First Build, Please Help

[brickabrack]

Hi there! Freshman getting a first build done for campus life ^^ Uses are...Photoshop (dealing with huge animations), tad bit of video-editing, heavy ripping of lossless and dvds for backup, and some light gaming, not too hardcore. if this can hit ultra settings then hey, it's a bonus, haha. Since I'm in programming, I'll be doing those tasks on a separate Ubuntu system.

Actually, my budget is ~$1000 (peripherals and OS included), but if this cannot be lowered any further, then I don't mind coughing up the extra.

Here is my part list, if there is anything that can be improved on for its price range, then do let me know, even if it is the same part but different manufacturer:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Microcenter)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Basiq Plus 550W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($68.97 @ Outlet PC)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($18.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($135.97 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Asus VH236H 23.0" Monitor ($158.98 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Lite-On SK-1788/BS Wired Standard Keyboard ($12.98 @ Newegg)
Mouse: Logitech G500 Wired Laser Mouse ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1108.81

 

[brickabrack]

Take PSU corsair,seasonic.
CPU take intel xeon 1230V2.
take SSD if it fits your budget.
Fractal R4 is good silent case.
Id take IPS monitor. I do not know if that asus is IPS monitor or not.

Okay. The Asus monitor is a non-IPS, I'll change it to probably a Samsung one.
Cable management looks good on the R4, but...isn't it more expensive than my current case? 😵
Any good modular or semi-modular Corsair/Seasonic PSUs to recommend, around the 500-599 wattage? (or lower if I must).

 

[marshallbradley]

Here is a semi-modular (there are certain connectors you'll always have anyway) Seasonic offering. $80 plus it's 620w, so it should last a couple upgrades: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-m12ii620bronze

This is starting to look like it might go a bit over though. The Xeon is a good call since you're doing a lot of editing and things like that, yet it is a bit more expensive.

I'll come up with a sample build. I assume you want to remain with nVidia for CUDA support and the like?

M

 

[brickabrack]

Thanks very much, I appreciate it
Nice PSU, it definitely looks like I'll be keeping it for future rigs to come if I ever feel the need to upgrade.
Mmm....will it affect my comp too much (lags and the like on Photoshop) if i stick to the 3470?
And yes, I would like to remain with nvidia, the Cuda cores were a huge help on my laptop and I trust that it will be the same for this.

 

[marshallbradley]

No the 3470 won't cause PhotoShop lags or anything like that, it's still a very strong card on a good architecture. I would consider the i5-3350P though, it saves you some money and would help you to come back under budget. What would make a real difference would be an SSD. Then PhotoShop etc would feel A LOT more responsive.

Here's a sample build:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI B75A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($80.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($210.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($86.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $841.56

It's $840 for the tower, I'm sure you can pick out the keyboard etc that you like. You found a really good deal on the Motherboard/CPU so if you can get that still, I'd do that ($150 for the 3470 is a good price).

If you have the extra cash, upgrade to a Ti, or drop the SSD and do so, but believe me an SSD is well worth it.

M

 

[brickabrack]

No the 3470 won't cause PhotoShop lags or anything like that, it's still a very strong card on a good architecture. I would consider the i5-3350P though, it saves you some money and would help you to come back under budget. What would make a real difference would be an SSD. Then PhotoShop etc would feel A LOT more responsive.

Here's a sample build:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI B75A-G43 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($80.66 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Hitachi 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($210.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 620W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($86.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224BB DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $841.56

It's $840 for the tower, I'm sure you can pick out the keyboard etc that you like. You found a really good deal on the Motherboard/CPU so if you can get that still, I'd do that ($150 for the 3470 is a good price).

If you have the extra cash, upgrade to a Ti, or drop the SSD and do so, but believe me an SSD is well worth it.

M

Ah yes, SSDs, I've been recommended that a lot. It seems like an awesome little disk, it does. I am new to it, but I think...only the important programs (that one would want to run fast) should be stored on it? Perhaps I can drop the SSD for the time being and jump to a Ti, but the SSD doesn't seem too expensive, might be able to get it after a couple of months, a year tops. Pretty sure I can survive that long ._.

For storage, I download a lot of things, so..I need at least 1TB >,< how well does a WD Caviar Blue do? Other than that, everything else looks great. One last question about the monitor, what's a decent price for..well, I don't really need a 1080 screen. I've been recommended to look at Korean brands in this category. Sorry for a lot of questions >,<