can you build one better than this Dell? ($1500 non-gaming)

[lowepg]

I'm upgrading a 3-yr old Dell-720
(Q6600-2.4GHz, 8G Ram, Geforce 8800 GTX)

My needs are heavy PhotoShop, light video editting and web).
My budget is $1500-$1800
I'm re-using my monitors and a few 1 TB Caviar black drives...
I was leaning towards another Dell, but SDD has me intrigued to roll-my-own.

Here's the specs to beat:
i7-2600
16G Ram
W7-Home Premium
ATI Radeon HD 5450 1GB DDR3
1.5TB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200 RPM, 32MB Cache HDD
Blu-ray Combo Drive (8X BD-R, DVD+/-RW) with DVD+R DL
2 USB3 ports
Integrated sound, 10/100/1000 NIC
Internal
PCIe x16 (1), PCIe x1 (3), SATA 2 (2), SATA 3 (2) , Mini-PCIe (1), Internal USB 2.0 (6)
$1495 shipped....

Can it be beat?
My only brand preference is intel CPU.
buying from USA
want to buy/build in next few weeks.... or tomorrow if I find the right deal.

 

[mfenn]

Easy peasy:
i7 2600K $328
Biostar TH67+ $105 - the Sandy Bridge IGP is equivalent to a 5450, so might as well use that
2x G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB 2x$80=$160 - really though 8GB should be fine
Samsung F3 1TB $55 AP
LG Blu-ray combo $70
Antec Earthwatts 380W $45
Antec VSK-2000 $45
Windows 7 Home Premium $100
Total $908

Add a 120GB Corsair Force SSD for $210 and you're still at $1118.

 

[BoomerD]

BETTER? Hell YES>

Cheaper? Maybe.

Dell uses pretty crappy components...motherboard and PSU particularly.

For the same price, you can build a rocking computer with excellent quality components...and none of Dell's bloatware installed.

All you have to do is read the various threads here...MANY people have asked for build recommendations in the same price range.

 

[lowepg]

Easy peasy:
i7 2600K $328
Biostar TH67+ $105 - the Sandy Bridge IGP is equivalent to a 5450, so might as well use that
2x G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB 2x$80=$160 - really though 8GB should be fine
Samsung F3 1TB $55 AP
LG Blu-ray combo $70
Antec Earthwatts 380W $45
Antec VSK-2000 $45
Windows 7 Home Premium $100
Total $908

Add a 120GB Corsair Force SSD for $210 and you're still at $1118.

Thanks for the fast (and clickable) response! You came in WAY under budget... 🙂 You've got me thinking what can I do to take this up to the $1500 limit (with SSD)?

A few questions: (and this will sounds really dumb):
I read in the reviews of that mobo that the connector was dvi-d and thus wouldn't allow the user to setup dual monitors. I definitely need to run dual displays. right now Ive got 1 running of the d-sub ansd the other running from the dvi-thru and adapter-to d-sub.

Im happy to bump it up to a better vid card to ensure dual display support....

Also- looks like the i5-2500 might be better bang-for-buck- but then my cost goes DOWN! Doh! Need to spend more! 🙂

 

[betasub]

^ If you are not running heavily-threaded apps, then the i5 is good way to save $. Go with the k version if you intend to overclock (with P67 motherboard) or make use of the improved integrated graphics/QuickSync (with H61/H67 motherboard). Extra spend can easily go on larger SSD 🙂

 

[fffblackmage]

A few questions: (and this will sounds really dumb):
I read in the reviews of that mobo that the connector was dvi-d and thus wouldn't allow the user to setup dual monitors. I definitely need to run dual displays. right now Ive got 1 running of the d-sub ansd the other running from the dvi-thru and adapter-to d-sub.

IGPs are definitely capable of dual displays. I'm not certain, but if the Intel IGP is anything like the HD4200 IGP I've used, then you can only use the VGA/D-sub port and the DVI or HDMI connector.

I'm not sure if the DVI connection on the mobo is DVI-I or DVI-D. You'll want to double check if you're using dual VGA/D-sub monitors.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the fast (and clickable) response! You came in WAY under budget... 🙂 You've got me thinking what can I do to take this up to the $1500 limit (with SSD)?

A few questions: (and this will sounds really dumb):
I read in the reviews of that mobo that the connector was dvi-d and thus wouldn't allow the user to setup dual monitors. I definitely need to run dual displays. right now Ive got 1 running of the d-sub ansd the other running from the dvi-thru and adapter-to d-sub.

Im happy to bump it up to a better vid card to ensure dual display support....

Also- looks like the i5-2500 might be better bang-for-buck- but then my cost goes DOWN! Doh! Need to spend more! 🙂

Why would you want to spend more than you have to? Save the rest for upgrades! :twisted:

Regarding the dual-monitor setup, I don't know of any current GPU that will allow you to run dual analog displays. Certainly one of your displays must have DVI input? If not, I see a perfect place to spend more money! :awe: With H67, you can certainly do 1 digital and 1 analogue, and I think that you can do 2 digital (which would be preferable).