Looking for recommendations for a new PC

[XGC Forsakend]

I will be upfront and say (like many threads before this probably) that I know little to absolutely nothing about PC's. I have read several threads about others asking for help on their PC build for gaming purposes and such... but they seemed to have a general build already in mind. I don't unfortunately... =/

If anyone is able to recommend me specific parts or build or whatever it is that I need, that would be amazing!

Price Range: $1,000 but will go higher if it is needed.
Details on what I need the PC for:

I am currently studying game design and will need it to handle two or three different software/tools at once such as: Unreal Development Kit, AutoDesk 3DS Max, Adobe Photoshop, SpeedTree, Microsoft Visual Studio.

(Not sure if mentioning that I would like two monitors matters or not, but here's the mention anyway) ^_^

Along with my educational purposes, I also would like it for gaming. I don't necessarily need everything at ultimate 'ultra' max setting, but I definitely don't want to have trouble a 2 years down the line.

Just as a reference point only, I would like to be able to run Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2 with no problem at all.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated since I don't want to go into a store completely blind and I don't want a store bought PC.

Thanks

 

[PP Mguire]

This should do you well.

CPU:
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K

Motherboard:
Newegg.com - ASRock Z75 Pro3 LGA 1155 Intel Z75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM:
Newegg.com - Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PV38G160C9K

GPU:
Newegg.com - EVGA 02G-P4-2660-KR GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

PSU:
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply

HDD+SSD:
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC128N/AM 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Notebook Upgrade Kit

OS:
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - Operating Systems

Optical:
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG DVD Burner 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM SATA Model SH-224BB - CD / DVD Burners

Case:
Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GZ-F3HEB Black SECC Steel / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

1106

If you need to drop the price a little we can do this.

CPU:
Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-3330 Ivy Bridge 3.0GHz (3.2GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637i53330

Motherboard:
Newegg.com - ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP LGA 1155 Intel H77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

GPU:
Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P4-3650-KR GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card

Those with the above come in at $996

 

[XGC Forsakend]

Thanks again for the part recommendations. Between the above parts and the recommendations from the guys helping me build it... I got a build I am comfortable with.

But I now have one last question (and pretty minor), I was told not to get a wireless pci card and just stick with a direct connection but will require a long Ethernet cable in doing so. The distance is between 50-100 ft. The direct distance is only 40 ft but going to go the extra step to run it between walls and under the floor or ceiling and such... so only guesstimating needed distance at this point.

Is there anything special I should be looking for since it is going to be a long distance cable? I believe speed will be affected due to the distance... should I be looking for 'gold connectors' or anything along those lines?

Thanks again for any replies.

 

[Bregadon]

IIRC Cat5E is 100M before you need a repeater as your cable run will only be 1/3 of that I think you will be fine. If you're going to rip apart walls to do this might as well do it in some other rooms that might be handy I had to do something like this in my old house but luckily we were already remodeling so it was very easy. Newer houses tend to come with it all pre-installed, at least around here.

 

[PP Mguire]

Thanks again for the part recommendations. Between the above parts and the recommendations from the guys helping me build it... I got a build I am comfortable with.

But I now have one last question (and pretty minor), I was told not to get a wireless pci card and just stick with a direct connection but will require a long Ethernet cable in doing so. The distance is between 50-100 ft. The direct distance is only 40 ft but going to go the extra step to run it between walls and under the floor or ceiling and such... so only guesstimating needed distance at this point.

Is there anything special I should be looking for since it is going to be a long distance cable? I believe speed will be affected due to the distance... should I be looking for 'gold connectors' or anything along those lines?

Thanks again for any replies.

A direct connection is always best due to speed, no latency, and no connection drops or the possibility of. Wireless cards have come a long way though, and are not as bad as some people want to make them out to be. As for the cable, I have a 100ft cable I use for LAN parties all the time and it's fine. It's just a regular cheap 5e from Fry's.

 

[XGC Forsakend]

IIRC Cat5E is 100M before you need a repeater as your cable run will only be 1/3 of that I think you will be fine. If you're going to rip apart walls to do this might as well do it in some other rooms that might be handy I had to do something like this in my old house but luckily we were already remodeling so it was very easy. Newer houses tend to come with it all pre-installed, at least around here.

A direct connection is always best due to speed, no latency, and no connection drops or the possibility of. Wireless cards have come a long way though, and are not as bad as some people want to make them out to be. As for the cable, I have a 100ft cable I use for LAN parties all the time and it's fine. It's just a regular cheap 5e from Fry's.

Alright, thanks. I'll just pick up a semi-cheap cable from a local store then. ^_^