New desktop PC - what parts to buy?

[ninjapiraatti]

Hi all.

My current PC is starting to show signs of painful death so it's about time to buy a new one. Budget is about €2000, I already have monitors.

I'm looking for parts that are high quality and as high performance as the budget allows. Most used heavy applications are Photoshop and After Effects, possibly Blender in near future.

Suggestions?

[Alterity]

If you're looking at some higher end graphics applications you'll want to have a good video card. Most pre-built computers you see out there are lacking a good video card, but have a fairly decent everything else. I don't know prices in Euro, so I can't give you exact numbers but some baselines are good:

CPU: I've found the new i3 Intel chip is pretty good, its one of their relatively new ones, although the i7 is an better version of the same idea.

Vid' card: You'll want a good GPU (Graphics processing unit, equivalent to the CPU for Video cards), and memory (Like the RAM of videocards). You'll likely want at least 512 MB of dedicated video memory (NWN2 is relatively high graphics) but more is better.

RAM: You'll likely want at least 2 GB of RAM, again more the better.

My laptop, which was under a eight hundred Canadian dollars, has the i3 Core Intel chip, 2.13 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce 310 M with 2GB of dedicated Video Memory and 4GB of RAM, and it runs everything that I've used it on, excellently. You can get better then it, but I have no problem running what you listed, or any of the newer games.

[Mensha Khaine]

I'm running an i7 920 with 6 GB DDR3, GTX 260 and 3 1 TB drives in RAID 5 on windows 7 64-bit. Photoshop has a 64 bit version which I also run, haven't played with the effects option though. Although this is old kit now, it is still able to run everything that has been released. I build intel PCs using gigabyte motherboards, they have proven very reliable for me. That rig at the current exchange rate cost me less than 1400 euro's 12+ months ago.

If an i7 is not in the price range don't worry the i5 is an awesome option, there is no real performance difference in NWN2, but if you are crunching video then it will take a bit longer. RAID 5 will also help with photoshop and video crunching, I tend to stick with Seagate drives.

If you're going down this path, don't use a cheap case, Antec 900 or 902 come with ample cooling and are on the cheaper side of decent cases.

Now solid state drives are also an option and the right one will see speed increases and the wrong one will give no benefits at all. I've tried a couple of the cheaper SSD's, the entry level PQI gear runs about the same level as a RAID 5, so don't bother, the A-RAM ultra series does run faster in 99% of situation than the RAID 5. There is a down side to SSD's, to save every one the nerd speak, they will wear out alot quicker than a standard drive. If you still want to go down this path there are a few things you can do to give it a longer life, like moving anything that will change alot onto a normal HDD, such as page file or photoshops memory swap file.

[Guile]

2000EU should get you quite a machine, especially since you already have the monitors at the ready giving you one less item to ration your budget around. My suggestion is go all out on the parts that can't easily be added later on, since they are by nature rather "now or never." My theory is you want a solid foundation you can improve upon as the need or desire arises, instead of coming home with a machine with all the nuts and bolts that only stays relevant for half a year. Drives of all sorts for example are easily retrofitted into a preexisting build, so if I was in your place I would look to somewhat save on that to begin with (go 500gig instead of 1 TB, etc etc.)

I would start by getting the fastest, meanest chipset/board combo my budget would allow (go maybe as high as 60% of your set budget for this.) Make sure to get the requisite cooling systems as well since it's the most important investment on your machine. If they say 1 fan is enough, demand a second and maybe even fluid cooling while you're at it. Don't get overclocked stuff though unless you know exactly what you're getting into and doing.

Next I'd get at least 1 of the best available RAM on the market, should you ever need more you can get a twin copy later to double your RAM, but always start big! My third priority if I had gaming in mind (which I guess you do with such a large budget) would be the video card. While it is true that video cards are even more easy to retrofit than HDDs and DVD drives and the like, you do want a rig that performs from day one, so don't skimp on that too much. Another thing is make sure the power supply and casing you choose can easily handle everything you have and will want to add in the future. Nothing sucks more than getting a tiny case with a puny power supply and finding out you can hardly squeeze in a second HDD or internal DVD drive or don't have enough cables left over to power the things.

The rest of the board devices generally serve their purpose well enough. Unless you're some sort of sound engineer or professional DJ the built in sound cards on most boards are more than adequate for everyday applications. The same goes for the LAN/Ethernet hookups along with the other ports. So my suggestion would be to actually spend big on the mouse and keyboard as well. Most people neglect to do so but once you've had a go on ergonomic, wireless high grade input devices let me tell you that there's no going back. They add a subtle yet very noticeable difference to the user experience.

Another popular money sink are 5.1 speaker systems, I myself find them rather overrated, you can always hook up your machine into an audio component for similar effect or do as I do and use high end cordless headphones. The sounds are just as crisp, if not more, I find. Plus there's the added bonus of not ever having to deal with neighbors or roommates telling you off for blasting the audio at 3am on a Sunday. The fact that they cost 1/5th what speakers will set you back is just icing on the cake.

Just make sure to shop around, every city has some place that sells parts at lower than regular outlet retail price. Find such a location, make sure you get a good warranty and tip the people assembling your rig well and you'll be good to go.

[ninjapiraatti]

Thanks for the advice! I've bought the machine and waiting for it to be assembled. It is as follows:

CPU: AMD Phenom II x6 1090T BE
Motherboard: Can't remember the exact model
Graphics card: nVidia GTX460
Hard drive 1: Intel 80GB SSD
Hard drive 2: Black caviar 1TB
RAM: 8GB 1333 DDR3
Casing: Antec 183P or something
Power: Zalman 600W


In the end it was €1700. Hmm.. maybe I should buy a decent mouse as Guile suggested.

Can't wait to fire it up.

[ninjapiraatti]

All right, got the new hardware and it rocks. 18K from 3dmark when my old rig got only 6000 or so. GTA 4 plays smoothly as ever, even when flying over the city.

And of course, photoshop and after effects are waaay more usable now.