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New Office PC build suggestions/help

M

MJ99

Senior member
I?m looking for some advice on a new system I will be building for my office computer. I have built a few computers in the past have a good feel for how to build them but any tips for anything that has possible changed in the last couple years is welcome.

The real need is suggestions for the motherboard and to a lesser degree the CPU and memory. It will be for my office and will be used applications like Office Turbo tax, Quicken, web page editing, browsing, etc. I do not expect to be playing any resource intensive games, not me, but I will probably be some photo and video editing.

Unless the video editing require it I am not looking the latest top of the line build but once I can do at a reasonable cost and possible update in two to three years.

I?m would like to stay at $800 or less for the total with a maximum cost of $1,000.

Working Configuration (suggestions welcome):
? Motherboard: Intel 775 P45 chipset. Leaning toward Gigabyte or Asus but that is still TBD.
? Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 GHz
? Power Supply: 500w
? DVD+/- burner (with CD read/write capabilities)
? CD burner (Possibly adding as a second optical drive).
? Hard Drive: 300-500 depending on how much the rest costs.
I can always add additional drive space later.
? Memory: 4 or 8GB
Might start at 4 and update later.
? Video: Thinking good, not great, PCI Express card but no idea yet
I will need to do dual monitors but expect any decent card can.
? Monitor: I have to flat panels

 
Just a few general ideas here...

If you're trying to stay at the low end of that budget, I'd go AMD. The Intel 775 is at end of line, so there won't be much in the way of upgrading in a few years. If you really want to stick with Intel, I'd wait a little bit until the S1156 comes out and look at the i5/i7 for that socket. It will probably be closer to the upper end of your budget.

For a S775 build, I'd give a good hard look at the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R. It's probably the best overclocking board for S775, but even if you don't OC it has pretty much all the features you might ever need.

I'd also heavily consider a quad core. For the same/similar price as an e8400 you can get a Q8200/Q8400/Q9400 or if you have a microcenter nearby you can get a Q9550 for $170 which is an absolute no-brainer. Individually, it won't make much difference for your apps but if you multi-task a lot the quad will help. And photo/video editing is better off on a quad.

A pretty popular combo right now is the Antec Sonata case with a 500w power supply included. The power supply is an Antec EarthWatts 500w so it's very solid. And the case if nice and understated so it's a good choice for an office. Very quiet as well.

I would just get one optical drive. A DVD-RW will burn and read both DVDs and CDs.

Hard drive - I'd look at the WD 640GB for about $70. Not much point in the 320GB drives anymore as a 500GB is literally just a few dollars more. Between the 500GB and 640GB I prefer the 640GB as its faster and runs cooler. I know a lot of people look at the hard drives as just getting big enough for what they have right now. But space is so cheap, there is really no reason not to go bigger. The bigger drives are usually faster. And you mentioned photos and videos, so that will eat up space very quickly.

RAM - no reason not to go for 8GB. Just make sure you get a 64-bit OS

Your right on the video cards any decent model will support two monitors. I'd look at the ATI 4350 for a very low-power setup.
 
I kind of like my Intel brand motherboard. They usually have pretty standard specifications. You have to decide if you are going to use a quad core or what. A lot depends on your software or whether you are going to use a 64 bit OS/software. Even laptops are coming with 64 bit OS. I wonder about how Win7 would handle that.
 
Your biggest bottleneck from your description will be your photo/video editing software. I'm assuming you will be using Adobe products. After Effects is a massive RAM hog. Even though it's a 32-bit app and can only access 3GB max (per process), it will drain that RAM fast and multi-tasking will be out the door. For $1000 if you're going to be doing any halfway-decent video editing do yourself a favor and get the RAM. Here's what I suggest:

1) 8GB RAM. It's cheap. AE/Photoshop/multitasking will eat it up like nobody's business. I regularly have AE/Photoshop/3ds Max open at work (along with web browsers) and I'm constantly getting close to 6GB usage with 8GB in my system. It does depend on how much you multitask at work though.
2) Obviously get a 64-bit OS, aka Windows 7.
3) Some apps are multi threaded/take advantage of multiple cores. If you do any 3d rendering, that's 100% CPU. If you do AE multi-core rendering it will use all your cores (if you set it up that way). With $800-1000 you can easily swing a C2Q.
4) 500GB - 1TB drive. Doesn't really matter, they're all very close in price. I don't know how much data you store, but uncompressed AVIs are huuuuuge.
5) You could possibly swing a lower-end SSD with your budget - something to consider.
6) Video card will depend on whether you do anything that takes advantage of 3d acceleration. In a work environment that really only applies to 3d rendering programs (where the viewport is 3d accelerated).
 
You have to decide if you are going to use a quad core or what. A lot depends on your software or whether you are going to use a 64 bit OS/software.
Click to expand...

I will start out with the WinXP Pro I currently have but will most likely upgrade to Win7 after some of the bugs we know will be there are worked out.
 
From some suggestions so far:
? Motherboard: It might be worth wait for the price to drop and getting an I5/7
instead of the 775. This will provide more ability to upgrade later.
PS. No microcenters close by.

? Memory: Go with 8gb
Does it matter much if its 4x2gb or 2x4gb. From a quick check it looks like 4x2gb
is considerable less expensive.

? Hard Drive: Get at lease 500gb and a second drive just for the vide/sound editing.

? Photo editing I have a copy of Publisher Pro I?m using for files that were created byt someone else but if Adobe is better I?ll switch.

? Video editing: I?ll expect to be purchasing a copy of Pinnacle Studio.
 
So far I have been looking for an Intel processor and supported motherboard because what I have seen currently has the Intel Core Due processors ahead of AMD at the same price points. If this is wrong please correct.
 
4x2gb is probably better (and way cheaper). Higher density RAM is kind of pointless unless you're trying to max out capacity on a server motherboard. There are considerations with regards to memory banks which impacts how many sticks and of what capacities you can use, but as long as you get quality stuff 4x2gb shouldn't pose any problems to you.
 
Originally posted by: MJ99
So far I have been looking for an Intel processor and supported motherboard because what I have seen currently has the Intel Core Due processors ahead of AMD at the same price points. If this is wrong please correct.
Click to expand...

Right now, I think this is wrong, unless you're looking at the upper end of the price spectrum. AMD processors perform very well against their price competitive Intel equivalents. AMD just can't hang with Intel in the $300+ range, but in the sub $200 market, AMD is just fine against Intel. Indeed, for the price of a good Core 2 Duo, you can get a 3.0GHz quad core from AMD. That AMD is a little behind the C2D in tasks that can't use more than two cores, but the quad core obviously owns the dual core in any multi-threaded task.

Here's what I would recommend:
-AMD Quad core Phenom II X4 945
-AMD AM3 mobo with 770 chipset from Gigabyte or other reputable, reliable manufacture
-ATI 4670 video card, or cheaper if you want. This is just $65 and very good for any kind of non-gaming application. It should have

500W is complete overkill for your needs. See this article. I would recommend a 400W option from a very good manufacturer. Corsair has a reputation for high-quality, reasonable price and silence.

Let me recommend that you look specifically for quiet components for your office computer; you're going to be around this thing all day and if the PSU is roaring all the time, it's going to make you nuts.

 
Oh, maybe this is already clear from what's been said, but you should know that 32-bit windows (whether XP, Vista or 7) cannot address more than 4GB of RAM (and some of that address space is dedicated to devices so that you're effectively limited to about 3.3GB space). If you want to have more than 3.3GB space you must get a 64-bit version of Windows.
 
Originally posted by: philosofool
Oh, maybe this is already clear from what's been said, but you should know that 32-bit windows (whether XP, Vista or 7) cannot address more than 4GB of RAM (and some of that address space is dedicated to devices so that you're effectively limited to about 3.3GB space). If you want to have more than 3.3GB space you must get a 64-bit version of Windows.
Click to expand...

Yes that is understood I just don't like Vista and already have a valid copy of XP Pro. With the "free" upgrade to Win 7 (when it comes out) I may go ahead and get a Vista (64-bit) and run a dual boot system knowing the Win XP side will only see 4GB of ram.
 
Here is what I have so far. The motherboard may be exchanged out with a S1156 version if they come out soon.

Part Description Cost
Case COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP ATX Mid Tower 69.99
Mother Board GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX 114.99
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz 167.99
Power supply Antec earthwatts EA500 500W 79.99
Memory OCZ Platinum Edition 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 119.99
Video Card GIGABYTE GV-R435OC-512I Radeon HD 4350 512MB 24.99
Hard Drive WD Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB SATA 3.0Gb 54.99
CD-Rom/RW LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe 30.99
Total 663.92
 
The Green HDD isn't recommended as a boot/OS drive, unless you are really after its low power / cool temp features. Fine as a secondary / storage drive, and great in an enclosure.

Go with the Black if you can swing the few extra $.
 
Originally posted by: betasub
The Green HDD isn't recommended as a boot/OS drive, unless you are really after its low power / cool temp features. Fine as a secondary / storage drive, and great in an enclosure.

Go with the Black if you can swing the few extra $.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I had been tied up and not had a chance to look up the differences between the different WD drives.
 
antec sonata 3 case includes the earthwatts 500w psu and its like $109. since u wont be overclocking u can get 2 sets of Crucial 2x2GB DDR2 800 which runs at 1.8v. Get the WD Black version of the hdd
 
Current pending configuration. I'm about to submit the order but first posting the latest updated configuration for any suggestions. Thanks for all the above suggestions.

Part Description Cost
Case Antec Sonata III 500 Black ATX Mid Tower with 500W Power Supply 109.99
Mother Board GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard 114.99
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core 167.99
Memory Crucial 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 119.98
Video Card GIGABYTE GV-R435OC-512I Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 24.99
Hard Drive W/D Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5 74.99
CD-Rom/RW LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe SATA Model GH22LS30 30.99
O/S Win Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM 109.99
Total 753.91

PS. This is quoted through NewEgg where I have had good service in the past. I'm open to suggestions for other online sitest that are as good, ifnot better, and cheaper.
 
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