I am aiming to build a reasonably powerful machine suitable for working from home. It should be capable of running CAD programs and large finite element analyses with time history simulations. Hesitant to call it a work station since I'm not looking for dual processors, etc., and it will also be used for home/recreation programs and not dedicated solely to work. I don't see it being used for extreme gaming. I also doubt that there will much overclocking going on. I do like to keep several programs open simultaneously and would like it to be able to drive dual 2560 x 1440 monitors. I may want to experiment with alternate operating systems (primary OS will be Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate) and virtual machines. Durability is important (I'm writing this on a machine that's almost ten years old!) and there should be some expandability (dual video cards?). As for appearance, my preferences run to clean simplicity; I don't need a disco light show when the machine is cranking. The budget for the box is 3000 USD, but that's not a hard number. For example, I would certainly consider spending more up front for a component if it produces a longer service life and/or reduce power consumption.
With the above in mind, the following is what I've been able to come up with (with some additional thoughts):
CPU: i7-3930K
Cooler: TBD
I'm conflicted about the cooling. I have concerns similar to those expressed in the recent tom's reviews (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/water2.0-extreme-kraken-x40-hydro-h90-elc120,3434.html and http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/h100i-elc240-seidon-240m-lq320,3380.html) regarding the stressing of the motherboard by the Noctua DH-14 or other large air coolers. I'm more worried about cracking the motherboard by accidentally whacking the cooler while working inside the machine than I would be about it happening due to the box tipping over, but the idea is the same. There's also the issue of the number of stress cycles introduced by a piece of rotating machinery over the working life of the machine. That being said, I also the question of a closed-loop cooler being able to last that long without springing a leak.
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth X79
With the ruggedness implied by the 5-year warranty, I'm assuming the Sabertooth would be able to better handle any extra stressing from an air cooler. And if I do go with a closed-loop cooler, my thought is that this motherboard would address the VRM cooling issues discussed in the cooler reviews. I am a bit concerned, though, the shrouding over the back port panel area might interfere with a radiator mounted in the rear fan space.
Memory: DDR3-1866 quad channel kit from Corsair, Crucial, G.Skill or Kingston
Video card: AMD FirePro W7000
Case: Fractal Design Define R4
I'm partial to the no-logo/clean lines of the Fractal cases. I did consider the Noctua DS-1 because of the extra external bays and expansion slot as well as the split front door, but some of the reviews I read commented on problems with the chimney and the pop-up mechanism for the front panel ports not working smoothly and with some fitment issues.
PSU: Seasonic Platinum-760 (SS-760XP2 Active PFC F3)
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB
HDD: Western Digital WD Black 3TB (two)
Optical drive: Asus BW-12B1ST
Docking station: Antec Easy SATA
Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. However, since prices are constantly changing, I would especially appreciate comments related to the pluses and minuses, practicality, alternatives, etc.
Thanks!
With the above in mind, the following is what I've been able to come up with (with some additional thoughts):
CPU: i7-3930K
Cooler: TBD
I'm conflicted about the cooling. I have concerns similar to those expressed in the recent tom's reviews (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/water2.0-extreme-kraken-x40-hydro-h90-elc120,3434.html and http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/h100i-elc240-seidon-240m-lq320,3380.html) regarding the stressing of the motherboard by the Noctua DH-14 or other large air coolers. I'm more worried about cracking the motherboard by accidentally whacking the cooler while working inside the machine than I would be about it happening due to the box tipping over, but the idea is the same. There's also the issue of the number of stress cycles introduced by a piece of rotating machinery over the working life of the machine. That being said, I also the question of a closed-loop cooler being able to last that long without springing a leak.
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth X79
With the ruggedness implied by the 5-year warranty, I'm assuming the Sabertooth would be able to better handle any extra stressing from an air cooler. And if I do go with a closed-loop cooler, my thought is that this motherboard would address the VRM cooling issues discussed in the cooler reviews. I am a bit concerned, though, the shrouding over the back port panel area might interfere with a radiator mounted in the rear fan space.
Memory: DDR3-1866 quad channel kit from Corsair, Crucial, G.Skill or Kingston
Video card: AMD FirePro W7000
Case: Fractal Design Define R4
I'm partial to the no-logo/clean lines of the Fractal cases. I did consider the Noctua DS-1 because of the extra external bays and expansion slot as well as the split front door, but some of the reviews I read commented on problems with the chimney and the pop-up mechanism for the front panel ports not working smoothly and with some fitment issues.
PSU: Seasonic Platinum-760 (SS-760XP2 Active PFC F3)
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB
HDD: Western Digital WD Black 3TB (two)
Optical drive: Asus BW-12B1ST
Docking station: Antec Easy SATA
Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. However, since prices are constantly changing, I would especially appreciate comments related to the pluses and minuses, practicality, alternatives, etc.
Thanks!
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