[New Build] Workstation/Gaming Upper-mid range

[FrenziedEngi]

With your feedback my last build (from 5-6 years ago!) worked out great until now.
Time to build another

Goals:
#1 Cool and Quiet. I do not want a roaring PC under my desk
#2 Great single threaded performance with plenty of threads for multitasking and virtualization
#3 Plenty of RAM for now, and the future.
#4 Needs to last my upgrade cycle (which is 5yrs or more with minimal upgrades)

Don't care:
Color matching components
Cases with windows (prefer not)

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
- Workstation for programming (python, c++) and virtualization (mostly of desktop environments)
- Gaming (Blizzard games, LoL, EVE Online, some FPSs)

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
<$1600

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
USA

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Leaning heavy Intel/Nvidia CPU/GPU for this build

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
GFX: MSI GTX 970
Monitors
Keyboard
Mouse
Platter HDD

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Yes overclocking, but only what is easily achievable -- no need to push the envelope.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
2x 1920x1200 monitors

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Now

Here is my current parts list:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Parts
Case: Cooler Master Silencio 352 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Quiet, compact with space for everything I need. I also like the removable dust filters. I would like a case that is on the smaller side, but I don't need micro-sized. This seemed like a pretty nice case for the money.

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($343.98 @ Newegg)
The best single threaded performance you can buy today out of the box (no OC), plus plenty of threads via HT for multitasking. I like the integrated GFX for more flexibility (this rules out Xeons).

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Not totally sold on this. Seemed like a good option, not too expensive.

Motherboard: Asus GRYPHON Z97 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($181.42 @ Mac Mall)
Seems like a high quality motherboard in mATX form factor. Not totally sold on this board. Would like to stick with ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte.

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($214.99 @ Newegg)
32GB for virtualization, multitasking, and future growth. Also since DDR3 is going to be phased out in next couple years, I want to get maxed out now before prices rise once production ramps down in favor of DDR4. I made this mistake on DDR2 to DDR3 transition.

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($369.99 @ Newegg)
I am a Samsung SSD fanboy. Overall impressed with their hardware. Excellent performance. Also looking to use RAPID features (this will also use some of RAM).

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Already have this card. I love it. It is more card than I currently need. I will never do SLI.

Power Supply: Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.00 @ Newegg)
Needs to be fully modular. This one is probably overkill, but smaller ones cost more or the same because of sales. Want to leave some margin for OC power requirements.

Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.99 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($109.93 @ Amazon)
Total: $1479.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-29 20:51 EDT-0400

Let me know what you think!

 

[Ken g6]

The mobo does look like too much, especially if you're not pushing an OC hard.

I really wouldn't use a 1TB SSD as my only storage option. I'd encourage getting a HDD for backups if for no other reason.

Here's a nice 650W EVGA PSU.

 

[FrenziedEngi]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I am going to get an Z97m-plus mobo instead.

I have NAS based backup already, and some platter drives not listed.

Finalized part list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($343.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z97M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($214.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Cooler Master Silencio 352 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($109.93 @ Amazon)
Total: $1385.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-30 21:02 EDT-0400

 

[nsafreak]

The Z97M-Plus should stand you in good stead although I tend to prefer Gigabyte myself. I'd go with the EVGA PSU that Ken suggested and I would recommend a different case. That CoolerMaster looks nice but I prefer the way the Nanoxia Deep Silence 4 Mini is laid out myself. A bit more expensive at $79.99 but within your budget and it should be quieter than the CoolerMaster.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I won't quibble with the other recommendations, but if it were me, the first search I'd do would include ASUS, AsRock and eVGA boards. If I said eVGA, that means I'd also look at Gigabyte as well.

Since you're talking about storage, I've been experimenting with a 60GB SSD caching drive for a 1TB SATA-II disk. I think you'd have enough ports on a Z97 board to allow all three -- the 850 EVO, the cache-SSD and the HDD -- to be cabled to SATA-III ports.

I've been running my (old Z68) system constantly -- waking, sleeping, hibernating . .. gaming, media and everything else -- with an 840 EVO, Mushie Chronos 60GB and an old Samsung F3 1TB. I put all the games on the F3, and any future programs I install.

But with the 1TB 850 EVO, you wouldn't have much of a desire to do that, unless you want to add a 3 or 4TB HDD. I'm guessing that the same 60GB SSD-cache would work, but you could get a bigger one.

Anyway -- running off at the mouth about storage!

Thumbs up for the processor, the chipset, the G.SKILL Ripjaws, and also the XFX PSU. For the XFX, it's mostly for my guess or expectation that it's a rebadged Seasonic PSU, and you might want to check that out to confirm or deny.

As for the cooler. I"d never seen that model Noctua before, and I'd like to see a comparison review from somebody like XBitLabs or TechReport, with any extensive comparisons likely posted at Frosty-Tech. I'm especially interested in any comparisons with the eVGA "SuperClock" or ACX cooler, but if there's a comparison with the NH-D14, I can accurately extrapolate the reported results.

Back to PSU: One or more Egg reviews seem to indicate that my Seasonic guess was correct . . . . Decent price, too.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hate to say it, BonzaiD, but SSD caching with a small SSD is falling out of favor.

Mostly due to the availability of larger, and more importantly, cheaper SSDs (960GB M500 @ Newegg for $289.99 recently), but also due to the rise of native "Hybrid" HDDs, of good size, that don't have the configuration hassle, expense, and software overhead of SSD caching. (I have a 2TB Seagate 7200RPM desktop Hybrid drive, and it performs well.)

It was a neat gimmick, when SSDs were new and expensive and smaller sizes were more prevalent, but the idea, quite frankly, seems pointless now.

 

[Essence_of_War]

Mostly due to the availability of larger, and more importantly, cheaper SSDs

Agreed with this. It just isn't efficient to buy small capacity SSDs anymore for the hassle of configuring a caching set-up.

A couple of notes for the OP.

I'm not in love with that case. There is technically space behind the motherboard tray, but in practice, it is VERY tight, it will be hard to manage cables. I would spend a bit more money and pick up either the Corsair 350D or a the Fractal Define Mini or Arc Mini R2 if you want an mATX case.

I also don't love that CPU cooler. Generally smaller fans have to spin much faster to move similar amounts of air as larger fans, and as a result they're considerably louder. At around that price point, I would consider any of: the Scythe Mugen Max, the Scythe Kotetsu, or the ACFZ i30 to be much better picks. Do double check clearances though, the Kotetsu and Mugen Max are likely OK in the cases I listed, but I think the ACFZ i30 is a bit tall.

 

[Burpo]

Just wanted to add that for $5 more I would get the LG Blu-Ray burner.
with promo code EMCAPNT27 (ends today)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136250

I own & use this drive extensively and it has logged hundreds of burns without issue. Great for backing up data & making your own custom blu-ray discs, and only $5 difference..

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Hate to say it, BonzaiD, but SSD caching with a small SSD is falling out of favor.

Mostly due to the availability of larger, and more importantly, cheaper SSDs (960GB M500 @ Newegg for $289.99 recently), but also due to the rise of native "Hybrid" HDDs, of good size, that don't have the configuration hassle, expense, and software overhead of SSD caching. (I have a 2TB Seagate 7200RPM desktop Hybrid drive, and it performs well.)

It was a neat gimmick, when SSDs were new and expensive and smaller sizes were more prevalent, but the idea, quite frankly, seems pointless now.

That may well be the case, and I could understand it. "Gimmick" -- maybe. On the other hand, there are now about three different ways to do it, only two of which require specific hardware and BIOS storage-mode choices.

It works nicely when you have an old SATA-II 1TB drive, need more storage, and can obtain a 60GB SATa-III SSD for $50. By comparison, I see that 1TB SSDs have now dropped in price to the $300+ range (am I wrong? I'm sure I only saw those indications over the last two days.) Your example of the M500 Crucial is a case in point, and less than $300.

In my case, I get a "perceptually speedy" 1TB of storage for $50 -- maybe $100 if you count the cost of a 1TB (non-hybrid) HDD.

In fact, I'll go so far as to say that I'm so pleased with current caching configurations that my remarks prompting your response were "too promotional." I probably regretted it within minutes after clicking "Submit Reply" for my original post about it.

And truth is, I'd like to provide 1TB SSDs for everyone in the house, but I'm not prepared at the moment to make a $600 outlay for it.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Agreed with this. It just isn't efficient to buy small capacity SSDs anymore for the hassle of configuring a caching set-up.

A couple of notes for the OP.

I'm not in love with that case. There is technically space behind the motherboard tray, but in practice, it is VERY tight, it will be hard to manage cables. I would spend a bit more money and pick up either the Corsair 350D or a the Fractal Define Mini or Arc Mini R2 if you want an mATX case.

I also don't love that CPU cooler. Generally smaller fans have to spin much faster to move similar amounts of air as larger fans, and as a result they're considerably louder. At around that price point, I would consider any of: the Scythe Mugen Max, the Scythe Kotetsu, or the ACFZ i30 to be much better picks. Do double check clearances though, the Kotetsu and Mugen Max are likely OK in the cases I listed, but I think the ACFZ i30 is a bit tall.

+1 and :thumbsup: on the heatpipe-cooler issue. That's why I came back today to find this thread and remark about it.

Whatever the shortcomings and occasionally-provoked contentions, I should have a reputation here over the years for looking very carefully at the available heatpipe cooler options. When the OP included this particular Noctua unit in his list, I was intrigued because I hadn't seen it before, and it hasn't been so long since the "let-down" over the NH-D15 for which size itself was a major understandable drawback.

So earlier today, I ran a search for the comparison review I may have wished for in my earlier post about it.

The Hardware Secrets (2012) review I found was enough for me to put the NH-U9B on my rejection list.

Whether other posters remember it, I'd posted over the last six months about a cooler I'd overlooked. It was designed for too much "bling;" the fan was a bit on the noisy side; but it outperformed the NH-D14 by 6C under identical test conditions -- which I confirmed personally. And -- it may even be smaller than the NH-U9B. Also, It almost seemed "too cheap" @ $50.

Rather than promote it, I'll say that the other recommendations could only be better than this NH-U9B unit, and also add that my own cooler (the eVGA ACX once named the "SuperClock") beats it by 11C, at least according to this review:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Noctua-NH-U9B-SE2-CPU-Cooler-Review/1586/6

It's always going to be a trade-off between price, performance-intentions (and overclocking), appearance, size and so on. Heck. Sitting beside me, I've got this i5-3570K system I'm building now, in a ten-year-old CM Centurion case -- with a Hyper 212 EVO cooler. It's going to be fine. I gay-ran-teee!!

 

[VirtualLarry]

And truth is, I'd like to provide 1TB SSDs for everyone in the house, but I'm not prepared at the moment to make a $600 outlay for it.

Well, that was just an example of how prices have fallen. I wasn't suggesting that you equip everyone in your household with one.

But... 240GB SSDs have fallen below $80 with rebate. (Mostly at TigerDirect, although there have been a few Newegg ones too, I think OCZ ARC 100 240GB was $70 AR once. Don't do the McAffee rebate though.) I think 240GB is a decent size for a primary OS drive these days. Or if someone has more meager needs, and doesn't need to fit a few Steam games on there, then a 120GB would suffice for Windows, office, and misc.

I remember being excited to pay $239 three years ago for a 240GB Mushkin drive. (That promptly died on me within a month. SandForce Gen2 bugs, sigh.)

 

[VirtualLarry]

Just wanted to add that for $5 more I would get the LG Blu-Ray burner.
with promo code EMCAPNT27 (ends today)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136250

I own & use this drive extensively and it has logged hundreds of burns without issue. Great for backing up data & making your own custom blu-ray discs, and only $5 difference..

Thanks, Burpo, for that endorsement. I order two of those drives last week, they should get here any day now. I had heard that they are decent.

 

[FrenziedEngi]

Thanks all for the feedback. I have gone ahead and ordered the parts.

Regarding the SSD caching -- Maybe I will try this, maybe not. I do have a spare 120GB SSD (intel cherryville I think?) and a platter drive, so I could give it a go. What software it used to enable this? (I can probably google this myself....)

The 850 EVO is pricey, but I have been super pleased with the other 850 that I bought for my MacBook Pro, and also have experience with samsung through my workplace. All around impressed. I am sure I will need more storage than 1TB eventually, so I will use a platter drive, just a matter of how.

I did pull the trigger on the CoolerMaster Silencio case and the Noctua NH-U9B SE2 cooler (prior to some of this great feedback). I am not too worried about the tightness for cable routing. I can make it work, and I am not anal about a perfectly dressed case (not that there is anything wrong with that).

I did look at the Corsair 350D, and almost went with it, but it didn't have a front door, which I wanted. I am coming from an Antec P182, which I have generally liked, but it is a little on the big side. The lack of front door rules out Arc mini as well. Define mini could have been a possibility.... Always have options!

Regarding the cooler -- Thanks for the info. I guess I will see what happens when I put the box together. If it don't like the performance and/or noise, I'll look into an alternative. Long as it gives some margin to the stock cooler, I'll probably be happy.

@VirtualLarry - Funny you mention about steam games on a 120GB drive. I recently installed the latest Wolfenstein on a 120GB drive... Nearly took half of it! Games these days are huge!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Thanks all for the feedback. I have gone ahead and ordered the parts.

(1) Regarding the SSD caching -- Maybe I will try this, maybe not. I do have a spare 120GB SSD (intel cherryville I think?) and a platter drive, so I could give it a go. What software it used to enable this? (I can probably google this myself....)

The 850 EVO is pricey, but I have been super pleased with the other 850 that I bought for my MacBook Pro, and also have experience with samsung through my workplace. All around impressed. I am sure I will need more storage than 1TB eventually, so I will use a platter drive, just a matter of how.

I did pull the trigger on the (2) CoolerMaster Silencio case and the (3) Noctua NH-U9B SE2 cooler (prior to some of this great feedback). I am not too worried about the tightness for cable routing. I can make it work, and I am not anal about a perfectly dressed case (not that there is anything wrong with that).

I did look at the Corsair 350D, and almost went with it, but it didn't have a front door, which I wanted. I am coming from an Antec P182, which I have generally liked, but it is a little on the big side. The lack of front door rules out Arc mini as well. Define mini could have been a possibility.... Always have options!

Regarding the cooler -- Thanks for the info. I guess I will see what happens when I put the box together. If it don't like the performance and/or noise, I'll look into an alternative. Long as it gives some margin to the stock cooler, I'll probably be happy.

@VirtualLarry - Funny you mention about steam games on a 120GB drive. I recently installed the latest Wolfenstein on a 120GB drive... Nearly took half of it! Games these days are huge!

(1) I used the ISRT Intel feature for three-plus years, and didn't miss the "real" speed of a standalone SSD boot drive. The latter option is simpler, and provides a bump up in perceived performance, but I conclude there's a place for caching, depending on what for and who wants to do it.

Samsung with "RAPID" and RAM caching, together with Intel and ISRT, seemed to be trying to convince us that their bundled software, configurational caveats of use, etc. were "proprietary." They were, but what those solutions do can be done without regard to the BIOS storage mode or a particular storage device. The best software option I know of so far appears to be rock-solid: Romex Primo-Cache, with a 90-day trial period, ~$30 1-PC license or a $70 3-PC license. I think we had found that a price difference between a Sammy SSD and one by Crucial, where Samsung provides their configuration and "RAPID" software, just about equals the license for PRimo, but prices change and I haven't revisited the data recently. Prices on SSDs are coming down.

The nifty things about Primo: it's a sort of Swiss-army knife of caching. It will cache SSDs to RAM and HDDs to SSDs; works under both AHCI and RAID mode. My two installations (of the 3-PC license) seem to be rock-solid: an aging laptop which I'd refurbed; a modest gaming system I built last fall.

The gaming system was a "project of impulse" and hardware-addiction. As I was coming to my senses, a became parsimonious about putting more money into it. So I used a 256GB Sammy 840 for the boot-disk, and began loading additional software on the HDD after the Sammy passed 50% used capacity. I popped in the small Chronos SSD and set it up, and it's been stellar so far.

(2) On the Silencio, I gave it a "once-over" inspection of the Egg photo-gallery. It's a small case, and these days I encourage that. It's the type of case for which a cooling strategy would forge certain priorities, choices and attentions, fan choices, modifications. Could be better; could be worse. Not bad. I might even want one in the future for the right project.


(3) Noctua has a good reputation among forum members, and I've used two of their models. AiO water-coolers are more fashionable now, and my exploits with heatpipes have provoked even recent misunderstandings. For a range of computing needs and desires, heatpipes can be made more than adequate. They can be made to outperform or match some of the AiOs that are popular, but it comes with a cost of some tedium, a "walk on the wild side" choice of certain fans and a focus to control them thermally. In fact, my solution even requires 4 layers of acoustic foam rubber. But this is for machines overclocked to 4.7 Ghz.

For that, I'm always looking to pick up "grains of rice" in cooling improvement -- an activity that seems to be a source of entertainment for some of my well-regarded colleagues. You may not find yourself in a need to get a 10+C cooling improvement with that particular technology and model, but it becomes more urgent during a stress-test for a more-than-casual overclocking. You know the rest, which I posted. I'd say it's not a bad choice -- just not mine. Console yourself that many of these coolers operate in a certain range of temperatures that are way below those with the stock Intel cooler. Not only that, but it's a Noctua cooler.

So good luck with your project. Your choices seem to indicate that you know what you're doing. We might like to see or hear from you how it turns out.

 

[mfenn]

Hate to say it, BonzaiD, but SSD caching with a small SSD is falling out of favor.

Mostly due to the availability of larger, and more importantly, cheaper SSDs (960GB M500 @ Newegg for $289.99 recently), but also due to the rise of native "Hybrid" HDDs, of good size, that don't have the configuration hassle, expense, and software overhead of SSD caching. (I have a 2TB Seagate 7200RPM desktop Hybrid drive, and it performs well.)

It was a neat gimmick, when SSDs were new and expensive and smaller sizes were more prevalent, but the idea, quite frankly, seems pointless now.

:thumbsup: to this. With 240GB drives being below $100 every day of the week, adding the software complexity and additional failure modes of SSD caching seems pretty pointless.