Infinity Eclipse or £5k self build air cooled?

[steve_c]

Hi all,

I'm due for an upgrade soon. Budget is around £5k.

I really enjoyed building my last system (around 2 years ago) but definitely not confident enough to build a full water cooled rig.

So the question is...

Should I go for the Infinity Eclipse or should I spend the same money on a self-build air cooled rig?

If I did go the air cooled route, could I upgrade some components for the same budget? Perhaps throw a 4K monitor in for good measure?

It will be both my daily working computer (PhotoShop / Lightroom heavy use) and also a gaming machine (too many games to mention but lately it's been all about Elite dangerous).

Any help greatly appreciated as usual...

Thanks!

 

[steve_c]

Hi all

So sorry for the late reply.

I've been absolutely buried this morning and only just seen the huge amount of replies.

Sorry if it seemed rude not to reply. I will have a look through this and get back on track this afternoon!

Thanks,

Stephen

 

[steve_c]

There is a third option, we could build a custom watercooled system for you.

I'm a watercooling enthusiast so I could preach the benefits of a proper custom watercooled rig until I'm blue in the face.

Actually!...come to think of it, I have a fourth option....sent you a trust message

Just emailed you, ScottiB

 

[steve_c]

Just popping my head back in amongst the deluge of work on my desk...

Colours are extremely important. I am a clothing retailer and monitor calibration and colour representation are priorities...

 

[steve_c]

Hi again

Scott's 4th option was actually a very interesting one...

Ex demo SuperNova Mk 1:

SuperNova Mk1
Hand-picked Intel Core i7 3930K clocked to at least 4.7GHz.
Asus Rampage IV Extreme X79 motherboard.
16GB Team Xtreme DDR3 2400MHz.
3x Nvidia GTX Titans in Tri-SLI.
2x 512GB Plextor M5 Pro SSDs in RAID 0.
4TB of mechanical storage.
Modified Case Labs Magnum STH10 with 8Pack customisations.
1200W Corsair power supply.
Custom Dual loop watercooling (8 radiator space for the CPU & motherboard, as well as 6 spaces for the graphics cards).
Aqua Computer USB fan controller with system monitoring.
£6979.99 inc VAT

It's definitely a very tempting offer but wondering if I would be missing out on a build (even though I'm too scared to go WC).

Any thoughts?

Thanks again!

 

[steve_c]

It's definitely over budget but wondering if it's worth the extra spend...

 

[steve_c]

If your current rig is only 2 years old, I doubt you'll need more than updated monitors, GPUs and PSU. You should be able to afford 2x R9 295x2, 3x 4K monitor, and a suitable PSU.

The current rig is going to a new employee who will also be working on lightroom etc.

Plus I need a new toy...

 

[steve_c]

I love the idea of the 8 pack system but feel I might be losing out on budding the rug myself...

That being said, I definitely wouldn't be confident enough to go watercooled. I probably would be doing the new components a disservice..

 

[steve_c]

Crikey

Sorry about that awful auto-corrected post...

I'm absolutely torn at the moment.

I think I can justify the budget needed for the 8pack but can someone come up with an air cooled (or watercooled rad / fan like the pre-built loops) rig for the same budget including some bells and whistles?

Then I'll definitely have something to think about...

I've witnessed first hand the absolute lack of patience and know-how when it comes to building me own machine. It ends up being a "that will do" job rather than something I am 100% happy about. Spending this much money, I really want to do things properly.

Hope I'm not coming across as lazy. Just feel it's better left to the experts.

 

[steve_c]

OK it's looking like the 8Pack system is probably the way to go (as long as it's still available).

I'd definitely be missing out on some of the fun of building (although that only lasts for a day or so admittedly...)

How would I go about a multi monitor setup for this? Would it be 4k displays?

 

[steve_c]

Spoiler

This is still technically watercooled but both the GPU's and the CPU use all-in-one solutions

Still 4930k with the same 32Gb RAM @2400MHz and Quad fire 295x2 but this will leave £1200 for you (or others more knowledgeable ) to spec the best monitor setup...

YOUR BASKET
2 x PowerColor AMD Radeon R9 295 X2 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £999.95 (£1,999.90)
1 x Intel 4930K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - Retail (BX80633I74930K) £429.95
1 x Asus Rampage IV Extreme Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £309.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 32GB (4x8GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit (KHX24C11T3K4/32X) £289.99
1 x SuperFlower Leadex Platinum 1200W Fully Modular "80 Plus Platinum" Power Supply - White £179.99
2 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £104.99 (£209.98)
1 x Corsair Carbide 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case - Black (CC-9011030-WW) £98.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £89.99
1 x Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00614) £74.99
1 x Corsair Fan, SP120 PWM Low Noise High Pressure Fan 4 pin, Dual Pack (CO-9050012-WW) £25.00
1 x BitFenix Alchemy Cable Bundle - Red £21.95
1 x Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24F1ST SATA ReWriter - Black (Retail) £17.99
1 x Corsair AF140 Quiet Series Low Noise High Airflow - Single Pack (CO-9050009-WW) £14.99
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 8pin PCI-E extension 45cm - Red £6.98
1 x BitFenix Alchemy 6pin PCI-E extension 45cm - Red £6.49
Total : £3,799.99 (includes shipping : £19.10).

This is great, by the way. Thanks for taking the time out to compile that.