Suggested business, Photoshop light gaming build for <$900

[msinderson]

Hi,
I'm starting the search for a replacement of my 2007 Windows desktop. I'm looking for something that will primarily be used for business (web conferencing, Google drive, blogging,etc.) but also Lightroom and Photoshop use (for my photography) and some causal gaming. Budget is under $900. I'd like an ssd for fast boots, etc.

 

[volkgren]

Not sure if you need Windows. But here's a good build. You have some room to play with your budget. Maybe a quiet CPU cooler (Cryorig C7, M9i, H7, etc.) or an additional hard drive if you need it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.90 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($109.23 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($105.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($144.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case ($46.19 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $835.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-02 23:07 EDT-0400

 

[ArchitSahu]

Not sure if you need Windows. But here's a good build. You have some room to play with your budget. Maybe a quiet CPU cooler (Cryorig C7, M9i, H7, etc.) or an additional hard drive if you need it.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.90 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($109.23 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($105.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($144.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case ($46.19 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - CX (2017) 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $835.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-02 23:07 EDT-0400

Really good build, only thing I would change is that PSU even though it is decent.

Something like this:
PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4xbz8K
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/4xbz8K/by_merchant/

Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $59.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-02 23:46 EDT-0400

There is a Ryzen Alternative:
PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/drLLJ8
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/drLLJ8/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($175.77 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: ADATA - XPG GAMMIX D10 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($90.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: SanDisk - Ultra 3D 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB G1 Gaming Video Card ($329.99 @ Newegg Business)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterBox Lite 5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $900.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-02 23:48 EDT-0400

Only reason it touches $900 is because it has a 1060 6 GB.

If you want room to play with, by all means, go with volgren's build. Ticks all the boxes.

 

[msinderson]

Ok, after being out of town for a few weeks, I'm back and doing some more thinking about what I might want in the next computer. One thing I'm considering is building a system that will work if I want to build a "Hackintosh" and add the Mac OS as a dual boot option to Windows. Based on that, I put together a build that I think will allow me to do this:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/ruleof72/saved/vB8D8d

[PCPartPicker part list](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3sCVcY) / [Price breakdown by merchant](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3sCVcY/by_merchant/)

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/LHYWGX/intel-core-i5-8400-28ghz-6-core-processor-bx80684i58400) | $178.99 @ Amazon
**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair - H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Vwdqqs/corsair-cpu-cooler-h60cw9060007ww) | $49.99 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-F GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9bNypg/asus-rog-strix-z370-f-gaming-atx-lga1151-motherboard-strix-z370-f-gaming) | $178.99 @ SuperBiiz
**Memory** | [Crucial - 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JW4NnQ/crucial-memory-ct2k8g4dfs8213) | $172.98 @ Amazon
**Storage** | [Crucial - MX500 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/ft8j4D/crucial-mx500-500gb-25-solid-state-drive-ct500mx500ssd1) | $114.99 @ Adorama
**Storage** | [Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MwW9TW/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | $43.85 @ OutletPC
**Video Card** | [Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Video Card](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8fx9TW/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-1050-ti-4gb-video-card-gv-n105td5-4gd) | $204.98 @ Newegg
**Case** | [Corsair - 200R ATX Mid Tower Case](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/cTQypg/corsair-case-200r) | $59.99 @ Amazon
**Power Supply** | [SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](https://pcpartpicker.com/product/qn7v6h/seasonic-focus-gold-650w-80-gold-certified-semi-modular-atx-power-supply-ssr-650fm) | $73.99 @ SuperBiiz
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1088.75
| Mail-in rebates | -$10.00
| **Total** | **$1078.75**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](http://pcpartpicker.com) 2018-05-01 21:29 EDT-0400 |

Any feedback on this?

 

[volkgren]

A few changes I would make.

Cheaper, more reliable air cooler. (Liquid not necessary on i5-8400; the H60 is not any better cooling)
Cheaper motherboard.
Faster/Better quality RAM.
Faster/better quality SSD.
Bigger HDD.
Better case.
Cheaper but equal quality GPU.
Cheaper but equally sufficient/quality power supply.
Lower overall price.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG Strix H370-F Gaming ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($132.70 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($174.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.79 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($189.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks - Enthoo Pro M ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.75 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1052.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-01 21:53 EDT-0400


*P.S. when you want to share your part list, use the [bb] button on PCPartPicker.com and copy/paste that mess of code in the forum and it will look nice and neat like above.

 

[msinderson]

A few changes I would make.

Cheaper, more reliable air cooler. (Liquid not necessary on i5-8400; the H60 is not any better cooling)
Cheaper motherboard.
Faster/Better quality RAM.
Faster/better quality SSD.
Bigger HDD.
Better case.
Cheaper but equal quality GPU.
Cheaper but equally sufficient/quality power supply.
Lower overall price.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($178.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG Strix H370-F Gaming ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($132.70 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($174.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.79 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($189.99 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks - Enthoo Pro M ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.75 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $1052.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-01 21:53 EDT-0400


*P.S. when you want to share your part list, use the [bb] button on PCPartPicker.com and copy/paste that mess of code in the forum and it will look nice and neat like above.

Thanks for this! I've been out of the "parts picking game" for so long that it's a bit overwhelming. It's nice to have someone come up with a better/cheaper solution. I will take a look at all the parts and then consult with the boss to see if I can get the special "budgetary allocation" that's needed to move forward.