Recommendation for decent desktop PC

[DavidY]

DavidY, for your i3 build.. .88 at CC means clearance, which usually means they are out of stock of it. Also, Win 7 is $98 at NCIX.
For the i5 build, the i5 3470 is regularly on sale at NCIX for $190: http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...l&promoid=1145

^This is why i personally don't like using the PCPartPicker site.

The $xx.88 case in the i3 build was taken from George's build. PC Part Picker site is good as a general guide...pricing isn't accurate at times...you have found better pricing on some items....as did I. I do wish that PC Part Picker would take out those CC's clearance items since they are no longer available....that's a pet peeve of mine. PC Part Picker is good for budgeting purposes on draft builds....for a final build, I would check out the major retailers for better pricing.

Dave

[cloakster]

The $xx.88 case in the i3 build was taken from George's build. PC Part Picker site is good as a general guide...pricing isn't accurate at times...you have found better pricing on some items....as did I. I do wish that PC Part Picker would take out those CC's clearance items since they are no longer available....that's a pet peeve of mine. PC Part Picker is good for budgeting purposes on draft builds....for a final build, I would check out the major retailers for better pricing.

Dave

Very true, didnt realize u took from his.

[DavidY]

@DavidY - Questions

Memory wise... Is the difference going to be that big??

Why no SSD?
Why H77 chipset if GTT1 is going to add a GPU?
Shouldn't PSU also be a bit more powerful if GPU is being added??

Not sure what you are asking about the memory....DDR3 1333 MHz vs. DDR3 1600 MHz??? Single vs. dual channel RAM?

SSDs are usually not in tight budget builds. If one has budget, a 120+ GB SSD from reliable brand is highly recommended.

H61/Z68 mobo with Sandy Bridge CPUs. B75/H77/Z77 mobo with Ivy Bridge CPUs (or Sandy Bridge CPUs/B75/H77/Z77 mobo for better future proofing). 500-650 watt power supplies are typically sufficient for PCs with single graphics cards (700+ watt for crossfire/SLI). Newer moderate high end graphics cards (eg. 7850) are power friendly. See power requirements here (use eXtreme power supply calculator for better accuracy on wattage): http://www.johnnylucky.org/graphic-c...irements.html:

[GTT1]

If you are using Photoshop, you probably want a good CPU (i5+) and a decent nVidia graphics card. i5-3450 is about $200....about $85 more than an i3-2120. A H77 mobo also costs a bit more than a H61 mobo. DDR3 1600 MHz RAM is a bit more expensive than DDR3 1333 MHz.

At NCIX or ME, you just add the various components into the shopping cart and then add the PC assembly/OS testing fee. NCIX pricematches. ME does price beats. READ the details at their respective sites. Add link(s) of lower priced items from competitive stores (Canadian) which are in stock.

Here's a first draft of a prospective build...you may need to switch out some components like power supplies depending where you will be shopping from:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H77-DS3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.29 @ Amazon Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($41.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB Video Card ($94.99 @ NCIX)
Case: BitFenix Outlaw ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Antec 550W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Memory Express)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($17.69 @ DirectCanada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Computer Valley)
Total: $716.91
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-08-07 23:36 EDT-0400)

David thanks for putting that together for me.
A couple of questions but first forgive my ignorance, is ME Memory Express?

Money is not really a problem that being said I don't want to spend foolishly just because I can afford more. So am I better off boosting the power supply spending a bit more and is their any advantage to using Windows Professional 64. What benefits now or future can I get from going to i7 vs i5 and what is the cost? I see a lot of talk aboout SSD drives but had thought the advantage was more for laptops. What benefit would I get faster start up, access? But on the access side I would need a huge one as otherwise most of my stuff would be on the regular Hard drive. Faster starts well I never turn my PC off unless going away for more than a couple of days.

Once again thanks for yours and others help, I am not to bad on the program side but hardware makes my head spin and I would much sooner spend a few bucks letting someone put it together. Do NCIX and ME warranty their work and the parts or am I on my own after walking out the door.
When I go to NCIX PC builder I don't see all the same parts in fact on the drop down lists I can't find matches with what is offered. Any chance they will build with the parts specified if I email them or maybe you can recommend a similar build with what they have

[DavidY]

ME = Memory Express

i7 vs. i5: Cost difference is about $80-$100 (K=unlocked=overclockable)...if you don't need hyperthreading, go with the cheaper i5. Ivy Bridge>Sandy Bridge. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404258,00.asp

SSD vs. HDD...120 GB SSD is the current sweet spot IMO...have both...SSD to have OS and main apps/games...HDD is for storage and seldom used apps:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404258,00.asp

Not sure about ME's warranty on their builds. With NCIX, if they build it, they have a 1 year warranty. Details at their respective websites. DO NOT USE NCIX's PC BUILDER! It's better to add the components and pricematch links/pricing in the shopping cart and lastly, add the PC Assembly/OS Testing fee. Some brands/models are not shared between NCIX and ME....be careful with the power supplies (most are not very good)....Antec, Seasonic, XFX and Corsair PS are usually quite reliable. A good quality 550 watt PS is typically $60-$70 plus tax...it's not unusual to have a desktop PC with 650 or 750 watt PS if you are a big time gamer....$80-$90.

Here's a comparison table between the various Win 7 64 bit OS (if you need more than 16 GB in the future, get the Pro):

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/do-yo...e-premium/1128

David thanks for putting that together for me.

Dave
A couple of questions but first forgive my ignorance, is ME Memory Express?

Money is not really a problem that being said I don't want to spend foolishly just because I can afford more. So am I better off boosting the power supply spending a bit more and is their any advantage to using Windows Professional 64. What benefits now or future can I get from going to i7 vs i5 and what is the cost? I see a lot of talk aboout SSD drives but had thought the advantage was more for laptops. What benefit would I get faster start up, access? But on the access side I would need a huge one as otherwise most of my stuff would be on the regular Hard drive. Faster starts well I never turn my PC off unless going away for more than a couple of days.

Once again thanks for yours and others help, I am not to bad on the program side but hardware makes my head spin and I would much sooner spend a few bucks letting someone put it together. Do NCIX and ME warranty their work and the parts or am I on my own after walking out the door.
When I go to NCIX PC builder I don't see all the same parts in fact on the drop down lists I can't find matches with what is offered. Any chance they will build with the parts specified if I email them or maybe you can recommend a similar build with what they have

[george__]

You don't need I7, it has hyper-threading which I doubt you'll ever use... Go I5 route..
Windows 7 X64 Home Premium is best idea for OS. Doubtful 16GB+ going to benefit much especially desktop.
Corsair CX series is utter garbage. Go Corsair HX or TX. Google "Seasonic PSUs" <-- Good brand / maker of power supplies.

Google SHOPBOT CANADA + PART. Sometimes there's a site called HOOKBAG that is cheaper + has free shipping. ME will often let you PM the SHIPPING & PRICE.

For example Shopbot Canada Intel i7-2600k... If Hookbag cheaper / instock. PM with ME

[DavidY]

You don't need I7, it has hyper-threading which I doubt you'll ever use... Go I5 route..
Windows 7 X64 Home Premium is best idea for OS!!
Corsair CX series is utter garbage. Go Corsair HX or TX. Google "Seasonic PSUs" <-- Good brand / maker of power supplies.

Corsair is my least favourite, but still reliable PS brand...good/decent reviews, good warranty support, their older models were Seasonics. Some Seasonics are noisy all time; other models get noisy when over 50% load...noise is my only issue with Seasonics (hard to tell which models are noisy).

[MkmBandit]

It's about $1-1.25 per watt for a value priced, quality PS...it's not unusual to have a desktop PC with 650 or 750 watt PS if you are a big time gamer.

Gah? Actually about $0.20-$0.30 per watt for a quality PSU. Less, depending on who you ask.

[DavidY]

Gah? Actually about $0.20-$0.30 per watt for a quality PSU. Less, depending on who you ask.

Oops. My math was wrong. For example,a good quality 550 watt PS should be around $60-$70 before tax.

Dave

[george__]

^^ makes sense. I picked up XFX PRO650W for $79.99 + tax.