Custom building a budget PC

[lololitas]

If you want to use it for 5 years, and can live without the overclocking (just keep your phenom around for OC purposes )then i recommend going with the Xeon. Even if you don't use the PC a lot, over 5 years you will have saved some money.

As for USB 3.0, I think all modern MBs come with 2 in the back and 1 internal header fpr 2 ports. Anything more than that will need either boards with extra controllers (at the cost of PCI-E lanes usually) or add-in cards.

Despite not using as much RAM on a constant basis, I suggest you follow the opinions of the others here that 8GB is the bare minimum for a modern PC, and 16 are advisable.

When does the next financial year start anyway (I'm useless at those things)

[kitamesume]

i recommend asrock's B85 killer board, because, because, killer nic too gimmicky, lol.
but on a serious note, their audio offering is really darn good for an onboard audio, its enough to not need a soundcard.

[from]

When does the next financial year start anyway (I'm useless at those things)

July 1st in Aus-land.

Krudda: Personal opinion, if you're not in too much of a hurry, save up some money and wait for Haswell-E, then see how expensive any available DDR4 solutions are. They should be a bit more "future-proof" if you're going to stick with your new computer for 5+ years. If nothing else, extant products should drop a bit in pricing while you're waiting.

[kitamesume]

When does the next financial year start anyway (I'm useless at those things)

July 1st in Aus-land.

Krudda: Personal opinion, if you're not in too much of a hurry, save up some money and wait for Haswell-E, then see how expensive any available DDR4 solutions are. They should be a bit more "future-proof" if you're going to stick with your new computer for 5+ years. If nothing else, extant products should drop a bit in pricing while you're waiting.

it had been estimated that DDR4 2133Mhz would be 30% more expensive than DDR3 2133Mhz.

DDR4 2133Mhz = $194 USD estimated ( $149 x 1.3 )
DDR3 2133Mhz = $149 USD http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f32133c11d16gar
DDR3 1600Mhz = $128 USD http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c10d16gao

which puts a 2x8GB DDR4 2133Mhz at 50% more expensive than 2x8GB DDR3 1600Mhz.
the price premium will last until the end of 2015.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2050260/hefty-price-premium-awaits-early-ddr4-memory-adopters.html

edit: this is excluding scarce supply due to slow productions, while companies and enthusiasts hogs most of them(they do get priorities).
this'll drive the overall cost up because of the perceived shortages, and abusers who got them for cheap and reselling them expensive.

[xShadow]

If you want something that will last 5 years (that sounds like a relatively long time to me, since I do CPU upgrades about every 5-6 years at the rate I've been going at), then I would go for a 4820k or 4770k... right now. But I'd recommend not going for Haswell. These things are annoying to overclock. I'm running mine at 4.4Ghz 1.285 Vcore, and it seems to be pretty alright... (about 15 hours of x264 loops so far). But like I said you can never be sure, not until you delid and run Prime 95 28.1 (or 28.3). And who the fucks wants to delid on a budget.

Your best choice is to just wait until their next line of CPU's. They won't have shitty under-the-hood layout (or so Intel claims, based on the news I've been following at Hardforums; it's funny how they're touting it as a feature).

The 4820k looks easier to OC (71 while running linpack, at 1.2xVcore with 4.5Ghz? Maybe just a god chip but that's pretty damn nice; equivalent to some of the best Haswells)
http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=58192

... Unfortunately all of the MOBOs are expensive as unholy fuck:
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/motherboard/#sort=a8

[kitamesume]

^you misunderstood one part about him keeping it for 5years, and that is keeping up with the other processor's pace.

just imagine, he managed to last up till now on his phenom II X4 and a slower model at that, which was like the i5s of AMD back in 2008s, if you consider the X6 their flagship that is.

edit: i too am still keeping my i3-2100 for another year, i bought it since 2011 so thats like i'm rocking 3years now.

[lololitas]

Also he probably won't gain as much from going with those processors. Encoding and rendering are indeed processor intensive, but paying that much more to just get one operation to finish maybe 20% faster is not really that nice. I'm not even considering running costs here, but the time saved will most likely not offset the money needed for extra electricity.

On another note, I still plan on keeping my i7 920 for another 2 years, unless something comes up which it absolutely can't handle (e.g. 4k 10-bit decoding). Outside of this specific example, I haven't found anything that really makes me consider my CPU as old (it's already 5 years old).

[Krudda]

OK guys, its now after July 01st and I'm starting to look into this again.

I've found a small configuration I think suits my needs relatively well. Here's the parts list, thoughts?

ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Performance LGA 1150 Intel H97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s Intel Motherboard - AUD$106.47

Intel Core i5-4460 Haswell Quad-Core 3.2GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4600 - AUD$202.30

HyperX Fury Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 Desktop Memory Model - AUD$99.02

Corsair Force LS Series CSSD-F60GBLS 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - AUD$85.17

Total cost $492.96 + Shipping

The SSD would be for OS + Programs only.
I can reuse my old case, PSU, Graphics card, keyboard + mouse, and optical drives.

Thoughts? Optimizations? Improvements?

[kitamesume]

the choices are quite good, but parts aren't ideal for me.

i'd prefer i5-4590 over that due to some disabled features in i5-4460 and the price difference being less than $20 or so.
although i doubt i'd be much of a relevant loss, but might as well list them.
features that are locked in i5-4460 that i5-4590 has:
2bin turbo [vs] 4bin turbo
vpro technology
TSX-NI
SSIP
trusted execution technology
edit: as a matter of fact i5-4590 is on a sale right now which puts it at merely $10 over the i5-4460!
http://www.newegg.com/global/au/hotdeals/ID-16

hyperX fury aren't the greatest rams out there, and considering it's price point its actually quite more expensive too.
to point out, countless other rams on 2x4GB are cheaper from other manufacturers.
aside from that, some mhz point are cheaper as well though most of kits over 1866mhz requires 1.65Vdimm.
excluding kits that needs voltages around 1.6v we could still get some better and cheaper kits.
for example - (AUD$84.99 - $10 promo + ??shipping) G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Model F3-1866C9D-8GAB

i don't like how your choice of SSD is leaning on being cut-short, on top of a bad capacity and bad price point.
a tiny bit more, or around $10~$30 more to be more accurate, would get you some good 120GB SSDs.


other than that, theres broadwell and/or skylake in about half a year more, you could guess how much of a beast they are.

[Tiffanys]

I'd look at Samsung or Intel SSD's.

[Krudda]

Yeah, I was thinking a Samsung SSD would be great, but they're mighty expensive at the moment (the model I want anyway)

Thanks for the input Kita

[Tatsujin]

Yeah, I was thinking a Samsung SSD would be great, but they're mighty expensive at the moment (the model I want anyway)

Thanks for the input Kita

The Samsung EVO is less expensive than the Pro. The 840 version. The 850 is the new model which is expensive.

I have the EVO 250 and Pro 256. Both are freaking superb.

[Krudda]

Going back to CPU, what about an i5-4670k

Edit:
Fuck it. My original budget was 800 bucks, lets go all out on an i7-4770 $330.08AUD

[revo]

4790

[Krudda]

4790

Thanks Revo, didn't see that!
Although, in hindsight, I may as well go the extra $40 or so and get the 4790k - assuming its compatible with my board choice.

http://www.newegg.com/global/au/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117369

[revo]

4790

Thanks Revo, didn't see that!
Although, in hindsight, I may as well go the extra $40 or so and get the 4790k - assuming its compatible with my board choice.

http://www.newegg.com/global/au/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117369

Someday I will go with 4790s
gotta love that 65w TDP

[kitamesume]

4790

Thanks Revo, didn't see that!
Although, in hindsight, I may as well go the extra $40 or so and get the 4790k - assuming its compatible with my board choice.

http://www.newegg.com/global/au/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117369

Someday I will go with 4790s
gotta love that 65w TDP

you'll love how broadwell's (S) and (T) variants are rumored to scale well under 40W TDP

[Krudda]

Ok, I rethought this. New config:

ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - $143.74 AUD
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL8D-8GBXM - $95.82 AUD
Intel Core i7-4790K Haswell Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I74790K - $372.67 AUD

Total cost: AUD $607.43 + shipping

SSD: deciding... Looking @ Corsair LX series. Note: I don't give a shit about space, I'm more interested in speed.

Important: I don't think my current PSU is up to it: http://www.newegg.com/global/au/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371051&cm_re=antec_earthwatts_750-_-17-371-051-_-Product

[kureshii]

SSD: deciding... Looking @ Corsair LX series. Note: I don't give a shit about space, I'm more interested in speed.

Ironic decision then, considering SSD capacity does have a lot to do with speed (more NAND cells utilising more channels), with the point of diminishing return usually being hit around 128/256GB.

If you are looking at budget options, I would still suggest Samsung 840 EVO as pointed out by earlier commenters; it’s pretty much a standard rec by now. More recently, you might want to look at Crucial MX100. Not sure what prices are like in AU, but generally should be able to find them under 85USD before premiums.

I’d also recommend you go with at least 120GB, if not for capacity reasons then for speed reasons. Take a look at SSD reviews; they pretty much focus on 128/256GB capacity at the lower end, because very few companies want to show you how their 60GB offerings do. Even if you look at paper specs, the difference is clear enough.

[Tatsujin]

SSD: deciding... Looking @ Corsair LX series. Note: I don't give a shit about space, I'm more interested in speed.

Ironic decision then, considering SSD capacity does have a lot to do with speed (more NAND cells utilising more channels), with the point of diminishing return usually being hit around 128/256GB.

If you are looking at budget options, I would still suggest Samsung 840 EVO as pointed out by earlier commenters; it’s pretty much a standard rec by now. More recently, you might want to look at Crucial MX100. Not sure what prices are like in AU, but generally should be able to find them under 85USD before premiums.

I’d also recommend you go with at least 120GB, if not for capacity reasons then for speed reasons. Take a look at SSD reviews; they pretty much focus on 128/256GB capacity at the lower end, because very few companies want to show you how their 60GB offerings do. Even if you look at paper specs, the difference is clear enough.

^ What he said.

My EVO is almost half-way filled. I haven't cleaned my Desktop so that's about 40 to 50 GB. My Pro is at 3/5th filled. EVO is my main OS, Pro is for games or heavy tasking programs (the necessary). I off-load everything else on the WD Black 4TB.