Desktop Computers

mkopec

mkopec

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Well there will be a day soon where most new consumer PCs just ship with SSDs. I know our next CAD stations at work have SSDs in them so im sure its not that far out.

As for the mass storage on SSDs, why not? If they become cheap enough why not have a few terabytes of SSD storage instead of mechanical. Faster, more reliable, less power, no moving parts, no heat produced....Its a no brainier.
 
Mist

Mist

Eeyore Enthusiast
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Noodleface_sl said:
Although a 1TB SSD sounds great, I honestly don't know what i would actually use it for.

Getting an SSD ruined all other peoples computers for me. No 'regular users' that I know use one, so it feels like I'm on dial-up using their PC.
Click to expand...
Mechanicals can get plenty fast. Most 'regular users' just have crapware infested PCs.
 
hats

hats

Molten Core Raider
33
3
I am still new at building computers. Done it once with good success back in 2007, and been usin that machine since but its been sluggish for a few years now and I am looking to craigslist it and construct a whole new system.

I am not good at matching the parts together in a compatible way (back in 2007, I needed to return to the store to buy compatible parts due to mistakes), so I'm lookin for preliminary advice, references to worthy and current guides and/or someone to just suggest the whole system for me on newegg.

Budget is ~$1200, if its worth it I can stretch to ~$1400.

Been lookin into the prebuilt $1400 alienware option for simplicity, but I have a month to do research before I commit to anything.
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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Link the pre-built Alienware and I'd be happy to piece together a buil-it-yourself thats comparable so you can see the price difference
 
mkopec

mkopec

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For $1200-1400 you can get a beast of a system. Im jelly!

Edit, I looked up that alienware and here is a comparable system...

PCPartPicker part list/Price breakdown by merchant/Benchmarks

CPU:Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler:Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler($29.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard:ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard($144.99 @ Newegg)
Memory:G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory($76.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage:Seagate SV35.5 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($78.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card:EVGA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case:Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case($57.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply:SeaSonic G 550W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply($84.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive:LG GH24NS72 DVD/CD Writer
Operating System:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total:$1238.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-18 16:01 EDT-0400)

Few things, I upgraded the storage to include a SSD, which is a must these days. Alienware wanted +$250
I upgraded the video card to a better one, a Nvidia 760GTX. They did not have this option. But its about $100 more than a 660GTX that was the standard on the $1400 build.
Also I downgraded the i7 to a i5 since the i7 has no benefit in a gaming system.
They also did not mention an after market cooler, but I included one so your system does not sound like a jet engine. Also with that cooler you can then overclock the processor like they have theirs overclocked, even more. a typical light overclock is around 4.2ghz, they have theirs on 4.1ghz.
The motherboard you can also scrimp on, and get the Extreme3, the one I linked has an option for dual or triple video cards. Not sure if you are into that sort of thing.

The case, I just picked a generic antec. Obviously the case is a choice only you can make.

So to finish, price wise I will call the processor downgrade and the video card upgrade a wash, $100. The SSD, Alienware wanted $250 for probably a generic POS one, Youre getting a top of the line one.


So Alienware price with SSD$1650
Your price for building yourself$1250

If you want to spend the full $1400, I would recommend getting an even better video card, Maybe the 770GTX?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
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Heh, I pieced together something really similar, staying under his $1400 max budget

PCPartPicker part list/Price breakdown by merchant/Benchmarks

CPU:Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler:Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard:ASRock Z87 Extreme6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard($189.99 @ Newegg)
Memory:G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory($121.50 @ Newegg)
Storage:Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk($214.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage:Western Digital Caviar Green 1.5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($79.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card:Asus GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card($265.66 @ Newegg)
Case:Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:SeaSonic M12II 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply($86.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive:LG UH12NS29 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer($49.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total:$1332.03
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-18 16:23 EDT-0400)

The only big differences being I went with 16GB of RAM over 8, and a bigger 750W power supply, but lower bronze rating instead of gold.

Total: $1332.03
 
Xarpolis

Xarpolis

Life's a Dream
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I recently (March this year) built a ridiculous system from parts on Amazon & Newegg. It ran me right around $1400 even.

Started off with a 256gig Samsung 840 SSD drive.
Core i7 3770k
MSI GeForce GTX 660.
32 gigs (overkill) of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz RAM.
Windows 7 Professional (to support the RAM)
Rosewill Thor V2 case
Corsair H110 water cooler for the CPU
Corsair HX850 Power Supply
Asus Sabertooth Z77 motherboard
Western Digital Cavalier (Black) 2 TB hard drive (as a storage drive)
Intel Gigabit PCI-E NIC
And finish it all off with an LG 14x BD-R.

Might have been $1500 for all that, but yeah. I found a lot of good deals. I like Amazon & Newegg more so than Craigslist and Ebay due to warranty. And when it comes to building a computer, Warranty is a must have. Too many DOA components usually. Fortunately nothing was dead for this build.
 
Xarpolis

Xarpolis

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I've lately been debating if I should get a 2nd MSI GTX 660 so I can run SLI, or if I should look at one of the new 700 series cards. *shrugs* I don't "need" to do anything right now.
 
mkopec

mkopec

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Xarpolis_sl said:
I've lately been debating if I should get a 2nd MSI GTX 660 so I can run SLI, or if I should look at one of the new 700 series cards. *shrugs* I don't "need" to do anything right now.
Click to expand...
I would personally wait myself. They usually say to skip a generation when upgrading video cards. SLI? I mean, I dont know? Would it not be overkill? Obviously this depends on what resolution you are running.
 
W

W4RH34D_sl

shitlord
661
3
mkopec_sl said:
I would personally wait myself. They usually say to skip a generation when upgrading video cards. SLI? I mean, I dont know? Would it not be overkill? Obviously this depends on what resolution you are running.
Click to expand...
I would build a machine that met my needs, or to a small degree exceeds it if you're looking forward to a game coming out in the near future. I normally build my upgrades around game launches that I've followed for years. That method has suited me well. Unfortunately, my lastest build was AMD and it sucked, so I fixed my mistake. Its the first time I've made an upgrade without something new to play.
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

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Xarpolis_sl said:
I've lately been debating if I should get a 2nd MSI GTX 660 so I can run SLI, or if I should look at one of the new 700 series cards. *shrugs* I don't "need" to do anything right now.
Click to expand...
I've gone SLI in the past, and I probably won't ever bother doing it again. It really isn't worth it unless you are at the bleeding edge of high-end parts and that is the *only* way to get more performance(i.e. you have a GTX 780 and want a 2nd one). You can spend double the money on a 2nd 660, but in practical use you won't ever get double the performance gains.

It's a tough call, because it does seem easier to spend another $200 on a 2nd 660 than it is to plunk down $300-400 on a 760/770, but honestly the best bang for your buck would be trying to sell your current 660 for $100-$150 or something, and then jumping on up to the 760/770 range of cards. The single card is always going to be the best bang for your buck, performance-wise, I know it's real tempting to do that cheaper incremental upgrade, but trust me, it's really not worth it. Worst case scenario, pocket that $200 now that you were going to spend on a 2nd 660, hold onto it for 6 months to a year, and then do a big video card upgrade (770 or whatever). A 660 is still going to run most games perfectly fine for the next 6-12 months, and a 2nd one isn't going to prolong that estimate by much.

I'm in the same boat, I have a 660Ti that I've had for about 9 months now and I'm real tempted to add a 2nd one, but I'm just going to sit tight for another year and upgrade to a new generation of card at that point.
 
Denaut

Denaut

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hats_sl said:
I am still new at building computers. Done it once with good success back in 2007, and been usin that machine since but its been sluggish for a few years now and I am looking to craigslist it and construct a whole new system

I am not good at matching the parts together in a compatible way (back in 2007, I needed to return to the store to buy compatible parts due to mistakes), so I'm lookin for preliminary advice, references to worthy and current guides and/or someone to just suggest the whole system for me on newegg.

Budget is ~$1200, if its worth it I can stretch to ~$1400.

Been lookin into the prebuilt $1400 alienware option for simplicity, but I have a month to do research before I commit to anything.
Click to expand...
Mkopec and Joeboo posted good builds. 2 exceptions I would say are that you need nowhere near a 750 watt power supply for just a single card PC, 450-500 watts is fine as a system like that draws less than 300 watts at load. Secondly, there is no reason to buy Windows 7, Windows 8 is a better operating system for the same price.
 
Denjoy

Denjoy

Molten Core Raider
55
65
Denaut_sl said:
Wow, 3x faster? I am absolutely holding my build off until these are available. Glad I caught this before I bought my SSD.
Click to expand...
Meh. If you check out the Anandtech article, the 840 Pro 120/256gb are still better than the EVO equivalent. When you get to the 500gb+ ones, then they are similar to the 840 Pro speeds. These drives are the upgrade to the regular 840.
 
Denaut

Denaut

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Denjoy_sl said:
Meh. If you check out the Anandtech article, the 840 Pro 120/256gb are still better than the EVO equivalent. When you get to the 500gb+ ones, then they are similar to the 840 Pro speeds. These drives are the upgrade to the regular 840.
Click to expand...
Yea, I read the article more carefully, but they are still a decent bump in performance at that price point. I wasn't planning on paying the premium for the pro at 250GB anyway (it is a rather high one) so for me it is a doubling of the write speed for about the same price which is a decent but not a must have upgrade.
 
McCheese

McCheese

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I'm looking to upgrade from my 4.5 year old Asus laptop. It's speaker are dead, there is a red line down the middle of the screen, and it can't run without a cooling pad. Initially I was going to get another laptop, but since I don't foresee myself doing any extensive traveling in the future, I've settled on a desktop instead. Here is what I've put together. Let me know if there are any glaring problems/compatability/etc, oh pc gurus!

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

MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX High Performance CF Intel Motherboard

SAPPHIRE 100354OC-2L Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card

Thermaltake TR2 TR-700 700W ATX 12V V2.3 & EPS 12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K

Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS2K4G3D169DS3

HGST HDS721050CLA362 (0F10381) 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model SH-118BB

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

I've got a Microcenter about 45 minutes away, so I'm going to buy the mobo and cpu there for a savings of about $90 off the Newegg price. Some of the other components I've chosen because Newegg is offering various $10 - $20 instant discounts on during their Components Sale until 7/29. Likewise, I chose that specific video card because it's currently marked at $55 off regular price. With all discounts + Microcenter the total cost should be about $750. That's ideal because I really don't want to spend much beyond $700.
 
mkopec

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
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McCheese_sl said:
I'm looking to upgrade from my 4.5 year old Asus laptop. It's speaker are dead, there is a red line down the middle of the screen, and it can't run without a cooling pad. Initially I was going to get another laptop, but since I don't foresee myself doing any extensive traveling in the future, I've settled on a desktop instead. Here is what I've put together. Let me know if there are any glaring problems/compatability/etc, oh pc gurus!

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

MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX High Performance CF Intel Motherboard

SAPPHIRE 100354OC-2L Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card

Thermaltake TR2 TR-700 700W ATX 12V V2.3 & EPS 12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54670K

Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model BLS2K4G3D169DS3

HGST HDS721050CLA362 (0F10381) 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model SH-118BB

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

I've got a Microcenter about 45 minutes away, so I'm going to buy the mobo and cpu there for a savings of about $90 off the Newegg price. Some of the other components I've chosen because Newegg is offering various $10 - $20 instant discounts on during their Components Sale until 7/29. Likewise, I chose that specific video card because it's currently marked at $55 off regular price. With all discounts + Microcenter the total cost should be about $750. That's ideal because I really don't want to spend much beyond $700.
Click to expand...
Looks good but I would change the power supply. Spend and extra $20 and get something good that wont burn down your house. You dont need 700W, 500W is plenty. I linked a good one up above a few posts up. Seasonic and PC Power and Cooling are good brands to stick with. Also the Corsair high end ones are good as well.

Also you want to get an aftermarket cooler. While the stock one is OK, it will sound like a jet engine and will leave you no room to OC. Im assuming you will be OCing since you are thinking about the Z87 and the K chip. YOu can pick up the CM212 Evo at microcenter as well. They usually have it for less than $30.
 
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