Thinking of building a new rig....

[protege]

Since my old computer is dead, I've been thinking about building another one. This will be built around the Intel i5-series processor. Something like this perhaps. Thought?

[Chromatix]

Looks like a good start, but...

You're spending a lot on the CPU and nothing on graphics. That's not generally a good combination for a home computer - you either only want to do basic things on it and can therefore spend less on the CPU, or you want to play games and should therefore get a proper graphics card. Intel's own graphics have improved a lot recently but are still very short on horsepower.

My usual recommendation for gamers is that you should spend roughly equal amounts on the CPU+m/board+RAM combination and the GPU. That's how important it is.

However, if you're happy with basic use now but want to add a good GPU later, that's fine. You'll be able to just plug it in later on when you have the money, and the base system is quite future-proof as it stands.

Also, if you don't want to game at all but have specific needs for high CPU power - such as compiling software or encoding videos - then the setup you have there makes sense as is.

The Z77 chipset supports Intel's Smart Response Technology, which lets you add an SSD to cache the most frequently accessed files. This makes a major improvement to performance compared to a hard disk alone. So you should consider whether adding a small SSD (60GB or even 30GB is enough) to the system makes sense.

[protege]

However, if you're happy with basic use now but want to add a good GPU later, that's fine. You'll be able to just plug it in later on when you have the money, and the base system is quite future-proof as it stands.

Right now, I don't plan on playing many games. I'm not a gamer by any means. For now, I'm tempted to get the system, use it as-is, and add the GPU later. Thanks for taking a look

[Moirae]

It's an all right system for a non gamer. Personally, I would choose something with more oomph like Chromatix suggested but I'm a gamer.

[RichS]

Right now, I don't plan on playing many games. I'm not a gamer by any means.

Then it's a perfect system, and you can upgrade as you go. Asus and G.Skill are pretty good brands by my experience, Seagate is OK, and I think that Rosewill is NewEgg's house brand.

Later on, add the GPU, and since the processor has an unlocked multiplier, put a better cooling system on and do some overclocking.

[emax4]

I say "let the application determine the setup". If you want to play games down the line but do not have a good computer at the moment, then either build an okay system and upgrade little by little (but it'll cost you over a period of time). If it'll be used for word processing and basic email, you can get by with just what you need. Why would you though? I'm all for staying away from LAGS (latest and greatest syndrome), but buy parts you know will last for a long time (regarding future upgrades, cpu and memory requirements of web browsers and programs, etc).

[protege]

I should have mentioned the other thing--my scanner. I've been slowly digitizing many of the family photos. That thing is a resource hog. It works OK on my laptop, but it really needs a machine that's more powerful.

[Chromatix]

That probably has to do with the amount of RAM more than anything else. High-resolution scans can have a lot of pixels.

[Moirae]

Whats your laptops specs?

[wolfie]

You're spending a lot on the CPU and nothing on graphics. That's not generally a good combination for a home computer - you either only want to do basic things on it and can therefore spend less on the CPU, or you want to play games and should therefore get a proper graphics card. Intel's own graphics have improved a lot recently but are still very short on horsepower.

My NSHO is that Intel is the way to go for CPU, and AMD is the way to go for graphics.

[protege]

Whats your laptops specs?

It's an older i5, 2.53Ghz, 4GB RAM, running Windows 7 64-bit.

My scanner (an old Xerox model) will work with the laptop, but occasionally slows things to a crawl. Not all the time, but just enough to be annoying. That sometimes happens when you're running 32-bit items in a 64-bit environment.

If/when I get around to ordering things, it will allow me to retire some of the junk in my home office. Plus, I really don't want to have certain applications on my laptop--my financial stuff, for example. It's only on my laptop...because my old computer is dead.

[Moirae]

That's not that old. My laptop runs on Vista. Honestly, it's time to get rid of it but I have other priorities at the moment.

Really, the desktop you're proposing is less than your laptop. Since you say that your scanner needs a rig that's more powerful, do you really think it's a good idea to get a desktop that's less?

[Chromatix]

That's not that old. My laptop runs on Vista. Honestly, it's time to get rid of it but I have other priorities at the moment.

Really, the desktop you're proposing is less than your laptop. Since you say that your scanner needs a rig that's more powerful, do you really think it's a good idea to get a desktop that's less?

On the contrary, I think the desktop build is *much* bigger than the laptop. In particular, it has 4 times as much RAM, which is the usual sticking point for performance when working with very large images.

Also, there are now three separate generations of "Core i5" CPUs, with the 3000-series ones being significantly faster per clock than the 2000-series or three-digit series ones. Desktop machines are also typically much less affected by thermal throttling than laptops.

[protege]

Yep, my scanner just loves to hog RAM

But seriously, the parts should be arriving sometime this week. I still need a copy of Windows 7, and I'll be good to go!

[protege]

Tonight, I *finally* got around to firing up the new rig!

Yeah, I know it's been a month. I actually had things ready to go about 2 weeks ago. Then the new power supply shorted out, and took the hard drive with it Both items had to be replaced. New power supply arrived today...and I couldn't wait to get home and install it. So far, all I've done is install Windows 7 and some of the motherboard drivers.

Thanks again to all of you who assisted me.