3x Display Workstation

dahamsta · 2 Mar 2015 at 15:46

Hi, I need to build a replacement for my current PC, but gradually as I can't afford to buy everything in one go. The machine will be used for work, primarily a very busy Firefox, and image and video editing. Not gaming, but I like fast, and I want the new machine to run comfortably for 5+ years.

My displays are a Dell 3008WFP flanked by 2007FPs, driven by a 2GB Gigabyte GTX 650. I'm not mad about the card, it makes the VGA-connected side monitor the primary which is annoying if anything goes wrong, but I'm not averse to keeping it. I have 2 optical drives that can be kept, and a relatively recent SanDisk Extreme II SSD that can probably stay.

I don't think I really need anything else in the case to be honest, maybe a mechanical drive or a different motherboard if I'm changing the video card, but you guys will know better than me about that. I would like 4 front-mounted USB ports on the case though, and ideally a front cover. I like the unadorned looks of the Antec P280 and P100.

I don't mind spending on the CPU and RAM and had picked the i7-4790K as a base, but then I decided to come here and ask the experts before going any further. I'm comfortable building a system but I've never overclocked and deciding on motherboards in particular is outside my comfort zone.

I'd appreciate your help picking a motherboard and maybe a replacement video card(s), I can probably handle the rest of the components myself.

EDIT: I should add, I'd prefer quiet over not.

dahamsta · 2 Mar 2015 at 15:56

As I said in my post, I'm comfortable building a system, the only thing I've ever been nervous about is installing the CPU, but I've done it one so it should be fine.

Budget is about €1k total, but it's a gradual build so I'm not tied to it. I'd prefer to spend on the right CPU and motherboard now for the sake of longevity.

dahamsta · 2 Mar 2015 at 16:55

Thanks stulid, I'll go through those properly later. One thing I did notice in the 2nd build is the use of HDMI, I think the resolution is limited to 1080 over HDMI on the 3008WFP, and the 2007FPs don't have HDMI ports. The card in the first post should be fine though.

Yes lee32uk, but as I mentioned to stulid, I'm not really locking myself down to that; I'll be buying the parts individually over time, so if a higher price gets me a better machine it'll just take me longer to build. Within reason, obviously.

dahamsta · 3 Mar 2015 at 10:41

Thanks. Is there a reason to go for the HDMI card over DisplayPort? There doesn't seem much point in messing around with convertor cables for the sake of a tenner.

Is the X99M board overclockable? I haven't done any overclocking, but I'm not averse to it. (That being said, is the 5820K overclockable, or has Intel already done that? Sorry, showing my ignorance here.)

I looked at the rest of the specs and I don't think I have any other questions at the moment. I'll probably come back about fans and the PSU later, but there's 3 months in acquiring the case, mobo and CPU so plenty of time.

Thanks again for your help!

dahamsta · 22 May 2015 at 11:28

Is there any way of figuring out an approximate wattage for this machine when it's built? I've gone looking on the tubes but many of the components don't provide a wattage, and most of the testers use total system usage as a benchmark for individual components. I'm not looking for anything precise, in the hundreds would be fine, I'm just looking to source an appropriate UPS.

dahamsta · 22 May 2015 at 21:18

stulid said:
200W at full load.

Around that.

Thanks

dahamsta · 28 Aug 2015 at 10:21

Pardon the bump, I said I'd post in the same thread for reference. I have everything on this list now bar the video card and an SSD.

I'm slow to order the video card I had chosen ( MSI Radeon R7 260X OC) because it seems to be EOL, what would be a good replacement for that? Again, I'm not a gamer so I'm more concerned with ports, nice output for text and video, and reliability.

Also, the disks that were recommended were SATA and I'd prefer SSD, ideally using the M.2 port as I believe that'll be the fastest route. Finding one is proving tricky though, I've had to throw myself into learning the difference between SATA and PCI-E M.2 disks, etc! Any recommendations? I believe the X99M GAMING 5 uses 2x PCI-E paths, is that correct?

dahamsta · 28 Aug 2015 at 11:22

lude1962 said:
the disks that were recommended were SATA and I'd prefer SSD,
sata is connection type
m.2 drive basically a stripped down ssd on a card that connects to the m2 socket on the mb , faster yes but some have reported configuration issues with booting/setup

Can I ask where you read that? I'd like to read about it.

believe the X99M GAMING 5 uses 2x PCI-E paths, is that correct?
Really only applicable if you have multiple graphics cards

I was talking about the M.2 card, I'm not sure if they come with 4x capability by default, but if they don't then I assume I'd save money by buying a 2x card. That's assuming I read correctly that the mobo only supports 2x.