Help wanted with new build please.

[raydee]

Help wanted with new build please.

Unfortunately I am a complete novice when it comes to computers.
I want to treat myself to a new and up to date computer but I do not really know where to start and would greatly appreciate some help and advice from those that know much more than I do.
I have been looking on the forum and this only goes to confuse me even more.

I want a fairly powerful desktop pc to use for the usual emails and web surfing, plus documents and spreadsheets and photo editing etc.
Running windows 7 and Word 2010.

Plus I want it for Video Editing and Computer Aided Design.
I want it to run cool and quiet and as fast as is possible with good graphics.
I also want there to be room in the case and on the motherboard for any future additions and upgrading.
I am not really much interested at the moment in gaming.

I do not go too much for a case with flashing lights and colour unless there is good reason.

I rather like the Coolermaster Sileo 500 Super Quiet Case.
It seems to have room for expansion and it has USB outlets at the front which I like.

I like to use two screens. I am using two Hanns.G, 19 inch screens at the moment and
I cannot decide whether to keep with 19 inch or go up to 22 inch.
Apart from the size would there be any advantage?.

I have seen on the forum a lot of interest and recommendation of the IIYAMA E2271HDS 22” wide screen. would this be good?

My budget can be £1,000 - £2,000.

Hope that this is enough information to start some dialogue.

Many thanks
raydee.

 

[Phoenix]

The Iiyama monitors are glossy screens so the colours are more vivid, aside from that though it will just be a larger size. Here's a good build which includes a 22-inch Iiyama monitor:

Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X6 1090T (3.20GHz/9MB CACHE/AM3/) - BLACK EDITION
Free Item
FREE STORMRISE Game (RRP: £29.99) with any AMD® Phenom™ II X6 Processor!
Motherboard
ASUS® M4A89TD PRO/USB3 : DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX465 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
2TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD20EARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply & Case Cooling
CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£76)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£139)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,131.00 including VAT and delivery.

You could spend more than this but you really don't need to. With this build you've got a 6-core processor, 8GB of RAM and a graphics card that very good for photo and video editing. The motherboard also has room for future expandability if you want to add more things.

 

[raydee]

Many thanks for your quick response Phoenix.
Your build is looking good.

I would also like to hear from some other helpful people as well.

raydee.

 

[Sleinous]

This'd be my choice given your parametres:
Id keep using ur old monitors for now.
Case
COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-950 (3.06GHz) 4.8GTs/8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 2GB) 6gb here not 4gb, no idea why default is 4gb now on the configurator. This should only add a little more to the end cost, im not gonna redo it as my iphone is low on batteries.
Graphics Card
1536MB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX580 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DX 11 (PRE-ORDER)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD6402AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply & Case Cooling
CORSAIR 1000W PRO SERIES (HX1000) 80+ MODULAR PSU (£169)
Processor Cooling
SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,348.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Rakk]

Id keep using ur old monitors for now.

You can always order new monitors later if you decide you want to upgrade, when I did, I had my new monitor in less than 24 hours

 

[raydee]

Phoenix, Sleinous, and others..
Thank you for your input to date which I rather like except that I am unsure about the AMD Phenom processor.
I have always had Intel in my previous pc’s including the one that I am now using and I always understood that the Intel would give better performance than an AMD.
Plus I have rather taken a fancy to the Intel i5 or i7.
Receiving the build design from Sleinous has caused me to hesitate on this part.

1.. What do you feel that AMD has over Intel that makes you choose it.?.

2.. If I changed the processor for an Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost or similar would it fit ok with the motherboard and still allow for later expansion and future proofing.

3.. I will be using two screens. Should I change the graphics card to 2GB.?.
Do the screens come with DVI cables if I need them or will I need to order them extra.?.

4.. I have read somewhere that it is best to have one hard drive (maybe a fast solid state drive) for the operating system and a separate larger hard drive for everything else. Is that correct.?.

5.. Would it be wise to have 1 hard drive to keep solely for documents and everyday stuff, and then a second hard drive kept for archiving photo’s etc.?.

6.. 3.. What is the difference between the different hard drives available.
Say the WD Caviar Green and the Black.?.
Are there better ones available in anyone’s opinion .?.

Sleinous, Rakk,.. Perhaps I did not make it clear but I will be keeping my existing PCS machine and hopefully updating it to Windows 7. Therefore I will be keeping my existing screens and want to buy new for the new pc.
I am still not sure about the 22-inch Iiyama screens. !!.

 

[Phoenix]

1.. What do you feel that AMD has over Intel that makes you choose it.?.

2.. If I changed the processor for an Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost or similar would it fit ok with the motherboard and still allow for later expansion and future proofing.

3.. I will be using two screens. Should I change the graphics card to 2GB.?.
Do the screens come with DVI cables if I need them or will I need to order them extra.?.

4.. I have read somewhere that it is best to have one hard drive (maybe a fast solid state drive) for the operating system and a separate larger hard drive for everything else. Is that correct.?.

5.. Would it be wise to have 1 hard drive to keep solely for documents and everyday stuff, and then a second hard drive kept for archiving photo’s etc.?.

6.. 3.. What is the difference between the different hard drives available.
Say the WD Caviar Green and the Black.?.
Are there better ones available in anyone’s opinion .?.

1. A cheaper price with an additional 2 cores which will benefit you in multithreaded applications like some of the things you listed.

2. No, you would have to choose a different motherboard since it's on socket 1156 instead of socket 1336, it would allow other devices to be added to it but with 4 cores and no hyperthreading it wouldn't be as future proof for the things that you're wanting to do with the computer.

3. You can't get a 2GB GTX465 or GTX580 (the 580 better than the 465), the Iiyama monitors come with DVI cables.

4. It's a good idea for a fast loading operating system but if you don't mind waiting 45~ seconds for things to load then it's not really worth the extra money.

5. Yes, it's a good idea just so that if one of the drives fail then you don't lose everything. Alternatively, you could just back everything up on an external storage device and have a 2TB internal HDD.

6. The caviar black is faster than the caviar green providing higher read and write speeds but it's also noisier and consumes more power. There are better HDD's available (in terms of performance) in the form of the Velociraptor HDD range but they are more expensive.

 

[raydee]

Has anyone got any pictures of the IIYAMA E2271HDS 22 inch monitors
And the 22 inch TFT Silver/Black monitors that I can see.

As per the PCS build pages.
Are these the only two monitors that PCS does .?.

Pity that they do not show the selection of monitors as they do the cases.
I do like to see what it is I am buying.

Thanks.

 

[Phoenix]

Near the top of this page there's a button which lets you click between 6 pictures of the IIYAMA E2271HDS:
http://www.h-online.com/priceinsight/a555275.html
I'm not sure where to find more pictures of the 22 inch TFT silver/black monitor though.

 

[PCS]

Raydee - as Phoenix has mentioned you can see pictures of our monitors by clicking the "?" button next to the monitor category. Our generic monitors only have generic images, because the brand may change depending on stock availability.

 

[raydee]

Many thanks for all of your help to date Phoenix.

Using your build suggestions I am nearing the point of order.

I am taking your advice regarding the Processor and sticking with the AMD Phenom,
and using the motherboard that you suggest.
That way it seems from what you have said that it will give me room on the motherboard and in the case
for any future additions and upgrading that I may want, plus it will all be compatible.

1. Am I able to order extra USB ports in the build. ?
2. Will this build come with any USB 3 ports or should I order those as an extra item ?.

3. As I will be using two monitors will the 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX465 graphics card that you have specified be ok or should I consider a better one for the job ?.
There is a huge choice on the web build page, would any of the others be better for me. ?
4. What better alternative would you suggest ? Your answers on the 26/11 mention “580”.

5. On the web site build, under RAM, would the next one down the list
Kingston Hyper-X Genisis Dual 1600MHz work better than the Samsung Duel 1333MHz ?.

Thanks.

 

[Phoenix]

1. Yes you can add more USB 2.0 or more USB 3.0 ports by selecting from the dropdown list with the heading "USB Options"

2. Yes this build will come with two USB 3.0 ports as standard at the back of the computer.

3. The GTX465 will be fine, with photo editing and video editing as priorities Nvidia is the way to go.

4. The GTX580 is significantly better than the GTX465 but it does cost quite a bit more, if you want to spend more money on it then it's a good idea but the GTX465 will provide good performance.

5. Both RAM options will run in dual channel, I'd recommend going with the samsung RAM if you're not overclocking because there's no benefit otherwise.

 

[raydee]

Hi Phoenix,
I think that I am there at last.
I am grateful for your help and I have now come up with the following build.
Based mainly upon your advice.
It has gone a bit over budget but I think that I should be well pleased with the setup.

What do you think ?.

Case COOLERMASTER SILEO 500 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU) AMD PHENOM II X6 1090T (3.20GHz/9MB CACHE/AM3/) - (Special Offer)
Motherboard ASUS® M4A89TD PRO/USB3 : DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, CrossFireX
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (4 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card 1536MB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX580 GDDR5 PCI EXPRESS - DX 11
2nd Graphics Card NONE
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
RAID NONE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply 800W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£89)
Processor Cooling SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio (£30)
Network Facilities ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options 4 PORT USB 2.0 INTERNAL PCI CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Modem NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Floppy Disk Drive NONE
Firewire & Video Editing NONE
TV Card NONE
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software Microsoft® Office Home & Business 2010 (1 License Product Key Card) (£155)
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£139)
2nd Monitor IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D HD 1920x1080 (£139)
DVI-D & HDMI Monitor Cables NONE
Eyefinity / GeForce 3D Vision NONE
Keyboard & Mouse Logitech® Wireless Desktop® MK250 Keyboard and Mouse Combo (£19)
Mouse NONE
Speakers LOGITECH Z323 2.1 Stereo speakers with Rich bass and 360-degree sound (£45)
Webcam NONE
Headsets (VOIP) NONE
Surge Protection NONE
Printer NONE
External Hard Drive NONE
Home Installation NONE
Warranty 3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) (£135)
Data Recovery NONE
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 13 working days
Miscellaneous FREE STORMRISE Game (RRP: £29.99) with any AMD® Phenom™ II X6 Processor!
Price (excluding VAT) £1,733.62
Price £2,037.00

 

[Phoenix]

Change the RAM to 1333mhz so that you're not over budget, aside from that it looks good.

 

[raydee]

I should have remembered that you reminded me of that on 29/11.
I have now changed it.
I am glad that you approve of the remainder.

Thanks for all of your help and advice.
I am pleased that I am now there at last.