Teo Ming Ern
Arch-Supremacy Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- Messages
- 12,324
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I've been using an AMD quad-core Phenom X4 9950 based PC for the last 4 years or so... it's getting very long in the tooth and starting to be less and less reliable... and so I am looking at building a new PC for use... as I have not been paying much attention to the PC components for the last 4 or 5 years, I really do need some help with picking components.
I use the desktop mainly for the following:
1) Surfing the net + a bit of Bitorrent
2) Office applications
3) Intensive Photoshop (some of my files >1GB) - I take a lot of high res pictures (24 Mpix)
4) Video editing (a little)
5) Light gaming (mainly racing games)
6) Watching full HD videos (mainly mp4s and Blu-ray discs)
My budget is flexible but I rather spend only around $1000... but it could go up to $1500 or even more if necessary... I don't need the fastest components.
So I have a few questions:
1) Intel or AMD? I am looking at processing power versus power consumption. I don't want a radiator in my room. No fancy overclocking, etc required. I want to use stock.
2) RAM - how much is good? I was thinking at least 8GB. This is dependent on the mobo I guess?
3) Mobo - I have 5 hard disks (2 x 3TB, 2 x 1TB, 1 x 250GB) - Mixture of SATA 1.5 & 3. The two 3TB drives are very new (less than 1 year old). I will be bringing everything over except for the 250GB HDD which is the current boot-disk (to be replaced by SSD). Also a Blu-ray drive is necessary (I burn a lot of DVD-Rs). What is suitable - bearing in mind the RAM, HDDs, SSD & optical drive requirements.
4) SSD - what is of good value? The micro-second differences between the top end isn't necessary. What I need is space and reliability and most importantly almost instant boot-up and response.
5) Graphics card - My gaming consists of racing stuff... might be graphically demanding but not at the same level as a premium FPS. I expect to run at the native resolution of my monitor (2560 x 1600) with full details.
6) Power supply - currently I am using a 850W PSU and it trips my power supply if I don't unplug the cable from the power strip before switching on the power strip. Something to power 5 HDDs, 1 SSD, 1 optical drive, plus casing fans, CPU & lots of RAM reliably.
7) Casing - something very easy to open with good access to components and easy maintain (meaning accessible to vacuum cleaner), don't attract dirt. I am using a Cooler Master now with a mesh like surface...
Must have readily accessible USB ports (I use a lot of them - photo printer, USB hub - mainly for card reader, wireless mouse & keyboard)
8) Multimedia speakers - something simple but high fidelity (good for classical music and vocals/speech). Sub-woofer optional (usually use headphones for movies). Most important is the ability to be able to plug in a set of headphones and have it playback reliably. My Cooler Master casing has a top port for the headphones but my headphones are not always detected. It's always very fiddly... and doesn't recognise earphones (like the plug not long enough to trigger the detection)
9) Mouse & keyboard. Nothing fancy. Mouse must have 'forward' and 'back' keys for browser, optical and preferably precise for photo-editing. Don't need a mechanical gaming keyboard.
10) No need for monitor - using Dell 27" ultra sharp (2560 x 1600 resolution).
Thank you very much! I know what I want but I have no idea where to begin in a market that is now very alien to me... I've always built my last 2 desktops (which last a combined 10 years or so)... so it's been a while since I read a mobo review... etc...
I use the desktop mainly for the following:
1) Surfing the net + a bit of Bitorrent
2) Office applications
3) Intensive Photoshop (some of my files >1GB) - I take a lot of high res pictures (24 Mpix)
4) Video editing (a little)
5) Light gaming (mainly racing games)
6) Watching full HD videos (mainly mp4s and Blu-ray discs)
My budget is flexible but I rather spend only around $1000... but it could go up to $1500 or even more if necessary... I don't need the fastest components.
So I have a few questions:
1) Intel or AMD? I am looking at processing power versus power consumption. I don't want a radiator in my room. No fancy overclocking, etc required. I want to use stock.
2) RAM - how much is good? I was thinking at least 8GB. This is dependent on the mobo I guess?
3) Mobo - I have 5 hard disks (2 x 3TB, 2 x 1TB, 1 x 250GB) - Mixture of SATA 1.5 & 3. The two 3TB drives are very new (less than 1 year old). I will be bringing everything over except for the 250GB HDD which is the current boot-disk (to be replaced by SSD). Also a Blu-ray drive is necessary (I burn a lot of DVD-Rs). What is suitable - bearing in mind the RAM, HDDs, SSD & optical drive requirements.
4) SSD - what is of good value? The micro-second differences between the top end isn't necessary. What I need is space and reliability and most importantly almost instant boot-up and response.
5) Graphics card - My gaming consists of racing stuff... might be graphically demanding but not at the same level as a premium FPS. I expect to run at the native resolution of my monitor (2560 x 1600) with full details.
6) Power supply - currently I am using a 850W PSU and it trips my power supply if I don't unplug the cable from the power strip before switching on the power strip. Something to power 5 HDDs, 1 SSD, 1 optical drive, plus casing fans, CPU & lots of RAM reliably.
7) Casing - something very easy to open with good access to components and easy maintain (meaning accessible to vacuum cleaner), don't attract dirt. I am using a Cooler Master now with a mesh like surface...
Must have readily accessible USB ports (I use a lot of them - photo printer, USB hub - mainly for card reader, wireless mouse & keyboard)8) Multimedia speakers - something simple but high fidelity (good for classical music and vocals/speech). Sub-woofer optional (usually use headphones for movies). Most important is the ability to be able to plug in a set of headphones and have it playback reliably. My Cooler Master casing has a top port for the headphones but my headphones are not always detected. It's always very fiddly... and doesn't recognise earphones (like the plug not long enough to trigger the detection)
9) Mouse & keyboard. Nothing fancy. Mouse must have 'forward' and 'back' keys for browser, optical and preferably precise for photo-editing. Don't need a mechanical gaming keyboard.
10) No need for monitor - using Dell 27" ultra sharp (2560 x 1600 resolution).
Thank you very much! I know what I want but I have no idea where to begin in a market that is now very alien to me... I've always built my last 2 desktops (which last a combined 10 years or so)... so it's been a while since I read a mobo review... etc...
