person in my life. So I decided why do all the heavy lifting when you guys love to do this stuff.
Budget $1000
Going over-budget is absolutely not allowed. Going under-budget is encouraged. The computer needs to do the following things in order of most importance to least.
1) Surf fast/use internet with little problems (wireless will be used).
2) Have a nice monitor for artistic purposes.
3) Run games also with little issue.
Addendum: Must have top quality PSU. The PSU's cost is not factored into the total.When I inquired about games, it should be able to run stuff like Skyrim without any problems. So somewhat newer games. Also as an added note, the computer is going to be used to create professional artistic works and should be able to handle Photoshop and similar applications without any trouble, even with extra large files.
Peripherals with the exception of auditory equipment will also need to be purchased.
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Dec 20 2015, 12:51 am by Sacrieur.
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An artist's depiction of an Extended Unit Death
CPU: The best i5 on the market.
HSF: The 212 EVO is the standard and is at a good price right now. Since you didn't mention overclocking, I figure you don't want to sink too much money here, so an entry cooler for light overclocking fits the bill.
Mobo: A Z170 for the overclocking feature set, with all the main features you need for a basic motherboard.
RAM: Though 8GB is probably sufficient, 16GB should cover any anomalies of managing large content in memory.
SSD: The Ultra II is a fast MLC drive. 120GB will serve as a boot drive to speed up general OS performance.
HDD: Hitachi has had some pretty good press lately, so we can grab this over the Barracudas.
GPU: A nice, efficient card that can handle many modern games. Skyrim won't be an issue here.
Case: The Antec One is a solid budget case. Good airflow and cable management, and a decent price.
PSU: A newer budget nonmodular PSU. Not built by either of my ideal OEMs, but it should get the job done for a low-power build.
Wireless: AC compatible, high bandwidth card without breaking the bank.
Monitor: An IPS panel with a 5ms response time. Pretty well-reviewed and a great price.
Keyboard: The Logitech K120 is a solid rubber dome keyboard.
Mouse: I actually bought this mouse for my brother a year ago, and it holds up pretty well. Slick design and high DPI.
The Az Royale Build
CPU: An i7 from the time-tested Haswell microarchitecture.
HSF: The 212 EVO is proven to be one of the best entry level coolers with good airflow. Pushing tons of air when you need it, and being quiet when you don't.
Mobo: H97 since the 4790 is not unlocked. A positively-reviewed board (many of the negative reviews are complaining about irrelevant things like the board only having one PCIe x16), and a full ATX for more airflow space.
RAM: Best price for DDR3 current available on PCPP, extremely popular and very well-reviewed.
SSD: None. It will feel a bit slower when you need to access the hard drive, but once everything is cached in memory there won't be a difference.
HDD: One of the most trusted hard drives out there.
GPU: Believe it or not, the GTX 950 manages to make many modern titles playable even at 1440p, though you may need to tweak a few settings if the game is poorly optimized.
Case: Rosewill is Newegg's brand of hardware, and this is one of their better cases. With three quiet fans included, you'll get better airflow than other cases in this price range. Though PCPP isn't sure,
the 212 EVO will fit just fine.
PSU: An HEC power supply, but it has 80+ certification and due to its competitive pricing, it has been market-tested as a reliable unit.
Wireless: Supports wireless AC and well-reviewed. Seems to work better than the USB alternatives around the same price.
Monitor: At 25", 1440p is going to have a nice pixel density. Combined with an IPS panel with high color accuracy, it will be excellent for a digital artist, and is one of the best-reviewed screens at this price range.
Keyboard: The K120 is just a basic keyboard that works.
Mouse: Tons of mostly-positive reviews, high DPI for precision, and slightly less obnoxious LEDs than other mice.
Bare Necessities Build
CPU: You need at least four threads to run some games, so an i3 is about the absolute minimum on the Intel side of things.
HSF: Stock cooler. Naturally it's the cheapest option, and with the lower TDP of the Haswell i3, it shouldn't be an issue.
Mobo: To avoid potential issues with having to update the BIOS, I went with H97. It's a full-featured board, but it's definitely a budget board.
RAM: Good quality memory that also happens to be the cheapest available right now.
HDD: The cheapest non-disastrous hard drive available.
GPU: The R7 265 will do Skyrim at 60+ FPS.
Case: It will hold your parts inside it, but that's about it. Small and compact, if that's to your liking.
PSU: The cheapest certified power supply. It also happens to be decent enough to actually use.
Wireless: Doesn't support AC, but if you're looking at this build you probably aren't paying for more than the 300Mbps speeds supported by N. I've used TP-Link USB wireless adapters before, and they get the job done.
Monitor: An artist is going to want an IPS panel like this even on a tight budget, due to its superior color reproduction.
Keyboard: A boring rectangle you'd find in a cheap office building. It has all the keyboard buttons on it, so it's presumably passable.
Mouse: 1000 DPI is enough DPI.
Bargain bin:
Post has been edited 10 time(s), last time on Dec 19 2015, 11:20 pm by Roy.
I'd like to add that I've changed the requirements. I don't ever like to compromise on PSUs, so it must be Seasonic/Super Flower quality or equivalent. Its reliability should be unmatched, but still powered appropriately for the build. The main concern should be proven reliability; efficiency (such as a platinum rating) has no consideration.
This PSU's cost will not be factored into the $1k budget and should not be added to the total.
Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Dec 20 2015, 5:41 am by Sacrieur.
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@Roy:
Roy, you're putting your name on some sketchy things IMO. You can't trust Newegg reviewers, you can't trust 'the market', because the market is the mob and the mob is stupid. Not going to go back and forth with you, but there's a reason people wait for certain people to reply to these topics, we have a rep from what we're willing to put our name on. Just keep that in mind alright?
My selections:
PCPartPicker part list /
Price breakdown by merchantCPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($212.66 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($144.43 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($90.93 @ B&H)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($83.44 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($49.99 @ Directron)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 380 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($217.19 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.18 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.51 @ SuperBiiz)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($31.98 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($139.08 @ Best Buy)
Keyboard: Gigabyte KM5300 Wired Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($16.03 @ Micro Center)
Total: $1134.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when availableGenerated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-19 20:28 EST-0500Good call on only accepting top tier PSUs, that's all I do as well.
Didn't go for aftermarket CPU cooling because if it ain't OCing it'll run plenty cool.
Tried to keep the build semi-color coordinated so its nice to look at.
Cheap peripherals because budget is tight.
I like having the option of wireless AC in there.
I don't use non WD drives, I just don't. EZEX is a great drive at a great price.
This is with NJ taxes, might be less where you are.
The problem is that it's overbudget, which isn't permitted.
Going over-budget is absolutely not allowed.
None.
That's $134 over-budget counting the PSU, which you said didn't go against the budget, right? Subtracting the PSU from that makes you only go $50 over, unless that isn't allowed at all?
Oh well. Than Sac can use my outline and subtract where they see fit to do so if they want to. When I price things I price them through A. my preferred merchants and B. the tax I have to pay when shipped to me here in NJ. Since I know others do not necessarily have to pay those penalties its a mere few minutes of work to check a merchant or change a part and is a variable I try to account for as best I can. I don't mind helping people, in fact I like to, but if you need a build hand fed to you to the point that people need to give you lmgtfy link for simple questions or swaps you can go to /r/buildmeapc or conversely get fucked by a stick wrapped in barbed wire.
Oh well. Than Sac can use my outline and subtract where they see fit to do so if they want to. When I price things I price them through A. my preferred merchants and B. the tax I have to pay when shipped to me here in NJ.
You listed the total price for you, going over-budget. I'd like to point out that you were perfectly willing to go over-budget, or else you would have reported a total sum number $1000. You didn't check at all to confirm it was, even though it is.
I don't mind helping people, in fact I like to, but if you need a build hand fed to you to the point that people need to give you lmgtfy link for simple questions or swaps you can go to /r/buildmeapc or conversely get fucked by a stick wrapped in barbed wire.
Well let's stop and take a gander at your build to find out exactly how helpful it was. It appears to me you failed to read the OP appropriately, since it lists the tasks that are necessary in order of importance. Your monitor is the same $140 Acer in Roy's build. The problem, then, is that you spent more on the motherboard and graphics card than you spent on the monitor, which was rated more important than gaming.
Ignoring the requirements isn't helpful in the least.
Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Dec 20 2015, 4:24 pm by Sacrieur.
None.
An artist's depiction of an Extended Unit Death
Roy, you're putting your name on some sketchy things IMO. You can't trust Newegg reviewers, you can't trust 'the market', because the market is the mob and the mob is stupid. Not going to go back and forth with you, but there's a reason people wait for certain people to reply to these topics, we have a rep from what we're willing to put our name on. Just keep that in mind alright?
Thanks for your feedback. I post to specs, and when there's a tight budget, it comes down to which corners you're willing to cut.
As much as I like SeaSonic, the fact is most computers don't have SeaSonics in them, and nothing terrible happens. There are some crappy units out there, but I'm willing to take an Enhance Electronics, FSP, CWT, or even HEC if the budget calls for it.
I'd like to add that I've changed the requirements. I don't ever like to compromise on PSUs, so it must be Seasonic/Super Flower quality or equivalent.
Why you gotta do this to me, man?
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Dec 20 2015, 5:50 am by Roy.
Roy's build looks pretty good to me, in terms of distributing money around the components that matter.
Another aspect you should take into consideration, particularly for GPUs - they're the easiest component to upgrade later to get a performance boost. I don't think it's worth paying extra money now (especially if you've got a strict budget) to get a top-end GPU, when in 9 months time it will be getting dated anyway. And the top-end GPUs are really only for running games at very high resolution on large monitors. The monitor in Roy's build is only 23", so it you don't need a top-end GPU to run games at decent quality levels on that.
None.
An artist's depiction of an Extended Unit Death
Another aspect you should take into consideration, particularly for GPUs - they're the easiest component to upgrade later to get a performance boost.
That's a great point. Along those lines, it's not hard to pop in an SSD sometime in the future as well. Someone else also pointed out to me that I was too oriented toward the gaming aspect of the build, even though it is ranked lowest on the list of requirements.
With everything mentioned above in mind, and with the recent requirement change to exclude the PSU from the budget, I took another shot at this:
CPU: The i7-4790 is the locked version of the Haswell flagship 4790K. While hyperthreading won't see much use in gaming, it improves CPU-intensive tasks found in the likes of Photoshop.
HSF: You're not overclocking, and the age of lower TDP means even the stock cooler is sufficient.
Mobo: A rock-solid Z97. Yes, you don't need a Z chipset because you're not overclocking, but they tend to be better quality than the others.
RAM: 16GB because Photoshop can be a real resource hog when you're working with large images. 8GB might be sufficient, but there's no reason to settle for "might" here.
SSD: Not included. An SSD is very easy to throw in later, so to fit the budget, skipping it for now makes a lot of sense.
HDD: The 1TB Caviar Blue, of course. It doesn't need to be large, because in the future you'll want a second drive and use one as a scratch disk.
GPU: The GTX 950 will play Skyrim. That's all I care about for the initial setup. The GPU is easy to upgrade later, so there's no need to break the bank at the expense of an overall balanced build.
Case: The Antec One is the most economical choice. It's a great case that can easily last through multiple builds if you treat it right.
PSU: The EVGA 550 GS is a cheaper Seasonic at the moment, but that one also has worse voltage regulation, so I opted for this for its higher quality.
Wireless: The same damn wireless card I've been recommending this entire time. Stop reading this line!
Monitor: This is really what this part list is built around. 1440p IPS.
Keyboard: El cheapo rubber dome keyboard. Push keys, text appears on screen. You just need something that works for now, and a tight budget calls for a boring keyboard.
Mouse: Basic optical mouse that I've personally used before. Again, it's easy to replace this component if it becomes insufficient at some point, but it should serve you well in the meantime.
An artist's depiction of an Extended Unit Death
We can't explain the universe, just describe it; and we don't know whether our theories are true, we just know they're not wrong. >Harald Lesch
Problem is, thanks to Rockz and Ex we all have awesome power supplies already and they won't die the next 10 years.
I'm still on my 620 watt antec bronze I bought for $30. Seasonic rebrand of course.
Saw that platinum and drooled a little bit, but decided it's better to spend my money on things I'm actively using like keyboard, mouse, and monitor. As you get older, you tend to reasses your priorities. But hey, my 10 year old seasonic rebrand PSU is still alive and kicking in my parent's HTPC, so we weren't lying.
"Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Chairman - do we have to call the Gentleman a gentleman if he's not one?"
Problem is, thanks to Rockz and Ex we all have awesome power supplies already and they won't die the next 10 years.
It's not really about how long it lasts, necessarily.
I need a PSU that can protect your computer from unexpected voltages and never, ever mess it up. When your PSU blows, you can kiss a large chunk of your computer goodbye. Just like that. Fried. I have had a cheap PSU actually catch fire on me after a power surge, so never again.
Also thanks Roy I'll definitely pick it up.
None.
We can't explain the universe, just describe it; and we don't know whether our theories are true, we just know they're not wrong. >Harald Lesch
Problem is, thanks to Rockz and Ex we all have awesome power supplies already and they won't die the next 10 years.
It's not really about how long it lasts, necessarily.
I need a PSU that can protect your computer from unexpected voltages and never, ever mess it up. When your PSU blows, you can kiss a large chunk of your computer goodbye. Just like that. Fried. I have had a cheap PSU actually catch fire on me after a power surge, so never again.
And thanks to rockz and Ex we have exactly that.
I had my first Seasonic X650 from late 2010 die last week. The warranty actually expired only about 2 or 3 months ago. Fortunately, everything else seems to be fine. Also, it isn't my main system anymore, and thus doesn't have a high-end graphics card, so it is currently running with an older (but good) 300 watt unit, which has a larger 12 volt rail than any of those crappy cheap 400 - 500 watt power supplies you can get.
I've ordered another Seasonic as a replacement, but a step down from that series this time (a G series unit), and it should be coming soon.
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jan 27 2016, 3:40 am by ShadowFlare.
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