Hello all
First time computer builder here looking for opinions.
I am most interested in longevity and the ability to upgrade piece by piece in the future.
I will use this computer for light photo editing and large quantity storage of photos, duplicating and storing large quantities of both audio and video, YouTube, I-Tunes, Google Earth, News and Weather , General Web Surfing, and so on.
I have already gone over my intended budget, but am fine with that if the quality is worth the money.
Right now I am at almost $900.00
So here is what I have chosen, and would like to know what you think, good, bad, and the ugly.
Also is this everything I will need or have I missed something?
I will not need a Monitor, Keyboard or Mouse.
One other question is will the Intel HD Graphics 2500 in the CPU do what I have described, or will I need a GPU?
You really only need the GPU if you were to do some heavy photo/video editing. Or if you wanted to play games you would need a dedicated card, because the onboard GPU isn't going to do so well.
Just when looking for a GPU, the motherboard you have listed there has PCI express x16 3.0, so look for GPU's that support 3.0; you can use a 2.0 card, but it would be better for a 3.0 version GPU.
As for the Anti-Static strap, it really isn't necessary, I build machines all the time and never used one! You just need to ground yourself before touching parts; just touch the outside of the case, metal part of it, and you're grounded.
HDD- caviar blacks are nice but 188 is an excessive price. Take a look at caviar blue or samsung spinpoint if they are still around. If you are looking for fast performance take a look at the ssd's. OCZ drives are fairly priced and fast, but not everyone is sure they are reliable. Intel SSD drives are expensive but supposedly pretty reliable.
RAM - nothing against these except their height; be careful if you want a upgraded Heatsink Fan, you may have problems trying to do both. Consider low profile Ram Sticks.
Wrist Strap - I disagree with DavGerm4 - IMO, these are good to have around. Dav's method will work, though, just dont be careless if you dont use a strap. Do the assembly over linoleum or hardwood on a wooden table, for instance. Avoid Carpet when handling internals, just for safety's sake.
I think that the On-Chip Gpu will be fine for your needs. One cool thing abt dedicated gfx is that they are starting to come up with API's like CUDA and STREAM(?) using the GPU as an accelerator. Actual software is kind of sparse though.
Originally posted by mrslicker: Wrist Strap - I disagree with DavGerm4 - IMO, these are good to have around. Dav's method will work, though, just dont be careless if you dont use a strap. Do the assembly over linoleum or hardwood on a wooden table, for instance. Avoid Carpet when handling internals, just for safety's sake.
mrslicker may be right there. For someone that's new to building machines, I guess it's nice to have around; and to be honest I owned one when I first started, but then I just stopped using it, cause I knew how to handle the parts properly!
So on second thought, you may want the Wrist Strap, just in case.
