Desktop Computers

I've been building my own since 95. haha. Thought that went without saying. Just, don't stay on top of what's what. or track value vs performance.

Using tom's hardware recommendations largely.
Atm, I am at i5-6600. I looked, and see the i5 outperforms the i7 for photoshop in win10 nearly across the board.
gigabyte GA-z17--HD3 ATX lga1151 MB.
never bothered with additional CPU cooling in the past. but grabbing a cheap air cooler. Deepcool Gammaxx 400.


Some questions I am looking at.
dd3 vs ddr4. and should I go for 32GB for photoshop? (silly that motherboard choice uses DDR4. )
Vid card is the big question. Tended towards budget, high performance. Want to say had 370ti, which was upgraded to the 560ti. I'm leery to jump into the 1070 right away. Is that the best bang for the buck now really?

Evga psu seem good. Used to swear by enermax, but seem to have fallen behind. last was an Antec, which also did well.

Here's what I just did as a guideline for what I paid:

PCPartPicker part list/Price breakdown by merchant

CPU:Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor($345.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler:Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard:MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard($169.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory:Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage:Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage:Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card:EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB ACX 3.0 Video Card
Case:Corsair SPEC-02 ATX Mid Tower Case($59.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply:Corsair CXM 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply($57.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive:Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer($16.88 @ OutletPC)
Monitor:Acer GN246HL 24.0" 144Hz Monitor($180.98 @ Newegg)
Keyboard:Corsair K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard($109.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse:Razer DeathAdder Chroma Wired Optical Mouse($57.99 @ Amazon)
Total:$1245.15
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-14 10:51 EDT-0400

The video card has no price but it was $400

Ronne_sl said:

You can do it in Turbotax, but it replaces the individual standard deduction, so your expenses need to be crazy high for it to win out. You basically make your home office a % of the square footage of where you live then get to take that % from rent, electric, heating, internet, then throw in other mostly related computer shit and deduct the total. The standard individual deduction is like 6500? 7k? or something like that though so it'd take a lot to beat that number unless you lie big about the size of your home office.

I'm in a one bedroom apartment and my "office" is basically half of my living room and came out to like just under 30% or something and even that wasn't enough to replace the normal deduction.

Click to expand...

Expenses and deductions are not the same thing. Work expenses do not replace your standard deduction.
Expenses directly reduce your income. As if you never made that money in the first place.

Yes. you are "supposed" to list a room for that business, then mark it as a % of total home space. And, anything you want to deduct must be "100%" for business. Electricity, water, internet, entertainment, hardware, waste removal, etc all can be claimed. mortgage, home insur, home utilties, RE tax, home repairs. All entered as a % of home office to whole home.

I use the home and business Turbotax these days.
literally, "business expenses" in income.

A PC or other items like it would be business ASSETS. turbotax will do depreciation on it automatically, if you use turbotax.

Caliane_sl said:

Expenses and deductions are not the same thing. Work expenses do not replace your standard deduction.
Expenses directly reduce your income. As if you never made that money in the first place.

Yes. you are "supposed" to list a room for that business, then mark it as a % of total home space. And, anything you want to deduct must be "100%" for business. Electricity, water, internet, entertainment, hardware, waste removal, etc all can be claimed. mortgage, home insur, home utilties, RE tax, home repairs. All entered as a % of home office to whole home.

I use the home and business Turbotax these days.
literally, "business expenses" in income.

A PC or other items like it would be business ASSETS. turbotax will do depreciation on it automatically, if you use turbotax.

Click to expand...

Hrm, interesting. When I tried to do it all this year I finished putting it all an and Turbotax basically said "yea this is all great, but it's less than your standard deduction so just use that instead of itemizing your filing". Maybe I didn't dig deep enough in to it, but hardly matters now since I have to actually go to the stupid office.

yeah. you might have been putting it in the wrong area. or not using home and business?

You are only taxed on profit. Expenses directly subtract from business income as profit. Profit is then translated as income. your standard deduction, is then a factor of that income as Adjusted gross income.

PCPartPicker part list/Price breakdown by merchant

CPU:Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor($229.95 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler:Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard($110.59 @ OutletPC)
Memory:Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory($164.99 @ Amazon)
Storage:Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive($163.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage:Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Storage:Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($66.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card:Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card($419.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case:Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply($98.68 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive:LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer($46.85 @ OutletPC)
Operating System:Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Keyboard:Corsair K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard
Total:$1503.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-14 14:07 EDT-0400

This is where I'm at.
Added a keyboard to the list, one all the friends use. my IBM KB 8923 is getting.. old.

Cintiq is DVI-I, but comes with DVI-I to DVI-D adapter. not sure if that will cause a problem.
2nd monitor is using DVI as well atm. But, pretty sure it has displayport.
will scavenge old SSD for scratch disk.


I should check the age of my PSU. wonder if that needs to be replaced.

Ronne_sl said:

Hrm, interesting. When I tried to do it all this year I finished putting it all an and Turbotax basically said "yea this is all great, but it's less than your standard deduction so just use that instead of itemizing your filing". Maybe I didn't dig deep enough in to it, but hardly matters now since I have to actually go to the stupid office.

Click to expand...

Not to derail too much into taxes, but what you are needing is to fill out a "Schedule C - Profit or loss from business" with your Taxes. It's a worksheet that takes your gross income, deducts all your business expenses, and then gives you your actual, taxable income to more forward with on the rest of your tax forms.

Caliane_sl said:

PCPartPicker part list/Price breakdown by merchant

CPU:Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor($229.95 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler:Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard($110.59 @ OutletPC)
Memory:Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory($164.99 @ Amazon)
Storage:Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive($163.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage:Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Storage:Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive($66.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card:Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card($419.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case:Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply:EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply($98.68 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive:LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer($46.85 @ OutletPC)
Operating System:Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Keyboard:Corsair K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard
Total:$1503.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-14 14:07 EDT-0400

This is where I'm at.
Added a keyboard to the list, one all the friends use. my IBM KB 8923 is getting.. old.

Cintiq is DVI-I, but comes with DVI-I to DVI-D adapter. not sure if that will cause a problem.
2nd monitor is using DVI as well atm. But, pretty sure it has displayport.
will scavenge old SSD for scratch disk.


I should check the age of my PSU. wonder if that needs to be replaced.

Click to expand...

I just ordered one of these

EVGA 210-GQ-0650-V1 650W ATX12V EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Power Supply - Newegg.com

$54.99 after rebate for 650W gold-rated PSU

tempting. figured plat was only a bit more, reviewed nicely. but, thats a good deal cheaper.
Best PSUs of 2016 - Top Power Supplies for Gaming PCs

Anyone have a recommendation for a case fan hub? I was looking at something like corsairs commander mini, but i dont want/need anything that expensive/complicated. Just want one central place to plug my fans into to help with cable management.

The efficiency levels for PSU's are just that, efficiency numbers. The platinum vs gold may save you a couple bucks a year but nothing more. Doesn't really change the reliability (bronze may be more reliable than a platinum, and vice versa). It won't blow out and parts or anything.

So after a good 5 years of service, the last year being something of a limp-along, I reckon it's time to pick up a new gaming rig. Shamefully, I'm not very knowledgeable about hardware, despite being a gamer for many years, so that's why I'm looking to this thread for some advice.

Basically, in terms that a relatively clueless person like myself can understand, what is the difference between going with:

1) ASUS GeForce? STRIX GTX980 TI DC3 6GD5
2) 2 x (SLI) ASUS GeForce? GTX 970 TurboOC - 4GD5
3) MSI GeForce? GTX 1080 AERO 8G OC

I'm assuming the GeForce 1080 will out form the GTX980, but by how much? I'm wondering if the price tag is justified, ie. will the PC remain "high-end" for that much longer with the GTX 1080. And also, can the 2x GTX 970 compete with a single GTX 1080 setup?

Hope my dumb question makes sense! Thanks in advance to anyone who can educate my ignorant butt.

If you game, don't go SLI. It's never worth it and support is shoddy. one card is greater than SLI for gaming.

I dont have any benchmarks but a 1080 would probably get 30-40% better performance than a 980 TI (which is different than a 980). And much better than a 970.

A 1080 is future proofing a bit as it will stay top dog for a long time. The 970 and 980TI's are still good cards.

If you want middle ground go for a 1070.

Dude at work is saying that DX12 is going to make SLI so much easier for devs to program for, so SLI/Crossfire is gonna make a comeback? From reading here I thought it was the exact opposite and SLI/Crossfire was dieing?

On another note, slickdeals has a few widescreen monitors on Frontpage deals. IPS panels, and even 1 with gsync I believe. Still crazy expensive though.

There's always SOMETHING in the works to make SLI/Crossfire viable, and it never pans out.

Ratama_sl said:

So after a good 5 years of service, the last year being something of a limp-along, I reckon it's time to pick up a new gaming rig. Shamefully, I'm not very knowledgeable about hardware, despite being a gamer for many years, so that's why I'm looking to this thread for some advice.

Basically, in terms that a relatively clueless person like myself can understand, what is the difference between going with:

1) ASUS GeForce? STRIX GTX980 TI DC3 6GD5
2) 2 x (SLI) ASUS GeForce? GTX 970 TurboOC - 4GD5
3) MSI GeForce? GTX 1080 AERO 8G OC

I'm assuming the GeForce 1080 will out form the GTX980, but by how much? I'm wondering if the price tag is justified, ie. will the PC remain "high-end" for that much longer with the GTX 1080. And also, can the 2x GTX 970 compete with a single GTX 1080 setup?

Hope my dumb question makes sense!

Thanks in advance to anyone who can educate my ignorant butt.

Click to expand...

This is a very very rough estimation, but when trying to compare performance across different generations of cards, you can somewhat assume that:

1) As you move forward 1 generation newer, you can drop down 1 model level for comparable performance.

i.e.

You have you "yearly" card generation, 600s, 700s, 900s, 1000s, etc.

Then within those generations, model numbers, 60 & below are budget cards, 70 is your midrange card, 80 is your high-end card. So 760 is budet, 770 is midrange, 780 is high-end for that generation.

Then when you change generations, the power shifts by a level

So, the 680 "highend" card roughly equals a 770 "midrange" card the next year, and equals a 960 "budget card" 2 years later.

So 680=770=960
and 780=970=1060
and 980=1070=?next year(probably 1160)

But you can use that as a rough guide when trying to decide between generations of cards, when comparing prices. If you find a great deal on a 970 say for $200, jump on that over a $250 1060 for comparable performance

Noodleface_sl said:

The efficiency levels for PSU's are just that, efficiency numbers. The platinum vs gold may save you a couple bucks a year but nothing more. Doesn't really change the reliability (bronze may be more reliable than a platinum, and vice versa). It won't blow out and parts or anything.

Click to expand...

yeah. For me a thing to consider, this is business and gaming. we are talking 16h/day, 7days a week.
will I save that $40 over 10 year warranty? lets see...
2% estimates I see for each step.
300w/h, 16h/d 4800w/day, 365=1752kwh
$.167 per kWh
$293/y cost to run.
2% diff. about 6bucks/year.
that sound about right?

Thanks a ton for the input, guys

Caliane_sl said:

yeah. For me a thing to consider, this is business and gaming. we are talking 16h/day, 7days a week.
will I save that $40 over 10 year warranty? lets see...
2% estimates I see for each step.
300w/h, 16h/d 4800w/day, 365=1752kwh
$.167 per kWh
$293/y cost to run.
2% diff. about 6bucks/year.
that sound about right?

Click to expand...

I forgot it was for work, in that case it may be worth it for you. Depends how often you intend on changing it out. For instance if you were only going to keep it a couple years it may not work out.