1400-1800$ Photo/GraphicsEditing/Architecture PC

[zlik]

1) What will you be doing with this PC?
Mainly photo editing (Lightroom, Photoshop), architecture (CAD and 3D modelling/renderings), some video editing (Premiere, After Effects) and maybe some gaming.
2) What's your budget?
Between 1200$ and 1800$
3) Which country do you live in?
Switzerland
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
MB, CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD+HDD, PSU, case, (CPU cooler?)
6) Will you be overclocking?
a little bit, if I can
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
32" 1920x1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
as soon as possible, (this week).
9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
USB3.0, RAID1 (HDD reliability),
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS?
yes, 64bit windows 8


Hi, and thanks for reading. First build for me. After much research, I've come up with the following setup (prices are from Swiss online shops):

MB: Asus P8Z77-V PRO (200$)
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K (335$)
GPU: Zotac GeForce GTX 660 (230$)
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws-X 4 x 8 GB - DDR3 - 1600 MHz / PC3-12800 - CL9 (190$)
SSD (O.S.): Samsung 930 Series 128GB
HDD (data): 2x Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB Sata 6GB/s 7200rpm (2x147$)
PSU: Seasonic G-650, 650W, 80+ Gold (140$)
Case: Sharkoon T9 Value (67$)
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE2

My thoughts:
- I need as much CPU and RAM as I can afford (photoshop eats RAM for breakfast and rendering times depend on CPU).
- I don't really know how much GPU I need, and where it will be of any benefit. I've thought about the Quadro's but I'm not sure I need them (can't afford the expensive ones and the cheap ones like the Quadro 600 don't seem to be very powerful).
- I was thinking of putting the two 3TB HDD's in RAID1 for reliability (backup in real time). I will still back my data up every week on an external drive as well.

Questions:
- any suggestions/better component combination for that price ?
- is the 1155 socket a good choice? (I have the impression that the 2011 socket, with X79 + i7 3930k, is not worth it)
- is RAID1 a good idea for data reliability ? Is it easy to set up with this mother board?

Thank you in advance.

[jgunning]

I think overall that is a very solid build. Nothing really is a letdown, If you wanted to save abit of money, the Noctua NH-U12P SE2 is ok, but there are plenty of cheaper coolers which would do the same job, such as the 212 evo.
The gtx660 is a good card with plenty of crunch.That should serve you well, the quadros could be useful but i think the 660 is the way to go.Quadros are quite expensive.
The 1155 socket (I HEAR) is good, i havent heard any bad reports, HOWEVER I use an amd build.

RAID 1 is good for data integrity and backups, as it uses mirroring of the drives. It would give you abit more reliability, however I dont RAID my drives and have never had any issues.

Thats my opinion anyway, Goodluck

Cheers =)

[PLSG08]

Originally Posted by jgunning

HOWEVER I use an amd build.

How's the FX-6100 treating you? is it as bad as they say it is? (kinda want to save some $$$ on my build, so I'm considering an AMD build)

[lZKoce]

Yeah, it is a pretty good build. You make clear intentions to make money out of this PC, which in my opinion is a very very good motive.
+1 to the idea to have a look at cheaper CPU-coolers. 212 EVO really is a great choice.
Nothing to pick on

Off topic: I would go for a smaller package: mATX+corresponding case and probably a Corsair Dominator for the RAM. But that is totally personal preferance and has nothing to do with the suggested build.

[PLSG08]

Back on topic, nothing bad with the build just change the cooler to a 212 evo and you're good to go.

Also why not give AsRock a try for the boards? you can save some $$$

ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6...

[jgunning]

Originally Posted by PLSG08

How's the FX-6100 treating you? is it as bad as they say it is? (kinda want to save some $$$ on my build, so I'm considering an AMD build)

fx-6100 is fantastic!highly reccomended.Never had a hickup and runs like a charm!

[[Ion]]

Originally Posted by PLSG08

Back on topic, nothing bad with the build just change the cooler to a 212 evo and you're good to go.

Also why not give AsRock a try for the boards? you can save some $$$

ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6...

I'm sure that not all ASRock boards have issues, but on my P55 Extreme the voltage regulators blew out--now it's very unstable and refuses to boot a good bit of the time. This was with a fan blowing on them and the CPU at stock, too.

[LAN_deRf_HA]

My only remark would be to replace the WDs with Seagates. Not sure about there but here the Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3TBs are cheaper, faster, and more reliable than the WD green drives.

[phanbuey]

that build is a monster.

[Completely Bonkers]

32" 1920x1080 ∉ Photo/GraphicsEditing/Architecture PC

[PLSG08]

Originally Posted by [Ion]

I'm sure that not all ASRock boards have issues, but on my P55 Extreme the voltage regulators blew out--now it's very unstable and refuses to boot a good bit of the time. This was with a fan blowing on them and the CPU at stock, too.

Well from what I see Top of the line AsRock boards now are competing with other brands and provide as much reliability as them too. This board has a lot of solid features and he could save some $$$.

Originally Posted by jgunning

Fx-6100 is fantastic! Highly recommended. Never had a hick-up and runs like a charm!

Nice! Kinda wanting to get this over the Core i5 -2300. Might pair it with a MSI 880GMS-E41FX (website says it supports the FX series, though I'm not sure if it does out of the box)

Would you recommend the FX-6100 over the Core i5?

[jgunning]

Originally Posted by PLSG08

Nice! Kinda wanting to get this over the Core i5 -2300. Might pair it with a MSI 880GMS-E41FX (website says it supports the FX series, though I'm not sure if it does out of the box)

Would you recommend the FX-6100 over the Core i5?

I would definitly reccommend this over the i5..Bit of personal preference, however my machine at work is an i5 and my home machine has the 6100, I much prefer the amd build at home. =)

[Jetster]

All those parts have been on sale recently. Shop around. The Seasonic 750 gold was just on sale at NE for $100

[PLSG08]

Originally Posted by jgunning

I would definitly reccommend this over the i5..Bit of personal preference, however my machine at work is an i5 and my home machine has the 6100, I much prefer the amd build at home. =)

Well I'd rather hear it from a user than a review around the net! :cheers: First PC was an AMD, this PC would be an AMD as well!

Thank you!

On topic: The build is great for nearly anything you want to do. Are you planning on building it yourself or are you gonna have it assembled?

[Bo$$]

Could you please tell us your E-tailer so we can get some better alternatives for you?

[Jetster]

Agility 4 256 $130 after rebate

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...ampaign=alerts

[Jetster]

Its your lucky day......If your in the US

SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 ...
$99.99
With Promo Code: EMCYTZT2455

[Bo$$]

Originally Posted by Jetster

Its your lucky day......If your in the US

SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 ...
$99.99
With Promo Code: EMCYTZT2455

DUDE! he is swiss! stop posting US links!
Check Caseking.de as i think that is probably what he is using

[Jetster]

Originally Posted by Bo$$

DUDE! he is swiss! stop posting US links!
Check Caseking.de as i think that is probably what he is using

I wish people would set there location in the UserCP

[3870x2]

Originally Posted by jgunning

I would definitly reccommend this over the i5..Bit of personal preference, however my machine at work is an i5 and my home machine has the 6100, I much prefer the amd build at home. =)

AMD would be doing great right now if you could split a thread into multiple cores. Until then, the high-end AMD stays on the low-end.

[zlik]

Thank you for the replies.

Sorry for the late reply, I had set to get notifications by email for replies to this thread and I didn't get any email for all but the first reply, which is too bad because there are some good advices here that I couldn't use before ordering 2 days ago (the only thing I haven't ordered yet is the graphic card).

So here is my final setup:

Asus P8Z77-V PRO
Intel Core i7-3770K
Noctua NH-U12P SE2 cpu cooler
G.Skill Ripjaws-X 2x 8GB 1600 MHz / PC3-12800 - 9-9-9 2N
Samsung SSD Drive 830 Series 256GB
Western Digital RE4 2TB/64MB - 7200rpm
Seasonic X-660 (SS-660KM) Gold - 660W
Corsair Carbide Series 300R case


Unfortunately, it's too late to go the X79 + 3820 route.

So, 256 GB SSD instead of 128, and 16GB ram instead of 32 for now. And I changed from 2 caviar greens to one RE4 (faster and more reliable). I don't know yet if I'll be doing raid1 or not. I might buy some additional HDDs/SSDs to complete the system.

Originally Posted by jgunning

I think overall that is a very solid build. Nothing really is a letdown, If you wanted to save abit of money, the Noctua NH-U12P SE2 is ok, but there are plenty of cheaper coolers which would do the same job, such as the 212 evo.
The gtx660 is a good card with plenty of crunch.That should serve you well, the quadros could be useful but i think the 660 is the way to go.Quadros are quite expensive.
The 1155 socket (I HEAR) is good, i havent heard any bad reports, HOWEVER I use an amd build.

RAID 1 is good for data integrity and backups, as it uses mirroring of the drives. It would give you abit more reliability, however I dont RAID my drives and have never had any issues.

Thats my opinion anyway, Goodluck

Cheers =)

I'm still hesitating about the graphic card... the GTX 660 wins hands down against the cheaper Quadros in a some domains, but the Quadros might have a few advantages in the specific areas they were designed to work (CAD, 3D, etc).

Yes, if I will be doing RAID1, it's not for backup, but as a safety net for hard drive failures.

Originally Posted by lZKoce

Yeah, it is a pretty good build. You make clear intentions to make money out of this PC, which in my opinion is a very very good motive.
+1 to the idea to have a look at cheaper CPU-coolers. 212 EVO really is a great choice.
Nothing to pick on

Off topic: I would go for a smaller package: mATX+corresponding case and probably a Corsair Dominator for the RAM. But that is totally personal preferance and has nothing to do with the suggested build.

Thanks. Yes, too bad I didn't see the advice on cheaper coolers before...

Originally Posted by PLSG08

Back on topic, nothing bad with the build just change the cooler to a 212 evo and you're good to go.

Also why not give AsRock a try for the boards? you can save some $$$

ASRock Z77 Extreme6 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6...

Thanks, but as I said, I saw the replies too late because I didn't get any notifications by email. I went with the ASUS P8Z77-V PRO.

Originally Posted by LAN_deRf_HA

My only remark would be to replace the WDs with Seagates. Not sure about there but here the Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3TBs are cheaper, faster, and more reliable than the WD green drives.

I did change the WD greens, after I saw that they are 5400rpm. I went with the enterprise class RE4.

Originally Posted by Jetster

All those parts have been on sale recently. Shop around. The Seasonic 750 gold was just on sale at NE for $100

Thank you, but I live in Switzerland.

Originally Posted by PLSG08

On topic: The build is great for nearly anything you want to do. Are you planning on building it yourself or are you gonna have it assembled?

I am planning on building it myself, with the help of some friends and lots of tutorials on the web. I've read to be careful about subjects like static electricity, thermal paste for CPU cooler, contact points between mother board and case, etc. I might come back for questions when that moment comes

Originally Posted by Bo$$

Could you please tell us your E-tailer so we can get some better alternatives for you?

I use www.toppreise.ch (you can set it in english), which gathers data from all the major e-tailers in switzerland. It tells you which one is cheaper for every part. 1CHF (swiss franc) is almost equal to 1 dollar, so it's easy to have a reference.

Originally Posted by Bo$$

DUDE! he is swiss! stop posting US links!
Check Caseking.de as i think that is probably what he is using

Yes, I'm swiss as I said, I use www.toppreise.ch

Originally Posted by Jetster

I wish people would set there location in the UserCP

I'm sorry for the confusion. I did state that I'm from Switzerland in the original post though





Right now, I am still hesitating on the graphic card. nVidia GTX vs Quadro ? or ATI ? Some programms are optimized for nVidia cards... budget is between 100$ and 400$. It really has to be worth it for my use to get an expensive one. CPU+RAM are usually the most limiting components for my work (renderings, photo editing). The programs I use are, Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator, inDesign, Archicad, AutoCad, Vectorworks, Premiere (not often), After Effects (not often).

Thanks again to everybody.

[PLSG08]

Originally Posted by zlik

Right now, I am still hesitating on the graphic card. nVidia GTX vs Quadro ? or ATI ? Some programms are optimized for nVidia cards... budget is between 100$ and 400$. It really has to be worth it for my use to get an expensive one. CPU RAM are usually the most limiting components for my work (renderings, photo editing). The programs I use are, Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator, inDesign, Archicad, AutoCad, Vectorworks, Premiere (not often), After Effects (not often)

I would go with the Nvidia GTX cards if I were you. CUDA helps in 3D modelling and works well with Photoshop. You could try for AMD cards tho.

I suggest within that budget is to get a GTX 660 ($230), GTX 660 Ti ($300), GTX 670 ($380)for the Nvidia; then the HD 7870, HD 7950 (not sure about the prices tho) for AMD.

Quadro/Firepro cards are too expensive for your budget (the high tier ones ofc)