Joey Needs/Wants a New Computer

[Joey D]

My girlfriend is moving in with me in a couple of weeks and will be getting my current desktop, this means that I get to build a new rig. The only issue is I haven't really been in tune with the computer hardware trends so I need a little help. Preferably I'd like to stay around $1,000 for all the stuff (I won't need a monitor, speakers, mouse, or a keyboard) and would like to go back to nVida video cards since I haven't had a ton of luck with Radeon.

As for what I do on a computer? I think the answer is everything. I work, game, type things, surf the net, watch movies, edit movie, edit pictures, and so on.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[nick09]

Well to fit your budget I'd recommend an Intel i5 CPU and a GTX 760(Or GTX 770 if budget allows). The i5 and the 760 will easily take half of your budget(Or with the 770 it will take close to 2/3rds of the budget).

 

[Joey D]

Do I really need a 760 though? I have a Radeon 6900 and I haven't come across a game that I can't play yet. Couldn't I just get a GeForce 660, save $50, and be good?

Also with the processors, is getting a Haswell worth it or should I stick with the Ivy Bridge?

 

[nick09]

I'd say go the the GTX 760 as the performance is better by 4-10fps over a regular GTX 660. The GTX 760 is priced the same as a GTX 660Ti so it's pretty easy to see that the 760 is the one to go for since it's newer and a bit faster. I'd only recommend the GTX 660 if you need to downgrade for budget reasons. As for either the Haswell or ivy bridge cpu, Check out for yourself, lots of information there.

 

[sesselpupser]

Do I really need a 760 though? I have a Radeon 6900 and I haven't come across a game that I can't play yet. Couldn't I just get a GeForce 660, save $50, and be good?

Also with the processors, is getting a Haswell worth it or should I stick with the Ivy Bridge?

The next generation of consoles will probably bring a big jump in the minimum requirements for a PC port, so I would also recommend the 760. As for Haswell vs. Ivy Bridge, don't forget that Haswell introduced a new socket so if you were to get an Ivy Bridge setup and then wanted to upgrade to whatever comes after Haswell or whatever, you'd have to get a new motherboard as well.

 

[Joel]

Would recommend the 760. It looks like fantastic value, and it's probably the best bang for you buck in GPU's right now. Don't have personal experience with it as I have a 670, but IIRC the 760 is basically a 670 and that card can run anything that isn't Crysis 3 at max settings and 60fps. Wish I knew about the new socket for Haswell before I built my rig, would probably have held off. Oh well, the 3570k should be fast enough for what I do (I pretty much just game and do MS office for school) for years.

If you're only ever planning on 1 GPU you might want to look into mini-ITX cases and motherboards. Don't know exactly how they are for Haswell yet but you can get an Ivy Bridge one for a reasonable price and pack a lot of power into a tiny footprint. My build is marginally bigger than a shoebox with a 670, 3570k, 1TB hard drive, SSD, and 8GB of RAM. It depends on how much you would value having a much smaller case relative to future expandability etc.

 

[Joey D]

• Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell 3.4GHz
• ASUS GRYPHON Z87 LGA 1150 Intel
• EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-2765-KR GeForce GTX 760 2GB
• Western Digital WD Black WD1002FAEX 1TB
• SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD128BW 2.5" 128GB
• G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB)
• Rosewill CAPSTONE-650-M 650W
• Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Total: $1,200

It's a little more than I wanted to spend, but it seems good to me. Any thoughts or things I should change?

I also need to get a monitor too.

 

[nick09]

Save $35 with this memory and make sure you use that promo code. If you want a deal on a monitor, look at www.bhphotovideo.com, their prices are usually lower than other retail sites(Along with many of them with free shipping) despite charging sales tax.

 

[Joel]

Well I just ordered a Dell U2312HM Ultrasharp 23" monitor this afternoon. Neema, Cody, and Casio all have Dell Ultrasharps in varying sizes for more direct reviews but from what I've heard they're great and are a great price for an IPS panel (U2312 is around $200 on Amazon.com with free shipping). Build looks good overall though, can't say anything really looks out of place.

Edit: got my monitor last night and it's gorgeous.

You might want to switch out the 840 pro for a regular samsung 840. Save 40 bucks and real world performance is quite close.