The old "What ____ should I buy" question

[unfaithfulsfan]

I'm looking probably 6 months or so down the road so this isn't an urgent issue but I'm starting to think about a new build.

I'm not a gamer....Just don't have time.....but the main work tasks I'll be doing will be working with video and audio. With the village site I'm doing more & more video in addition to stills and I'm doing a little more in the way of custom graphics for the site. I'd like to work more with PhotoShop. I currently use Xara Designer Pro X9 64-bit which is not as powerful but a lot faster & much smaller file size. I'm also using Magix/Xara software for video editing as well as their Music Studio for working with the soundtracks from the video.

I'm also [still] planning to rip all my vinyl to a drive so I'll be working with WAV & FLAC files, too. I'm covered in the audio department with my Audiophile card & Klipsch ProMedias (unless there's a better sound card option in the PCIE department. Audacity seems to do the job without much fuss. And I'm really going to start spending more time with my MIDI piano & Reason.

While I'm sure most of this can be done on my current rig with a good boost in RAM & maybe a new video card, I still would like to take a step up. It's just going to take me a few months to save the dinero. I've already fallen in love with the 24.5" monitors I just procured for the village & maybe something even larger might be within my reach by the time I get around to this. So, without going totally "bleeding edge", what would y'all recommend?

• CPU
• Motherboard
• RAM
• Graphics

Like I said, I'm looking at after the first of the year for this so I'm not going to be "running" to NewEgg or Amazon in the next few minutes. Just asking for some suggestions.

Thanks & Go Bills!!!!!!! Squish the fish!!
Jack

[Apoptosis]

6 months from now?

Broadwell with the next Intel chipset w/ an NVIDIA Maxwell video card if you are looking at a mainstream platform with a modest budget. If you wanted to go all out Haswell-E with an Intel X99 board and a high-end Maxwell GPU.

[unfaithfulsfan]

Thanks. Want to go, as I said, not necessarily something absolutely brand new on the market but something higher end that's proven. Just wanted a pointer in the right direction.

Thanks again

[sgkean]

If you're doing a lot of video, would say get an i7. I did some quick testing at work with a group that does a lot of video, and saw a good performance increase from i5 to i7.

By the first of the year, the x99 will have bugs/issues worked out and we'll be looking at the next gen coming soon. So an x99 might not be too bad of an option at the point.

Video card, hard to say what they're going to surprise us with in the next 6 months. nVidia already announced new cards coming out soon, I'm sure AMD won't be too far away either. When you're ready, I'd look at today's generation cards for a decision, hopefully the price will be lower enough where it'll be worth stepping up a little higher than you're thinking right now.

[unfaithfulsfan]

Thanks. I realized also I kinda put my foot in my mouth when I didn't include any kind of budget for my build.

I'm thinking along the lines of ~$7-800 for the fundamentals: Board & CPU, memory, cooling & PSU. If I have any left over all the better. I think my current case should be okay but I'll look at that a little later. The graphics card will be the last thing I buy & is a separate budget unless I get a crazy deal. The nVIDIA 700 (?) seems to be a popular choice from the few minutes I spent looking at graphics.

I was looking at i7s last night & read some posts on that very subject. I'm waffling though as to whether to go 7 or 8 for the OS. I have no issues with 7 at all & hate to mess with success, as it were.

I do plan to go with a larger display. I really liked the 24.5" monitors I got for the village. I still remember the 30+" display I saw at the Apple store back in '06 when I was working for an inventory company.

Also figured DDR3 will be the way to go for me. DDR4 I'm sure is going to be out of reach & besides I'm trying to stay away from "latest & greatest". I'd much rather go with maybe 16 GB of 3 than go for 4 and blow my budget out of the water with all the related components. And, finally, I've always gone 2-3 generations back for budgetary reasons. This time I'd like to go just 1 back if I can. That's treat enough for me at this point.

Thanks again for the info. Keep it coming, please!

[sbohdan]

If I was you, I would wait for the time when I'm actually ready to buy the stuff because there is so much change in technology and prices, you can't foresee what will be than. Ex. new stuff that came out now, might be much cheaper than or there might be newer things that are better yet not more expensive than the older gen. I would also listen to Nate (Apoptosis) if I were you...

[unfaithfulsfan]

I hear you. I just so seldom get a chance to really follow the trends & developments in hardware. It's been 5 years since my last build for myself.

I'm sure by the time I get to actually buy my parts I will have changed my mind a half dozen times.

I value everyone's opinions & input here. Y'all all give me different perspectives I hadn't considered & info I would not have found elsewhere. That's why LR is the only board I read & post to on any regular basis. Y'all do stay on top of what's coming, what's out & what to not waste your time with.

I really appreciate you guys. Whether it's tech related or something intensely personal like the situation with my brother, I always know I can find support here with an absolute minimum of BS. In a word, LR is invaluable to me.

Thanks for being here!

[sbohdan]

I hear you. I just so seldom get a chance to really follow the trends & developments in hardware. It's been 5 years since my last build for myself.

I'm sure by the time I get to actually buy my parts I will have changed my mind a half dozen times.

I value everyone's opinions & input here. Y'all all give me different perspectives I hadn't considered & info I would not have found elsewhere. That's why LR is the only board I read & post to on any regular basis. Y'all do stay on top of what's coming, what's out & what to not waste your time with.

I really appreciate you guys. Whether it's tech related or something intensely personal like the situation with my brother, I always know I can find support here with an absolute minimum of BS. In a word, LR is invaluable to me.

Thanks for being here!

This is precisely why I stick around also. You've got to love LR