Advice for a new machine: budget, timelines, usage & known information provided

[Sleepingforest]

I disagree with the last part of Torn Mind's statement. You won't see huge discounts. Look at the i5-2500K: it still floats at around $200 at major online retail sites. The only place you'll find large discounts is Microcenter, and those are already happening.

 

[sze5003]

I would probably wait for haswell. I'll be updating my 2500k if my board supports them.

An SSD should be a priority as the prices have been dropping. Good brands are Intel, Samsung 830 or 840, and crucial m4.

For video cards, there were some sales a while ago. I have a vapor x 7970 but you could probably pick one up for less in march. Or even a 670 if you prefer Nvidia.
I would shop around electronic stores in your area to get ideas. Not sure if most people overseas buy parts in store or online but in US, newegg is the best option.

 

[mfenn]

I would probably wait for haswell. I'll be updating my 2500k if my board supports them.

It won't, Haswell is LGA 1150.

 

[mfenn]

@ dma0991 - you are probably right about the guide - I've had a look at my current mobo manual and it's quite detailed but it never hurts to have something to fall back on : )

@ Cerb - Looks like the other savings for quietness in addition to performance are worth waiting for too. Thanks for the Fractal and Corsair case and Seasonic PSUI advice I will definitely look these up as well as the guide.

Newegg also has a pretty 3-part "How to build a PC" guide on Youtube if you are more of a visual learner. Part 1 is mostly about parts selection, so take that with a grain of salt since it is produced by somebody who is trying to sell parts. Parts 2 and 3 are solid though.

 

[Torn Mind]

I disagree with the last part of Torn Mind's statement. You won't see huge discounts. Look at the i5-2500K: it still floats at around $200 at major online retail sites. The only place you'll find large discounts is Microcenter, and those are already happening.

Well, I never said "large". Just that it will be cheaper than their Haswell counterpart; I would say 10-20 dollars cheaper. Now, I admit that I did not specify "when" you can be sure to find Ivy Bridge cheaper than Haswell or that it depends on the MSRP set by Intel. The gap is largest within the first month the new processor is available.


For example, on Amazon, the i5-3570K oscillated between $230-$240 in May 2012, its first month it was available. The i5-2500K oscillated between $205 and $220. As of now, the gap between them is only $10.
http://camelcamelcamel.com/Intel-Core-i5-3570K-Quad-Core-Processor/product/B007SZ0E1K
http://camelcamelcamel.com/Intel-i5-2500K-Quad-Core-Processor-Cache/product/B004EBUXHQ

 

[Sleepingforest]

I'm just trying to say that Ivy Bridge will not become dramatically more affordable. The savings could make the difference between 1TB and 1.5TB of storage or a larger SSD, which are tangible improvements, but you won't for example, suddenly be able to get an i7 instead of an i5.

 

[Torn Mind]

I'm just trying to say that Ivy Bridge will not become dramatically more affordable. The savings could make the difference between 1TB and 1.5TB of storage or a larger SSD, which are tangible improvements, but you won't for example, suddenly be able to get an i7 instead of an i5.

I never intended the latter in the first place.

 

[sze5003]

It won't, Haswell is LGA 1150.

Well then I guess a new mobo will be needed by then. I could finally make use of the USB 3.0 ports on my case. This is going to cause me to want to get more ram and probably CPU cooler haha.

 

[piasabird]

I have a suggestion. There are some videos you could watch on YOUTUBE of people who are building computers. Most of the parts are designed in such a way that the plugs and cables and sockets can only be connected the correct way. However, you still might want to do a little research on the parts. Often it is suggested that people make a list of parts and submit the list for feedback. This is done quite often here, so there are lots of examples you could look at. Also Ananndtech.com has some build examples.

One thing to watch out for is that going with the lowest priced motherboard or some other part may cause you a lot of headaches. Also dont buy parts that are too old.

The CPU has to be designed for the socket on the motherboard.

The RAM has to be compatible with the Motherboard.

The Hard Drive/DVD should be compatible with the motherboard, but often the drives are backward compatible. Use SATA Drives. The older IDE Drives may not work on newer motherboards.

Example of a guide that is really for low end computers. I think some of these parts are too low end myself.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6182/fall-budget-system-buyers-guide/3

However, if you have a certain amount of money you are willing to spend people can make reccomendations to suit a specific budget or specific tasks you want your computer to do like play games or E-mail/Internet.

 

[Hubb1e]

if you post your progress here every step then we can help you build your computer. Building is a good life skill and it something goes wrong you can quickly fix it and get back to work.

Haswell will be on a new socket from current chips. So when you build you will need a Haswell CPU and a Haswell motherboard. Haswell will be about 10-15% faster than current chips (Ivy bridge) so it's a nice upgrade, but not HUGE and I personally wouldn't wait for it if you're building now but you're not so waiting may suit you.

You've not specified budget so you may actually be able to fit a 6 core chip into your budget so you should really tell us now what your budget is and how much performance matters to you so we know what to recommend. Haswell will be only 4 core chips initially so you could buy now and get a 6 core chip and still be faster than Haswell when it comes out. The CPUs are $500 instead of $200-$300 and motherboards are $250 instead of $125 so you're spending quite a bit for for those extra 2 cores.

The rest of the stuff you can pick out now and buy later. A case, heatsink, PSU, optical drive, fans can all be picked out now. The SSD, CPU, motherboard, and memory can be picked out when you are ready to buy but researching the rest now will save you time later.

Getting a quiet computer is pretty easy. Cases, fans, and heatsinks are available that are very quiet. When building your computer the hardest part will probably be setting the BIOS settings. You'll want to set the fan control to make sure the machine stays quiet and those settings can be daunting at first. It's not hard, but just looks confusing sometimes. We can help you through it.

 

[surfjungle]

Everybody, at this stage, I reckon that I'm going to wait for Haswell and the next round of mobos.

@ SammichPG / Intel17: Thanks for the SSD advice. I'll go with Crucial or Samsung with a sound backup plan as I'd prefer greater peace of mind.

@ ElFenix: Thanks for moving this to the General Hardware forum. It's got more exposure and as a result, I have learned more.

@ Sleepingforest: That post disambiguating the microarchitecture and describing the chronology and what the alphanumeric text is was excellent and will serve me well. I particularly enjoyed your quiz bit. Thanks to your post, I did a little research and found this excellent page from Intel: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/processor-numbers.html. For example:
Intel Core [<-brand] i7 [<-brand_modifier] - [<-hyphen] 3 [<-generation_indicator] 930 [<-sku_numeric_digits] K [<-product_line_suffix]
What I am curious about is that if there will be a Haswell equivalent of the i7 3930K.

@ Torn Mind / sze5003: I reckon I'm going to wait. Thankfully, at the moment, cost isn't as big a factor as buying something good that will stand to me for some time to come. SSD will be a priority too - so much so that I'm going to get a SATA2 drive for my current computer which will help with video and photo processing.

@ mfenn: Thanks for the info regarding building a PC. I just have to do it now... Buying it online is too much of a cop out, especially for a 29 year old who works in IT

@ piasabird: Thanks for the YouTube suggestion and the quick overview - I should have thought of that. I remember Scott Mueller Meuller saying that the mobo was the most inportant component since it dictated what type of processor, RAM and other components could be used. I won't be going for something cheap and cheerful, even if it does significantly outperform my current machine - I want something really good again.

@ Hubb1e: I agree about the building. I will certainly be revisiting this forum before I purchase the parts. Since I can't afford it until March, I might as well save some money and get it in the summer. I already have the budget specified at the start of the post as being &#8364;3000 or $3500 along with the usage, what I currently have and known information but you may have missed that with all the posts in between. What you said about the 6 core processors was interesting - I hope that they at least have some solid 4 core CPUs out or I don't have to wait too long for 6 or even 8 cores. Thanks again for your kind offers of help for the BIOS etc.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Yeah, no problem. As you read in the Tom's Hardware article, there is no explicitly named successor to the i7-3930K. However, there will be Ivy Bridge-E chips of some kind.

Confusingly, Intel chooses to name their octocore chips differently from their normal desktop chips. These top-of-the-line chips are named "Generation-E" and lag are released with the next generation. So the newest octocore generation will be Ivy Bridge-E, released with Haswell. They will work on the same chipset as before (X79), though probably only after a BIOS flash, as well as on the new X89 (or whatever the new dedicated Ivy Bridge-E chipset will be called) chipset.