help on computer build... used parts?

[Mikebsup]

hello ! first off, I am very new to this so please excuse my ignorance...

i am trying to build a computer and need some advice on parts i need to get. first off, let me tell you what i will mainly be using this for: i love having a million tabs open in my internet browser, have a music streaming player open, bunch of other apps open (editing apps like photoshop), occasionally some Call of Duty, etc, without my computer missing a beat.

i have come up with some parts that i thought might make a cool rig:

SanDisk Ultra Plus SSD 256 GB (for OS and all my apps)

EVGA GeForce GTX 770

Intel Core i7-3930K (is this overkill)

Corsair Vengeance 16GB

and i need help choosing a motherboard. i have two things i need help figuring out: 1. of all the parts i need, would the motherboard be the part i get used? 2. lots of motherboards come with hdmi ports and vga, etc, but since my video card has these, are there motherboards available without these things? could that save me money?

i also have an antec 380 watt power supply? is that going to be enough?

can i get used RAM?

any comments on my parts and answers would be great. would really like to buy used whenever it makes sense

also planning to install Ubuntu on my computer. mainly because it's free, but also because i like it. newbie here, so any comments would be great

thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

1. 3930K = overkill? Yep. Also, 4930K is only $10 more. Unless you're doing some cpu intensive rendering, an i5 would probably run your system fine.

2. Used motherboard - I wouldn't. Everything plugs into the motherboard. You want the best you can afford.

3. Motherboard ports - Those are standard on pretty much all consumer pc motherboards. If you could find one without them, I don't think it would save you money.

4. PSU - No. The Antec 380 does not have enough power to supply a GTX 770. The recommended supply is 600w.

5. Used ram - Sure. Why not.

 

[powerhouse32]

Your specs are a little overkill for most applications, unless you do DVD or Blueray ripping/encoding or for Photoshop editing large RAW, TIFF, or pds files.

1. 3930K CPU - is a real great CPU (got the same) - you may find it second hand from people upgrading to a 4930K
2. Motherboard - buy new! I recommend ASRock for the reason below
3. Graphics card - I love Nvidia, but if you like to do what I suggest below, get an AMD (actually, you will need 2 graphics cards)
4. PSU - get another one with around 750W. The 3930K has a TDP of 130W. A graphics card can add another 100-250W depending on the model. A 750W PSU supplies about 600W power, if you buy a good one (a "gold" rated). Don't be cheap on PSU. Then again, don't buy a 1200W PSU just because you can.
5. RAM - used RAM is fine as long as it is matched and fits the board. For a 3930K / X79 board you need QUAD channel memory !!! Make sure the speed matches the motherboard specs (e.g. 1600 should be fine in most cases). If you Photoshop large files, get ~16GB or more.

Photoshop won't run on Ubuntu, nor on Wine, so you need to install Windows as well and dual-boot, which is a pain in the neck. If you don't want to do that, you can install and run Windows in a VM on a Xen hypervisor, with VGA passthrough. That's what I'm doing and - in my opinion - it beats every other option.

Check out my how-to here: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=112013

It's for Linux Mint but should work the same on Ubuntu. Use the latest Ubuntu version 13.10 (or Linux Mint 16).

If you decide to do VGA passthrough, get an ASRock board that's listed (see how-to), and 2 AMD graphics card - 1 for Linux (I have an AMD 7770) and one for the Windows guest (if it's for gaming under Windows, you might get a more powerful AMD card). Check for cards that are listed as VGA passthrough compatible.

Note that many motherboards don't yet fully support the new Ivybridge-E CPUs (4930K) with a feature called VT-d that is absolutely necessary for this to work.

To get an idea on how good virtualization under Xen works, check this here: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=225&t=153482

Good luck!