Gygabyte GA-z87-OC, is it for me?

[hemi79]

Hi everyone, I am currently working on putting together my list to begin my build. I have one priority and that is Autocad Civil 3d and Autodesk Revit use. I am confused as to which motherboard serves my purpose most and not spend on things I don't need. I am considering ordering following. Any input is greatly appreciated!

MOBO-Gygabyte GA-z87-OC
CPU-i74770K Haswell 3.5 GHz Quad Core
Memory-Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB 240 Pin DDR3 1600
NVIDIA Quadro K2000D VCOK2000D-PB 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x 16
SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready
OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25 SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC
OCZ Vertex 4 VTX4-25SAT3-256G 2.5" 256 GB SATA III MLC
Corsair Hydro Series H100i Water Cooler
4 Thermaltake AF0032 120mm Blue LED Case Cooler Fans
CFI Diablo LT CFI-B1010 Black SECC/Mesh & Plastic Front ATX Mid Tower
Windows 7

Total Sum: $2,050.06

Any recommendations is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Hemi79

 

[tkivisto]

Great choice on the i7...I would say that's an essential selection for the software you want to run.

I'm an engineer and run Revit and AutoCAD (not Civil 3D but others in my office do).

16GB also essential if you are going to try out rendering at all.
It's a good video card without going too crazy.
I like Seasonic PSU's

I'm a bit puzzled with the two different OCZ drives. You should just buy a 512 perhaps and skip buying the 2 smaller ones (if you can afford it).

That is probably a good motherboard selection too, although you can probably get by with a less expensive Z87 motherboard for what you plan to do with it.

Do you plan to try to overclock your CPU? I noticed online that motherboard is $200. You can probably get by with far less and get what you need out of it (unless you are very serious about OC).

Why not even get a micro-atx motherboard? Some of those have O/C features and cost a lot less. I don't see you needing 2 video cards any time soon with what you plan to do with this machine.

 

[hemi79]

Great choice on the i7...I would say that's an essential selection for the software you want to run.

I'm an engineer and run Revit and AutoCAD (not Civil 3D but others in my office do).

16GB also essential if you are going to try out rendering at all.
It's a good video card without going too crazy.
I like Seasonic PSU's

I'm a bit puzzled with the two different OCZ drives. You should just buy a 512 perhaps and skip buying the 2 smaller ones (if you can afford it).

That is probably a good motherboard selection too, although you can probably get by with a less expensive Z87 motherboard for what you plan to do with it.

Do you plan to try to overclock your CPU? I noticed online that motherboard is $200. You can probably get by with far less and get what you need out of it (unless you are very serious about OC).

Why not even get a micro-atx motherboard? Some of those have O/C features and cost a lot less. I don't see you needing 2 video cards any time soon with what you plan to do with this machine.

--Well I would like to have the smaller OCZ just for all my installs, and the larger one for all my files. I am not a fan of partitions. Then its been so long since I do PC building, I would like to work the least possible.--

--This is my real problem at this point. I know I won't be using SLI just yet, but I want the capability for the future. Yet I also want to OC simply because I wanted to in the past (decade ago) and it just was a real risk back then. I would like to consider a less expensive option, I just dont see clearly what would also work.--

--Actually I would like to OC. I've always wanted to do so and the different options this MOBO has to not always run in OC with a change of a few physical setting makes it desirable--

--Your right I probably won't be needing the 2 video cards for sure. But micro-atx is so small it freaks me out. I don't feel comfortable. You have good experiences with the type?--


Thanks for the reply!

 

[vailr]

Video cards: wouldn't a PCIe 3.0 card be a better fit for use with a Z87 board? Not sure how much extra expense that would make, however.
Motherboard: Double-check the onboard LAN controllers. Intel would be preferable to Realtek, and other lesser LAN controller brands.

 

[coffeejunkee]

It's not, it's meant for hardcore LN2 overclockers who do nothing but try to break benchmark records. The GA-Z87X-UD3H has everything you need.

Other points:
- ram: Dominator is overpriced and again aimed at overclockers, except overclocking ram does nothing for real life usage. Just get any regular 1600/1866Mhz, preferably G-Skill, Crucial, or Kingston.
- that powersupply is outdated by now, rather get the Seasonic X-650 model.
- no idea what case that is but I think there are better ones, like Fractal Design R4.
- cpu cooling: H100i is loud, rather get the H110 (also check if it actually fits if you want to stick with that case). Or Thermalright TS140 if you really want silence.
- Thermaltake fans are never quiet. FD R4 has good enough fans already anyway.
- SSD, get Crucial M4/M500 or Samsung 840 Pro.

Actually, I'm thinking of the 400$ Z87X-OC Force. At 200$ the normal OC isn't much more expensive than the UD3H but it's still more than you need for regular overclocking.

 

[hemi79]

Thanks a bunch for all the advice!

Vailr:
Unfortunately the QUADRO video card on the list is the only one I can afford and I need it to be QAuadro. I will look in to the LAN.

coffeejunkee:
Thanks for pointing out all these other options. I am currently adding to my wish list on newegg and comparing as well as comparing all specs. I'm glad you recommended a different memory, I too felt that Dominator was a bit much but hadn't been recommend others.

On the H100i I was actually considering changing to a good heatsink. I had decided to go with watercooling, but I have recently seen some bad videos on water cooling gone wrong. I honestly couldn't afford losing any of my components to my mistakes. Any good heat sink recommended?

Thanks!