A Strategy of Pure Whim and Little Necessity -- the 2014 PC Project

[BonzaiDuck]

[Comments? Thoughts?]

OK. Haswell-E will be released at year's end, with a flurry of new X99 boards. The guess is that those boards will have BIOS's begging for revision over the following year.

Every system in my house excepting my 2600K box is using six-year-old
C2D's and socket-LGA775. Four of 'em. Three users in the household.

I am just short of 3 years since my last (2600K) project. [Folks! Not a single extravagance in all that time! This has been real discipline!]

I could do this "all at once." I don't need to do it "all at once." I'm going to dribble out the expenditure in phases ("stages"). The end product should be better and happier, even if it's "older."

So -- I go forward to order essential parts for an IB-E system and an X-79 motherboard:

i7-4930K processor (with tax) . . . . . . $627.00
ASUS X79 Deluxe motherboard (..). . . . . $378.00
PSU Seasonic X-850 Gold 80+ (..). . . . . $227.00
Optical Drive [probably DVD R/w]. . . . . $ 30.00
OS Windows 7 64-bit SP1 Pro OEM . . . . . $140.00

Total this purchase: . . . . . . . . . .$1,402.00

[Are resellers eavesdropping Anandtech? They can't go "up;" They could only go "down!"]

The remaining components, I already have:
4x4 DDR3-1600 G.SKILL "GBRL" -- Used, already tested, G.SKILL configurator confirmed X79 compatible.
WD 320GB "Blue" SATA-III -- An interim use of a spare HDD still in shipping wrap
Hot-swap SATA StarTech cage -- new in carton
CoolerMaster 212+ -- still new in the carton -- awaiting LGA-2011 adapter (free) from CM, request approved
CoolerMaster Centurion ATX midtower case, plenty of fans and paraphernalia
[Whoops. Correction/addendum:] Samsung 840 Pro 500GB -- still in retail box

The CoolerMaster items are purely for interim testing until I'm ready to choose my final cooling solution and order the case.

Did I forget something? No.

THE GRAPHICS STRATEGY

One of our boxes is currently configured as SLI with two BFG 9600GT nVidia cards. The user, who games, doesn't game on his computer. I have consulted and arranged to extract one of those two cards. Unless I missed something or have gone totally delusional, I should be able to test the new components above with this card.

STAGE 2: Decide on Cooling; decide about single GFX or dual SLI; study the OC-ing wisdom and guides
[BEGIN 2015 COMPUTER BUDGET]

STAGE 3: Order a new case or mod an existing case, and order the GFX card(s)

STAGE 4: Order and install the cooling solution and graphics; replace the GBRL's with some DDR3-2133 modules

STAGE 5: Finish the OC and tweaking; go "operational" on this M__F__r.

This will not need a "1970s Great Lockheed Bailout," but I still get my C5-A monster.

There shouldn't be any "mistakes," unless someone thinks building this last-gen platform is a mistake.

 

[zir_blazer]

Personally, if I were you, I would buy anything BUT Processor, Motherboard and RAM until Haswell-E. That is assuming you don't need that system working ASAP for a serious purpose. Just go big in Power Supply, storage (HD/SDDs) and Video Cards with your current system.

I have a serious grudge against LGA 2011 and its dinosaur Chipset, as most of the important recent features (SATA-3, USB 3.0) relies on tons of extra controllers which add complexity (And that means more bugs, quirks, an extra chance that a component fails, etc) and cost to the Motherboard just to match the more modern LGA 1155 Chipsets in features. When Haswell-E platform gets released, that will be a thing of the past.

Also, do you REALLY need a DVD-RW drive? After I figured out that even the Windows XP dinosaur can be easily installed from a Pendrive, I simply skip it. Worst case scenario, you could possibily use the DVD of another computer as a shared unit. Not very practical, but considering how many DVDs I have used in the last years, its a waste of 30 U$D.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Personally, if I were you, I would buy anything BUT Processor, Motherboard and RAM until Haswell-E. That is assuming you don't need that system working ASAP for a serious purpose. Just go big in Power Supply, storage (HD/SDDs) and Video Cards with your current system.

I have a serious grudge against LGA 2011 and its dinosaur Chipset, as most of the important recent features (SATA-3, USB 3.0) relies on tons of extra controllers which add complexity (And that means more bugs, quirks, an extra chance that a component fails, etc) and cost to the Motherboard just to match the more modern LGA 1155 Chipsets in features. When Haswell-E platform gets released, that will be a thing of the past.

Also, do you REALLY need a DVD-RW drive? After I figured out that even the Windows XP dinosaur can be easily installed from a Pendrive, I simply skip it. Worst case scenario, you could possibily use the DVD of another computer as a shared unit. Not very practical, but considering how many DVDs I have used in the last years, its a waste of 30 U$D.

I think you have it turned around. The sequence of sockets: 1155 ->2011->1150 . . . anticipating a new (incompatible) 2011 ("3" or whatever they'll call it) in the fall.

The newer Z87 boards sport as much as 6 SATA-III ports on the Intel controller (e.g., the Maximus VI board), and a Marvel or Asmedia controller providing several more. the X79 board I'm looking at has the 2x SATA-III plus several more SATA-II on the Intel controller, with 4 more SATA-III's on a Marvel controller plus two on an Asmedia controller.

I've had no trouble with the Marvel controller on my Z68 mobo, and the X79 De-Lucks was a 2013 release -- as far as I know.

I'm never going to need six SATA-III ports. The board has plenty USB 3.0 ports. But these are still more marginal features for me.

If I wait for Haswell E, then I have to deal with new BIOS, new DDR4 RAM with early, infancy specs and prices.

Now the plot thickens! To recheck the specs on the ASUS board, I went to my preferred reseller, and they're suddenly "out of stock" on the X79 Deluxe!

I'll click the "Notify me" button on this and cross my fingers. Two things: It delays my purchase a bit longer, and I can be assured that the "rough edges" of what should already be a well-developed BIOS on that board will be replaced with new stock and new BIOS revision.

I can also "swap in" the optical drive for what I need, but those things are as cheap as Kool cigarettes -- I may even have an old one in my parts locker.

Thanks for your input. Anyone else?

 

[vailr]

My advice: just skip the X79 board and go to an i5/Z87 combo.
Note: AFAIK, DDR4 hasn't yet been confirmed for Z97.
Also: there's a $12.99 + shipping (AR) Samsung 24x DVD-Writer:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8020886&CatId=89

 

[BonzaiDuck]

My advice: just skip the X79 board and go to an i5/Z87 combo.
Note: AFAIK, DDR4 hasn't yet been confirmed for Z97.

Well, if I don't buy the board separately from another reseller I just located (and used previously), I have time to think about it. Z97? I think the successor for X79 is X99.

I'm glad I posted this thread, because it keeps me "thinking" about it. I'm pessimistic about future chip generations, although they're bound to be better at stock and out-of-the-box.

But I do know how this works on new releases. The old Z68 chipset almost seemed an exception: it was great with the first release and only a couple BIOS revisions.

And -- not sure I want to go with a Z87 system and the processors. Not sure I'll be better off with Haswell E. But that's why I didn't place an order for parts last month, or in December. "Not sure."

But as my initial post explained: "I want a new toy to tinker, even if the new toy seems 'old.'"

 

[CHEMEMAN]

FWIW, I just upgraded from an X58 system with a W3540 at 4.4ghz to the X79 with a 4930k at 4.6ghz. The biggest difference is Sata 3 and USB 3.0, which I could have added to my old system for less than $75 and been LOTS on money ahead. X79 is already dead and was never implemented properly.

Unless your system is failing, do not upgrade now.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

FWIW, I just upgraded from an X58 system with a W3540 at 4.4ghz to the X79 with a 4930k at 4.6ghz. The biggest difference is Sata 3 and USB 3.0, which I could have added to my old system for less than $75 and been LOTS on money ahead. X79 is already dead and was never implemented properly.

Unless your system is failing, do not upgrade now.

I'm starting to lean toward putting off a new build project until Haswell E.

"Unless system failing . . ." This is a rational argument. Just for computer use and application in daily life, I have more than enough resources.

Then there's the impulse demonstrated by the guy who has a 20-car garage, 10 Ferrari's and 10 more Lamborghini's. Everyone has something of that impulse in ways that don't broadcast anything close in conspicuous consumption.

Or you could call it "a desire to tinker."

It's a more sobering thought that the performance gap between SB and IB is less than 15%, and a similar increment between IB and Haswell. I'll wait at least until the "E" chip is released this fall.