Need a few Advice about my biuld - Ideal RAM+GPU?

[Askei]

Hi, First of all from bottom of my heart thanks to this site i learned a lot within a week and actually bought the major parts of my first build. From 0 knowledge to knowing all kind of processors and motherboards and their ups and downs was great. But now i couldn't find a particular answer to my situation and few insight for which I had to create a topic.

So after a week or so I have bought :

Processor: Core i7 4770k (around $370)
Motherboard: Asus z87 Pro (around $255)

My use: Mainly multitasking , lot of multitasking , I work partime graphic designer ( i design websites and magazines - low level). I never plan to overclock so i was thinking of i7 4770, but after reading over and over that spending a few more for 4770k will pay in long run. And im looking for a very long running computer. I had 2 computers previously both I used for over 8 years. So I've similar plans for this one. So for sake of somewhat future proofing I bought 4770k.

I do play a very old computer game Age of Empires, and I needed a computer that can seemlessy stream my game over twitch while i have adobe photoshop, indesign and few other graphic softwares on while I play inbetween and browse. I keep my computer on 24/7. Always have been that way. I never shut down , keep downloading.

So keeping in mind that i bought a high class processor with a very meager salary i have in hope of painless experience in seemingly few years to come atleast. I have decided that i will cut short on three things for now. No graphic card. Im willing to use computer with integrated intel hd 4600 for atleast a year till I again accumulate enough money to buy a decent graphic card. Any comments if thats a wise decision?, since i got very little money left to spend on graphic card if i have to (around 50 dollars lol)

Now tomorrow I have to come up with how much ram i will get and PSU casing.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS:

1. I have one easy option for PSU that is 500w, but reading some post here the ideal one is 650w. should i spend more on 650w , where i can get second hand cheap PSU of Antec 500w?

2. I was originally looking for 16GB (2x8) RAM. But shop where im building my pc from says 8 gb will be enough. But as i have no discrete GPU, and i read somewhere in this forum that integrated one uses the RAM i install. So i thought i will be cut short of ram with 8gb and with all the multitasking. Opinions?

3. I'm getting good price on Corsair RAMS but they are sold on singular basis while i read somewhere to buy in pairs. And shopkeeper says it makes no difference if both are same companies and same Mhz.

One i like is ( 8 GB Corsair 1600Mhz CMV8GX3M1A single ram for around $ 83 (i live in pakistan things are more costly than what price you get in US).

Sorry for such a long post, its somewhat of a known bad habit of mine but i thought to mention every detail for better understanding of my situation.

Regards

 

[combine1237]

Dual channel is alot better ram to warrant a difference in price, and yes unless video editing 8gb is enough. Integrated should play most things on lowest settings, wait till next gen or very good sales start. Get a psu, and as long as it is oemed by seasonic you will be fine, good brands I trust are certain antec psus, all xfx psus, all seasonic psus, and certain corsair psus.

 

[GorfTheFrog]

Hi -

Glad you found the site!

Here are my thoughts.

1) PSU - generally don' try to cheap-out on this component. A 500W would be fine for now, but you'll probably want to step up to the 650W if you do any overclocking or add a graphics card. Let us know what options you have for brand and model, and we can comment. Some brands have inexpensive models that most of us would not use in a custom build. I personally like to have a little more power than my minimum need. The PSU doesn't work as hard and I have overhead for future additions. (For my first build I had an NVidia 200 series GPU, 1 HD, and 1 DVD. I now have an NVidia 760, 3HDs, 2 SSD, 1 DVD, 1 BluRay. Couldn't have kept adding if I went cheap on the PSU)

2/3) RAM - 2x4GB should be fine. Your motherboard has 4 slots for RAM, so if you find that your machine is swapping lots of RAM to disk, you can always add more. By the way, if you're really using the RAM, 4x4GB will be slightly more optimal than 2x8GB, even thought the total is 16GB either way (I can explain further ...). Lastly, be sure that you are buying the correct dual-channel, DDR3 RAM. You can either purchase a "package of 2" or buy two singles - you're generally ok if these are the same type from the same manufacturer. To be sure, you won't damage your machine if you have mis-matched set, but your performance will be far less than optimal.

Your choice to defer on the graphics card is driven by your budget. I totally get that, and I would agree. It's better to save a wait a bit than spend all you have now and not be satisfied. For the price/performance point, I'd suggest two resources. Toms pulishes monthly Best X for Money. The articles typcicover CPU, SSD, GPU. Here's the April article on GPUs http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html.

You may also want to check out http://www.systemrequirementslab.com. This site has a reference for almost every game out there. It provides the setup for what your PC needs to meet the minimum requirements as well as a "recommended" configuration.

You haven't mentioned an SSD in your configuration above, just wanted to check to see if you are including one in your build. If not, you should consider it. SSDs make your whole system more responsive and generally faster. There's a bit more configuration you need to be sure happens when you install your OS, but it's WELL worth the extra couple of steps.

Does this help?
###

 

[Askei]

Thanks alot again for quick replies.

Gorf, about the SSD it is one of the things i skipped also for future spending, since as i told you I'm really short of money, and I'm looking to save money each month for a year so I can spend on the missing parts better.

Ok so if both RAMs are same company same speed compare to getting RAM in pair prepacked, is there a difference? the single RAM im getting from shop is same model , does that mean it has same effect as paired one?

 

[GorfTheFrog]

Thanks alot again for quick replies.

Gorf, about the SSD it is one of the things i skipped also for future spending, since as i told you I'm really short of money, and I'm looking to save money each month for a year so I can spend on the missing parts better.

Ok so if both RAMs are same company same speed compare to getting RAM in pair prepacked, is there a difference? the single RAM im getting from shop is same model , does that mean it has same effect as paired one?

Hi -
Understood on the SSD, just wanted to be sure that you had considered it.

Yes, confirming that you understand correctly, as long as the RAMs are the same company, same speed you can buy them individually or as pairs, either way. Hypothetically, as long as they are the same speed and same timing, you can use "the same" RAM from different manufacturers, and you'll get the same performance.

There may be a person out there who has more experience with mixing RAMs than I do. I believe what will happen, if you have two different types of RAM, is that the motherboard will interrogate the RAM and then run the pair at the lower of the two settings.

Bottom line, just make sure that you get two of "THE SAME" and you'll be fine, whether you buy a paired set or two individually.

###

 

[Askei]

Thanks alot again for quick replies.

Gorf, about the SSD it is one of the things i skipped also for future spending, since as i told you I'm really short of money, and I'm looking to save money each month for a year so I can spend on the missing parts better.

Ok so if both RAMs are same company same speed compare to getting RAM in pair prepacked, is there a difference? the single RAM im getting from shop is same model , does that mean it has same effect as paired one?

Hi -
Understood on the SSD, just wanted to be sure that you had considered it.

Yes, confirming that you understand correctly, as long as the RAMs are the same company, same speed you can buy them individually or as pairs, either way. Hypothetically, as long as they are the same speed and same timing, you can use "the same" RAM from different manufacturers, and you'll get the same performance.

There may be a person out there who has more experience with mixing RAMs than I do. I believe what will happen, if you have two different types of RAM, is that the motherboard will interrogate the RAM and then run the pair at the lower of the two settings.

Bottom line, just make sure that you get two of "THE SAME" and you'll be fine, whether you buy a paired set or two individually.

###

Hi, well I went with your advice on having 4gbx2 Ram and if its less will buy 2 more, as I read somewhere 4x4 16gb setup has less latency than 8x2 16gb ram, if that what you implied earlier. Even though If I buy 8x2, cost will be less than 4x4. But I have made up my mind on 4x2.

So now im stuck with PSU and Case. Apart from the $20 offer on a used 500W Antec PSU. I have these choices on new one:

http://www.saqiscity.com/computers-addons-in-pakistan/computers-desktops-accessories-in-pakistan/power-supply.html

And on new Cases, which I'm thinking right now on cheaping out on. Since i don't care how my PC will look outside till it has sufficient exhaust internally.

So these are the choices i got on new cases:

http://www.saqiscity.com/computers-addons-in-pakistan/computers-desktops-accessories-in-pakistan/computer-case-chassis.html

Please if you can provide an insight on which one will be a good buy?

To get the approx. price in dollars just divide the item price by 100 (Rs 5000 = 50 dollars). Also skip the ones which has 0 in the price tag, they are out of stock.

And also keep in mind I'm connected through UPS and PC will be running on UPS power alot.

Regards