Hi,
I want to replace my 4 year-old PC (Giga P45-EP3L, C2D e7400 w/ 4GB RAM in Win 7 32-bit) as it keeps konking out and also can't keep up with my photo editing. Before acting up, I also thought of converting to Win 7 64-bit (from 32bit) but I could no longer find DDR2 RAM's so might as well upgrade.
Preferences:
1. Uses:
a. Photo editing: Photoshop CS6 and LR6 and NR software (Noiseware and Nik Software). RAW files average of 22mb each, and would like to edit a couple of photos at a time. I mention this because right now, editing 2 with some filters take some time already. No 3D but very few video muxing of HD mkv files (if this is the right term) when I downscale for ipad use.
b. Games: Just a few new ones (Tomb Raider 2013, Ghost Recon Future Soldier and Splinter Cell Conviction, and F1 2012).
c. General browsing (multiple pages open at once), Office apps.
2. I currently have 5 usb3 drives and 2-esata drives that I alternate on ports in 2 PCI x1 cards (1 e-sata and 1 usb3). I believe most z77 boards now have usb3.0 so that won't be an issue, but only a few have e-sata (Gigabyte Z77-UD3H). I'm not sure if it's better to just go with on-boards e-sata or still use my e-sata cards, or both (why not).
Anyway, I'd like to get some recommendations for a build not too expensive, with probably the following components at most. I'm not in the US so I'll just mention estimate prices in $ based on their costs here. I'll also mention those I have in mind.
CPU: i5-3570k ($210 here), as the price seems to be average. Initially I don't plan to OC, but since it's like $20 only from the non-k, I might as well get it in case I decide to slightly OC later after further research, since I'm not too knowledgeable w/ this yet.
I also was looking at the i7-3770 but the price difference of over $100! didn't appeal to me.
MOBO: Gigabyte Z77-UD3H because it has e-sata at the rear I/O, but I'm not sure if it's worth the cost ($190 here) since I don't need the m-sata. Haven't read yet much about z87 to know the new features. It's like $25 more over the z77 version, but if features are worth-while, I may consider it. BTW, Asrock Extreme4 is very difficult to find over here nowadays (most have gone sold out).
GPU: Palit or Inno3D Geforce 650ti – as I've been reading that the 650ti is a good-priced card ($150 here). I believe this will be more for gaming and PS CS6 as LR doesn't use much GPU. I don't think I'll go SLI as I've read that a single GPU would suffice for these games.
SSD: Vertex 3 120Gb ($116)
RAM: 16Gb (dual) ddr3 1333 G.Skill ($75) or 1600 Corsair vengeance CL9 ($97).
PSU: Seasonic S12 520W ($70)
Other components I have models in mind but have to look for here physically, since some stores don't have all models available:
CPU cooler? and casing. I will use my existing LG IPS234 monitor for now.
Recommendations for these would be appreciated. Thanks.
I want to replace my 4 year-old PC (Giga P45-EP3L, C2D e7400 w/ 4GB RAM in Win 7 32-bit) as it keeps konking out and also can't keep up with my photo editing. Before acting up, I also thought of converting to Win 7 64-bit (from 32bit) but I could no longer find DDR2 RAM's so might as well upgrade.
Preferences:
1. Uses:
a. Photo editing: Photoshop CS6 and LR6 and NR software (Noiseware and Nik Software). RAW files average of 22mb each, and would like to edit a couple of photos at a time. I mention this because right now, editing 2 with some filters take some time already. No 3D but very few video muxing of HD mkv files (if this is the right term) when I downscale for ipad use.
b. Games: Just a few new ones (Tomb Raider 2013, Ghost Recon Future Soldier and Splinter Cell Conviction, and F1 2012).
c. General browsing (multiple pages open at once), Office apps.
2. I currently have 5 usb3 drives and 2-esata drives that I alternate on ports in 2 PCI x1 cards (1 e-sata and 1 usb3). I believe most z77 boards now have usb3.0 so that won't be an issue, but only a few have e-sata (Gigabyte Z77-UD3H). I'm not sure if it's better to just go with on-boards e-sata or still use my e-sata cards, or both (why not).
Anyway, I'd like to get some recommendations for a build not too expensive, with probably the following components at most. I'm not in the US so I'll just mention estimate prices in $ based on their costs here. I'll also mention those I have in mind.
CPU: i5-3570k ($210 here), as the price seems to be average. Initially I don't plan to OC, but since it's like $20 only from the non-k, I might as well get it in case I decide to slightly OC later after further research, since I'm not too knowledgeable w/ this yet.

MOBO: Gigabyte Z77-UD3H because it has e-sata at the rear I/O, but I'm not sure if it's worth the cost ($190 here) since I don't need the m-sata. Haven't read yet much about z87 to know the new features. It's like $25 more over the z77 version, but if features are worth-while, I may consider it. BTW, Asrock Extreme4 is very difficult to find over here nowadays (most have gone sold out).
GPU: Palit or Inno3D Geforce 650ti – as I've been reading that the 650ti is a good-priced card ($150 here). I believe this will be more for gaming and PS CS6 as LR doesn't use much GPU. I don't think I'll go SLI as I've read that a single GPU would suffice for these games.
SSD: Vertex 3 120Gb ($116)
RAM: 16Gb (dual) ddr3 1333 G.Skill ($75) or 1600 Corsair vengeance CL9 ($97).
PSU: Seasonic S12 520W ($70)
Other components I have models in mind but have to look for here physically, since some stores don't have all models available:
CPU cooler? and casing. I will use my existing LG IPS234 monitor for now.
Recommendations for these would be appreciated. Thanks.