New PC questions and advice.

Darthanion

Darthanion

Darthanion

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25 Aug 2013
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3
I am planning an upgrade after a long gap (6 years I think). I used to do it a lot but after such a gap I am a bit out of the loop on what is required these days.

I intend to give my current PC to the GF and start from scratch. I only want to keep the Graphics card which I upgraded recently. (AMD7850)

Currently I have a Core2 duo. 2.13Ghz with 6gb RAM. So this should feel like a massive upgrade I hope.
I don't need anything outside the box as far as i can think. I have all the software too.

I use my PC for gaming now and then but also for working from home and also for video/photo editing and my current PC is giving up with my new GOPRO.

My current plan is to get the spec below but I am unsure on a few things. Budget is flexible in both directions if things are either a waste of money (i7?) or something better is worth it.

The SSD is for a boot partition (dual boot windows and linux) and the Data disk is for larger installations like steam and videos/photos I am working on.
I have a server with much more storage as well so the sizes below should be fine.

Questions:
  • 1) Is there any reason to get i7 over i5. I see some posts about hyperthreading not being used much. I do play games but also want to use this for go pro video editting and photo editting. So if I can save money and get an i5 that would be good.
  • 2) Is the PSU well specced for the the chosen components.
  • 3) Is the motherboard any good? There is a massive amount of choice and to be honest even the cheapest one seems to cover all the requirements I have. I won't be doing any overclocking. It was a bit of a guess and I have had gigabyte before.
  • 4) I specced haswell as this seemed future proof and has latest architecture etc. But is that even a good idea? This will likely be the backbone of my desktop for quite a while.
  • 5) I havn't realy thought about case and cooling. What should I get. It would be nice if it was quiet!
  • 6) What have I not thought of?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £275.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Blue 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX16C9K2/16X) £99.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £79.99
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £51.95
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £706.85 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 
A i7's only advantage is the ability to do mulithreaded tasks better. The performance increase is different depending on applications but in games with a single GPU it makes no difference over a i5. It will help in video editing if it uses all threads but it's probably only worth the added cost if you plan to do it often as a i5 is already great.

The PSU is good quality and has more than enough wattage.

The motherboard is good - Gigabyte is a reputable brand, the model is good and they have a good warranty service.

Haswell is a worth while investment as it's a very powerful CPU generation. Have you considered AMD though? The i7 will of course be better but it does cost a fair bit more. It's worth considering if you are looking to save money as a 8320/8350 can do very well in video editing if it uses all 8 threads to the point where it performs similarly to a i7. It's not particularly a slouch in games either. If you do have the money though, a i7 will be better. A i5 may still be better for you to but it's worth a small consideration.

A case is very subjective:) When I look for one I get all the ones I like the look of and Google for reviews to see the cooling, features etc
 
Thanks :)

Definitely not video editting every day. I figured the i7 might be overkill.
So i could get the Intel Core i5-4670 to save me 100 quid. I won't the need the K as I am not overclocking.

I love the dimensions for those two cases! One in mm and one in inches both from the same manufacturer.
The cube looks an interesting idea. Will have to see if it fits.

I hadn't considered AMD as I switched from AMD to Intel many years back and felt that my PCS were more reliable from that point on. Just a personal preference there.
 
Having a look at cases I like the look the silent version of the corsair case. So with that and my i5 I would be looking at the following. I will probably hang onto the extra RAM as it doesn't break the bank.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-4670 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £103.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Blue 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX16C9K2/16X) £99.95
1 x Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW) £79.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 330R Silent Mid Tower Case - Black £74.95
1 x XFX Pro 650W Core Edition '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £64.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache WD10EZEX - OEM ** Single Platter ** HDD £51.95
1 x Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £17.99
Total : £687.90 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 
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