Solve : Finally going to build- Part II?

1.	Solve : Finally going to build- Part II?
Answer» this BUILD is starting to be a bit out-dated, still a quite capable machine but I figure if I can afford a new build I may as well do so. I was originally going to up the RAM to 16GB for this machine but that was ridiculously expensive. As usual however I suck at coming up with a good set of components. I've come up with a total of around ~1200, and that's before I include a hard drive, which is somewhat important. I'm using tigerdirect.ca because I Know they will ship to me (newegg.ca refused to when I tried that first build originally). Motherboard: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8045916&CatId=13 Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H Z87 Motherboard - ATX, LGA1150, Z87 Chipset, DDR3 1600 MHz, Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, HDMI, PCIe, CrossfireX READY - GA-Z87X-UD3H $179.97 Selection reasoning: Primarily the gigabit LAN and USB 3. However, I also selected SLI/Crossfire capability since that would be a reasonable upgrade path in the future. I'm not completely attached to the idea of having SLI Capabilities especially since I Don't plan to get two Graphics cards right away. Idea being I grab one card for the build that performs amicably and then later down the road I can grab another of the same card when they've dropped in price because they are a few years old, which would give a nice boost to the system in the future. I went with Intel for no particular reason, except that I am more familiar with them. If I Can get similar capabilities from the motherboard/CPU/GPU with an AMD-based solution for a good amount cheaper I'm open to that cost-saving measure. (And it would be easy to convince me to drop SLI/Crossfire capability) CPU: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2372989&CatId=1969 Intel Core i7-3770K Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.50GHz (3.90GHz Max Turbo), Socket H2 (LGA1155), 77W, Fan, Unlocked, RETAIL (BX80667i73770K) $359.97 If any part can be reduced to save, this is probably one of them. Some points: -I have no real intention to overclock- but again, good to have the option for the future. -I have no idea what the real difference between i5 and i7 is. I know that I'd like to have virtualization capabilities, which my Q8200 doesn't have. I suspect that is bog-standard now since it was pretty close to being so when I built this machine. Power Supply: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8591633&CatId=2533 Corsair RM Series™ RM750 Fully Modular Power Supply Unit - 750W, 80 Plus® Gold, Fully Modular (CP-9020055-NA) $155.99 This may end up a repeat of that first thread, whereby I end up swapping the chosen Modular Power Supply with a non-modular version. Another alternative is This. It's 650W but should do fine. If I need to I could get the 650W and swap it into this computer, then use this computer's current 750TX Power supply in the new build. Another issue is if I go the "future friendly" approach and have support for SLI/Crossfire it might be reasonable to get a Power supply expecting that to be used in the future. Case: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8894504&CatId=1509 Thermaltake Commander G42 Mid-Tower Case w/ Window - SPCC Material, 2 x 120mm Fans, 6 x 3.5"/ 6 x 2.5" Internal Drive Bays, 8+1 Expansion Slots - CA-1B5-00M1WN-00 83.99 Nice, reasonably cheap, and not fancy. I Was actually going to try to get the exact same case again but doesn't look like it's sold anymore. Oh well. Memory http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7487099&CatId=4534 Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10B 16GB Desktop Memory Module Kit - DDR3, 2 x 8GB, Dual Channel, 240 Pin, DIMM, 1.5V, PC3-12800, 1600MHz, XMP Ready 2 8GB sticks of DDR3 rather than 4 of 4 to make Upgrading less of a pain. When I built this current machine 8GB seemed like gobs (and really, it still is) but it supports up to 16GB and I Don't think that's going to be happening since DDR2 RAM is getting pricey. So I'm going 2x8 with the idea that will leave me two RAM slots for future expansion, such as adding another 16GB. 32GB SEEMS like a crapton but I'm thinking I Could spend a little more now and save money later if I was to upgrade, since I wouldn't have to buy a completely new set of RAM. 199.97 Graphics: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4501127&CatId=7387 EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Signature 2 02G-P4-2661-KR Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0(x16), 1x Dual-link DVI-D, 1x Dual-link DVI-I, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11, SLI Ready, Dual-Slot 249.97 I know nothing about Graphics cards. Seriously. I'm just avoiding MSI. That brings me in at 1200. And that is before I add in the hard disk drive(s), so I might be trying to future proof too much from the get go. IT would of course be an option for me to take components from this system (such as the SSD and 4TB Hard drive I Just installed) And put them in the new machine but I'd like to keep this one operational.Looks good, just a few notes: That CPU is an Ivy Bridge but the board is for Haswell - You would need to swap it for a 4770k Good choice on Intel - When you look at the 4770k, you aren't going to be able to get an AMD chip that will compare. For you I would get the i7 as it gives 4 extra threads which will help with programming and compilation as well as with video and photo editing The Corsair RM PSUs are great but you don't need anywhere near 750w for that build, 650w is more than enough - I'd also avoid the CX ones as they are positioned as lower end units. They don't seem to sell the RM650 at tigerdirect so you would need to find it elsewhere (In all honesty, the selection of PSUs at Tigerdirect.ca seems really limited) I'd generally say to avoid getting a PSU for maybe getting SLI in the future as in the meantime you'll be running it well below its peak efficiency - Unless you have some sort of extreme monitor setup for gaming, you'll never need SLI and would be better just upgrading the card down the line. The 660 is also a previous generation card, nowadays you would want to be looking at the 760 - EVGA is a great brand though That case looks good, also take a look at Corsair cases as they are great quality with loads of room for building and cable management (Especially in the Obsidian series) Quote from: BC_Programmer on March 04, 2014, 12:18:09 AM Motherboard: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8045916&CatId=13 Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H Z87 Motherboard - ATX, LGA1150, Z87 Chipset, DDR3 1600 MHz, Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, HDMI, PCIe, CrossfireX Ready - GA-Z87X-UD3H $179.97 Selection reasoning: Primarily the gigabit LAN and USB 3. However, I also selected SLI/Crossfire capability since that would be a reasonable upgrade path in the future. I'm not completely attached to the idea of having SLI Capabilities especially since I Don't plan to get two Graphics cards right away. Idea being I grab one card for the build that performs amicably and then later down the road I can grab another of the same card when they've dropped in price because they are a few years old, which would give a nice boost to the system in the future. I went with Intel for no particular reason, except that I am more familiar with them. If I Can get similar capabilities from the motherboard/CPU/GPU with an AMD-based solution for a good amount cheaper I'm open to that cost-saving measure. (And it would be easy to convince me to drop SLI/Crossfire capability) CPU: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2372989&CatId=1969 Intel Core i7-3770K Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.50GHz (3.90GHz Max Turbo), Socket H2 (LGA1155), 77W, Fan, Unlocked, Retail (BX80667i73770K) $359.97 http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8037048&CatId=8741 Intel Core i7-4770K Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.5GHz, 84W, Fan, Unlocked Multiplier, 1250 MHz Graphics Core Speed - BX80646I74770K 369.97 If any part can be reduced to save, this is probably one of them. Some points: -I have no real intention to overclock- but again, good to have the option for the future. -I have no idea what the real difference between i5 and i7 is. I know that I'd like to have virtualization capabilities, which my Q8200 doesn't have. I suspect that is bog-standard now since it was pretty close to being so when I built this machine. Power Supply: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8591633&CatId=2533 Corsair RM Series™ RM750 Fully Modular Power Supply Unit - 750W, 80 Plus® Gold, Fully Modular (CP-9020055-NA) $155.99 http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=580994&CatId=5439 Corsair CP-9020039-NA Enthusiast Series TX650M Modular Power Supply - 650W, 80 Plus Bronze, Single +12V Rail $118.99 This may end up a repeat of that first thread, whereby I end up swapping the chosen Modular Power Supply with a non-modular version. Another alternative is This. It's 650W but should do fine. If I need to I could get the 650W and swap it into this computer, then use this computer's current 750TX Power supply in the new build. Another issue is if I go the "future friendly" approach and have support for SLI/Crossfire it might be reasonable to get a Power supply expecting that to be used in the future. Case: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8894504&CatId=1509 Thermaltake Commander G42 Mid-Tower Case w/ Window - SPCC Material, 2 x 120mm Fans, 6 x 3.5"/ 6 x 2.5" Internal Drive Bays, 8+1 Expansion Slots - CA-1B5-00M1WN-00 83.99 Nice, reasonably cheap, and not fancy. I Was actually going to try to get the exact same case again but doesn't look like it's sold anymore. Oh well. Memory http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7487099&CatId=4534 Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10B 16GB Desktop Memory Module Kit - DDR3, 2 x 8GB, Dual Channel, 240 Pin, DIMM, 1.5V, PC3-12800, 1600MHz, XMP Ready 2 8GB sticks of DDR3 rather than 4 of 4 to make Upgrading less of a pain. When I built this current machine 8GB seemed like gobs (and really, it still is) but it supports up to 16GB and I Don't think that's going to be happening since DDR2 RAM is getting pricey. So I'm going 2x8 with the idea that will leave me two RAM slots for future expansion, such as adding another 16GB. 32GB seems like a crapton but I'm thinking I Could spend a little more now and save money later if I was to upgrade, since I wouldn't have to buy a completely new set of RAM. 199.97 Graphics: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4501127&CatId=7387 EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Signature 2 02G-P4-2661-KR Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0(x16), 1x Dual-link DVI-D, 1x Dual-link DVI-I, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11, SLI Ready, Dual-Slot 249.97 http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8220266&CatId=7387 EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0 (x16), 1x Dual-Link DVI-D, 1x Dual-Link DVI-I, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11.1, SLI Ready, Dual-Slot, Fan, (02G-P4-2770-KR) $399.75 I know nothing about Graphics cards. Seriously. I'm just avoiding MSI. That brings me in at 1200. And that is before I add in the hard disk drive(s), so I might be trying to future proof too much from the get go. IT would of course be an option for me to take components from this system (such as the SSD and 4TB Hard drive I Just installed) And put them in the new machine but I'd like to keep this one operational. That does bring me up to $1350 price wise, But that's fine. Quote Unless you have some sort of extreme monitor setup for gaming, you'll never need SLI and would be better just upgrading the card down the line. Well the plan is to get a 2560x1600 Monitor to go with it, and ideally games would be run at as high resolution as they support.Lookin good... My last 3 vid cards have all been EVGA's and i've been very happy with them... They did have an upgrade program as well let's say they come out with the latest, greatest 6 months after you buy...you have the option to upgrade and they credit you back at full retail towards the new card.Just a note on the CPU...the "K" Intel CPUs don't support all the virtualisation gubbins, it's worth checking out the Intel ARK page for the CPU before you make a decision. Off the top of my head it's VT-D the K chips lack compared to non-K, I don't know if this is important to you or not. Quote from: Calum on March 04, 2014, 11:52:46 AM Just a note on the CPU...the "K" Intel CPUs don't support all the virtualisation gubbins, it's worth checking out the Intel ARK page for the CPU before you make a decision. Off the top of my head it's VT-D the K chips lack compared to non-K, I don't know if this is important to you or not. Good point - Really depends if it's worth losing the overclocking ability for that. From what I've found, software such as VirtualBox and Hyper-V as well as Linux stuff like KVM and Xen are happy on a 'k' CPU but this may cause issues depending on what you are doing. Quote from: Calum on March 04, 2014, 11:52:46 AM Just a note on the CPU...the "K" Intel CPUs don't support all the virtualisation gubbins, it's worth checking out the Intel ARK page for the CPU before you make a decision. Off the top of my head it's VT-D the K chips lack compared to non-K, I don't know if this is important to you or not. That looks to be the case. However, VT-D looks to be a "high-end" Virtualization feature, mostly useful for servers which will run multiple VMs. VT-X is specifically what I'm looking for, the lack thereof has caused some problems since I cannot virtualize a 64-bit OS at all without it. VT-d seems to be more about sharing resources between multiple, long-running Virtual Machines.Indeed, just wasn't sure which specific VT features you NEEDED so I thought it was worth pointing it out. It's a very annoying quirk of Intel's lineup that the K CPUs don't support that one single feature. If you don't need it, it's definitely not worth sacrificing the overclocking ability for it though, especially as the non-K isn't that much cheaper. VT-X is supported, as you said, so the 4770K should be absolutely fine.camerongray wrote: Quote •The Corsair RM PSUs are great but you don't need anywhere near 750w for that build, 650w is more than enough - I'd also avoid the CX ones as they are positioned as lower end units. They don't seem to sell the RM650 at tigerdirect so you would need to find it elsewhere (In all honesty, the selection of PSUs at Tigerdirect.ca seems really limited) My input on this subject is that if he was to implement dual video cards later on, he would want to have 750watts vs 650watts. So while I also agree that 650watts is plenty for current specs, just not sure if the 650watts will hold up against 2 powerful video cards as SLI etc. So just wanted to state that so that BC is not stuck later on having to yank out a perfectly fine 650 to place a 750 in and spend more money later. Depending on video cards though 650watts can be enough for a system with SLI, but it all depends on the cards that are going to be used as well as if any other internal HDDs are added for RAID array later etc, as well as additional power demands if this is to be an O.C. machine which draws more watts. Quote from: DaveLembke on March 04, 2014, 02:18:01 PM So just wanted to state that so that BC is not stuck later on having to yank out a perfectly fine 650 to place a 750 in and spend more money later. If that was to become necessary at some point I could simply swap with the Power supply in this machine (which is 750W).A quick note on power requirements - GTX 770 SLI would be fine on a 650W PSU, peak system power with an Ivybridge-E at 4.6GHz and both cards fully loaded was comfortably under that at 505W in Guru3D's review - http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_770_sli_review,4.html The 4770K isn't as power hungry as the 3960X and their test system also has most power saving options disabled, and additional hardware such as WC pumps and cold cathodes. 650W is more than sufficient for the proposed system even with SLI and a few further upgrades. The TX650M is also a decent upper midrange unit, I'd have no problem with that PSU. Oh, one more thing - I've never been a fan of Vengeance myself, although it may well have improved. I would however look at other RAM as there are other 16GB kits available cheaper, from equally good manufacturers (in terms of warranty and service). Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8532821&CatId=4534 Corsair - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2504393&CatId=4534 PNY - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8045513&CatId=4534 Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8021815&CatId=4534 Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8532836&CatId=4534 All are good choices, might just help save a few $. The last Patriot kit is even 1866MHz, not that it makes much real world difference but there you go Quote from: DaveLembke on March 04, 2014, 02:18:01 PM My input on this subject is that if he was to implement dual video cards later on, he would want to have 750watts vs 650watts. So while I also agree that 650watts is plenty for current specs, just not sure if the 650watts will hold up against 2 powerful video cards as SLI etc. So just wanted to state that so that BC is not stuck later on having to yank out a perfectly fine 650 to place a 750 in and spend more money later. Depending on video cards though 650watts can be enough for a system with SLI, but it all depends on the cards that are going to be used as well as if any other internal HDDs are added for RAID array later etc, as well as additional power demands if this is to be an O.C. machine which draws more watts. Quote I'd generally say to avoid getting a PSU for maybe getting SLI in the future as in the meantime you'll be running it well below its peak efficiency - Unless you have some sort of extreme monitor setup for gaming, you'll never need SLI and would be better just upgrading the card down the line. A PSU works at its most efficient at over 50% of its load, therefore if you buy a way overpowered unit for the setup it will be running well below it's peak efficiency and therefore will waste power. Hardware is getting more efficient all the time too. Quote from: Calum on March 04, 2014, 02:32:19 PM Oh, one more thing - I've never been a fan of Vengeance myself, although it may well have improved. I would however look at other RAM as there are other 16GB kits available cheaper, from equally good manufacturers (in terms of warranty and service). Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8532821&CatId=4534 Corsair - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2504393&CatId=4534 PNY - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8045513&CatId=4534 Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8021815&CatId=4534 Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8532836&CatId=4534 All are good choices, might just help save a few $. The last Patriot kit is even 1866MHz, not that it makes much real world difference but there you go yeah the XMS seems like a good choice. I believe that is what I have in this machine. It's a bit cheaper as well. I guess re: the PSU all components have gotten more efficient over the years, so whereas 750W was reasonable for this computer I'm using now, it's overkill for a new one. Quote I guess re: the PSU all components have gotten more efficient over the years, so whereas 750W was reasonable for this computer I'm using now, it's overkill for a new one. Exactly, I was pretty shocked when I tested my PC - Idles at around 90w and reaches something like 300w when running a very graphically intensive game. My flatmate's PC with an i5 3470 and GTX 660 pulls around 50w at idle!OK here is what I've got currently in the "Shopping cart". I Added two hard drives but I'm debating with myself the best move in that regard. Case:JHE-102324016 ::Thermaltake Commander G42 Mid-Tower Case w/ Window - SPCC Material, 2 x 120mm Fans, 6 x 3.5"/ 6 x 2.5" Internal Drive Bays, 8+1 Expansion Slots - CA-1B5-00M1WN-00 , $83.99 Motherboard:G452-1154 ::Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H Z87 Motherboard - ATX, LGA1150, Z87 Chipset, DDR3 1600 MHz, Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, HDMI, PCIe, CrossfireX Ready - GA-Z87X-UD3H, $179.97 CPU:I69-4770K ::Intel Core i7-4770K Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.5GHz, 84W, Fan, Unlocked Multiplier, 1250 MHz Graphics Core Speed - BX80646I74770K, $369.97 Graphics Card:YYD2-02GP42770KR ::EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0 (x16), 1x Dual-Link DVI-D, 1x Dual-Link DVI-I, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11.1, SLI Ready, Dual-Slot, Fan, (02G-P4-2770-KR), $399.75 Power Supply: C13-2822 ::Corsair CP-9020039-NA Enthusiast Series TX650M Modular Power Supply - 650W, 80 Plus Bronze, Single +12V Rail, $118.99 RAM:C13-1019 ::Corsair XMS3 CMX16GX3M2A1600C11 16GB Desktop Memory Module Kit - DDR3, 2 x 8GB, 240 Pin, DIMM, XMP Ready $179.97 For Hard Drives I got a Corsair CSSD-F240GBGT-BK Force Series GT Solid State Drive - 240GB, SATA III 6Gbps at $229.97, and the same WD hard drive I have in this machine, a 4TB WD Red. This brings the grand total to $1,772.58. Shipping and handling brings that up to $2,045.52. As a result I removed the hard drives. I could buy them but it's pointless since once the new build is operational I doubt I'll be using this machine very much. I like the idea of a backup, working machine but it doesn't need a 480GB SSD and 4TB Hard drive to serve that purpose. Removing the HDDs brings me a total cost of: $1,550.50 I was tempted to buy it now but I'm not exactly rushed to have a new PC so I'd like to explore the possible options or if anybody has any suggestions that could shave additional dollars by switching out other components, or if I can upgrade something for a bit more. I've started the transfer of $1750 to Paypal for this purchase Once that finishes I'll be ready to go, and it is effectively the budget I have in mind. EDIT: I decided to also upgrade the Graphics card to this: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8220266&sku=YYD2-02GP42770KR EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0 (x16), 1x Dual-Link DVI-D, 1x Dual-Link DVI-I, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11.1, SLI Ready, Dual-Slot, Fan, (02G-P4-2770-KR) It's also a GTX 770, also EVGA, but it has 4GB of Memory rather than 2GB. Do I do things that need 4GB of Video Memory? Uh, probably not. The only thing that can possibly hurt is my wallet but it's in a good place for the moment so I figured why not. The main thing I'll look forward too is a new 1440p Monitor... I'll just have to 'suffer' with this 1440x900 monitor that only has VGA input.

Answer»

this BUILD is starting to be a bit out-dated, still a quite capable machine but I figure if I can afford a new build I may as well do so. I was originally going to up the RAM to 16GB for this machine but that was ridiculously expensive.

As usual however I suck at coming up with a good set of components. I've come up with a total of around ~1200, and that's before I include a hard drive, which is somewhat important. I'm using tigerdirect.ca because I Know they will ship to me (newegg.ca refused to when I tried that first build originally).

Motherboard:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8045916&CatId=13

Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H Z87 Motherboard - ATX, LGA1150, Z87 Chipset, DDR3 1600 MHz, Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, HDMI, PCIe, CrossfireX READY - GA-Z87X-UD3H

$179.97

Selection reasoning: Primarily the gigabit LAN and USB 3. However, I also selected SLI/Crossfire capability since that would be a reasonable upgrade path in the future. I'm not completely attached to the idea of having SLI Capabilities especially since I Don't plan to get two Graphics cards right away. Idea being I grab one card for the build that performs amicably and then later down the road I can grab another of the same card when they've dropped in price because they are a few years old, which would give a nice boost to the system in the future.

I went with Intel for no particular reason, except that I am more familiar with them. If I Can get similar capabilities from the motherboard/CPU/GPU with an AMD-based solution for a good amount cheaper I'm open to that cost-saving measure. (And it would be easy to convince me to drop SLI/Crossfire capability)

CPU:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2372989&CatId=1969

Intel Core i7-3770K Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.50GHz (3.90GHz Max Turbo), Socket H2 (LGA1155), 77W, Fan, Unlocked, RETAIL (BX80667i73770K)

$359.97

If any part can be reduced to save, this is probably one of them. Some points:

-I have no real intention to overclock- but again, good to have the option for the future.
-I have no idea what the real difference between i5 and i7 is. I know that I'd like to have virtualization capabilities, which my Q8200 doesn't have. I suspect that is bog-standard now since it was pretty close to being so when I built this machine.

Power Supply:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8591633&CatId=2533

Corsair RM Series™ RM750 Fully Modular Power Supply Unit - 750W, 80 Plus® Gold, Fully Modular (CP-9020055-NA)

$155.99

This may end up a repeat of that first thread, whereby I end up swapping the chosen Modular Power Supply with a non-modular version.

Another alternative is This. It's 650W but should do fine. If I need to I could get the 650W and swap it into this computer, then use this computer's current 750TX Power supply in the new build. Another issue is if I go the "future friendly" approach and have support for SLI/Crossfire it might be reasonable to get a Power supply expecting that to be used in the future.

Case:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8894504&CatId=1509

Thermaltake Commander G42 Mid-Tower Case w/ Window - SPCC Material, 2 x 120mm Fans, 6 x 3.5"/ 6 x 2.5" Internal Drive Bays, 8+1 Expansion Slots - CA-1B5-00M1WN-00

83.99

Nice, reasonably cheap, and not fancy. I Was actually going to try to get the exact same case again but doesn't look like it's sold anymore. Oh well.

Memory

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7487099&CatId=4534

Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10B 16GB Desktop Memory Module Kit - DDR3, 2 x 8GB, Dual Channel, 240 Pin, DIMM, 1.5V, PC3-12800, 1600MHz, XMP Ready

2 8GB sticks of DDR3 rather than 4 of 4 to make Upgrading less of a pain. When I built this current machine 8GB seemed like gobs (and really, it still is) but it supports up to 16GB and I Don't think that's going to be happening since DDR2 RAM is getting pricey. So I'm going 2x8 with the idea that will leave me two RAM slots for future expansion, such as adding another 16GB. 32GB SEEMS like a crapton but I'm thinking I Could spend a little more now and save money later if I was to upgrade, since I wouldn't have to buy a completely new set of RAM.

199.97

Graphics:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4501127&CatId=7387

EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Signature 2 02G-P4-2661-KR Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0(x16), 1x Dual-link DVI-D, 1x Dual-link DVI-I, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11, SLI Ready, Dual-Slot

249.97

I know nothing about Graphics cards. Seriously. I'm just avoiding MSI.

That brings me in at 1200. And that is before I add in the hard disk drive(s), so I might be trying to future proof too much from the get go. IT would of course be an option for me to take components from this system (such as the SSD and 4TB Hard drive I Just installed) And put them in the new machine but I'd like to keep this one operational.Looks good, just a few notes:

That CPU is an Ivy Bridge but the board is for Haswell - You would need to swap it for a 4770k
Good choice on Intel - When you look at the 4770k, you aren't going to be able to get an AMD chip that will compare.
For you I would get the i7 as it gives 4 extra threads which will help with programming and compilation as well as with video and photo editing
The Corsair RM PSUs are great but you don't need anywhere near 750w for that build, 650w is more than enough - I'd also avoid the CX ones as they are positioned as lower end units. They don't seem to sell the RM650 at tigerdirect so you would need to find it elsewhere (In all honesty, the selection of PSUs at Tigerdirect.ca seems really limited)
I'd generally say to avoid getting a PSU for maybe getting SLI in the future as in the meantime you'll be running it well below its peak efficiency - Unless you have some sort of extreme monitor setup for gaming, you'll never need SLI and would be better just upgrading the card down the line.
The 660 is also a previous generation card, nowadays you would want to be looking at the 760 - EVGA is a great brand though
That case looks good, also take a look at Corsair cases as they are great quality with loads of room for building and cable management (Especially in the Obsidian series)

Quote from: BC_Programmer on March 04, 2014, 12:18:09 AM

Motherboard:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8045916&CatId=13

Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H Z87 Motherboard - ATX, LGA1150, Z87 Chipset, DDR3 1600 MHz, Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, HDMI, PCIe, CrossfireX Ready - GA-Z87X-UD3H

$179.97

Selection reasoning: Primarily the gigabit LAN and USB 3. However, I also selected SLI/Crossfire capability since that would be a reasonable upgrade path in the future. I'm not completely attached to the idea of having SLI Capabilities especially since I Don't plan to get two Graphics cards right away. Idea being I grab one card for the build that performs amicably and then later down the road I can grab another of the same card when they've dropped in price because they are a few years old, which would give a nice boost to the system in the future.

I went with Intel for no particular reason, except that I am more familiar with them. If I Can get similar capabilities from the motherboard/CPU/GPU with an AMD-based solution for a good amount cheaper I'm open to that cost-saving measure. (And it would be easy to convince me to drop SLI/Crossfire capability)

CPU:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2372989&CatId=1969

Intel Core i7-3770K Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.50GHz (3.90GHz Max Turbo), Socket H2 (LGA1155), 77W, Fan, Unlocked, Retail (BX80667i73770K)

$359.97

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8037048&CatId=8741

Intel Core i7-4770K Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.5GHz, 84W, Fan, Unlocked Multiplier, 1250 MHz Graphics Core Speed - BX80646I74770K

369.97

If any part can be reduced to save, this is probably one of them. Some points:

-I have no real intention to overclock- but again, good to have the option for the future.
-I have no idea what the real difference between i5 and i7 is. I know that I'd like to have virtualization capabilities, which my Q8200 doesn't have. I suspect that is bog-standard now since it was pretty close to being so when I built this machine.

Power Supply:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8591633&CatId=2533

Corsair RM Series™ RM750 Fully Modular Power Supply Unit - 750W, 80 Plus® Gold, Fully Modular (CP-9020055-NA)

$155.99
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=580994&CatId=5439

Corsair CP-9020039-NA Enthusiast Series TX650M Modular Power Supply - 650W, 80 Plus Bronze, Single +12V Rail

$118.99

This may end up a repeat of that first thread, whereby I end up swapping the chosen Modular Power Supply with a non-modular version.

Another alternative is This. It's 650W but should do fine. If I need to I could get the 650W and swap it into this computer, then use this computer's current 750TX Power supply in the new build. Another issue is if I go the "future friendly" approach and have support for SLI/Crossfire it might be reasonable to get a Power supply expecting that to be used in the future.

Case:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8894504&CatId=1509

Thermaltake Commander G42 Mid-Tower Case w/ Window - SPCC Material, 2 x 120mm Fans, 6 x 3.5"/ 6 x 2.5" Internal Drive Bays, 8+1 Expansion Slots - CA-1B5-00M1WN-00

83.99

Nice, reasonably cheap, and not fancy. I Was actually going to try to get the exact same case again but doesn't look like it's sold anymore. Oh well.

Memory

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7487099&CatId=4534

Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10B 16GB Desktop Memory Module Kit - DDR3, 2 x 8GB, Dual Channel, 240 Pin, DIMM, 1.5V, PC3-12800, 1600MHz, XMP Ready

2 8GB sticks of DDR3 rather than 4 of 4 to make Upgrading less of a pain. When I built this current machine 8GB seemed like gobs (and really, it still is) but it supports up to 16GB and I Don't think that's going to be happening since DDR2 RAM is getting pricey. So I'm going 2x8 with the idea that will leave me two RAM slots for future expansion, such as adding another 16GB. 32GB seems like a crapton but I'm thinking I Could spend a little more now and save money later if I was to upgrade, since I wouldn't have to buy a completely new set of RAM.

199.97

Graphics:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4501127&CatId=7387

EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Signature 2 02G-P4-2661-KR Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0(x16), 1x Dual-link DVI-D, 1x Dual-link DVI-I, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11, SLI Ready, Dual-Slot

249.97

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8220266&CatId=7387

EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0 (x16), 1x Dual-Link DVI-D, 1x Dual-Link DVI-I, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11.1, SLI Ready, Dual-Slot, Fan, (02G-P4-2770-KR)

$399.75

I know nothing about Graphics cards. Seriously. I'm just avoiding MSI.

That brings me in at 1200. And that is before I add in the hard disk drive(s), so I might be trying to future proof too much from the get go. IT would of course be an option for me to take components from this system (such as the SSD and 4TB Hard drive I Just installed) And put them in the new machine but I'd like to keep this one operational.

That does bring me up to $1350 price wise, But that's fine.

Quote

Unless you have some sort of extreme monitor setup for gaming, you'll never need SLI and would be better just upgrading the card down the line.

Well the plan is to get a 2560x1600 Monitor to go with it, and ideally games would be run at as high resolution as they support.Lookin good...

My last 3 vid cards have all been EVGA's and i've been very happy with them...

They did have an upgrade program as well let's say they come out with the latest, greatest 6 months after you buy...you have the option to upgrade and they credit you back at full retail towards the new card.Just a note on the CPU...the "K" Intel CPUs don't support all the virtualisation gubbins, it's worth checking out the Intel ARK page for the CPU before you make a decision. Off the top of my head it's VT-D the K chips lack compared to non-K, I don't know if this is important to you or not. Quote from: Calum on March 04, 2014, 11:52:46 AM

Just a note on the CPU...the "K" Intel CPUs don't support all the virtualisation gubbins, it's worth checking out the Intel ARK page for the CPU before you make a decision. Off the top of my head it's VT-D the K chips lack compared to non-K, I don't know if this is important to you or not.

Good point - Really depends if it's worth losing the overclocking ability for that. From what I've found, software such as VirtualBox and Hyper-V as well as Linux stuff like KVM and Xen are happy on a 'k' CPU but this may cause issues depending on what you are doing. Quote from: Calum on March 04, 2014, 11:52:46 AM

Just a note on the CPU...the "K" Intel CPUs don't support all the virtualisation gubbins, it's worth checking out the Intel ARK page for the CPU before you make a decision. Off the top of my head it's VT-D the K chips lack compared to non-K, I don't know if this is important to you or not.

That looks to be the case. However, VT-D looks to be a "high-end" Virtualization feature, mostly useful for servers which will run multiple VMs. VT-X is specifically what I'm looking for, the lack thereof has caused some problems since I cannot virtualize a 64-bit OS at all without it.

VT-d seems to be more about sharing resources between multiple, long-running Virtual Machines.Indeed, just wasn't sure which specific VT features you NEEDED so I thought it was worth pointing it out. It's a very annoying quirk of Intel's lineup that the K CPUs don't support that one single feature. If you don't need it, it's definitely not worth sacrificing the overclocking ability for it though, especially as the non-K isn't that much cheaper. VT-X is supported, as you said, so the 4770K should be absolutely fine.camerongray wrote:

Quote

•The Corsair RM PSUs are great but you don't need anywhere near 750w for that build, 650w is more than enough - I'd also avoid the CX ones as they are positioned as lower end units. They don't seem to sell the RM650 at tigerdirect so you would need to find it elsewhere (In all honesty, the selection of PSUs at Tigerdirect.ca seems really limited)

My input on this subject is that if he was to implement dual video cards later on, he would want to have 750watts vs 650watts. So while I also agree that 650watts is plenty for current specs, just not sure if the 650watts will hold up against 2 powerful video cards as SLI etc. So just wanted to state that so that BC is not stuck later on having to yank out a perfectly fine 650 to place a 750 in and spend more money later. Depending on video cards though 650watts can be enough for a system with SLI, but it all depends on the cards that are going to be used as well as if any other internal HDDs are added for RAID array later etc, as well as additional power demands if this is to be an O.C. machine which draws more watts. Quote from: DaveLembke on March 04, 2014, 02:18:01 PM

So just wanted to state that so that BC is not stuck later on having to yank out a perfectly fine 650 to place a 750 in and spend more money later.

If that was to become necessary at some point I could simply swap with the Power supply in this machine (which is 750W).A quick note on power requirements - GTX 770 SLI would be fine on a 650W PSU, peak system power with an Ivybridge-E at 4.6GHz and both cards fully loaded was comfortably under that at 505W in Guru3D's review - http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_770_sli_review,4.html
The 4770K isn't as power hungry as the 3960X and their test system also has most power saving options disabled, and additional hardware such as WC pumps and cold cathodes. 650W is more than sufficient for the proposed system even with SLI and a few further upgrades. The TX650M is also a decent upper midrange unit, I'd have no problem with that PSU.

Oh, one more thing - I've never been a fan of Vengeance myself, although it may well have improved. I would however look at other RAM as there are other 16GB kits available cheaper, from equally good manufacturers (in terms of warranty and service).
Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8532821&CatId=4534
Corsair - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2504393&CatId=4534
PNY - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8045513&CatId=4534
Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8021815&CatId=4534
Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8532836&CatId=4534

All are good choices, might just help save a few $. The last Patriot kit is even 1866MHz, not that it makes much real world difference but there you go Quote from: DaveLembke on March 04, 2014, 02:18:01 PM

My input on this subject is that if he was to implement dual video cards later on, he would want to have 750watts vs 650watts. So while I also agree that 650watts is plenty for current specs, just not sure if the 650watts will hold up against 2 powerful video cards as SLI etc. So just wanted to state that so that BC is not stuck later on having to yank out a perfectly fine 650 to place a 750 in and spend more money later. Depending on video cards though 650watts can be enough for a system with SLI, but it all depends on the cards that are going to be used as well as if any other internal HDDs are added for RAID array later etc, as well as additional power demands if this is to be an O.C. machine which draws more watts.

Quote

I'd generally say to avoid getting a PSU for maybe getting SLI in the future as in the meantime you'll be running it well below its peak efficiency - Unless you have some sort of extreme monitor setup for gaming, you'll never need SLI and would be better just upgrading the card down the line.

A PSU works at its most efficient at over 50% of its load, therefore if you buy a way overpowered unit for the setup it will be running well below it's peak efficiency and therefore will waste power. Hardware is getting more efficient all the time too. Quote from: Calum on March 04, 2014, 02:32:19 PM

Oh, one more thing - I've never been a fan of Vengeance myself, although it may well have improved. I would however look at other RAM as there are other 16GB kits available cheaper, from equally good manufacturers (in terms of warranty and service).
Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8532821&CatId=4534
Corsair - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2504393&CatId=4534
PNY - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8045513&CatId=4534
Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8021815&CatId=4534
Patriot - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8532836&CatId=4534

All are good choices, might just help save a few $. The last Patriot kit is even 1866MHz, not that it makes much real world difference but there you go

yeah the XMS seems like a good choice. I believe that is what I have in this machine. It's a bit cheaper as well.

I guess re: the PSU all components have gotten more efficient over the years, so whereas 750W was reasonable for this computer I'm using now, it's overkill for a new one.
Quote

I guess re: the PSU all components have gotten more efficient over the years, so whereas 750W was reasonable for this computer I'm using now, it's overkill for a new one.

Exactly, I was pretty shocked when I tested my PC - Idles at around 90w and reaches something like 300w when running a very graphically intensive game. My flatmate's PC with an i5 3470 and GTX 660 pulls around 50w at idle!OK here is what I've got currently in the "Shopping cart". I Added two hard drives but I'm debating with myself the best move in that regard.
Case:JHE-102324016 ::Thermaltake Commander G42 Mid-Tower Case w/ Window - SPCC Material, 2 x 120mm Fans, 6 x 3.5"/ 6 x 2.5" Internal Drive Bays, 8+1 Expansion Slots - CA-1B5-00M1WN-00 , $83.99
Motherboard:G452-1154 ::Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H Z87 Motherboard - ATX, LGA1150, Z87 Chipset, DDR3 1600 MHz, Audio, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0, HDMI, PCIe, CrossfireX Ready - GA-Z87X-UD3H, $179.97
CPU:I69-4770K ::Intel Core i7-4770K Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.5GHz, 84W, Fan, Unlocked Multiplier, 1250 MHz Graphics Core Speed - BX80646I74770K, $369.97
Graphics Card:YYD2-02GP42770KR ::EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0 (x16), 1x Dual-Link DVI-D, 1x Dual-Link DVI-I, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11.1, SLI Ready, Dual-Slot, Fan, (02G-P4-2770-KR), $399.75
Power Supply: C13-2822 ::Corsair CP-9020039-NA Enthusiast Series TX650M Modular Power Supply - 650W, 80 Plus Bronze, Single +12V Rail, $118.99
RAM:C13-1019 ::Corsair XMS3 CMX16GX3M2A1600C11 16GB Desktop Memory Module Kit - DDR3, 2 x 8GB, 240 Pin, DIMM, XMP Ready $179.97

For Hard Drives I got a Corsair CSSD-F240GBGT-BK Force Series GT Solid State Drive - 240GB, SATA III 6Gbps at $229.97, and the same WD hard drive I have in this machine, a 4TB WD Red.

This brings the grand total to $1,772.58. Shipping and handling brings that up to $2,045.52.

As a result I removed the hard drives. I could buy them but it's pointless since once the new build is operational I doubt I'll be using this machine very much. I like the idea of a backup, working machine but it doesn't need a 480GB SSD and 4TB Hard drive to serve that purpose. Removing the HDDs brings me a total cost of:

$1,550.50

I was tempted to buy it now but I'm not exactly rushed to have a new PC so I'd like to explore the possible options or if anybody has any suggestions that could shave additional dollars by switching out other components, or if I can upgrade something for a bit more. I've started the transfer of $1750 to Paypal for this purchase Once that finishes I'll be ready to go, and it is effectively the budget I have in mind.

EDIT: I decided to also upgrade the Graphics card to this:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8220266&sku=YYD2-02GP42770KR

EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Video Card - 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0 (x16), 1x Dual-Link DVI-D, 1x Dual-Link DVI-I, 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11.1, SLI Ready, Dual-Slot, Fan, (02G-P4-2770-KR)

It's also a GTX 770, also EVGA, but it has 4GB of Memory rather than 2GB.

Do I do things that need 4GB of Video Memory? Uh, probably not. The only thing that can possibly hurt is my wallet but it's in a good place for the moment so I figured why not.

The main thing I'll look forward too is a new 1440p Monitor... I'll just have to 'suffer' with this 1440x900 monitor that only has VGA input.

Solve : Finally going to build- Part II?

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