Ok so it is about time I got a new PC... I am still using a 10 year old computer with pentium 4 processor, 4gb ram and XP.  It is getting to the point where I just don't have the power to do some of the stuff I want and progams wont work properly with XP. For example I can't even play video off my cell phone on the PC. The processor goes to 100% and it is choppy and freezes up. It is pretty sad when my cell phone has more computing power than my desktop PC

Here is what I am looking at... I am pretty tech saavy but there is just so many damn products to choose from it is quite frankly just overwhelming and I just do not follow current computer technology to know what I am looking at. Either of these machines would be running windows 7 and I will be using two 24" 1080p monitors. But I also want the option of adding in a third monitor if I decide to hook my TV up to the computer. I Don't need a sound card because I have an external USB DAC. I don't do any gaming. Mostly internet browsing. watching movies. photo editing. music.. Good chance I would be using Autocad but unlikely I would do any 3d modeling type stuff


First option; Pick up a used Dell precision t7400 off ebay for around ~$1,000. Dual quad core xeons at 3.0-3.2Ghz and 32GB ram. 2GB graphics card. Comes with 1TB hard drive but I dont care about that I have a ton of HDD. I figure if I go this route these computers are built to be durable and clearly looking inside are much better designed than say some brand new off the shelf XPS that feels like a cheap piece of crap and I hate the case design. The whole thing just feels and looks cheap.

Second option. Build my own. Havent done this before from scratch but I am familiar with computer stuff I have fixed and upgraded them before. This is a list the stuff I figured I would probably go with. Still comes out to about 11-1200 dollars but brand new.


Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE120BW
$80.99 1 0

Corsair Hydro Series Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H80i
$74.99 1 0

EVGA GeForce GTX 660 SUPERCLOCKED 2048MB GDDR5 DVI HDMI DP Graphics Card 02G-P4-2662-KR
$194.09 1 0

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CMZ16GX3M2A16?00C10)
$147.95 2 0

Asus Z87 PRO LGA 1150 Motherboard
$174.99 1 0

Intel Core i7-4770K Quad-Core Desktop Processor (3.5 GHz, 8 MB Cache, Intel HD graphics, BX80646I74770K?)
$309.99 1 0

Corsair Vengeance Series Military Green C70 Mid Tower Computer Case (CC-9011018-WW?)

I also already have a corsair TX750M power supply I would use in this build. The SSD would just be for the OS and program software and I will have a couple 1TB drives for all my music and pictures etc..

any input would be helpful. I do not want to spend a grand on something I would be regretting. Of course I probably would be pretty happy with anything I get compared to what I have now. I really am stretching at 1200 dollars for this computer but I want something I can be happy with for another 10 years.

I'd rather buy a $600 PC now, and another $600 PC in 5 years, than a $1200 PC that I'll try to make last 10 years.

I just bought a Dell Insprion i5-4440 @ 3.1Ghz, 8GB Ram for like $450. It may not be a precision, but its half the price. The onboard video is actually pretty good, but you can toss in any PCI-E card you want with the addition of an after-market power supply.

I think you quad core Xeons and 32GB of RAM for "I don't do any gaming. Mostly internet browsing. watching movies. photo editing. music" is serious overkill.

Thanks for the input. I do realize that the machines I have my eye on are overkill for the stuff I do but I always kind of looked at it like this: better to have the power and not need it than need it and not have it.

I think part of the reason I do not really do real computing power intensive stuff is because I don't have the power to do it in a reasonable time. I will not ever likely get into gaming but I would like to do video editing stuff at some point I think.

I suppose I should start considering cheaper options that will do what I need rather than do an all out build. But I am still open to any opinions either way. It seems like the last few years pc technology has not really advanced much like it did 10 or 15 years ago.

The JohnnyGuru review of that PSU is kind of meh, but it will work.

I don't know about buying a Kepler 660 today.  The Maxwell 750, even at 28nm, performs very well.  The big brother to the 750 might be just around the corner, and it will use less power and perform better.  The 750 probably will do what you want, though.

Why water cooling?  

I have that exact motherboard and CPU.  Ugly as shit motherboard (the gold is atrocious) but it works great.

I say go for it, but you need to shop around especially on the CPU and MB.  Those are high prices you quoted.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-3847-desktop/pd?oc=fdcwrn1359&model_id=inspiron-3847-desktop

Well the PSU I already have so that is why I would be using it. If I were to buy a new one I would get something different... Reason for the water cooling was I just shopped CPU coolers on amazon and it seemed like for not that much more in price I could go from a decent air cooler to a water cooler. I was also thinking since it would keep it cool better the fans would not have to work as hard and equate to less noise. I just picked everything out on amazon because the reviews usually give me a good base to go off of which products are good or not. Don't really care what the components look like. I like the case but I wish it did not have a window in the side. If I go that route maybe I will just spraypaint it OD from the backside.