Building a new PC

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
M

mike44456

Honorable
Feb 18, 2017
26
3
10,535
Hi all,

I have an ancient desktop PC and I want to buy a new one. Trouble is, desktops around my budget (maybe $400) seem to be pretty bad, and from what I can tell, you can get a better deal building it yourself. I have enough experience replacing every part that I'm confident I can build one.

I'm looking for something that has the processing power for Photoshop, regular Steam games, or having like 40 tabs and 8 different programs open at once; my current PC can't easily handle those tasks. I'd ideally like 3 DVI ports, and it would be nice to install 4 or more USBs on the front! An SD card reader would be important too, and I suppose a cheap DVD drive wouldn't hurt as well. I would also be looking for a good internal WiFi card.

I should add that we have credit card points we can use on Amazon, so it might be best to entirely buy there to avoid spending cash. I already have DVI/VGA monitors, keyboards, mice, speakers, a good HDD, and I'm pretty sure I have a W7 copy I can use. What would you recommend?
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
F

Firecheetah13

Reputable
Apr 2, 2016
127
1
4,710
I do not currently know of any GPUs with 3 DVI ports, but you can always use a HDMI to DVI adapter. I recommend the G4560 processor, MSI B250M PRO-VD Motherboard, GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory, WD Blue 1TB HDD, Corsair 100R case, Radeon HD 7850 off of eBay (It comes really close to the RX 460 and its $25-$30 cheaper), and EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mike44456

Honorable
Feb 18, 2017
26
3
10,535


I already have an HDD. I edited the question to include that I'll probably only buy off Amazon because of points. Do you only suggest 8GB ram and why? Why not a Intel Xeon E5649 or something, per http://www.cpubenchmark.net/CPU_mega_page.html? Also, if you get a motherboard with 1 DVI, can't you get a graphics card with 2 DVIs to have 3?

Thanks, Mike
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Firecheetah13

Reputable
Apr 2, 2016
127
1
4,710
Xeons are more meant for business use, and really only focus on multi core performance. For gaming, it won't do as well as a G4560. Also, you have to use an LGA 1366 Motherboard, so you have no upgrade path. Remember, PassMark only shows synthetic results, under an ideal load, not gaming. And you can do that DVI trick, but then one monitor won't run at the same framerate as the other two. Its better to just use 3 of your GPU ports and get DVI converters for all of them to have a universally steady framerate. 8GB of RAM is really all you need for casual gaming, streaming, web searching, porn *cough* I mean, um watching cat videos, etc. Although, you can always get 16GB if you want to do content creation, have multiple applications such as Photoshop and Adobe Primere open at once, heavy gaming, etc.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mike44456

Honorable
Feb 18, 2017
26
3
10,535


Thanks, that's good logic, and the items you selected seem very good! It looks like some of those aren't on Amazon, which I'm planning to use given the free points, should these be changed then? And I might prefer 16gb ram, given what you said. I tallied your advice here: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/kCY2Z8. Other questions:
-The motherboard doesn't seem to have any internal USBs?
-That graphics card only has 1 DVI and 1 HDMI?
-Do you have a recommended SD card reader, WiFi card, front panel USB port, or DVD drive?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Firecheetah13

Reputable
Apr 2, 2016
127
1
4,710
The motherboard has 2 USB 3.0 ports and 2 USB 2.0 ports, as well as support for USB 3.0 on the case itself. On eBay, I found an HD 7850 with 2GB of VRAM http://www.ebay.com/itm/XFX-Radeon-HD-7850-2GB-D5-Video-Card-FX-785A-CDFC-/192103493012?hash=item2cba42ad94:g:amAAAOSw2gxYoJwP That has 2 DVI already, so you won't need any adapters :D (just kidding, you will need one)! DVD drives are pretty much obsolete, so I do not recommend it. Front panel USB Ports are already on the case, so I'm not sure what you mean. If you need more you can always get a USB hub on amazon. As for a wifi card, I don't know how much you want to spend, but https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RNX-AC1900PCE-802-11AC-Express-Wireless/dp/B0159222VS/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487481197&sr=1-5&keywords=wifi+adapter&refinements=p_36%3A3500-6500 this wifi adapter has great reviews. I don't know much about SD card readers, but it seems like something that you could get on eBay.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

mike44456

Honorable
Feb 18, 2017
26
3
10,535


Okay so I looked again and yeah it does seem the motherboard supports 4 front USBs, but the case looks like it only has room for 2 USBs. USB hubs are pretty annoying tbh, usually with slower speeds and are just less easy to use. Built-in might seem the best. The wifi card seems good.

Do you have any advice for alternatives to some of these? The cpu and ram don't appear to be on Amazon, and only similar gpus. https://pcpartpicker.com/user/drrca/saved/pX9RBm
I have plenty of credit card points I can use on Amazon, so it might be best to entirely buy there to avoid spending cash.

Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

Tanoxil

Reputable
Jan 27, 2017
232
0
4,760
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H270M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($106.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($47.59 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 2GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card ($108.96 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.24 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($45.61 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($18.37 @ Amazon)
Total: $431.75
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-19 00:46 EST-0500

The g4560 is out of stock on every website right now so you will need to wait. This motherboard supports Wi-Fi. Most of the parts from this list are from amazon like you asked. Also for the sd card reader you can get one for really cheap: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-SuperSpeed-Windows-Certain-Android/dp/B00OJ5WBUE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487482237&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=sd+card+reader&psc=1
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
M

mike44456

Honorable
Feb 18, 2017
26
3
10,535


That's neat. The motherboard appears to be on Amazon for only a bit more:
https://www.amazon.com/ASRock-H270M-ITX-ac-Motherboard/dp/B01N1MOJE4/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487484104&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=ASRock+H270M-ITX%2Fac+Mini+ITX+LGA1151
Could you recommend a similar cpu or how long do you think I would have to wait?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

Tanoxil

Reputable
Jan 27, 2017
232
0
4,760


Yes it will be a little bit more expensive with an i3 6100(which is about 5% better) instead of the g4560. Also I swaped the motherboard since this one is a little bit cheaper, compatible with the i3 6100 and still supports Wi-Fi
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

Tanoxil

Reputable
Jan 27, 2017
232
0
4,760
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($116.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H110M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($81.07 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($47.59 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 2GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card ($108.96 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H15 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.24 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($45.61 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer ($22.15 @ Amazon)
Total: $461.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-19 01:33 EST-0500
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

Tanoxil

Reputable
Jan 27, 2017
232
0
4,760

The i3-6100 will be fine for photoshop. What will be more beneficial though is 16gb of ram instead of 8gb (especially if you work with Photoshop for long edit sessions, you work with large or upsampled images, or you create panoramas). Also note that the the h110m motherboard only supports 2 memory slots.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

Tanoxil

Reputable
Jan 27, 2017
232
0
4,760


For the CPU you will end up upgrading to an i5 7500: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-BX80677I57500-Core-Desktop-Processors/dp/B01MZZJ1P0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487709833&sr=1-1&keywords=i5+7500 or an i7 7700: https://www.amazon.com/Intel-BX80677I77700-Core-Desktop-Processors/dp/B01N0L41N7/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487709890&sr=1-2&keywords=i7+7700 (If you have the money right now don't buy them and wait for AMD ryzen CPUs which will be available soon). I would recommend an SSD (for faster boot times and for searching your files faster). The GPU won't affect photoshop performance but if you're really into gaming i would recommend something like an RX 480: https://www.amazon.com/MSI-Radeon-RX-480-ARMOR/dp/B01M368YOU/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487710283&sr=1-1&keywords=rx+480 or a gtx 1060.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
F

Firecheetah13

Reputable
Apr 2, 2016
127
1
4,710


Why get an i3? The g4560 is no different pretty much. >5%.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
T

Tanoxil

Reputable
Jan 27, 2017
232
0
4,760

I have already recommended this choice, the i3 6100 is just an alternative if the g4560 is out of stock.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom