PC Build Help

[georann]

Hello all
I know there are a lot of people on here with a good range of skills and experience so I thought I would ask and see if anyone can help me!

I'm planning on doing my first PC build (I want something higher spec than the shops sell and custom pcs are rather highly priced!) but need some advice on spec-ing it out and what to buy! I'm capable of building it (helped build a few and I'm technically minded) but I don't really know what the best tech is at the moment. So I'll let you know what I'm looking for and hopefully some of you clever people can give me some ideas.

It needs to run fast and cope with multiple tasks for day to day use, but also run photoshop and CAD software (so high graphics power) and be capable of playing games (though I currently am a console gamer).
Processor I'm thinking something along the lines of an i7 (but which one!?)
RAM at least 8gb, possibly 16 or more
Hard Drive doesn't need to be huge, 500gb-1TB for data but perhaps an SSD for programs and fast boot up?
Graphics card something decent to cope with the above usage, probably an NVidia Geforce of sorts, probably about 2gb graphics memory
Sound card isn't personally a huge concern (am I being short sighted?)
Disk drives preferably DVD writing and blu-ray playing (not necessarily Blu-ray writing)
A few front USB 3.0 ports and a card reader
Power supply
Case
Oh and I'd like it to be well cooled and reasonably quiet.


Don't think I've missed anything.
Sorry its such a big list of demands I just want to get it right!
My budget is £800-1000 and I don't need software or operating system or a monitor, speakers, keyboard etc.

Hopefully someone can help me out on this.
Thanks in advance
Dan

 

[spiritwalker]

to be honest with a grand budget id just look at some of the alienware spec pcs less hassle and high spec...

 

[dwardo]

to be honest with a grand budget id just look at some of the alienware spec pcs less hassle and high spec...

Another vote. Have built machines for friends over the years as its my trade. But over recent years its been cheaper and better to go for one of the companies such as alienware or something on over-clockers. They can buy the bits cheaper than you can and its one central place for warranty.
Can be even cheaper if you source your own operating system...

 

[georann]

I have the os and all software etc so it's just hardware costs. Point taken about sourcing cheaper but I've found a lot of the custom pcs are too tailored to games and exceed my a budget if everything else is comparable. Plus I'd quite like to do it myself and then I'll easily be able to change bits later on.

 

[drliamski]

Another vote for the overclockers stuff they are a great supplier and there barebones kits are good in terms of compatibility.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk 2

 

[rik_uk3]

I put all my PCs together myself and for the last few years use novatech. The bare bones systems are great as a base to start from

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/pcs/bb-47708b.html
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...nal/solidstate/upto120gb/sdssdx-120g-g25.html
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...rnal/solidstate/ssdaccessories/bracket25.html
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/harddrives-internal/sata2tbto2.5tb/st2000dm001.html
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/opticaldrives/satadvdwriters/sh-224dbbebe.html
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/...s/nvidiagtx660keplerseries/gv-n660oc-2gd.html

Should do all you need.

 

[neoaliphant]

It needs to run fast and cope with multiple tasks for day to day use, but also run photoshop and CAD software (so high graphics power) and be capable of playing games (though I currently am a console gamer).
Processor I'm thinking something along the lines of an i7 (but which one!?)
RAM at least 8gb, possibly 16 or more
Hard Drive doesn't need to be huge, 500gb-1TB for data but perhaps an SSD for programs and fast boot up?
Graphics card something decent to cope with the above usage, probably an NVidia Geforce of sorts, probably about 2gb graphics memory
Sound card isn't personally a huge concern (am I being short sighted?)
Disk drives preferably DVD writing and blu-ray playing (not necessarily Blu-ray writing)
A few front USB 3.0 ports and a card reader
Power supply
Case
Oh and I'd like it to be well cooled and reasonably quiet.

id go for i7 CPU, or at very least i5
decent board, dont scrimp here
graphics card- nvidia, its not the ram but the chipset thats the factor, have a look on toms hardware guide, this is where most gamers spend the money
hard drive, ssd is noticeable faster, , see how much budget left at end
PSU, youd want 600w or more, see about a bundle with good case,
sound, just use integrated in to motherboard
ram- 16gb at least for cad/gaming,

id use ebuyer or novatech for parts

Al

 

[abominable_scouse_monster]

I7
16gb DDR3
4tb
decent gfc card
and nice case
and win 7 for under a grand, challenge accepted.

 

[rik_uk3]

I7
16gb DDR3
4tb
decent gfc card
and nice case
and win 7 for under a grand, challenge accepted.

And easily done these days as shown in my post earlier (OP does not need an operating system by the way). I upgrade every year as does my lad, his new graphic card will cost more than some i7 systems (he's a gamer).

 

[andyxedos]

one bit of advice from me DO NOT skimp on the power supply!!! if you want a high end unit dropping £100 on a power supply should be easily done. A lot of people scrape on these buying a 1200w for £40 then acting suprised when it blows taking all the rest of their kit with it !

 

[georann]

Thanks for the input guys.
I've been playing around with a few custom pc builder websites for some ideas and looking at cheap supplies and got this so far as a potential set for your critique:

- Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail

- Prolimatech Panther CPU Cooler (Socket 1155 / 1150 / 1156 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2)

- Asus Z87-PLUS Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard

Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP8G3D1609DS1S00CEU)

KFA2 GeForce GTX 650Ti Boost 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

- Samsung 120GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD120BW)

- Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST1000DM003) HDD

- Pioneer BDC-207DBK 8x BluRay ROM / DVDRW SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM)

- Corsair 2013 Edition Gamer Series GS 700W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply (CP-9020064-UK) Or novatech do a barebones bundle for a fair bit less with a Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 motherboard and the rest of the bundle are comparable parts (plus graphics card etc isn't included). What do you think?

 

[georann]

Also how do you guys rate these new hybrid drives instead of an SSD for boot and HDD for data?
Something like a Seagate 1tb hybrid

 

[rik_uk3]

one bit of advice from me DO NOT skimp on the power supply!!! if you want a high end unit dropping £100 on a power supply should be easily done. A lot of people scrape on these buying a 1200w for £40 then acting suprised when it blows taking all the rest of their kit with it !

1200w PSU? That a big PSU. I'm using a 750w on a high end machine and it draws nowhere near that output; the Novatech come with 750w and will very easily cope with the OPs new system. I've not used a hybrid drive so can't comment from personal usage, I use an SSD drive as boot drive and to store programmes then standard 2 and 3 TB SATA drives for data storage and the machine (i7) really flies running things like Corel Draw, Adobe Master Collection CS5 and Office 2010. The SATA drive really does speed up boot times and general performance.

I highly recommend Novatech, their service it top jolly.