I've been really looking forward to building my own desktop for college for a long time now, and it seems the opportunity has come a year early. Just today my aunt's laptop has basically been rendered unusable. Instead of buying a new pc for her, who isn't very tech savvy and will use it only for Microsoft Word and Chrome for 99.7% of the time, I thought it'd be a better idea to give her my laptop, and build my own desktop now. I'd like her to chip in around $150-200, and I have around $1,000 to potentially use. I'd like to have 2 options, one around $1000 and one around $650-700 (in case she thinks $1000 is a bit too exorbitant for a computer (haha)). I'd like some recommendations because otherwise I'll just be going off favorable builds off of websites lol. I'm pretty much a plebeian when it comes to tech.
Short of it:
-Want a ~$1000 (up to 1150 potentially) build and ~$650 alternative.
-Would like recommendation for (keyboard, 22-24" display monitor, mouse)
-Able to run most games on good detail and smoothly (I'm not at all picky at this, used to crap computers)
-Able to do video work (Adobe premiere) smoothly, doesn't have to be that great
-I have a 4Tb Seagate external hard drive and a friend will order me another 4Tb Seagate/ or Western Digital external hard drive in a month or so, if that makes any difference for issues of memory.
-Live in U.S.
I'm looking at these builds right now
Higher (http://pcpartpicker.com/blog/45/970-gaming-build) A little out of range because I'd have to factor in keyboard + display monitor
Medium (http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GyQX23)
Some advice would be greatly appreciated, if you think those builds are good just say so, I don't want to run in blind without knowing what most of the specs mean haha.
You get: i5 + SSD for OS and main programs (add in your 4TB Seagate for additional storage) + full ATX motherboard for room for expansion + clean, inexpensive, understated case with room for lots of storage + good quality 600w PSU + R9-270 which will run all the games you want at 1080p at medium to high settings.
For $1000 build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/KnmvdC
You get: Xeon 1230 V3 (for faster video editing) + AIO (all-in-one or closed-loop) CPU cooler (not completely necessary but if you're making the CPU do some heavy lifting, this does a much better job than the stock cooler) (optional) + nicer, higher quality H97 motherboard (again, full ATX) + R9-290 (nearly the same performance as GTX 780 but costs a lot less and has more vram) which will handle anything you throw at it at 1080p/1440p at ultra settings, no prob. The Tri-X is one of the best 290's and the colour happens to match the motherboard (didn't plan it that way. :P ). Everything else is the same as the $650 build (ram, storage, case and PSU)
For display, mouse and keyboard, I like what feralshad0w suggested.
Went over goal a little but (OS and monitor a bit more pricey than I expected) but its looking decent to me right now. Thanks a lot to Feral and Mech for your input!
-Are there any obvious problems or improvements I can do with this build? Threw it together with suggestions and I don't know if the parts mesh together that well.
Well, I wouldn't recommend a list of parts for a build if I thought parts of it didn't work well together or didn't meet the budget and performance requirements set out by the OP. So yeah, these parts will work really well together and IMO, this is a really well balanced build, all things considered.
Same as Mech. I always look at customer reviews before I recommend an item. I make sure they are reliable and I try to get the best performance for the budget, but I never recommend low quality items.
As far as matching items, I always make sure the ram is the right voltage and I only recommend ram with a maximum cas latency of 9, then I choose the best price for the spec.
I meant to put up the build, wrote a different post for help on reddit and posted it there instead haha.
This build is a more luxurious option as I'm still working out funds, but I think it's fine if my parents give me the OK. Otherwise I would just have to downgrade memory here and there (pretty sure stuff I'll be doing won't be that labor intensive). Any advice on if the power is right and stuff? Will this stuff fit in the case? Thanks for all the help guys. Also, minor questions. Would it be better to get a better gpu and get rid of the RAM? I heard that a good gpu was like first priority if you're gonna buy something expensive, do it on that.
I would ditch the 16GB ram and go with 8 (2 x 4GB). 8 is plenty for gaming and most other things and will be for some time yet. It will be easy enough to simply double the ram later on if you find you really need it.
Also I would grab an R9-290 as it'll give you much better performance moving forward (won't have to upgrade as soon).
Did you realize you have a mouse and keyboard combo AND a separate mouse selected on your list? ;)
I changed the build some. It is cheaper and more powerful.
changes
took out the logitech g300, the included mouse in the keyboard bunble is just as good
took out both cpu coolers. You cant overclock a xeon so you dont need a cooler.
removed the 2 graphics cards and put in a r9-290 which is more powerful
changed the motherboard to a b85 gaming board. It is cheaper, has many of the same features, and has the same performance since you arent overclocking.
If you need to save money, drop down to 8gb of ram and look at the fractal design core 3000 or 3300 cases.