Workstation/gaming Rig input

[Psychon]

Hey guys,

I was hoping I could get some feedback on this build and make sure that hardware will be compatible as well as worth the value. My goal was to try to keep it under the 2k range though my budget is flexible. I'm definitely looking for value so if I were to spend a few more bucks for much more performance I'd consider that as well. I'm mostly building a maching for doing art (maya, photoshop, Zbrush) and playing games. Also not sure if I should go with water cooling? Any advice is welcomed:


Edit: I'll be buying in the US probably from newegg. Prefer to keep nvidia card for maya compatibility and intel processor. Beyond that I'm pretty flexible.

- All parts will be new
- overclocking is a possibility though I've never done it before so basic level here
- Resolution: 2 monitors at 1920x1600 resolution or somewhere in that department.
- software I'll buy windows here
- Was hoping to build this week



1 G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL10Q-32GBZL
Item #: N82E16820231507
Return Policy:*Memory Standard Return Policy $159.99


1 ASRock X79 Extreme6/GB LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813157290
Return Policy:*Standard Return Policy -$30.00* Instant
$299.99
$269.99


1 Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 2011 130W Six-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73930K
Item #: N82E16819116492
Return Policy:*CPU Replacement Only Return Policy $569.99


1 SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256D/AM 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Desktop Upgrade Kit
Item #: N82E16820147135
Return Policy:*Limited Replacement Only Return Policy -$70.00* Instant
$319.99
$249.99


1 EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-2682-KR GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814130769
Return Policy:*VGA Standard Return Policy -$40.00* Instant


SeaSonic X-SERIES X-1050 1050W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC ...
Model #:X-1050
Item #:N82E16817151110
$219.99 -$20.00 Instant $199.99


Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:WD1002FAEX
Item #:N82E16822136533
$149.99 -$40.00 Instant $109.99


ARCTIC COOLING Arctic Cooling MX-4 AC-MX4 4 gram (g) All-Around Thermal Compound
Model #:AC-MX4
Item #:N82E16835186038
$12.99 -$3.00 Instant $9.99

 

[riversend]

Could you finish answering the questions from this thread? Looks like you hit most of them but there are a few outliers that could use clarification. Monitor resolution? How far do you want to push an overclock? etc.

 

[Ken g6]

When buying an SSD, don't get the upgrade kit. Amazon is even cheaper today at $214.

PSU is overkill unless you're getting two or three GPUs. Here's a nice 750W PSU for $75AR at TigerDirect/CompUSA. And that's probably still overkill, but it's a good price.

RAM's good if you have an OS that can handle it. (Win7 Pro or Win8 anything in a few weeks.)

A 670 is a better value than a 680, especially if you're willing to overclock. A triple-fan Gigabyte would be nice if it fits your case. What is your case, anyway?

 

[Psychon]

Added missing info

Still looking at cases, having a hard time picking looks vs quality . I don't need anything huge or flashy with tons of lights and stuff. If you have any suggestions for elegant metal cases (black or silver - I have a macpro) that would be great as well.
I am considering doing sli at some point maybe once the graphics cards drop in price again.

 

[DSF]

- How processor-heavy is your art work? If it benefits from multiple threads you could go with something like an i7-3770K. If not, I would stick with an i5-3570K. Either way you could save hundreds of dollars without losing much if any performance by moving to an LGA 1155 platform.

- Agree with Ken about the 670.

- Thermal compound isn't really necessary unless you want to have some on hand for future tinkering. Whatever heatsink you use will come with thermal material.

- Say it with me: SLI is not an upgrade path. If you're not planning to go for it right away (or at least within the first year at the latest) you're better off just upgrading to a single newer card. Adding the second card just won't be a large enough performance boost compared to next generation cards.

- Even if you do want to leave room for SLI, the 750W PSU Ken listed has plenty of power.

- If you want an understated case with an emphasis on quiet computing look at something like the Antec P280 or Fractal Design Define R4. BitFenix has a new case called the Ghost which looks promising but I haven't read a ton about it yet.

 

[mfenn]

- How processor-heavy is your art work? If it benefits from multiple threads you could go with something like an i7-3770K. If not, I would stick with an i5-3570K. Either way you could save hundreds of dollars without losing much if any performance by moving to an LGA 1155 platform.

- Agree with Ken about the 670.

- Thermal compound isn't really necessary unless you want to have some on hand for future tinkering. Whatever heatsink you use will come with thermal material.

- Say it with me: SLI is not an upgrade path. If you're not planning to go for it right away (or at least within the first year at the latest) you're better off just upgrading to a single newer card. Adding the second card just won't be a large enough performance boost compared to next generation cards.

- Even if you do want to leave room for SLI, the 750W PSU Ken listed has plenty of power.

- If you want an understated case with an emphasis on quiet computing look at something like the Antec P280 or Fractal Design Define R4. BitFenix has a new case called the Ghost which looks promising but I haven't read a ton about it yet.

:thumbsup::thumbsup: to all of this.

Also, do you know for a fact that you need 32GB of RAM? If so, what methods did you use to determine this?

 

[etamin]

As far as aesthetics go, the Lian Li PC-9F is very user friendly and easy on the eyes.

 

[Cerb]

Added missing info

Still looking at cases, having a hard time picking looks vs quality . I don't need anything huge or flashy with tons of lights and stuff. If you have any suggestions for elegant metal cases (black or silver - I have a macpro) that would be great as well.

Antec Solo
Antec P183 V3
Antec P280 (aside: I don't like the QC problems popping up in the reviews lately)
Corsair 550D
Fractal Design R4 black
Fractal Design R4 titanium
Lian-li PC-K65

Also.

Also not sure if I should go with water cooling?

No. That's only good for fairly extreme overclocking, and that kind of OCing just shouldn't be done on anything that does serious work. It can add substantial hassle and risk. If you want good cooling, Cooler Master has cheapish coolers, Scythe has shrubberies (nice, but not too expensive), and Thermalright is still out there making high quality monstrosities.

 

[Psychon]

Thanks for the great feedback guys, I'm digging a lot of those cases, the bitfenix ghost having some nice features. The lian li and Corsair are pretty solid as well.

For the ram I probably could knock it down to 16gb but the price for 32 didn't seem too crazy and that's what we have at work. At home I have 8gb and have run out of memory a few times since I do a lot of heavy multitasking.

Since water cooling isn't needed I read good things about this cooler. COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel ...
Model #:RR-212E-20PK-R2

What do you guys think about the mobo? I heard good things about asrock and asus but wasn't sure if paying extra for something like the p9X79 WS was needed? Or maybe something else.

 

[Cerb]

Yes, the Hyper212+ is a good cooler. There are better, but they cost more, and there are plenty that are worse and still cost more. It, and Scythe's Mugen and Ninja, are among the better values out there (QC matters w.r.t. overall value!), and they are especially good choices if buying everything from Newegg.

 

[mfenn]

What do you guys think about the mobo? I heard good things about asrock and asus but wasn't sure if paying extra for something like the p9X79 WS was needed? Or maybe something else.

I think we need to determine whether or not you do anything compute intensive enough to require 6-core before we even talk about the mobo. What is your typical time spent rendering versus editing?