Need to build a New....

..Computer.

I'm currently running a Pent 4 with XP Pro. I have been working on more and more photos and this old machine just gets hung up as the files get larger and larger. Everything is maxed out for the board and OS

So, here are my needs.

Internet
Photoshop
Some 720/1080 HD Video mixing (getting into this)
Steaming movies and TV
Good sound would be nice but not imperative to start
Something quiet

I'm sure I can think of more but that's a good start.

I prefer AMD. this Pent 4 was a trash computer that I resurrected.and it's worked for 4 years.

I have built computers previously so I have no questions about how to build one. What I do need help with is what to put in it. It's like math, if you don't use it for a while you forget or there is new math. Anyway, I would like to keep the computer under $500.

I figure I will need a new OS. MS Windows 7 seems to be the latest. I know XP will not run at 64bits while 7 does. I'm thinking to get the Windows 7 home Premium full version. I can't stand upgrades they never work correctly. I'm open to other options if my software will work on it. I'd love to get away for the MS machine and the crazy MAC pricing.

What I currently have that I can reuse:
Wireless keyboard and mouse
20" wide screen LCD
1TB external storage drive
Maybe an older ATX box

What I think I will need:
MB
CPU & Fan
Memory (as much as I can afford)
SATA HDD 7200rpm
BOX
Better Vid card
NIC (House is wired)
DVD/CD player/burner

I'm sure I'm forgetting something


Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Paul

 

I may be wrong, but if you are doing 720/1080 videos you need a monitor to match?

Kind of out of it as well. I was on top of every Pentium 3 and early AMD processor, but as the P4 came out I couldn't keep up and my interests changed as well. I'm no longer the gamer I used to be.


For cooling I would recommend the Corsair Hydro series. I didn't want the hassle of water cooling, I don't care about O/C, didn't have heat issues, but I was sick of the noise from fans. I installed a Hydro H50 in a few minutes, and it made an incredible difference. My laptop is now more noisy.

For box, try to go with screwless design, but watch out for cheap material. The latest cases I bought were Coolermaster and Antec.
EDIT: Your old ATX case is most likely reusable.

Of course most boxes come with crap PSU. Antec is still good, OCZ is worth a look, and Corsair is supposed to make a good product.

Unless you are having distance probs or happen to transfer large files, a wireless G card is just fine. I have had problems with all networking company, but I have most of my problems with Netgear and D-Link, and least problems with Linksys.

I don't know who makes the fastest HDD anymore, it used to be Western Digital. I think Seagate might be better now speedwise. Maxtor kind of took a dump. I think there's 10k RPM drives? don't forget buffer and seek times

look to tom's hardware for the video card charts, of course.

For OS if you don't want to go MS, I think Ubuntu is an obvious choice.
For Win 7 you may consider pro if you think you need XP compatibility mode, otherwise I think you are fine.

 

^^ Thanks, I ll keep that in mind,especially about the power supplies. They seem to be the 1st thing to go.

 

Go with an SSD bootdrive. Sandforce controller. Very fast. They're expensive so go with a small one. Corsair makes some decent ones.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...STMATCH&Description=corsair+sandforce&x=0&y=0

Sandy Bridge CPUs offer very good performance for the price point but the supporting chipset on the motherboard is buggy if you're using more than the first two SATA ports. Being fixed as I type. Wait a couple of weeks if you can if you go with a Sandy Bridge.

I hate the stock intel CPU fan. The clips are terrible. There are good inexpensive aftermarket fans and better ones for more money.

I prefer Win7 Pro 64 bit for the XP mode. Keeps my older games happy.

What amount of memory to get depends on your motherboard configuration. If you're doing a trichannel DDR3, 6 or 12 gigabytes are the good numbers in three slots. In a dual channel DDR3, I'd go 8 over 4 gigabytes in two slots. Lots of good brands. Patriot, Gskill, Corsair, Kingston, Crucial...

Antec, lian li, silverstone, corsair all make good cases. Filtered intake fans are a plus in my book to help keep the dust out.

Modular power supplies are nice for keeping cable clutter down. But they cost a bit more. Antec is a good brand, but the other brands mentioned are good. too. Corsair is getting lots of good reviews.

More reading here:

http://www.maximumpc.com/best-of-the-best though this hasn't been updated for Sandy Bridge parts.

 

Damn that's a lot nicer than they used to be. If I was still doing heavy gaming I'd be on that right now.

 

thanks for the input. I'm not in a hurry so I have time to research what will be best.

 

XP has a 64-bit edition...that's what I run. Unfortunately, since it wasn't a hugely popular OS, getting drivers can be tricky sometimes. I'll be upgrading to 7 x64 soon.

I use my computer for exactly the same stuff...I work doing photography and HD video production. I went with a cheapo MSI mATX board with a i5 750 quad core with 4 gigs of DDR3. I also have a radeon 4850. For the boot drive, I use a samsung spinpoint F3 500gb...it's cheap and very very fast. It also runs pretty cool. I also have a caviar blue 650gb for a storage drive...soon to be replaced with a 2tb green drive and probably get a new case. I've been considering hacking a mac g5 case since they look so good.

For the PSU, I use a OCZ stealthxstream 400w PSU...it's a really good performer and also cheap. I'm pushing it pretty hard now too.

I built all that for under $500. Where your costs will come up is getting a good monitor...I ended up getting an IPS display...a good idea for photo and video editing. I also got an external audio interface and some studio monitors.

 

Yow you must be. I use a 400W for my Prescott machine

 

Thanks, The IPS disply looks like it's the way to go. I'll have to sit down and come up with a list of component that fit my budget and post it to see what kind of feedback I can get.


Paul

 

Just a little FYI on Sandy Bridge i5/7 cpu's, Intel just had a major recall on their P/h67 chipset so every sandybridge motherboard is affected right now. There is an issue with the older Sata 2 ports where they will degrade in performance or completely stop working. So you would need to wait till March or April to get a fixed board if you go that route.
But I gotta say that its a beast of a cpu. I upgraded from a Core 2 Quad Q6600 and there was a noticeable performance increase. I was able to overclock the cpu to 4.5ghz out of the box with a decent air cooler.
Just make sure you get something with 4+ gb ram and as for sound, usually most motherboards have optical or coaxial digital out, or video cards have hdmi out. You can just hook that up to a receiver to get the best sound possible.

Since your in MD, check out Microcenter they have deals on AMD cpu's that come with free motherboards. http://www.microcenter.com/specials/promotions/AMDbundlePROMO.html

 

Second note on that Sandy Bridge issue - they are providing all currently sold and previously sold mobos with a free SATA II controller card. Not exactly what you want, but at least they are trying

 

Yeah forgot to mention that, also most if not all motherboard manufacturers are gonna give you a replacement motherboard once they are out so it should be taken care of. I know that, Tiger Direct is doing the free sata card and Newegg is gonna swap boards once they are in. More of an annoyance but Intel is paying for all of this ($700 million last I heard) so it should be 100% fixed in the next 2-3 months. If your still set on AMD, I would wait a little longer as they are coming out with new chips, codename bulldozer, and that should drop cpu prices quite a bit.

 

ONce again thanks for the input.

I know about the intel i5/7 issue. It's about time Intel had to pay out after screwing AMD back in the 386/486 days.

I'm going to be getting AMD so no worries they run great ad and are cost effective.

 

Well, it's just the newer i series...so not all i3/i5/i7 are effected

 

Got the that thanks.