This is what I have come up with so far for my build. Mostly will be using it for photo editing with some rendering and gaming. Not willing to go too much higher with price. Might look into overclocking down the road. I am fairly new to building computers so any suggestions are very much appreciated!
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2VZvD3
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2VZvD3/by_merchant/
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($252.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($120.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($164.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: A-Data SP900 M.2 128GB M.2-2242 Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($75.02 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($75.02 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB FTW ACX Video Card ($159.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Fractal Design Tesla R2 500W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($76.50 @ Newegg)
Total: $1095.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-19 14:20 EDT-0400
It's a very sensible build, although it's a bit light on the gaming side. A 750TI is a solid choice, fine for all the video work you want to do, understanding you're not going to work with a graphic intensive software on multiple screens. You MIGHT consider a less expensive case and just one HHD in order to get a 256Gb SSD, since 256gb models have the best perfomance/price ratio and will make you feel less 'cramped'. Plus, consider the possibility of getting a 120mm aircooler for the cpu even if you're not overclocking, it will be quieter than the stock cooler. Lastly, you might make due with 8gb of ram, but it's all down to what software you're gonna use.
I'm assuming you're using a 1080p monitor, so bear in mind that game performance from the TI will be adequate, but average. If you'll upgrade to something more highend or just SLI the 750TI, you'll need a more powerful PW supply.
As it is, your build is really well balanced for a light to average editing machine and I'm sure it will be a good PC, but have you considerd the possibility of using an H87/H97 chipset with an i5? You'll still be able to stick a lot of ram in it for editing, the CPU is really solid even with no OC. The sacrifice of a future SLI, a setup not so great for editing work, might be acceptable. Just a suggestion.
A new rig... I envy you, have fun!!
I strongly recomends this the GPU is a lot better
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Obstinated/saved/ZvvdnQ
Planning on doing a RAID 1 with the HDDs, that's why I need two. Definitely will consider upgrading the GPU. Any suggestions for a less expensive case?
If you don't game a whole lot, and are looking to spend less than $200 on your gpu; I'd suggest an r7 265. You can pick one up for $150 and it consistently benchmarks better than the 750 ti.
If you want to overclock at all down the Road, Xeon is not your chip It is a great chip, but not easily overclocked and from what I understand, not worth the amount of work it takes to overclock it. It is still a great chip, but I would look elsewhere if overclocking is really in your head.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2vHsVn
You don't really need Z97. I also got a better graphics card in there.
You could look at basic Thermaltake stuff (V series and such, if you don't mind the goofy basic gamer stuff), or even the Fractal design Core series. Graphite series Corsair are good too and I can tell you they're pretty easy to build in! And there is NZXT with a basic series that's cheap and solid.
Check out silverstone or Antek PW supply. Not very blasoned or exotic, but better than any OEM and with proper electronic safeties at a very resonable price.
Raid 1, good choice, redundancy is best. You could get away with 2 WD green, they're slower but cheaper and meant for the job of redundant storage. Ok, they're not WD Reds or NAS grade drives, but I've found 'em very reliable (I've got two five year old greens and are still going strong after being OS and store drives).
i can only agree with this, a Z97 board with xeon cpu is kinda pointless, unless you realy want Sli capability´s. But i dont realy see the point for that.
Its better to invest in a better single gpu like "Some Tech Noob" did. 280 = 7950, it will blow a GTX750Ti out of the water.