Need a boss diy PC for $1200.

[Basement_Modder]

That means I could maaaaybe push $1400...

What I must have-
-4 or 6 core CPU... Indifferent on AMD vs Intel hoping for 3.0-3.5 GHz range.
-32GB of RAM (I am very stubborn on this one. I just want to have that much.)
-At least 2TB of HDD space
-A fairly good graphics card with dual DVI and HDMI (Needed for dual monitors and TV)
-some sort of dvd drive

What I would like to have if budget allows
-A 120GB or so SSD
-any fancy cool flax that you could buy with money left over.

Also, my dual monitors are gonna run me $95 each, so $1200 is more or less just for the PC itself. I have keyboards and mice taken care of obviously. This is for my dorm room, and the PC I wanted to build was toeing the $2000 mark, so I want to see if you guys know of something comparable for $800 less...

Newegg parts if possible please.

What cool stuff have you guys built/ can you come up with?

 

[Abyss]

Something like this perhaps? Case is obviously subjective. I just picked a well-reviewed one. http://pcpartpicker.com/user/AbyssPWNS/saved/1KlH

 

[Mako321]

Why 32 gigs of memory?
And what are you using it for mainly? It makes a huge difference on the parts to pick.

 

[samjc3]

Why 32 gigs of memory?
And what are you using it for mainly? It makes a huge difference on the parts to pick.

Very much this. We have 32gb on the computer my Dad uses for Solidworks, and even during real time physics simulation (or near real time - them quadros are fast) it won't use even half of that 32gb.

Honestly 8gb is plenty for most uses, and 16 will do the job for rendering and such often enough. Seems silly to spend more on ram than on your processor. If nothing else, get G.Skill Value series or something - should save you $80 - probably enough for a graphics or processor upgrade.

I'm gonna toy around with a build for you though. I think you could do better than Abyss', but then, maybe I'm just an AMD hater.

Edit: Here is the build I would do at your budget. If you're really anal enough about the need for 32gb, drop the graphics card to a 7870 or a 660ti and you'll easily get it in budget.

 

[Mako321]

I'm gonna toy around with a build for you though. I think you could do better than Abyss', but then, maybe I'm just an AMD hater.

INTEL SHILL DETECTED

If he wanted 32 gigs of memory he's most likely using it for things other than games in which case AMD destroys Intel in anything but old versions of Photoshop and single threaded 800x600 GoyimWare® x87 benchmarks.

 

[samjc3]

I'm perfectly comfortable admitting I hate AMD. I've had 3 AMD based rigs blow up on me with major CPU based issues, and the intel machines I've had have never been anything but stable as *Can'tSayThisOnTV*(including this one, which has been running 4.3ghz (i5 2500k) stable since the day I bought it on the stock cooler with no issues.)

Course it's also news to me that the new AMD chips are actually any good. Last time I checked, bulldozer was just a sad joke compared to Sandy Bridge, but it's been awhile since then.

 

[Mako321]

Intel squandered their huge lead over AMD since Bulldozer. Piledriver came out and matched/topped Ivy Bridge, and Haswell is a joke. Seriously, you can't run Haswell on the stock cooler without getting temp issues thanks to the flaxty thermal paste they use, and the only remedy is delidding.
Don't forget how HSA is just around the corner.

 

[grossaffe]

Intel squandered their huge lead over AMD since Bulldozer. Piledriver came out and matched/topped Ivy Bridge, and Haswell is a joke. Seriously, you can't run Haswell on the stock cooler without getting temp issues thanks to the flax thermal paste they use, and the only remedy is delidding.
Don't forget how HSA is just around the corner.

Haswell's supposed to be a beast for emulating, though. Reading great things about it on the Dolphin-emu forums.

 

[Abyss]

Haswell seems to be more geared towards ultrabooks to me

 

[XCVG]

AMD's Piledriver procs only work well on heavily threaded applications, though. When you're working with one thread, two threads, sometimes even four, Intel stomps AMD. It's a completely different approach, and unfortunately not one that works well in real-world applications. Similarly, AMD's floating point is something like one quarter that of Intel's. I think they're expecting most of it to be moved off onto the GPU, but GPU compute is very hit and miss right now. AMD's stuff will be fast in the future, but by then Intel will have a new beast, and AMD will have moved on as well.

With that being said, it depends on what you're trying to do with this machine. And AMD's stuff is, for the most part, cheaper than Intel's.

Full disclosure: Primary rig is an i5-2500k, super happy with it. Laptop is an ancient Nehalem so it doesn't count. I like APUs- they're in webPC and my media centre.

EDIT: First shot, using cutting-edge hardware. Overbudget, no case, and I'm not happy with it. http://i40.tinypic.com/j6040g.png

 

[Mako321]

In games it's really a crapshoot between AMD and Intel, AMD generally beating out on non-console port non-Skyrim current games.
And when it comes to productivity, anything worth a Dang runs as good on an 8350 as even a 3770k, you can't beat the value, especially when single core performance gets close to SB/Ivy/Haswell with a bit of overclocking. (I'm not obtuse though, I know you can overclock SBs, but those aren't really for sale anymore)
I'm just waiting on basement modder to tell us what he's using it for.
So yeah, even if you do get an Intel, don't *Can'tSayThisOnTV*ing get Haswell. It just sucks.

 

[XCVG]

The overall impression I get is that Piledriver performance really is a crapshoot. On some tests, it'll top the charts, maybe behind a hexcore Sandy Bridge-E. On some, it gets beat by processors two generations out of date. Intel will give you solid performance across the board. And how does Haswell suck?

That being said, CPU performance is nowhere near as big a bottleneck as it was in the past. So if you're using Microsoft Word, an SSD and a Celeron would probably be a better idea. And gaming is largely GPU-bound- in most cases you're better off spending the money on a better card. Only in content creation, recoding, and a few other things does CPU really matter. So Basement Modder might be able to get away with a really cheap processor for all we know.

To the OP: What are you going to use this for, and what brand of CPU/GPU do you prefer?

 

[Basement_Modder]

@XCVG- basically, I don't care for the intel vs AMD, and I'll be using it for games, CAD, and just making it powerful because its not my money lol.

 

[Mako321]

@XCVG- basically, I don't care for the intel vs AMD, and I'll be using it for games, CAD, and just making it powerful because its not my money lol.

I'd get an FX-8320 then,(Cheaper CPU, cheaper mobo, performs just as well as a 3570k in most situations) and use the extra money on a better video card, where you'd get a lot more noticeable improvements.

 

[samjc3]

I think this meets every OP requirement save for sub $1200 price, but only by ~$45.

 

[Mako321]

Looks good to me.

 

[XCVG]

Aftermarket heatsink is nice, but not necessary if you want to shave off $20. ASRock motherboards are flax, go with a brand-name ASUS, Gigabyte, or MSI. Caviar Black is nice, if you're going cheap a 2TB Barracuda can be had for $50 less but it's kind of a piece of junk, speed is okay but I wouldn't trust it with anything important. Power supply seems a little aspensive, but as far as I can tell the price of PSUs has gone up lately. RAM certainly has. Three Hundred is a nice case, I love mine, but if you can, get the Three Hundred Two version. You get better drive cages and front USB 3.0.

tl;dr A good build, but not exactly the one I would buy.

 

[Mako321]

Aftermarket heatsink is nice, but not necessary if you want to shave off $20. ASRock motherboards are flax, go with a brand-name ASUS, Gigabyte, or MSI. Caviar Black is nice, if you're going cheap a 2TB Barracuda can be had for $50 less but it's kind of a piece of junk, speed is okay but I wouldn't trust it with anything important. Power supply seems a little aspensive, but as far as I can tell the price of PSUs has gone up lately. RAM certainly has. Three Hundred is a nice case, I love mine, but if you can, get the Three Hundred Two version. You get better drive cages and front USB 3.0.

tl;dr A good build, but not exactly the one I would buy.

ASRock makes Dang good motherboards, stop living in 2008.

 

[HardOtto]

Agreed, I have put AsRock motherboards in three builds with no problems.

 

[ShockSlayer]

My mobo is Asrock, no problems.