Pc Build $1200

[dan_the_man]

Possible?

Will be used for photoshop and lightroom.

Don't need monitor.

Just need plenty of ram, good graphics card and good cpu.

Please help

[dan_the_man]

found this

http://www.msy.com.au/SYSTEMS/INTELAMD-GAMERENTERTAINMENT2.pdf

add ram to 16gb. Should be ok? Thoughts?

[J34]

$1200 is very do able. Check out a seller called Pc Meal on ebay I have bought 2 computers from them and they have both been great, they have alot of options too. Personally I would go for at least a GTX560 vid card and a good brand name case and power supply.

[*LOACH*]

If you are going to want multiple monitors or are transferring files via USB you might wanna wait for Ivy Bridge (supposedly being released in Ultrabooks later this month then desktops a bit later).

[bozodos]

make sure you get a 128gb OS SSD, you'll thank me later

[R31Nismoid]

$1200?

Easily possible... Will have a ponder and chuck some options up later

[R31Nismoid]

Excluding other peripherals like keyboard/mouse etc?

What about tower case?

[nickperth]

Hey hows it going, i noticed your looking for a computer for $1200

Well i sell alot of computers as i run my own computer bussiness and this is what i would recommend you getting from MSY if it came to me choosing what i would want and i was doing the stuff you were doing:

CPU: Core i7 2600 1155pin: $289

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68P-DS3: $95

RAM: Patriot Signature 8GB(4Gx2) DDR3 1333 X2: $41 each Total: $82

HDD: Hitachi 7200RPM 2TB Hard Disk: $135

Graphics Card: 1GB Power Color ATI HD6870: $159

Optical Drive: LG Sata DVD Burner: $19 if you want 2 it could come out handy since there that cheap these days

Case: Cooler Master RC692: $107

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA-650-Green Watt PSU: $94

Keyboard and Mouse: Logitech MK710 Cordless Desktop : $78

Wireless Card:P-LINK TL-WN951N PCI 3T3R 300M Wireless-N Network Card: $32

MSY Build Rate: $70

Total: $1160

Some might say i dont have the strongest graphics card or the best one, but when it comes to photoshop and lighting it matters a lot more on what kind of CPU you are using and currently the Core i7 is one of the best currently on the market and it excels in tasks like photoshop. I also put together 16gb of ram meaning you wont be short of memory ever and a 2tb hard drive is ideal, though if you do get something like this. Make sure you get the people putting your computer together to seperate the OS into Paritions aka seperate drives e.g. 300GB parition for windows and programs and then rest for storage or what ever you want , it just makes the computer run much more smoothly in the future espically when you start loaing all your programs and files

Also the case i choose is probably one of the most user freindly cases and has a lot of great features on it, such as being able to plug in a hard drive directly like you would with usb without needing to open the computer case and connecting it to the motherboard.

Also Dont cheap out on the power supply, a lot of people do that and thats a big mistake, as cheap power supplies tend to fail and when they fail they can damage componets easy.

I didnt include the windows operating system cause i wasnt sure if you got a copy but they set you back $90 for a OEM Window 7 Home Premium 64bit

Also if you want to save some cash read up a guide on how to put a computer together as its probably one of the most simplest things ever and its not really hard

Hope this helps

[Cowboy1600]

Stick with an i5 2500k and save about $70. Photoshop only uses physical cores so hyperthreading is useless (altho I'm not sure about Lightroom [upon checking I don't think it does so another reason to go the i5]).

An OC'ed i5 will outperform an i7.

Put the $70 and a touch more towards a SSD. It'll be the single best thing you can do to improve your PC performance. You'll likely need a ~120gb SSD ($200) because you'll want to put your OS, Photoshop and Lightroom on it.

[AndrewGTT]

If you're after a laptop, I have a powerful one i barely use.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/397017-hp-pavilion-dv6/

With the left over money you can go nuts on the RAM. The CPU and Graphics Card will easily provide you with what you are after..

[Skyline_034]

very possible and you could get something very decent under $1000.

just some general facts,

RAM 8-16gb (would be great, wouldnt really need anymore),

Graphic card, 1gb also visit NVIDIA to see the differences,

CPU pretty much anything over 3-3.2ghz will be fine for fast processing and

a SSD Hard drive would be prefered

[bozodos]

go the fastest speed rated ram thats reasonably priced (latency isnt as much of an issue)

steer clear of Antec Earthwatts PSU's, they review terribadly, at least get a Coolermaster / Corsair/ Silverstone / higher end Antec as it's a component you want to last for several builds

Fairly sure Photoshop can use the CUDA cores on NVIDIA cards, well worth looking at

case is personal preference and reccommend going i5 over i7, i recently got our fleet pc's at work changed because literally nothing users Hyperthreading of relevance (i.e you'd need something specific to warrant it, and even then you'd probably be better off with a Xeon anyway).

I also cannot believe that people still reccommend 7200rpm spindle drives for custom builds these days, HDD IO is the BIGGEST single bottleneck of your average pc and has been for a couple of generations now. Crucial, Samsung and Intel SSDs I highly reccommend (had too many issues with Sandforce ones to advise anyone to get one!) if you really need lots of fast storage then get 2x WD Velociraptors in RAID 0, but even a mid range SSD will be faster than them.

if you're finding it all too hard, get a Dell XPS on their website, spec an SSD into it for the boot drive, and go from there

[Cowboy1600]

go the fastest speed rated ram thats reasonably priced (latency isnt as much of an issue)

1600 mhz ram is the sweetspot for i5 Sandys. That's as fast as they claim to support but if your mobo has variable xmp profiles you can generally run 1600. Faster RAM just won't go any faster with an i5.

And again, absolutley, positively make sure you spec a 120Gb SSD for your OS and main programs. It will simply transform your PC.

[bozodos]

well he'd be likely buying Ivy Bridge lol, theres something like 18% difference between 1600 and 2133, if its only 10-15 bucks difference, it's worth the outlay IMO.

XMP is a piece of piss, literally one little setting in the bios and forget (unless like me you have to do BCLK overclocking, which can make getting everything right a bit more of a juggle)

AMEN RE: SSD

[R31Nismoid]

you wouldnt go Ivy Bridge if overclocking, too much heat for the volts

Better off with the older gen Sandy at this point IMO. gotta wait for the next stepping to see if they will get better, but honestly i do not believe they will and a Sandy I5 (2500k) is the best buy - even more so now

[Cowboy1600]

well he'd be likely buying Ivy Bridge lol, theres something like 18% difference between 1600 and 2133, if its only 10-15 bucks difference, it's worth the outlay IMO.

XMP is a piece of piss, literally one little setting in the bios and forget (unless like me you have to do BCLK overclocking, which can make getting everything right a bit more of a juggle)

AMEN RE: SSD

He likely won't go IB for his price point. And I'd stick with a SB (and therefore 1600Mhz RAM) for the time being. They are proven performers.

That $10-15 can go towards his SSD.

[bozodos]

disagree Ash RE: too hot for volts, a mate bought in IB i5 and it overclocks like an absolute charm with a corsair H80 self enclosed loop!

dont know if I can be farked getting one, really hanging out for the 670 to be released moreso.

[R31Nismoid]

I'm not reading much favourable information out of IB TBH volts vs heat clock for clock against SB.

Not saying they are "getting too hot" but they are most certainly hotter than the SB items for same clocks.

It's gonna happen when they die shrink and pack more into it

[bozodos]

most of what i read has been of concern only by those who overclock for the sake of overclocking, not to run 24x7 OC for consistent performance. Meh integrated PCI-E 3 and Sata / USB 3 makes it worthwhile IMO