I7 3770k or i5 3570k for Office and Entertainment?

[maneesh2312]

Hi All,

This is my first question here and am really seeking out for all your valuable help in buying out a PC primarily for Home usage but with some office work to do at nights.

By profession am a Software Tester and buying this PC mainly to work on the below.

1. Large testing tools like QTP 11 (Quick Test Pro) and Load Runner 11 - Usage: 1-2 hrs max; 3-4 times a week
2. Visual Studio 2010 for randomly developing small windows desktop based applications as a learning curve. - Usage: 1-2 hrs max; 3-4 times a week.
3. Beginner in Gaming; just want to get started with it for the only sake of little fun - Usage: 1-2 hrs max; once in a week
4. Photoshopping; just want to get started with it for the only sake of little fun - Usage: 1-2 hrs max; once in a week
5. Browsing, Surfing, Movies, Music, Personal Data Management, Heavy Downloading (Music, Movie & Softwares via torrents) - Usage: All the time when not doing the above activities; 3-4 hrs max; daily

My considerations:
1. I was interested to buy a high end CPU to accomplish all the above tasks with ease and super fast.
2. Would be using this PC for at least 6-7 years and would not be spending again on upgrading any of the processors, motherboards or graphic cards.
3. Habit of opening and working on multiple windows at a time. Lets say: around 25-30 chrome tabs, 6-7 excel sheets, 3-4 word documents, 10-12 folder windows, 6-8 other windows applications.

Request you all to please suggest the following considering that I feel pretty uncomfortable working on slower CPU's with late response.

1. i7-3770K or i5-3570K or any other?
2. Best suitable Motherboard (preferably Intel or if not any other)?
3. Suggested Graphics card?
4. Recommended RAM?
5. Hard drive: I was thinking of Seagate Barracuda 1TB

Any other thoughts..?

Regards
Maneesh (from India)

 

[sharkbyte5150]

Look at the specs of my build in my signature (shown at bottom of my posts).
That system would work fine, but just add a graphics card for gaming.

The integrated graphics may work OK for some games but if you get more into it, you'll need a graphics card.
Depending on your budget I'd go with a 660ti (~$300) or a 7850 (~$200), either would be a good graphics card for a starter but one that you won't need to upgrade unless you got into some pretty serious gaming in the next few years.

If you're not going to overclock the CPU, don't bother with the "K" series of CPU's.
Also, the new Z77 motherboards are designed for OC'ing so go with H77 motherboard instead.
Judging by your intended usage I'd pick the i7-3770.

You'll greatly benefit from an SSD with all of the operations you'll have going; put Windows on that and then have a large 2nd hard drive for ALL media files (music/photos). Judging from your list if programs I'd get at least a 240GB SSD.

 

[maneesh2312]

Look at the specs of my build in my signature (shown at bottom of my posts).
That system would work fine, but just add a graphics card for gaming.

The integrated graphics may work OK for some games but if you get more into it, you'll need a graphics card.
Depending on your budget I'd go with a 660ti (~$300) or a 7850 (~$200), either would be a good graphics card for a starter but one that you won't need to upgrade unless you got into some pretty serious gaming in the next few years.

If you're not going to overclock the CPU, don't bother with the "K" series of CPU's.
Also, the new Z77 motherboards are designed for OC'ing so go with H77 motherboard instead.
Judging by your intended usage I'd pick the i7-3770.

You'll greatly benefit from an SSD with all of the operations you'll have going; put Windows on that and then have a large 2nd hard drive for ALL media files (music/photos). Judging from your list if programs I'd get at least a 240GB SSD.

Many Thanks sharkbyte for your response !!. I dont know much about overclocking and its uses. I am not a hardcore gamer but a all time busy and loaded software professional. So reading the above requirements do you think I'll need overclocking?? Your config looks great. How much does that cost approx..?? Are Intel motherboards not preferred ??

Regards
Maneesh

 

[sharkbyte5150]

Being that you are a beginner in gaming and not familiar with OC'ing, you will not need to as it's mostly a bit of a novelty. People do it to push the limits of their system and max out performance but the latest processors are plenty fast on their own, especially for what you'll be doing.

Here is a link to what I've suggested.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yXOh

Keep in mind you didn't provide any budget information so I just put together a list close to what I have, which comes out to roughly $1500, but this includes a 23" monitor.

I can easily advise you on what to change if that is over your budget but this is pretty much what I would go with. Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck on the build!

 

[maneesh2312]

Being that you are a beginner in gaming and not familiar with OC'ing, you will not need to as it's mostly a bit of a novelty. People do it to push the limits of their system and max out performance but the latest processors are plenty fast on their own, especially for what you'll be doing.

Here is a link to what I've suggested.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/yXOh

Keep in mind you didn't provide any budget information so I just put together a list close to what I have, which comes out to roughly $1500, but this includes a 23" monitor.

I can easily advise you on what to change if that is over your budget but this is pretty much what I would go with. Let me know if you have any other questions and good luck on the build!

Oh ! $ 1500 is too much for me. If you remember I mentioned in my first post that I am from India and in India costs are around 25 % higher compared to US. So considering that my budget is max INR 50000 - 55000 i.e. US $900 - $ 1000 and as I said that Indian prices are more, my max budget would be nothing more than $ 800 - $850. Can you please advise me the best around this price. Thanks

Regards
Maneesh

 

[sharkbyte5150]

There is no information in your original post about budget or pricing, but I have adjusted the parts list to better suit your budget needs.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/z6xo

Total for the new list: $840 USD (after $40 mail-in rebates)

With this budget, in order to include all parts needed to build a PC (no monitor/keyboard/mouse), I went with the i5-3470. You do not need the 3570K if you're not planning to overclock. The SSD will help with having so many applications running simultaneously.

If you plan on entry-level gaming, the integrated graphics may be enough until you can afford to add graphics later. Can always just try that for now and add the one I've recommended if your integrated graphics are not sufficient. If you do choose to delay purchasing the graphics, I'd use that money and go ahead for the 3570K. That way, down the road when you do get a good graphics card you'll have the better CPU to match to compliment it for gaming.

 

[maneesh2312]

There is no information in your original post about budget or pricing, but I have adjusted the parts list to better suit your budget needs.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/z6xo

Total for the new list: $840 USD (after $40 mail-in rebates)

With this budget, in order to include all parts needed to build a PC (no monitor/keyboard/mouse), I went with the i5-3470. You do not need the 3570K if you're not planning to overclock. The SSD will help with having so many applications running simultaneously.

If you plan on entry-level gaming, the integrated graphics may be enough until you can afford to add graphics later. Can always just try that for now and add the one I've recommended if your integrated graphics are not sufficient. If you do choose to delay purchasing the graphics, I'd use that money and go ahead for the 3570K. That way, down the road when you do get a good graphics card you'll have the better CPU to match to compliment it for gaming.

Thank you so much for all your inputs. The build now really looks nice. Just have to add few things and will have to check out if all those are really available here in India. Will get back to you if am stuck with some thing. Thanks again.

Regards
Maneesh

 

[maneesh2312]

Best answer selected by maneesh2312.