New Haswell system build

[shikhan]

It's time to retire my old Westmere system as I've got a brand new Haswell 4770 sitting in front of me. It's been almost 3-4 years since I've looked into building a new system, so I've been reading a lot of build threads here and at SPCR.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
This is my general day to day system. Primarily, this means the usual office stuff along with heavy usage of Lightroom and moderate use of PS. I occasionally deal with large panoramas, which is why I was leaning towards 16GB ram instead of 8GB.

I do game occasionally on this, and would like it to be strong enough to run games at at least medium settings. Recent games: Skyrim, DOTA 2, various inde games.

I am also targeting this to be a quiet system - i don't mind if I can hear the fans a little while gaming, but in normal usage, I want it to be quiet

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
I've got a budget of $1000, although I'd like to keep that lower (say around $800) and maybe pick up a new monitor or two down the road.

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

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.

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.
Intel

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Processor - Core i7 4770 - 95W (not a typo) - 3.6 GHz
SSD - 240GB Intel SSD 520 series
HDD - 1TB WD Blue

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Probably keep at stock - as mentioned above, I value stability & !noise

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
Currently, I run 1 24" monitor @ 1920x1200 and a 20" monitor @ 1680x1050
I would eventually like to replace these with newer monitors (dual). Unsure what resolution, min would be 1920x1200

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.
Now(ish)

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
No

Updated List:
CPU: i7 4770 (Owned)
Heatsink: Thermalright HR-02 ($53)
MB: Asus H87-PRO $120
RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 1.35V ($115) or
G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR 1866 1.5v ($127-$12.70=$114)
GPU: MSI Geforce 760 2GB $260
Case: Unknown - Looking for a quiet case - I'm leaning towards Fractal Design R4 just because I see it mentioned a lot ($110)
PS: SeaSonic X650 $140-$21-$15=$104
SSD : 240GB Intel SSD 520 series (Owned)
HDD : 1TB WD Blue (Owned)
Monitors: Dell Ultrasharp 2405FPW 25" LCD @ 1920x1200 (owned)
Sceptre 20" WSXGA+ LCD @ 1680x1050 (Owned)
DVDDrive: Asus 24x DVD ($20)
Keyboard Mouse: Might just reuse my current wireless setup, open for wireless suggestions

Total: $504+ $278 = $782


Am I missing anything? Or is there perhaps other options I should look at?

 

[Cerb]

The Thermalright HR-02 is a good one.

Why the Asus Z87-PRO? That seems like a lot of money for wifi.

For RAM, get 2x8GB, so you have room to upgrade in a couple years. Example.

The video card's a little expensive (4GB v. 2GB standard), but if you tend to play with mods, go for it. Sandbox games with mods can eat up VRAM, w/o needing more GPU power.

 

[Chipfiref]

Nice I just built one with the ASRock Extreme6.

I really like the Noctua NH-U14S cooler. I am not an experienced cooling guru as I have used Intel stck coolers in the past, but now I am converted to these Noctua coolers. TH did a review of several coolers for Haswell and ended up recommending this one. At $75 I think it is a great deal. It works for 115X and 2011 boards. I comes with a push fan and you can add a pull fan. I estimate 20C cooling from it.

You will benefit from a video card with 4GB for photography - it is the Frame Buffer. Zoom in faster better, smoother.

Personally I would spend a few extra bucks and get the SSR-650RM 650W - I believe it is a better build? But a little more watts is better.

You really want to save up for a Dell 30" - 2560x1600 of photo goodness.

Advice on a case - make sure there is a good setup for the MB - cutout for back plate of CPU and always accessible without removing the MB. Also make sure there is plenty of room for a long video card and also good spacing for the PCI card sockets vs the processor.

Also I would plan for using Displayport.

 

[Torn Mind]

More watts WITHIN THE SAME PSU PLATFORM generally means just some extra MOSFETS or Schottky rectifiers, not necessarily superior soldering(there is no such thing; it is either good or bad), or a pre-assembly decision to use a certain company's produced components(i.e Japanese capacitors), or post-assembly testing.

Being able to handle more watts provides absolutely no benefit so long as you do not go over the maximum the circuit can handle before the resistance makes it too toasty and starts melting rubber. That is why 12 gauge extension cords do not make turning on a 60W device like a light bulb work any "better".

 

[Chipfiref]

More watts WITHIN THE SAME PSU PLATFORM generally means just some extra MOSFETS or Schottky rectifiers, not necessarily superior soldering(there is no such thing; it is either good or bad), or a pre-assembly decision to use a certain company's produced components(i.e Japanese capacitors), or post-assembly testing.

Being able to handle more watts provides absolutely no benefit so long as you do not go over the maximum the circuit can handle before the resistance makes it too toasty and starts melting rubber. That is why 12 gauge extension cords do not make turning on a 60W device like a light bulb work any "better".

Fair enough, but Jonny Guru sez about the 650:

"Since everything I complained about with the G-550 has been improved on, yeah. I think I have to do another 10"

I thought I remembered that it was a better build.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=348

 

[Torn Mind]

It scored better in the reviews (from a 9 to a 10) because the two major soldering defects found on the particular G 550 board were not present on the G 650. They might not have been present on every unit, but since a review sample had it, perhaps quite a few other units had similar hiccups.

While the G 650 is said to be upgraded, the design going into the components seem identical. Yes, the newer circuit board is slightly different, but he does not go into any further details on what other differences are there or if they do anything significant.

 

[shikhan]

Updated my parts list

I'm leaning towards the HR-02 Macho for my heatsink. The Noctua NH-U14S and NH-U12S look nice, but both are more expensive than the HR-02. Although there's the chance that the HR-02 will sell out by the time I order, in which case I'll probably switch to the U12S.

For RAM, I'm debating between either the 1866 1.5V 16GB or the 1600 1.3V 16GB.

Looking more into the PS, the X650 seems like it performs much better and is quiet/silent, so I'm probably going to go with that.

 

[Cerb]

For RAM, I'm debating between either the 1866 1.5V 16GB or the 1600 1.3V 16GB.

The cheaper one. G.Skill, Crucial, Kingston, A-Data, GeIL, Corsair, and Patriot, off the top of my head, are all good brands, and the RAM's speed really doesn't matter--that 1866 just happened to be the right price. Since some applications occasionally are sensitive to timings though, I like to stay at CAS 9 or lower.

 

[mfenn]

A couple things that jump out at me are the $120 H87 motherboard and an X650 for a machine that will draw ~300W fully maxed out. Check out these alternatives:

ASRock H87 Pro4 $88
Seasonic SSP-550RT $64 AP

 

[shikhan]

A couple things that jump out at me are the $120 H87 motherboard and an X650 for a machine that will draw ~300W fully maxed out. Check out these alternatives:

ASRock H87 Pro4 $88
Seasonic SSP-550RT $64 AP

Thanks mfeen.

I can't seem to find any reviews on the ASRock H87 Pro4 board. It seems like it has everything that I want, including advanced fan control, but that worries me.

As for the PS, the PS was originally what I was planning on going with. However, I found the X650 series and realized that it runs fanless. According to some reviews I've seen, it will essentially run fanless until load goes over 270W, which means in my usage, it will almost always be off. This seems like a real big plus to me.
Plus, it seems like even when the fan is on, it is virtually silent.

 

[mfenn]

I wouldn't worry about the lack of reviews on the H87 Pro4. It's a simple fact of the industry that most review houses don't go out and buy their own review products and instead are reliant on the manufacturers sending them samples. Somewhat corrupt, but it is what it is. Naturally, the manufacturers only want to send out the high-end (read: high margin) boards, so reviews of the lower end boards are regrettably thin on the ground. I don't see any reason to believe that there's anything critically wrong with any board from the Big 3 + ASRock.

Regarding the PSU, given that you already have a large deal of active cooling in the case, the difference between a PSU fan that's off (X650) and one that's spinning very slowly (550RT) is negligible. You won't be able to tell a difference.