Budget DAW-PC build help! $550!

[shrimphead7]

- Notes: First build, BUDGET DAW PC, Use for Ableton Live with APC-40 controller.

- Ultimate Goal: To get something that just works for now with the possibility to upgrade 6mo. from now. These are the items ive found recommended from others, I’m hoping to get recommendations to items that will simply be sufficient for my needs at the lowest cost possible.

- Budget: About $540 after I buy APC40 controller.

- Approximate Purchase Date: This Weekend (11/16-11/18)

Parts:

CPU: $219.99 (Newegg)
Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

MOBO: $109.99 (Newegg)
GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Ram: $36.99 (Amazon)
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CML8GX3M2A1600C9)

HDD: $97.98 (Amazon)
Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX

PSU: $44.99 (Newegg)
Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core ...

Case: $39.99 (Newegg)
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan

Grand Total = $556.84
I know this is just barely above my budget.
I’m hoping I can sacrifice for a lesser model of something(s) and need advice of which to sacrifice. Ex: i5-3570k vs i5-2500k vs i3xx?? lesser MOBO, HDD, or PSU??

Additional Comments:
- would something like the following 'combos' even be “do-able”?? they seem like a good buy!
newegg combo deal comparison
- Others have recomended an AMD FX-8320 Vishera build being better for my needs due to the 8 cores?
- Would like to order this weekend but may hold off for black Friday deals

[Iceni]

Your on the right track with the cpu. The I5 2500K and the I5 3750K are so close in price you may as well have the newer model with better thermal design.

You may be able to shave the price of the motherboard a bit tho.

A cheaper MSI variant on Z77 link


That keeps overclocking an option.

If your not planning on overclocking then there's no point having a K series CPU. Likewise you can cut corners on the motherboard since you no longer need a few of the overclocking features.

You could reduce the motherboard cost by 50% if you have no plans to overclock at all with a motherboard like this.

If you were indeed going to go the non overclockable route then you can also shave the CPU to a non K series intel. You loose HD4000 by doing this however so you have to factor in if you need better graphics.

The Egg can save you a a bit on hard drives. link


The PSU you have picked I would be dubious about tho. I've never dealt with rosewill PSU's but i have read horror stories about cheap PSU's deciding to become a fire hazard under normal loads.

this seasonic 430W Is only a little more expensive. And for not a lot more you could go up a model to a 520W. Seasonic are a manufacturer of PSU's and they make most of the expensive ones as well (corsair, OCZ ext).

[drdeathx]

Skip the Roswewill PSU, junk.

[shrimphead7]

Alright, this is the new build as of now:

Intel Core i5-3570

ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Antec VP-450 450 Watt Energy Star Certified Power Supply

Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ZALMAN Z9 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

totaling to $468.84.

how does this look? can anyone recomend a better daw-pc case for the same price (49.99) or preferably less?

[natr0n]

looks good, but I would get a WD not a seagate.

[Jetster]

Originally Posted by natr0n

looks good, but I would get a WD not a seagate.

Its not worth the extra $50 Or $35 for the WD blue

next week you should have no problem getting a better case for less

[natr0n]

Originally Posted by Jetster

Its not worth the extra $50 Or $35 for the WD blue

next week you should have no problem getting a better case for less

seagate's are bad very bad. insane failure rates.


shrimpy,just wait a few days for black friday and get a wd brand drive, of higher quality standards. maybe save even more on everything else you selected.

[Jetster]

Originally Posted by natr0n

seagate's are bad very bad. insane failure rates.


yeah just wait a few days for balck friday and get a wd brand drive, of higher quality standards.

Not correct. They are all about the same now a days. Im not a fanboy of any but ive returned my share of WD. But your right that BF is comming up and given the same price I would go WD or Samsung

[natr0n]

Originally Posted by Jetster

Not correct. They are all about the same now a days. Im not a fanboy of any but ive returned my share of WD. But your right that BF is comming up and given the same price I would go WD or Samsung

lol samsung drives are made by seagate now

[Jetster]

Originally Posted by natr0n

lol samsung drives are made by seagate now

I know... heres the report

http://www.behardware.com/articles/8...s-rates-5.html

[natr0n]

Originally Posted by Jetster

I know... heres the report

http://www.behardware.com/articles/8...s-rates-5.html

looks good, I usually go by newegg customer reviews

[shrimphead7]

yeah WD black 1TB was my first choice but at half the price for the seagate i was going to take the risk. I think i will wait a couple days(as hard as that is! )and see what i can get. Thanks everyone!

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by natr0n

seagate's are bad very bad. insane failure rates.

Yeah, years ago. Seagate has gotten a lot better...

[lordjohn]

Originally Posted by Jetster

I know... heres the report

http://www.behardware.com/articles/8...s-rates-5.html

not very sure about the report, but according to my own experience, I returned few(2) Quantums, many(5) seagates in the past, especalliy seagate 500GB 7200, and 1TB 7200 models. although it cost nothing for exchange a new one or seagate certificated repaired ones. but I lost all the data on these drives. so far I haven't returned any WD 2TB green(which I owned a lot since 2009).

and for the build, why not consider 8120, it is even cheaper than i3 when on sell. the money saved can give you a nice vedio card.

[jboydgolfer]

Shrimp,,,,,Please Do yourself a Favor a DO NOT BUY THAT PSU!!!
I did a build for a close Friend , whom I could not Talk out of buying one of Rosewills "PSU's"
I think it was a Week or so after the build was Done, he Could smell a Strange "electronics" smell. (his Word's). Long Story Short he regretted buying it , and took my advice on a Corsair. Newegg has a Great EVGA for $90 buck's. it's 750W , Bronze Cert,Semi Mod.and MANY other Good quality PSU's from other Re-branders for even less.
Please Dont trust All of your Valuable Components to a cheap PSU because you want to Stay under Budget. Either Save 'till you CAN get a better one , or plan to spend more.

Best Regard's
And Good luck on the Build.

[RCoon]

Originally Posted by Aquinus

Yeah, years ago. Seagate has gotten a lot better...

+1

Seagate is not as bad as it used to be. Still running 2 x 2TB 7200 Barracuda's for almost 2 years, they may be cheap, but they work. I've also returned my fair share of WD drives at work

[shrimphead7]

If anybody's curious, I went with the following components after an exhausting 10 days of extensive research.

i5-3570k - $219.99 ($20 gift card, newegg)
- overclocking abilities

GIGABYTE GA-Z77-D3H LGA - $99 (newegg sale)
-anonymous decision (ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA a close 2nd)

WD Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5 - $88 (ncix sale)
-after hours and HOURS of research came to the conclusion:
-there are a couple different models of the seagate barracuda 1TB, and the only way to find out which one your getting is to call the seller to check for you and if you dont find out which ones are the good ones it's pretty much a hit or miss and quite frankly thats to much for me.
-the samsung F3 was a close second, but failure rate comparisons and noise complaints from reviews led me to believe the WD Caviar Black was my safest bet.

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 - $24.99! (newegg sale)

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 plus bronze - $36.99 - $20 rebate = $16.99! (newegg sale)

ZALMAN Z9 Plus Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - $34.99 (sale + $15 rebate, newegg)

Totaling in at $520 before rebates, $485 after.
+ I found the APC-40 on sale for $219 vs $249 everywhere else! Pretty sure it still is if anyone's interested in that! here: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...G&A=details&Q=

All in all im pretty confident in these choices and im superpumped to get everything and put together my first build!

Thanks again for everyone's input!