Looking to buy a new PC + MONITOR. Price range: €850 / 685 £ max, so preferably less, though I'm still willing to make a stretch if it's absolutely worth it. Main use: Image editing/ digital painting Video editing Making music etc. I love gaming too, but it's not my priority here... Current PC is horribly outdated, so I won't be reusing any parts. Monitor resolution: 1920x1080/1920x1200 preferably, but I need a new monitor too. Overclockability is not a priority - I certainly wouldn't mind having the possibility, but it's not a requirement. Storage: A fish gets as big as its bowl, as they say. If my limited budget means having a smaller HD, I will live with it. Special requirements: none I already came up with this, though I'm not sure it actually serves my needs... Intel i3 2100 + stock cooler - €109 Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 - €84,95 Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-12800 - €46,95 MSI Radeon HD 6770 - €94,95 Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - €74,95 Samsung 830 Series 128GB - €94,95 - yeah, probably a bit excessive at my budget... Antec One Hundred - €46,95 Corsair GS500 - €54,95 Asus 24B5ST DVD burner - €19,95 Dell U2312HM - €174,95 - I'm pretty much sold on this one, but if a sacrifice is necessary, it will have to be... PS: If there are any Belgians around here, I'd like to know a good online store for PC stuff, right now I'm using Komplett.be.
An excellent retailer available to Belgium: http://www2.hardwareversand.de/home.jsp It's usually cheaper than Komplett. I'm envious your delivery is around half the cost of delivery to Ireland...
For image editing, get yourself a at least a 2500 or a 3570. Might as well get an unlocked version given the paltry price difference. Also get 16GB of RAM if you're actually serious about the whole image editing thing. You won't regret that. It's a pretty decent build outside of that although I don't know why you'd want a 6770 given that you can get a 7770 for a tiny bit more and it'll be much faster.
If I go for a 3570k, should I also invest in a separate CPU cooler - even though I'm not planning on overclocking immediately? From what I've heard it runs quite hot (at least compared to the 2500k etc.). I will stick with 8GB of RAM for now. I love image editing, but I don't think it will fit my budget. Plus, I can always pop in some extra RAM later, if I'd need it. I chose the 6770 because Tom's recommended it over a 7770, and because it's about €40 cheaper around here. Again: budget restrictions.
If you're not going to overclock, I don't think so. But if you want to be safe, go for it. The 6770 is 40 euros cheaper?!! That's insane given that there's hardly a difference over in the US. But then again..the US.. How about a 7750? Surely that's about the same price?
Thanks again for leaving a comment! Indeed, the 6770 and 7750 are both ~€95, but since the 6770 is more or less a rebranded 5770 and in benchmarks the 7750 seems to fare worse than a 5770, I don't think it's a viable option.
I would go for one of those, but unfortunately the store I'm buying from (which still is Komplett, as its still cheaper than HardwareVersand as Nazata suggested) doesn't have those in stock. Normally I'd just choose another site to order from, but in this case they're about 10% cheaper than the rest of the market, and I'd end up paying far more for a relatively small upgrade.
OK, current system: Intel i5 3570K - €214,95 Asus P8Z77-V LE - €129,95 Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - €29,95 Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-12800 - €46,95 MSI Radeon HD 6770 - €94,95 Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - €74,95 Antec One Hundred - €46,95 Corsair GS500 - €54,95 Dell U2312HM - €174,95 Had to drop the SSD unfortunately... Anyway, would this system suit my needs? Any remarks?
Drop the M/B down to something like the Z77A-G43. That will save you 40 quid. The PSU down to this http://www1.hardwareversand.de/400+...air+Builder+Series+CX430+V2,+430+Watt.article That will save you another 15 quid. Look around for an LG ISP screen, That should save you a few euro as well. With all the money you have saved put it to an SSD
