Help with New Computer Build

[Mattington]

So the time has arrived that I need to get a new desktop computer, and I am looking for some advice/tips on what components to get. I will mostly be doing photo editing, which is making my current machine work very hard, so I have been looking at the Intel i7 3.5GHz processor as I figure it should be able to better handle the larger file sizes for several years. Also thinking about 16GB of memory? I would like to have a large HD, 3TB or so, I am also open to a secondary SSD. My budget for this build, computer only, no monitor or anything, is about $1200.

Any build recommendations? I really don't have any clue on where to start or what components to chose. However I would like to stay with Windows 7 as I can't stand 8.

[secol]

http://4changboard.wikia.com/wiki/Falcon_Guide

i used it about a year ago and it was great. been getting regular updates i think so hopefully still useful

[Tyler12]

DO you have a set time frame? like has to be done in in 2 weeks? and is that budget with tax all in?

[Mattington]

No I don't have a set time frame, but I was hoping to get everything together sometime over the next couple of months or so. That budget would be pre-tax, but I can be a bit flexible.

[Bill Bumface]

If you put an aftermarket cooler on an i5 (I paid $6 for mine) you'll be able to overclock and outperform that i7 and save a good chunk of money. I built a similar system this year, with a Radeon R9 270, 27" IPS monitor and all peripherals for $1400. I only have 1TB for my data drive but taking away the monitor and peripherals you should easily be able to build what you're after.

[Vulcan]

Use shopbot for price matching. Except for the processor, I've been pretty flexible on buying components to go for the best deal while still considering quality.

[TopChed]

I would suggest using pcpartpicker to help with compatibility and pricing out your build. I found it to be a pretty good starting point when comparing different parts.

[Mattington]

How does this build look? The case was the wife's choice as she likes red. I realize it is a bit over budget but I think I can live with that. Should I make any changes? Any better components available for around the same price?

Also, will there be a noticeable difference between the best i5 processor and the i7 that I have chosen?

Thanks.

[Mattington]

What about this build? Changed out the motherboard to one that would support OCing, changed the case, and the PSU.

Also, I compared this to something similar I did a year ago, and I have noticed that the price of memory has almost doubled, anybody know why?

[Esoteric]

Do you do any gaming at all? The reason I ask if the card is not much better than an integrated card. I'd personally dump the Bluray drive and upgrade the graphics card.

If not, you should be fine, but I'd upgrade to a Radeon R7 260X with the money saved from the Bluray drive removal.

[Mattington]

No, I don't do any gaming on my PC, think about putting in Roller Coaster Tycoon again though. Only reason for the BD drive is to back up photo's onto dicss, and maybe the odd movie. Can the card I have selected do still images and the odd video ok? If not I can probably upgrade.

[Esoteric]

Honestly - I'm not too familiar with photo editing performance of cards. Based on my limited knowledge on the subject, you should be fine - your CPU and RAM are more than capable.

[sa226]

Just some drive by advice.

For your needs, CPU and RAM is overkill. But if you're willing to pay for it. Go nuts.

Also be ready to pay for software to be able to play a blue ray. I gave up looking for a decent free alternative. Even the pay for stuff can be finnicky.

[Mattington]

Yeah I wanted the CPU and RAM to be really overkill because I don't really want to upgrade for several years. Thanks for the heads up on the BD playback though, hopefully I can find something that can play back. As long as I can make backups of my pictures just fine I will be happy.