Gaming PC Construction 1000€

[GentleFist]

Hello, I want to build a new PC.
I use it for photoshop and also other graphic programs (video editing too).

Most of the time I draw pics in photoshop in a high resolution (like 4000*3000)
and on my laptop right now (that is better than my current PC) it sometimes lags.

It would rock if I could play actual games too.
I also use it for programming.

I want to spend 1000€ (1 332,3USD) with 10% tolerance for this purpose.

Please post all parts and total sum, thanks.

Downscaled Example Pic:

 

[Originality]

Taking the spec from the latest CustomPC Magazine I have:

Performance PC:
Case: Antec TwelveHundred (£117.37)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (£151.57)
CPU: Intel Core i7-930 2.8Ghz (£231.79)
CPU Cooling: Titan Fenrir TTC-NK85TZ (£29.35)
RAM: Corsair XM3 PC3-12800 (3x2GB@1600Mhz) (£138.79)
Graphics: Asus Radeon HD 5870 (£323.94 - prices fluctuating quite a bit, and CPC are expecting a new high-end graphics card to challenge the 5870 next issue)
Power: Antec TruePower New TP-650 EDIT: Forgot to list the price (£79.88)
HDD: 1TB Samsing Spinpoint F3 (£62.25)
SSD (optional - solid state makes computers go zoom, at a price): OCZ Vertex 120 (£288.80 - prices always very volatile)
Sound Card (optional, but they list it anyway and it counts to the final price): Asus Xonar DX (£57.55)

Final Price (not including the SSD): £868.55 (all prices include VAT).

Not included in price: Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard, Windows 7, and extra software (such as the latest Photoshop).

It's a very good system if I do say so myself. If you like, you can stretch a bit to get Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D RAM, which are supposed to perform better but cost £172.87, or get a monster of a graphics card in the HD5970 (which are somewhat hard to find nowadays). I think Solid State Drives are also a very good investment, if you can afford it. In any case, this system should easily handle your programs and any games you care to try, and should be within your budget since the £ and € are quite close last I heard.

 

[Rydian]

What originality listed will do you just fine, listen to him. With the video card listed you can play any game that exists on at least medium quality (most on high) though, so don't feel the need to upgrade that just yet.

 

[GentleFist]

guess thats good enough, thank you

btw is gpu important for photoshop?

if yes, can you specify when photoshop uses the gpu?

because if it isnt id just get a worse video card and spent more on the processor~

 

[Rydian]

Which version of photoshop? Only the latest CS versions can use the GPU, and they use it mainly for applying filters.

The Core i7 930 is fine, going higher right now is wasting money.
You cannot measure a processor by just ghz.

EDIT: Typo, I typed "920" when the model in question is the 930.

 

[GentleFist]

i see, guess thats settled then, thank you all

 

[Gvaz]

If you part over components you shouldn't have to spend more than $600, $800 at most.

 

[Originality]

CPC recommend the i7-930 over the 920 because it's faster and more overclockable. The price difference is around £50, so it's pretty much up to you.

If I remember (I don't use PS myself, but I know many people who do), Photoshop uses the RAM of the graphics card more than the processing power itself, and even then it's only for very large pictures. The rest I believe is handled by the CPU, but I could be wrong. In any case, I've always been told that lots of RAM = good for Photoshop. The listed rig comes with 6GB of RAM, which should be plenty for you to work with.

 

[GentleFist]

i just learned about the AMD Phenom II X6 1055T, its much cheaper than the i7

i never had a amd cpu i dont know, what do you think about it?

according to this --> http://www.overclock.net/hardware-news/720...6-1055t-vs.html http://www.anandtech.com/show/3674/amds-si...055t-reviewed/2

 

[Cermage]

the new hexacore's are pretty promising, i've been following some o/c logs and average is about a 4.1ghz o/c - which is pretty amazing. also very cool chips, some dude using the stock cooler, chilly morning, o/ced to 3.6 and was only running at 40C. they're also very cheap in the overal scheme of things. but you should be able to fit an i7 system within your 1000 dollar budget easy.

 

[GentleFist]

okay that wont do~, i tried to calculate the setup and it just wont go under 1000 euro...
and then i even tried to take cheaper parts and heres what i got:

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 125W, 6x 2.80GHz 198.9 €

ASRock 890GX Extreme3, 890GX 109.9 €

Patriot Viper DIMM Kit 6GB PC3-12800U CL9-9-9-24 155.9 €

Samsung EcoGreen F2 1000GB, 32MB Cache, SATA II 69.9 €

Enermax Staray blau (ECA3170-BL) 49.9 €

Samsung SH-S223Q SATA schwarz bulk (BEBE/BEBN) 19.9 €

Antec TruePower New TP-650, 650W ATX 2.3 98.9 €

PowerColor Radeon HD 5870 PCS+ DIRT 2,
1024MB GDDR5, 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort,
PCIe 2.1 (AX5870 1GBD5-PPDHG/R87FA-TI4) 375.9 €

-->1079.2€

Even when i try to take cheaper parts its more then 1k Euro~~
are prices here really that much higher o.O?

well if i take like my old pc casing, hdd and cd drive... im around 950 euro
but i thought i can get a system like originality said under 1k with everything

here two websites of local shops~ if anyone cares:
http://www.ditech.at/
http://goesta.at/html/f-pc_shop.htm

kinda confused right now, help would be much appreciated

e: formatted it, so its readable

 

[Rydian]

• Going from 4-6 cores would only speed up filter application time in photoshop, it wouldn't increase the size of images you could work with or anything. Furthermore a program needs to be specially programmed and designed from the ground-up to get an increase from multiple cores, and it has to be doing a task that would actually benefit from it... and most things a home user does don't benefit at all. I can explain it to you if you want, I'm not including it in this post because it's kinda' long. I'd suggest dropping it and going down to an X4.
  
• You can go down to DDR3-1066 and I promise you you won't notice any difference.
  
  
  
  http://www.anandtech.com/show/2792/9
  
• You don't need a €375 video card, jesus.
  A 5850 is almost as powerful, and a chunk cheaper... but I'd recommend the 5770, it's €149.90 for the 1 gig version, and will still play any game that exists today on at least medium settings (with the majority of them on high or maximum).

 

[Originality]

Hmm... last I checked, the £ and € were more or less level. I suppose the gap between them has broadened again since then. Must be all that trouble in the news with Germany and Greece...

When it comes to RAM, the price between the different speeds are somewhat small. In fact, 6GB of 1333Mhz RAM is around £10 more expensive than 1666Mhz RAM on Scan.co.uk. If someone could explain that, I'm all ears. Even so, as mentioned, the difference in performance is negligible (unless you're going for higher overclocks), so you should just get the cheapest 6GB kit you can find.

Allow me to take my turn in saying that Rydian's above post is right and you should listen to him

The HD5770 is roughly the equivalent to my HD4870 (both having 800 "cores" and similar clocks) and I have no trouble with any game I've ever played (though I haven't played some of the newer games like Batman Arkham Asylum). Sure, games will start coming out that I won't be able to play on Max settings, but at least I won't need to upgrade until HD6 rears its ugly head in 2012 (I'm guessing).

 

[Rydian]

When it comes to RAM, the price between the different speeds are somewhat small. In fact, 6GB of 1333Mhz RAM is around £10 more expensive than 1666Mhz RAM on Scan.co.uk. If someone could explain that, I'm all ears. Even so, as mentioned, the difference in performance is negligible (unless you're going for higher overclocks), so you should just get the cheapest 6GB kit you can find.

Lower timings can cost more (sometimes unproportionately so), and of course there's always ram that overclocks better, or ram with heatsinks or whatever the hell makes it look better to gamers. Generally the cheaper ram isn't overclockable (or can have it's timings messed with), while the normally-priced stuff can be mildly overclocked and such, as well.

 

[DSGamer64]

Get the Gigabyte 890GPA-HD3H motherboard instead of the ASRock, same chipset just a better board overall. You would do fine with a 5830 or a 5770 graphics card though.