New to the world of PC building, looking for Help.

[Hamajack]

Hi folks,
I've been recommended here by two friends who have said nothing but great things about this site and it's support.
And so I'm hoping some of you guys could shed some light on what I need to consider and look for in order to build a custom PC.

My aim is to purchase components and build a custom pc that will be used primarily for digital arts, including 3D programs such as Zbrush, Max/Maya and 2D programs such as Photoshop.
There will no doubt be the odd game but generally not high end or competitive gaming.

I currently have two monitors (22" and a 19") as well as a mouse that I'm happy to keep for the time being if it helps save on cost (unless there are deals that make it worth purchasing them alongside the PC?).
But I will be needing to replace my keyboard.
I have a budget of around the 1k mark, give or take a couple of hundred.

I'm not sure if I need to list anything in particular, but I will should anyone ask.
And just as a side note, my knowledge for when it comes to the in's and outs of PC hardware is pretty limited unfortunately.
Thank you in advance though

Jack

 

[Quixote]

What you want above all is CPU performance - both single threaded & multi - threaded.

For this reason, an Intel i7 is your best choice. The 6-core Socket 2011 setups come in about £1500, so I would be looking at an i7 4770K on a socket 1150 motherboard.

A mid range gaming card is fine, even in editor performance, CG apps are mainly bottlenecked by CPU speed. Anything from a GTX 660 up should be good. I would lean towards NVidia because there is currently more support for CUDA in Digital content creation apps.

I's go for 16GB of RAM to start with in as few sticks as possible ie 2 * 8gb. Don't pay much more for higher speed RAM, it makes little difference.

A good cost effective storage combo is a 256gb SSD & a 2tb hard disk.

To break down performance a bit :

- Maya rendering speed will determined by multi core CPU performance.
- Maya viewport speed will be determined by single/ few core performance, as long as you have a decent videocard.
- ZBrush is even more CPU dependent, both single & multi-core.
- Photoshop wants RAM & fast storage mostly.

One exception is if you plan to be using a GPU-based renderer (probably I-Ray, V-Ray RT or Octane) - then you could drop back CPU for a meaty videocard but most people are still using CPU-based renderers.

 

[tnx]

This may sound daft but have you much experience of building up PC's from scratch ?

I am sorry if I have read it wrong but I get the impression, NOT !

This worries me a bit cause your willing to spend 1K or there abouts on brand new bits.
One wrong move installing your CPU and its game over for the board.

Maybe consider a few , lets say practise builds on a second hand PC first, to familiarise yourself with the ins and outs of the hardware.

I am no pro builder but I have built quite a few. I would not like to think I was starting out with that much money.

or is this just me being silly....

Sorry..

 

[Akagi]

The ability to install a CPU isn't exclusive to PC builders. The socket it keyed, it only goes in one way, and unless you jab the pins in the socket and bend them it will be fine. You just have to be careful.

My first proper build came in at just over £1000, but I had admittedly been tinkering with PC's before that point.

It isn't hard to put a computer together correctly without previous experience. Especially as most plugs only go in one type of socket, most things are labelled, everything comes with instructions, and the forums are here with tonnes of members eager to give advice and guidance, myself included.

The thing first time builders may struggle with is tidying up cables, proper use of cable management features or putting the RAM in the right slots for dual channel, that kind of thing. Nothing fatal, all can be sorted.

Although! Practising on old hardware is no bad thing! I most certainly did it. The same with my first custom loop. I installed it in an old Pentium 4 machine only a year ago.

 

[tnx]

I thought it was just me...

I have built a few together, most recent was my own LGA 1155. i5 3570k and a brand new Sabertooth Z77.

While I was making my decision of what board and CPU and kept comingup and finding threads about bent pins on the 1155 board.

This made me a bit concerned. So I went out and hunted down some cheap second hand LGA 1155 bits. A H61 board and Celeron CPU and 1 GIG of DDR3 RAM. Spent under £40.
I had spare bits to make a machine up.

I must have practiced umpteen times installing, removing all the bits before I recon I could do it properly.

Then I ordered my main parts. built it all up, no bother.

Again it must have been just me.

yep it does sound daft. But it helped me out.

 

[Hamajack]

Thanks for the quick response!
Quixote - that's great info to think on, thank you. I'll go and do some research into those

tnx - Not daft at all! This would indeed be my first time building, however I do have a couple of friends who have build PC's from scratch and are willing to help when it comes to putting everything in it's place.

acme15 - thank you for the input, I hear that the 1k mark is a good benchmark for a worthwhile PC. Good to see that's what yours went for as well!

I mean, would you guys suggest a custom build PC is the best way to go forwards for what I'm aiming for?
Are there pre-made builds that are specific to art and contain what I need?

My only concern with buying a PC off the shelf is how often I hear recommendations for going with a custom build to save on price and cut out the unnecessary parts etc. is there any merit to that?
Or would you say that's something that people looking for specific elements should consider?

 

[Hamajack]

haha well it sounds like id be a fool to just go head strong into ordering the parts and then trying off the bat.
I think for now I'm mainly looking to just get an idea on what's available and get a quote.

Then I can look into making sure im ready and know what needs to be done to put it together.

 

[Fulax]

haha well it sounds like id be a fool to just go head strong into ordering the parts and then trying off the bat.
I think for now I'm mainly looking to just get an idea on what's available and get a quote.

The rig in my signature was my first ever build, and it certainly wasn't cheap. Just do your research before you get started so you understand what you're actually ordering and why, then watch some PC build guide videos (search for Newegg's on Youtube). It really isn't rocket science: as long as your components are all compatible they just slot into place.

What you want above all is CPU performance - both single threaded & multi - threaded.

For this reason, an Intel i7 is your best choice. The 6-core Socket 2011 setups come in about £1500, so I would be looking at an i7 4770K on a socket 1150 motherboard.

He could get a 4820k build for a similar price as a 4770k one - would that not be the better option for this CPU heavy stuff?

 

[OvEr_KiLL]

haha well it sounds like id be a fool to just go head strong into ordering the parts and then trying off the bat.
I think for now I'm mainly looking to just get an idea on what's available and get a quote.

Then I can look into making sure im ready and know what needs to be done to put it together.

most people are in bed now, but im sure the specme team will be on this thread when they wake up

 

[Hamajack]

Noted.
That is indeed the plan.

Can I ask what your first build was primarily used for/what it was you wanted from it?

 

[Hamajack]

Over Kill, thanks for the heads up! I had lost track of time

 

[Fulax]

Can I ask what your first build was primarily used for/what it was you wanted from it?

Nothing complicated: I wanted a powerful, relatively compact gaming system that wouldn't be as painful on the ears and eyes as my old one was. Nailed it!

 

[Quixote]

He could get a 4820k build for a similar price as a 4770k one - would that not be the better option for this CPU heavy stuff?

Well, the 2 chips perform very similarly but a decent socket 2011 motherboard is about £170 vs £90 for a good Socket 1150, I think that money could be better spent elsewhere in the build. The extra PCI lanes & Quad channel RAM don't really make a difference for these purposes & the whole setup draws a bit more power.
But worth considering, I think people will do some full specs & we'll see.

 

[murah]

Building a PC is literally so easy you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Connectors and cables only go in 1 place in 1 orientation, putting the mobo in the case is very self explanatory, the CPU only goes in 1 way etc

I'd say the bugger is making it tidy inside.

For your uses I'd suggest an i7 4770k build and as for graphics card ...Not entirely sure on that I only use my GPU for gaming but I'm sure someone will suggest one soon!

 

[Lemonade1947]

I built my first PC today. My no1 tip is watch loadddds of videos about it. find a youtuber you like and find interesting, then just watch them build computers. I felt like an expert before I even brought any components.

 

[DaleTheWhale]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel 4820K 3.70GHz (Ivybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - Retail (BX80633I74820K) £259.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £169.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270 "BF4 Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £139.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (4x4GB) PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Quad Channel Kit (KHX16C9T3K4/16X) £125.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £65.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x Saitek Cyborg V7 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard £59.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £47.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,114.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).



X79 - 2011 build

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX21C11T3K2/16X) £139.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270 "BF4 Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £139.99
1 x Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £65.99
1 x Saitek Cyborg V7 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard £59.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £47.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,088.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Z87 - 1150 build

 

[Quixote]

Here's my effort :

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
1 x Inno3D GeForce GTX 660 iChill Herculez 2000 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (C66M-2SDN-E5GSX) £139.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Blu 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C10 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C10D3B1K2/16G) £119.99
1 x Crucial M500 240GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive - (CT240M500SSD1) £109.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-SLI Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £97.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £69.95
1 x Toshiba 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache - OEM (DT01ACA200) HDD £59.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x Antec Kúhler H2O 650 Liquid CPU Cooler £54.95
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £47.99
1 x Pioneer 24x Internal DVR-221LBK DVD Rewriter - OEM £17.99
1 x Gigabyte K7100 Stylish Keyboard £10.99
Total : £1,069.39 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Note that mine includes a license of windows, if you already have a windows license you can use, you can subtract £70 to bring it exactly to £1000.

I also included an all-in-one water cooling unit, which will let you overclock the CPU (something I highly recommend but you don't need to do it at first - first build it, test it & use it at normal speed before overclocking). I know an air cooler can offer the same performance for a bit less but these water coolers are so much easier to install than big air coolers.

 

[Morfik]

Building a PC is literally so easy you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Connectors and cables only go in 1 place in 1 orientation, putting the mobo in the case is very self explanatory, the CPU only goes in 1 way etc

This.

Don't believe the scare stories, unless you take a hammer to the Motherboard you aren't going to break anything. The worst that will happen if things aren't connected properly is it won't turn on, not that it'll blow up.

 

[joebingo]

I thought it was just me...

I have built a few together, most recent was my own LGA 1155. i5 3570k and a brand new Sabertooth Z77.

While I was making my decision of what board and CPU and kept comingup and finding threads about bent pins on the 1155 board.

This made me a bit concerned. So I went out and hunted down some cheap second hand LGA 1155 bits. A H61 board and Celeron CPU and 1 GIG of DDR3 RAM. Spent under £40.
I had spare bits to make a machine up.

I must have practiced umpteen times installing, removing all the bits before I recon I could do it properly.

Then I ordered my main parts. built it all up, no bother.

Again it must have been just me.

yep it does sound daft. But it helped me out.

I went out to a friends house and drank a lot of beer and whiskey. I got home to a bunch of boxes and built up the machine in my sig with a few tins of San Miguel to keep me interested.

I'm not saying this is a good idea and I certainly don't recommend anybody do it, I just thought I'd let people know you don't have to be particularly careful with anything but the CPU, and even then as long as you're not a total spanner, you should be OK

 

[Hamajack]

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel 4820K 3.70GHz (Ivybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - Retail (BX80633I74820K) £259.99
1 x Gigabyte X79-UD3 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £169.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270 "BF4 Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £139.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (4x4GB) PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Quad Channel Kit (KHX16C9T3K4/16X) £125.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £65.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x Saitek Cyborg V7 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard £59.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £47.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,114.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).



X79 - 2011 build

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £269.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £149.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX21C11T3K2/16X) £139.99
1 x Sapphire Radeon R9 270 "BF4 Edition" 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £139.99
1 x Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £119.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001) HDD £65.99
1 x Saitek Cyborg V7 Illuminated Gaming Keyboard £59.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Green HX 550W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black £59.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black (CC-9011023-WW) £47.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
Total : £1,088.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).



Z87 - 1150 build

ThatReaperGuy - Can I ask what the differences concludes to between these two choices? Is it purely price wise whilst maintaining a similar outcome? Or are there specific reasons for stating these two builds?

Quixote - Thanks for the options, Windows will need to be purchased actually, a good call. As for the all in one water cooling unit, if it's easy to install and add at a later date then I may do that. Though having that £11 keyboard certainly makes room (cost wise) for going with the water cooling first.

And thank's for all the reassuring comments about building a PC, I don't intend to go in blind but obviously for someone new to all this it's good to hear genuine support