Build Advice First build for Uni, components help

Right guys as you can see from my sig, I haven't updated in a while. I'm in the early stages of considering a new build because I promised myself I'd get one for Uni. Seeing as I'm reusing a lot of decent parts the budget is relatively low, but I want a decent PC to last me at least the next 4 years.

The problem I have is that I don't have a lot of money to spend, and I'm not sure if it's worth getting the 3770K or sticking with the 3570K. So based on what I want to do below, what do people think?

Budget:
Hopefully less than £400 seeing as it's just the core components.

Main uses of intended build:
Lots of development. Visual Studio, Netbeans, Eclipse, Android Emulator.
Design work in Photoshop Elements
Occasional light gaming - GTA IV is the most intensive one probably. I'd like enough CPU grunt to run this on High (with a new graphics card further down the line)
Occasional heavy VMWare usage.
Standard casual usage.

Parts required:
CPU, Motherboard, PSU, Case, RAM.

Previous build information (list details of parts):
As in signature. Re-using Crucial M4 64GB SSD, Spinpoint F3 1TB, X-Fi card, HD5670 1GB, optical drive.

Monitor resolution:
2x17 inch 1280x1024
1x21.5 inch 1920x1080

Storage requirements:
I've got about 14TB kicking about here so I don't need anymore yet

Will you be overclocking: Yes, in the future. Hence the decision to purchase a "K" chip. My thoughts are to use a cheap cooler until then, when I'll upgrade to a Corsair Hydro unit or similar.

Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers):
Nothing special that I could think of.

Extra information about desired system:
I'm reusing a lot of components I have, hence why my budget is so low. Thoughts I have currently are:
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K OR i7 3770K
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance PC3-12800 (intend to upgrade to 16GB when finances allow)
PSU: Corsair Builder Series 500W
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
Case: Coolermaster CM690 II Lite

 

For video editing, if you are using Adobe (and probably others), there's definite benefit to i7. I would have thought there was, with your design software, as well. Other bits look ok, although for PSU you need to bear in mind what GPU you might add to an overclocked CPU.

 

I know VMware can be pretty intensive too although mainly on the RAM I think? Seems like it might be worth to spend a bit extra and get the i7. Also a 2600k can be had for about the price of the 3570k on ebay. If you want more threads probably worth thinking about

 

Sorry I should have made it clear - it's not the intensive kind of video editing. It's the kind you can do with Movie Maker and probably an Atom I'll take that part out of the first post

Yeah I have 6GB of RAM at the moment and I run out occasionally so 8-16GB would be good. I hadn't actually thought of second hand, but I'd prefer to keep all the kit to new stuff.

Thanks for your input guys!

 

get a i5 3570k you will never use the i7 benefits often enough to justify the extra cost.

deffo go 8gb ram you may not notice the difference from there to 16gb tho.

can rec the corsair 500w psu. i have used the 430w several times and have had nothing but good things to say about it.

 

This is what I'm talking about, I've looked at lots of benchmarks and stuff and aside from heavily multi-threaded tasks like video encoding or something I can't see the i7 being worth the cost for what I need to do. Benchmarks I've been looking at also put the i5-3570K far ahead of older chips like the i7-930, which is comforting.

I would be seeing how I got on with 8GB and only upping it if I needed to. Is PC3-12800 okay? I haven't looked into RAM speeds and stuff in a long time.

 

If you're really on a budget then building something now to be good for four years is the most expensive option. It's cheaper to buy something for now and upgrade in 2 years, selling what you had before.


But an i5 would be fine. Just don't blow your budget on a gpu to last 4 years

 

Yes that's true haha. Well my Q6600 has lasted me almost 6 years now.

Another thing I've been wondering, how much of a real-world usage benefit will I see in terms of speed for general usage? Considering I already have an SSD.

 

You will notice the performance boost on the desktop but don't expect to have your hat blown off! You'll be glad of it in games and intensive applications, its really about a machine that can cope for the next 4 years for you, and that Q6600 (bless its heart) will probably be chugging a fair bit in a few years time

 

get 1600mhz ram

also bare in mind that there are alot of expenses at unis blowing alot of money on a computer is not the best idea. keep things cheap and upgradable so if you need the extra horsepower and have the extra money you can upgrade. nothing like the feeling of getting new parts

 

VM's ram can be adjusted but no point on skimping might as well give a vm as much ram as you can afford. Also more cores is always a good thing for a VM, perhaps having hyperthreading might prove useful (although how useful I don't know)

 

Okay, I should get a boost in Eclipse and stuff then.

Yeah that's why I'm going for a few bits to start, and adding water cooling, new graphics etc later.

I don't use them a lot, and the Q6600 manages fine, so 4 cores is probably enough for what I'm doing with them at the moment.

 

Good Idea. More beer money if you need it.

 

GTA IV Will work great on any quad core, It's not particularly GPU intensive unless you want to run one of the mods to make it look prettier but the vanilla game does eat up video memory, so 1GB+ is essential, I'd probably want at least 1.25GB for the smoothest experience

 

This is a very important consideration.

 

Okay so I think I'm all but decided on the i5 now unless I find £100 in the street

How about the motherboard, will that be okay for probably light overclocking in the future? I've never bought a motherboard before but this one seems to get good reviews and it has all the features I'm looking for (ie- SATA 6Gbps for my M4)

 

Yep, unless you're doing extensive video-editing and what not, it's easier and cheaper to stay with the i5. It'll still give you a decent speed in 4 years time (although you may potentially want to upgrade some components when you get to your final year and depending on what you're final year project will be.)

The mainboard, case & RAM all seem fine too. I use a Gigabyte one with the SB i5 I have and its been rock solid so far and 8GB of RAM will definitely last you until you can afford more. I occasionally play around with VMs so its nice for the extra capacity.

One area I will suggest is that from the looks of things you are doing some form of a Computing / IT degree. See if your University is part of Dreamspark or the MSDNAA to get discounted/free software. I did this during my years there and mass downloaded a load of software from MSDNAA before leaving (Mainly server OSs & Exchange plus others).

You can also use the likes of Academia and Software4Students to get discounts on other software too such as Adobe etc.

 

Yeah I'm doing a BSc in Computer Science I've already used Dreamspark to get things like Visual Studio for free and I will be using their MSDNAA to get more soon hopefully.

The parts list I'm looking at right now is:
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570K
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
RAM: 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz
Cooler: Corsair Hydro H40
PSU: Corsair CX500W
Case: Cooler Master CM 690 II Lite

 

I found £120 pound in the street once, it was on the Blackstock Road in Finsbury Park all in crisp £20 notes. I took it into the police station (everyone calls me crazy for this part) but no one claimed it so I got it back 2 weeks later just in time to help with the rent.

Bonus part of this is now none of my friends ever question my honest. Sanity yes, but not my honesty.

 

Brilliant! There was a story a few years back about some kids that found a grand in ripped up notes in a bin, then they took them to the bank they came from after painstakingly re-assembling them with sellotape, and the bank exchanged them for new notes! Not that that's off topic at all.

Back on topic: I've found the Antec KUHLER H20 620 on the Scan site. It looks exactly like the Corsair Hydro H40 but it's a fiver cheaper. That's a couple of ciders from Asda...so clearly a worthwhile saving. Any reason I should get the H40 over the H20 620?