Long Overdue Update - Some advice please

iceworx

iceworx

iceworx

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Joined
14 Jul 2014
Posts
7
Hi Guys,

I was wondering if I could run a potential build past you guys for some advice/suggestions etc. It's a long overdue upgrade from a C2D system.

I'm after building a kind of all round system, as i do use my current system a lot, and it's starting to creak under the loads it deal with daily now. I do a fair amount of work with virtual machines, and quite often have a few running concurrently.

Photoshop / illustrator are used constantly throughout the day, and large files are not uncommon. I don't really do a huge amount of gaming, but there is some. Nothing too intense though, some Counter Strike source mostly. Although I suspect if I've a more capable system, I probably would play more?

I'm also now just getting into some video work too, but again, nothing too major for now.

One critical thing is that I need to run dual displays, and i'm looking at iiyama 24" led monitors, Slim Bezel is a must.

However since I last bought a graphics card, the world has changed, so I could really use some advice here. Currently using a Radeon 4670, so pretty much most things would be better today.

Quietness would be nice too, as this will be in my dining room, and i'd rather not get ear ache for it sounding like a jet engine. not looking for silence, but I can't have it sounding like a HP Server on startup :D

Taking the above into consideration, the spec I'm looking at is:

  • Intel Core i7 4790K or 4770K
  • Asus Z87-PRO, Intel Z87, S 1150
  • Corsair H80i Hydro Series CPU Water Cooler
  • 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair DDR3 Vengeance Jet Black, PC3-14900 (1866), Non-ECC
  • 250GB Samsung 840 EVO Basic SSD SATA III 6Gb/s - for OS & APPS
  • 80Gb Intel 520 SSD - Already have this for Virtual Machines
  • 500Gb SATA3 WD - from Current System for work etc.
  • 3TB WD WD30EZRX Caviar Green SATA 6GB/s IntelliPower 64Mb Cache 8ms - Storage of Work / pics / Music etc
  • Corsair Carbide Series 300R Black Mid Tower or similar...
  • 550W Corsair RM550
  • Dual ASUS DVDRW - From Current System
  • 2GB EVGA GT 740 or Something similar.

It will be running Windows 7 pro 64Bit - as I already have this

Lastly is a Corsair Vengeance 2100 Wireless Dolby 7.1 Headset - working late in to the night, i need a comfy wireless headset so as not to wake mrs.

Case wise, Id like something plain black, preferably not with a front door on it, and ideally with USB sockets and power near the top of the chassis.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter, especially on the RAM and PSU, as I've done some reading on other forums, and the corsair RM range were not too well received.

I know it's rather a high spec for what I need, but i'm hoping to get a few years from it before an upgrade :)

Thanks in advance guys

Chris
 
Sorry, just to add my budget is about £1750, I can go a bit higher if the performance gains are worth it, but not too much above it :)
 
I don't really fault that rig, however these are more personal preferences than criticism.

1) I would swap the 32GB of Corsair memory for OCUK branded Kingston. The reason is Kingston has the least returns of any memory OCUK sell.

2) I would swap the 840 Evo for an 840 pro (or even 850 pro), as the nand can sustain avout 3 times the writes over the 840 Evo.

3) The WD green is fine for music / films, but if high volume work data you should use WD black.

4) The Corsair i'm sure is a great PSU, but i'm a PSU racist and prefer Seasonic X series certainly for any important build. Just like Rolex and Honda VTEC, a Seasonic PSU will likely be running when the others have failed.

5) EVGA GT 740. The problem with any gaming card, is drivers are focused on new release of games and not general stability. If you don't specificity need the 3d performance look at the integrated GPU. Another option is to pick up a cheap Quadro card, there are plenty of 'new clean pulled' Quadro cards on a popular auction site. You may not need the Quadro features, however Nvidia Nview is good for multi displays, plus drivers are better quality then Geforce drivers.

6) One of the best professional cases is the Silverstone FT-02. It has 3 x 180mm fans that can be run at low speed (near silent), plus case sound proofed. The case rotates the board 90 degrees providing very efficient cooling, case is not cheap however.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-167-SV

Hope that's helped.

* My post above may sound very boring. But i'm a software developer for over 15 years, and build rigs that are quite and stable :)
 
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Thanks Jason, Some good info there.

Would this be the memory you would recommend?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-139-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=817

Quick Question regarding the seasonic PSU? What are they like for noise? I've used enermax PSU's on previous builds, but have to admit I liked the look and spec of the Corsair RM. I've not had any experience with Seasonic before.

As for the graphics card, i really didn't know where to start apart from dual DVI, so I kinda plumbed for one as a kind of starting point of the discussion. Hopefully I can use the collective minds on here to find something suitable / cost effective. On top of that I'm totally out of touch with the new ATi cards, and don't know if one of those may be better suited than an nVidia
 
Mate having read your original post I was going to make some comments, that was until I read the reply from 'JasonM'. He's pretty much covered everything I was going to say.

A couple of things I will add is, first of all if your budget is £1750, you'll be able to get one hell of a system for that sort of money.
I'd opt for some faster ram, as 1866 is really the minimum you should be looking at, maybe go for 2133mhz or 2400mhz. I'm sure someone will come along and stick a parts list together for you (I've no idea how you do that, sorry) and that way we can see exactly how far your budget will stretch and what you'll be able to get etc.

By the sounds of it you do a lot of Photoshop work etc, in which case I'd look at a professional/semi professional monitor. I know you said you were thinking about the Iiyama 24" monitors (depending on the model I've read a number of reviews that said the colours could have been better) but have you considered these:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-072-DE
I know they are a little more expensive than the iiyama's you were looking at, but these really are worth the extra. They have the thinnest bezel on the market at the minute and the colour representation is virtually 2nd to none, these would be absolutely perfect for Photoshop work. Plus a pair of them would be £384, which still leaves £1366 for the main machine which should be more than enough.
 
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Re memory I would choose this at 1866. Just buy 2 kits of the following.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-179-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1387

There is also this running at 2133, however the timing are higher as such not sure how much this faster memory would help.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-180-KS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1387

I would choose the 1866, as timing are lower.

Re Seasonic. I own 2 x Seasonic X 650 and 1 x Seasonic X 1050, two of these are running in servers. Re noise I can't hear the PSU, there is also no visible dust on the dedicated PSU fan filters. People over hype things in forums, but I assure you 100% I find the Seasonic X series PSU's dead silent.
 
iceworx said:
As for the graphics card, i really didn't know where to start apart from dual DVI, so I kinda plumbed for one as a kind of starting point of the discussion. Hopefully I can use the collective minds on here to find something suitable / cost effective. On top of that I'm totally out of touch with the new ATi cards, and don't know if one of those may be better suited than an nVidia
Click to expand...

The motherboard you have chosen can support 3 monitors digitally (I know your only running 2).

I would first use the on board HD4600 that's provided by the i7, if graphics are not fast enough I would consider a dedicated card only then.

Thinking now. If you are using onboard GPU, this will use shared memory. You maybe better with the 2133 DDR3 as it should improve on-board GPU speed. I'm sure I've seen a benchmark showing how memory speeds improves on-board GPU performance.

However, I have used the HD4600 with 1600 memory and found on-board graphics very fast for windows aero and general usage.
 
Any reason why you chose z87 pro over the newer z97? its basically the same motherboard, it looks better (imo) and has a few more features.The z87 pro is a nice board though, got my girlfriend one for her PC. Im sure the z97 only improves on that.

Also the z87 boards will need a bios update to support the 4790ks were as the z97 wont!
 
I would go with the i7 4790K it runs quiet a bit cooler so its a nice bonus - http://anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review-intel-core-i7-4790k-and-i5-4690k/2

Pair that with a nice Z97 motherboard, there newer, have support for M2 Sata.

Faster 2400mhz ram

I would go with a better PSU, Corsair cheaper stuff have not had a good rep recently. I would look at superflower, and maybe modular to keep things cleaner.

I would go with this, you get a much better GPU and still just under budget.
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce 3x OC Rev2.0 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GV-N780OC-3GD) £379.99
1 x Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 - Devils Canyon Core i7 4790K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£43 Saving** £361.98
2 x Iiyama Prolite E2481HS-B1 24" Widescreen LED Super Slim Bezel Monitor - Black £149.99 (£299.98)
2 x Kingston HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Red (HX24C11BRK2/16-OC) £125.99 (£251.98)
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £99.95
1 x Corsair Hydro H105 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060016-WW ) £89.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Phanteks Enthoo Pro Mid Tower Enthusiast Case without Window £79.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova NEX 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £69.95
1 x Corsair Fan, SP120 PWM Low Noise High Pressure Fan 4 pin, Dual Pack (CO-9050012-WW) £25.00
Total : £1,765.43 (includes shipping : £22.20).

 
Think a 780 is a bit of a waste, considering the OP stated he doesnt game too often. Something like a 270x/280 or 760 would be the maximum Id suggest.


Have you considered the x79 2011 socket and an intel 4930k 6 cores and 12 threads of goodness.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel 4930K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - Retail (BX80633I74930K) £429.95
1 x Asus X79 DELUXE Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £264.95
1 x Kingston HyperX Beast 32GB (4x8GB) PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX18C10AT3K4/32X) £249.95
1 x Gigabyte Radeon R9 280 WindForce 3X OC 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £173.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 EVO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TE250BW) £109.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £85.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD30EZRX) HDD £79.99
1 x Corsair Hydro H80i High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler £74.99
Total : £1,479.40 (includes shipping : £8.00).





few notes:

I am not 100% sure about the motherboards for that particular socket, I am sure someone can make a better suggestion for that socket.
The PSU is overkill, but allows for future improvement. Has 10 year warranty and the OEM is superflower (one of the best).
Ram 32 gbs of a matching quad chan set is better than x2 different sets. Harder to come by though :X
You still need a case, but thats largly personal taste, so i left that out.
 
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Qitarah said:
Any reason why you chose z87 pro over the newer z97? its basically the same motherboard, it looks better (imo) and has a few more features.The z87 pro is a nice board though, got my girlfriend one for her PC. Im sure the z97 only improves on that.

Also the z87 boards will need a bios update to support the 4790ks were as the z97 wont!
Click to expand...

When I first drew that wish list up the 4770K was the planned CPU, but since making the list, the 4790 is now available, so i'll probably go down the Z97 route with the 4790 as there isnt much in the price difference.
 
Unless a new version came along then the Corsair RM 550 is still a passable PSU and ticks the noise box. You could always go for a superflower fanless if you liked :) maybe add an additional low-rpm front intake to keep the case well vented.

Personally, if I was looking to have a computer in the dining room I'd probably ditch the AIO water cooler and go for a bigish air cooler. I'd also stick at 16GB of RAM - I run VMs all the time and find 8GB plenty. Depends what you use your VMs for of course, but for me I'd run out of CPU time long before I run out of RAM.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £259.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Green 4TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD40EZRX) HDD £126.98
1 x Kingston HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Gold (HX18C10BGK2/16-OC) £119.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 750Ti 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £109.99
1 x Asus Z97-K Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £92.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Silent 500W Fanless "80 Plus Platinum" Power Supply - Black £85.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black (CC-9011014-WW) £59.99
1 x Alpenföhn Brocken 2 CPU Cooler £38.99
Total : £989.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
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David Bisset said:
Unless a new version came along then the Corsair RM 550 is still a passable PSU and ticks the noise box. You could always go for a superflower fanless if you liked :) maybe add an additional low-rpm front intake to keep the case well vented.

Personally, if I was looking to have a computer in the dining room I'd probably ditch the AIO water cooler and go for a bigish air cooler. I'd also stick at 16GB of RAM - I run VMs all the time and find 8GB plenty. Depends what you use your VMs for of course, but for me I'd run out of CPU time long before I run out of RAM.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail £259.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Green 4TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD40EZRX) HDD £126.98
1 x Kingston HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) PC3-14900C10 1866MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Gold (HX18C10BGK2/16-OC) £119.99
1 x Asus GeForce GTX 750Ti 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £109.99
1 x Asus Z97-K Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £92.99
1 x SuperFlower Golden Silent 500W Fanless "80 Plus Platinum" Power Supply - Black £85.99
1 x Crucial MX100 256GB SATA 2.5” 7mm SSD + 9.5mm Adapter (CT256MX100SSD1) £79.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black (CC-9011014-WW) £59.99
1 x Alpenföhn Brocken 2 CPU Cooler £38.99
Total : £989.90 (includes shipping : £12.50).

Click to expand...

I would go witty have this much more than the other replies
I don't think ram makes a difference over 1600,just stick to 1866
And 32 is probably over kill. Try 16 and if you need more add it?
And the air coolers are quieter than the corsair water

My psu is evga and it is super quiet
 
Sorry for the slow reply chaps, I've been on holiday, then working away for the week.

I'll have a rethink towards the PSU and possibly the case too.

Cheers :)
 
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