Looking at building new system

[Carnoblade]

Hey Guys,

I am looking at building a new PC with the following specs;

Coolermaster Cosmos 2
Intel Core i7 3930k (Looking at overclocking to about 4.5)
Looking at either Thermaltake Water Extreme 2.0 or corsair H100i - Or an equivalent quiet air cooler (Suggestions)
16GB DDR3
Either a Gigabyte x79-UP4 or Rampage M/B (Thoughts here would be appreciated)
Either a Samsung or OCZ SSD 256GB (Thoughts here also appreciated)
Either a Thermaltake Toughpower 1200 or Corsair AX1200
Havent settled on a video card yet but suggestions would be appreciated.

This system will be used for Gaming, Video Encoding, Graphic/Web Design and Pretty much anything else.
I prefer Intel and Nvidia products but not totally set.

Your thoughts on this system would be greatly appreciated.

As a side note I am in Australia and am looking to keep the build at around $2000.
Current Build is as follows;

Fractal XL Case
Gigabyte X58A-UD5
Intel Core i7-950
18GBDDR3 1600RAM
Inferno 120GB SSD
Kingston 60GB SSD
12TB of internal storage
2 x GTX 480 SLI
Zalman 1000w PSU
Bluray Burner and separate DVD Burner -

 

[Sleepingforest]

You managed to spend a ton everywhere except the graphics card, which is pretty important for gaming. You made some weird choices in power supply and processor; the power supply is big enough for 3 7970s--2 670s will only need 650-750W--and many photo editing programs won't benefit from the six cores/12 threads of the i7-3930K. The case is also a bit too expensive for what you get. I'd do something more like this (no links since you're in Australia, but the prices should be about right):

i7-3770K - $330
Asrock Extreme4 (or similar) - $130
Noctua D14 - $85
16GB RAM (a basic DDR3-1600 set) - $100
Samsung 840 250GB - $170
1TB HDD (WD Blue or Seagate Barracuda) - $75
2 7970s in CFX - $750-800
Seasonic/Antec/Corsair 750W PSU - $70-90
NZXT 820 Case- $230

Total: $1900 (roughly)

Two 7970s will tear through anything and everything (barring Crysis 3 at 5760x1200p), especially if overclocked to match the GHz Edition clockspeeds. This generation, AMD won out in performance per price, but if you want to go Nvidia, you're looking at getting a pair of 670s (the 680 is an awful cost proposition). The Noctua has been shown to be consistently quieter than the H100 and H100i, though, depending on reviewer and conditions, may be slightly warmer or slightly cooler. It does cost much less though. The SSD I chose is enough for your needs of speed and endurance, and comes from Samsung (much more reliable than OCZ in general). That case, the NZXT has been reviewed here and got very good thermal and acoustic performance (and comes with a host of goodies, like a fan controller, LED lighting system, and rear I/O light); it's also large enough for pretty much anything.

 

[Carnoblade]

Thanks sleepingforrest its not that I haven't decided to spend on it just that I haven't decided what I want but am looking at 2 x 670 in SLI or maybe 3 doing a bit of research into it now =)

As for the rest of the choice in power supply I've had some issues in the past with power supplies not being able to cope with system load and so now I generally go higher than I need also allows expandability as I run quite a few HDD's and will probably head towards tri/quad GPU setup in the future.

Was looking at the 3930K more for future proofing than anything else and just to have the 6 core/12 threads if they can ever be utilized fully =D also looking at the 2011 socket as will probably upgrade to IB-E CPU late this year or early next.

I know the case is expensive but cant seem to find anything that I like as much with the same options was looking at the stormtrooper with window but not sure how I feel about the handle on top otherwise seems like a great case.

Thanks for the rest of your advice also as the noctua D14 was the air cooler I was looking at for comparable air cooler good to have confirmation its the way to go. Same with the SSD as the Samsung seems to be the way to go.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Thanks sleepingforrest its not that I haven't decided to spend on it just that I haven't decided what I want but am looking at 2 x 670 in SLI or maybe 3 doing a bit of research into it now =)

As for the rest of the choice in power supply I've had some issues in the past with power supplies not being able to cope with system load and so now I generally go higher than I need also allows expandability as I run quite a few HDD's and will probably head towards tri/quad GPU setup in the future.

Was looking at the 3930K more for future proofing than anything else and just to have the 6 core/12 threads if they can ever be utilized fully =D also looking at the 2011 socket as will probably upgrade to IB-E CPU late this year or early next.

I know the case is expensive but cant seem to find anything that I like as much with the same options was looking at the stormtrooper with window but not sure how I feel about the handle on top otherwise seems like a great case.

Thanks for the rest of your advice also as the noctua D14 was the air cooler I was looking at for comparable air cooler good to have confirmation its the way to go. Same with the SSD as the Samsung seems to be the way to go.

Well, you pay considerably for futureproofing and SLI. Consider the following:

• You'd have to get a huge power supply for SLI.
• Sometimes SLI doesn't work, rendering the extra cards useless.
• Generally, it is most cost effective to sell off an old GPU and get a new one.
• Your case would become immensely hot.
• HDDs take virtually no power to run (around 5-7W while writing, which is pretty rare. You'd have to have 40-50 HDDs simultaneously writing to make the impact of a single video card at load).
• Very few programs will take advantage of more than 8 cores because not enough consumers use 6 cores/12 threads to make them a worthwhile audience. Only programs that inherently scale well with more threads will benefit.
• It is always better to upgrade on the price/performance edge every 2 years than to getting bleeding edge equipment every 6 both in dollars spent and in performance.

 

[DSF]

With a socket change approaching in a matter of months I don't see 2011 as future proofing. I have to agree with Sleepingforest, it's a waste of money. Unless you're planning to game at some astronomical resolution and you have to have the details cranked to full, so is tri- or quad-GPU.

It's your money to do with as you please, but you seem prepared to go off the deep end in terms of diminishing returns on the performance/dollar curve.

 

[Carnoblade]

Hmm looks like I may need to rethink my approach then also I forgot to mention that I will be running VM's on this PC also does that alter opinions at all?

 

[Sleepingforest]

It depends on how much you value your gaming vs your VMs. You can have the i7-3930K OR SLI/CFX, not both.

I personally would go for a single 7970 and an i7-3770K, as they work well enough for all intents and purposes, and save the extra money for later upgrades.

 

[mfenn]

Agree with Sleepingforest and DSF. The parts you originally picked out are way outside of the optimal price/performance zone. You're paying twice as much for the last 25% performance gain.

"Future-proofing" is a fool's errand in general. A wise man (Ken g6) once said (paraphrasing), "the only way to future-proof your PC is to save money to spend on future parts". Building a moderate (but still fast) system for $1000 and then having another $1000 to spend on upgrades over the course of 3-4 years will net a better PC at the end than trying (and failing) to build a PC that stands the test of time. This ain't Civilization. :awe:

 

[T_Yamamoto]

um, guys

cant he just keep the ram he has right now?

 

[Sleepingforest]

um, guys

cant he just keep the ram he has right now?

This is also true, unless he was planning on turning into a server or NAS or giving it away. Even then, he could probably keep 8GB of it.

 

[Carnoblade]

Hey guys thanks for all your help with this am now looking at changing a few things up.
Next question if I overclock both the 3770k and the 3930k to 4 or 4.5ghz will performance more or less be the same. I will be looking at maybe the HX850 or TX 850 power supply still slightly overkill but not as much as 1200w, I have scrapped the cosmos 2 as the case and am now looking at the storm trooper with side window for 1/3 the cost =)

I know you guys recommend the 3770k but for an extra $150-200 dollars overall for the 3930k might just take the hit there as I believe the extra cores will help time wise with some of my stuff and I have also increased my budget to $2500 so should be able to do both within that budget =)

 

[Sleepingforest]

The 3930K is actually like $300 more because the motherboards for it are also significantly more expensive. If you tell us the programs you actually use, we can tell you whether you'll benefit by spending that extra $300.

Also: the 3770K overclocks better than the 3930K. I don't remember the reason right now, but I think it has to do with the cores.

 

[DSF]

Is the amount of money you make related to how quickly you can process videos and such? In other words, does a faster processor, even if it's more expensive, actually increase your revenue? If so, a 3930K might be worth it.

However, I would question the wisdom of pushing an overclock on a system used for business.

 

[mfenn]

Is the amount of money you make related to how quickly you can process videos and such? In other words, does a faster processor, even if it's more expensive, actually increase your revenue? If so, a 3930K might be worth it.

However, I would question the wisdom of pushing an overclock on a system used for business.

Agree. Overclocking a critical money-making machine is asking for trouble (unless you have enough money for a NAS and a hot spare).