In keeping with the rules of the forum...
1. The PC will be used mostly for photo editing, some video editing. I'm not a gamer, so I don't need the best FPS possible.
2. I'm trying to keep the total budget, including the monitor, around $1000.
3. I'm in the US and will be buying from the US.
4. I'm not tied to any particular brand, though I've always had Intel PCs and I'd like to stick with that. Seagate has always treated me well. I try to stick with what I consider "name brand" parts (Intel or Asus PCBs, Kingston or Crucial memory, etc), though I'm certainly willing to bend on those if it makes sense.
5. The current PC is as follows: ASUS P4PE MB, ATI|FIRE GL 8700 64MB Video Card, CPU P4/2.4BGHz 533M 478PIN/512K, 2G DDR333 PC-2700, XP Pro (I don't plan to go to Vista), and a handful of PATA HDDs (3x 200G). The case is an Antec Sonata with a 380W PSU (SATA ready). The only thing I want to re-use is the case, PSU if I can, and the HDDs (not all).
6. Yes, I've looked at similar threads.
7. No, I don't plan on overclocking. I'm looking for quickness and stability, not blazing speed. I'm comfortable overlocking as long as it doesn't affect stability.
Here's what I've chosen for parts (all prices from Newegg):
Monitor: NEC 20WMGX2 20" - It's S-IPS which I really want for photo editing. $459-$100 rebate. An S-IPS screen is a must-have for this.
MB: Intel BOXDP965LTCK LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard. $102
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6850. $280 (if heat is an issue, I could drop back to Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 and save a few bucks at $230)
Mem: 4x Crucial Ballistix 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel. $180-$80 rebate.
Video: EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16. $90-$15 rebate
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA. $120
All total, I'm at about $1076 after rebates. To save a few bucks, I could go with 2G mem for now and I could go with the slower CPU. That would get me to $976.
I'd like to re-use my case and PSU, so I'd like to know if you think a 380W PSU has the juice for this system (5V/38A, 12V/24A, 3.3V/28A). The video card looks like a power hog and claims it needs 18A at 12V.
For a decent bang-for-the-buck system for what I want to do, have I put the $ in the right place? I'm also concerned with noise. The Antec Sonata case is great, but if the video card and CPU are screamers, that won't be good. Thoughts?
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks!
1. The PC will be used mostly for photo editing, some video editing. I'm not a gamer, so I don't need the best FPS possible.
2. I'm trying to keep the total budget, including the monitor, around $1000.
3. I'm in the US and will be buying from the US.
4. I'm not tied to any particular brand, though I've always had Intel PCs and I'd like to stick with that. Seagate has always treated me well. I try to stick with what I consider "name brand" parts (Intel or Asus PCBs, Kingston or Crucial memory, etc), though I'm certainly willing to bend on those if it makes sense.
5. The current PC is as follows: ASUS P4PE MB, ATI|FIRE GL 8700 64MB Video Card, CPU P4/2.4BGHz 533M 478PIN/512K, 2G DDR333 PC-2700, XP Pro (I don't plan to go to Vista), and a handful of PATA HDDs (3x 200G). The case is an Antec Sonata with a 380W PSU (SATA ready). The only thing I want to re-use is the case, PSU if I can, and the HDDs (not all).
6. Yes, I've looked at similar threads.
7. No, I don't plan on overclocking. I'm looking for quickness and stability, not blazing speed. I'm comfortable overlocking as long as it doesn't affect stability.
Here's what I've chosen for parts (all prices from Newegg):
Monitor: NEC 20WMGX2 20" - It's S-IPS which I really want for photo editing. $459-$100 rebate. An S-IPS screen is a must-have for this.
MB: Intel BOXDP965LTCK LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard. $102
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6850. $280 (if heat is an issue, I could drop back to Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 and save a few bucks at $230)
Mem: 4x Crucial Ballistix 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel. $180-$80 rebate.
Video: EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16. $90-$15 rebate
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA. $120
All total, I'm at about $1076 after rebates. To save a few bucks, I could go with 2G mem for now and I could go with the slower CPU. That would get me to $976.
I'd like to re-use my case and PSU, so I'd like to know if you think a 380W PSU has the juice for this system (5V/38A, 12V/24A, 3.3V/28A). The video card looks like a power hog and claims it needs 18A at 12V.
For a decent bang-for-the-buck system for what I want to do, have I put the $ in the right place? I'm also concerned with noise. The Antec Sonata case is great, but if the video card and CPU are screamers, that won't be good. Thoughts?
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks!
Facebook
Twitter