New general purpose PC for under $1200

[stonecold3169]

Hi folks,

I'm finally looking to upgrade my old i920 rig, which has posed me no real issues, but I do a lot of batch RAW photo conversions and CPU intensive denoising layers, and I'm just looking for something to get me there a little faster. I figure, 4 years of good service, this 920 owes me nothing!

So, here we go:

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.

As stated, mostly photo editing. I'm really looking to stay i7 here, even thoguh I know most people suggest i5. I Also do game a bit, usually nothing super high end, but I'd like the option.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread

Looking to spend $1000-$1200. I already have the monitor, and have a few large disk drives and a 128gb SSD already, although it's a first gen intel. Are new units that much faster?

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.

USA

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.

N/A

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.

Looking to stay Intel i7 for the build. Other then that, best bang for the buck.

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.

Planning on using my existing hard drives, monitor, and all external peripherals.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.

A mild overclock is fine, as long as stability is there. It isn't mission critical, by any means.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?

This one hurts... 2560x1440. Likely looking at a 7970 I'd imagine?

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.

Could order as soon as tonight if a deal depended on it, looking to do in the next week or so.


So, there it is. I appreciate the help, and sorry for being so needy!

 

[Essence_of_War]

Hey!

The modern SSDs really are great, but if the one you have is serving you well, I think you might be OK for an apps/boot drive. It might be worth looking into a pro-quality one (the sandisk extreme II or the Samsung 840 Pro) for boot/applications/LR catalogs.

On your budget, it's tough to recommend an i7 if you're not close to a microcenter, but let's see what we can do. I'm going to assume you have enough HDDs, a good back-up workflow, and an OS:

CPU+MoBo:
MSI G45 + i7-4770K - $465 Shipped
OR
AsRock Pro3 + i7 - $425 Shipped
OR
Haswell E3-1245 Xeon and stay with the AsRock from option 2 as its already a pretty darn good deal. - $384 shipped.

HSF - CM 212 EVO - $30 AR - solid choice, at a reasonable price for going beyond stock clocks. $30 AR
RAM - 2x8 GB Crucial Ballistix Sport - $110 total ($55 each) shipped, w/ promo thru 9/30
GPU - Gigabyte Tri-Fan 7970 $280 Shipped, AR
Case (optional?) - Corsair Carbide 500R - $80 shipped, AR (a steal!)
PSU - Cooler Master GX 650 - $50 shipped, AR - this seems a little out there, but I've seen some REALLY good reviews of the GX series on jonnyguru recently, looks like CM has their head in the game. Someone chime in and let me know if I'm saying something dumb here, though :awe:

Can you re-use your optical drive? Or do you need a BR R/W for archiving?
If you don't you're good to go for $1015 ($975 w/ i7+AsRock) ($934 for Xeon w/ AsRock).

Just in case though, here's a perfectly serviceable ODD for $15.
Here's a BR R/W for $54 shipped, AR if you need one of those for archive/workflow stuff.

You've got a little budget room on your high end to play with. You could consider:
1) 32 GB of RAM (+$110), serious photo editing can make use of it although YMMV as to how much extra benefit you'll see from it beyond 16 GB.
2) A pro quality SSD - (+$190) for boot/apps/LR catalogs, and although it takes you right up to the edge of your upper budget limit, it's an option.
3) If you go with the Xeon, you could drop the HSF and just use the stock fan since it's not an unlocked multiplier, saves you an extra $30.
4) A Sapphire 7970 w/ unlocked voltage for OC'ing GPU (+$10)

If you know you're doing mostly photography, less gaming, and you haven't outgrown your SSD, I think I'd go with the the Xeon CPU+MoBo, cut the HSF, go with either GPU, and go up to 32 GB of RAM. If you're pushing your SSD capacity hard, I'd pick up the pro-quality SSD rather than the extra RAM.

 

[Torn Mind]

You have to be wary of whether the GX supply you linked to is the 1st gen or the second gen one, as the first gen one wasn't quite as well received by OklahomaWolf. In addition, the first gen 450 W unit of that series had a different design from the rest of them.

In addition, the price is currently $59.99 AR, which is not a good buy compared to the Rosewill Hive-650 at Amazon.

The updated Antec Neo Eco C 520C is also available for $59.99 at Newegg. Newegg merged the reviews from the older Neo Eco 520C, but there is a significant different in capacitor selection in the newer Neo Ecos.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Upon closer inspection that looks like the GX I.

Fail.

That Rosewill seems like a MUCH better choice!

 

[Torn Mind]

Upon closer inspection that looks like the GX I.

Fail.

That Rosewill seems like a MUCH better choice!

I would tend to favor the Neo Eco C if there is confirmation that Antec has indeed replaced the Teapo caps from the previous gen with Japanese ones. Even better would be to get a Rosewill Capstone-450, but the system might be just a tad too power hungry for comfort.

 

[Termie]

OP - you stated that you'll mainly be doing photo editing. For that, there's simply no reason at all to spend more than $100 on a video card. While GPUs can accelerate some functions, for instance in Photoshop, you'll get almost that entire benefit from a card 1/4 the price of a 7970. The resolution of your monitor doesn't matter at all for purposes of photo editing.

I'd suggest something like the GeForce GTX 650 unless you actually intend to game a bit, in which case an HD 7870 at half the cost of the 7970 would be sufficient.

 

[mfenn]

OP - you stated that you'll mainly be doing photo editing. For that, there's simply no reason at all to spend more than $100 on a video card. While GPUs can accelerate some functions, for instance in Photoshop, you'll get almost that entire benefit from a cad 1/4 the price of a 7970. The resolution of your monitor doesn't matter at all for purposes of photo editing.

I'd suggest something like the GeForce GTX 650 unless you actually intend to game a bit, in which case an HD 7870 at half the cost of the 7970 would be sufficient.

He does want to game at 2560x1440.

 

[mfenn]

I would tend to favor the Neo Eco C if there is confirmation that Antec has indeed replaced the Teapo caps from the previous gen with Japanese ones. Even better would be to get a Rosewill Capstone-450, but the system might be just a tad too power hungry for comfort.

The Neo Eco 520C went up to $80, so I think the Hive 650W is a bit better of a deal at $70 AR.

OP, I second the Xeon recommendation. It gets the HT you want while saving some money over the i7 4770K. It sounds like overclocking isn't a huge priority for you anyway.

 

[lehtv]

Or the Hive 750W for the same cost AR

 

[Termie]

He does want to game at 2560x1440.

But what games will he play, and how often does he intend to play them?

He doesn't need a high-end gaming card simply to play at 2560x1440. I've done plenty of gaming at 2560x1440 on my HD7870. It's absolutely usable at medium to high settings in every game on the market. If he said he wants to max everything, that's one thing, but for a rig that is primarily for photo-editing, a ~$300 card doesn't make a lot of sense, in my opinion.

 

[mfenn]

But what games will he play, and how often does he intend to play them?

He doesn't need a high-end gaming card simply to play at 2560x1440. I've done plenty of gaming at 2560x1440 on my HD7870. It's absolutely usable at medium to high settings in every game on the market. If he said he wants to max everything, that's one thing, but for a rig that is primarily for photo-editing, a ~$300 card doesn't make a lot of sense, in my opinion.

I'm just answering your "unless you actually intend to game a bit" question. 🙂 I agree that the final card choice depends on getting more details from the OP.

 

[stonecold3169]

So, after looking around at both suggestions here, and from other posts here, this is what I've thrown together:

I7 4770k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116901

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835103099

GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD3H
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128592

ASUS HD7970-DC2-3GD5 Radeon HD 7970
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121560

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231528

Corsair Carbide Series 500R Arctic White
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811139010

SeaSonic X Series X-850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151102

Total after all rebates: $1220 shipped.

Biggest change here for me were the mobo and the psu. Since I'm going to be using this for some work applications, I figured maybe spending the extra $$ on a really nice psu was worth it, and maybe made it more future proof as well. Unfortunately, the linked cpu/mobo deal is dead. The GA-Z87X-UD3H seems to be a love it or hate it board, with most seeming to have good luck with it.

As for the gaming questions, I'm certainly not hardcore, but I do once in a while game, and I go through streaks where I will suddenly have time and pick up a bunch of new titles, so I THINK that the vid card will be worthwhile. Again, I tend to also keep my rigs for 3-4 years in between upgrades, so I'd rather go overkill than under.

Anything I'm missing here, or any other suggestions?

Thanks again so much guys 🙂

 

[Termie]

I agree with getting a nice PSU, but 850W isn't what makes a PSU nice. You don't need anywhere near that much wattage, so the extra cost will be wasted on your system. Unfortunately, you just missed a sale on the x650, which is every bit as good as the expensive X850 you picked. I'd consider something like the Corsair X750 for $90AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139010

It's definitely a reliable PSU.

Also, I'd personally avoid the triple-slot HD7970. You can get this Sapphire for $290AR and it should run just as well, while still allowing Crossfire in the future: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202008

 

[JEDIYoda]

I agree with getting a nice PSU, but 850W isn't what makes a PSU nice. You don't need anywhere near that much wattage, so the extra cost will wasted on your system. Unfortunately, you just missed a sale on the x650, which is every bit as good as the expensive X850 you picked. I'd consider something like the Corsair X750 for $90AR: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139010

Just wow --leave the guy alone! Let him buy whatever PSU floats his boat!
850 -- 750 -- 650----lolol.......cmon the days of trying to use the lowest wattage PSU should be over by now....I see relatively no good reason why he cannot use the Seasonic.....
Do you actually think a good reason is that he doesn`t need 850 watts?? C`mon get a grip!!!

 

[lehtv]

Are you serious? The whole idea of him posting here only makes sense if he's willing to listen to advice and suggestions.

HX750 can run 7950 crossfire just as well as Seasonic 850W, and costs $80 less. Why would one not recommend it?

 

[mfenn]

Just wow --leave the guy alone! Let him buy whatever PSU floats his boat!
850 -- 750 -- 650----lolol.......cmon the days of trying to use the lowest wattage PSU should be over by now....I see relatively no good reason why he cannot use the Seasonic.....
Do you actually think a good reason is that he doesn`t need 850 watts?? C`mon get a grip!!!

Wait, what? Why does this forum exist if we're just going to say "eh, buy whatever you want"? That makes no sense at all.