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deaf to light

deaf to light

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I got about a grand in cashback from Discover, and figured I'd put it towards a new build. My old one is over 6 years old with a core 2 duo e6750 with 4 GB of DDR2.

This will be used for pretty much everything... gaming, and any productivity stuff I need to do (some Photoshop, and Office applications). I probably will do some recording on it as well. I have ADD so I tend to keep a lot of tabs and programs open, so I wanted 32GB of RAM, but DDR4 is so expensive that I figured I'd start with 16 and see how it goes.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($529.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus X99-DELUXE ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($386.75 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($157.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($83.24 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($569.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF X Blue ATX Full Tower Case ($231.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2485.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-12 18:22 EST-0500
 
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capt_taco

capt_taco

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It depends on how heavy-duty your photo/video editing is ... unless you are doing it all the time, e.g., as part of your job, you are overkilling the hell out of it, to the tune of about $1,000-$1,200.

If graphics and video ARE the primary purpose, then this would be hard to beat.
 
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zeyuanfu

zeyuanfu

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Jun 19, 2014
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If you have 200$ to spare, this would be all you need:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($249.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($108.78 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Team Vulcan ORANGE 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($135.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $1223.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-12 19:01 EST-0500
 
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deaf to light

deaf to light

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Very light. I just mess around in Photoshop sometimes. Nothing major.

What should I change?

I also didn't include OS on there... Windows 7.... I really don't care for 8. I thought I wasn't alone in that, but I notice a lot of knowledgeable people on this forum including 8 in their builds, so I figured I should ask.
 
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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Win 7 vs 8:
Currently, the main difference is just the UI. And with Win 8.1, that difference mostly goes away. Boot directly to the desktop, and it looks and acts a whole lot like 7.
Win 8/8.1 does bring some enhancements under the hood. And with 8.1, you never need see the Metro interface unless you want to.

Why were/are people bitching about it? Because it is different. Not buggy, not slower...just different.
But if you prefer 7, go for that. Either way will work.
I have 7, 8.1, Win 10 Preview on my machines here. Use them interchangeably.
 
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deaf to light

deaf to light

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I should also mention The reason I want to go with Haswell-E and DDR4 RAM is because I plan on having this for awhile, and I don't want to get into the same situation I got with my current build. DDR3 had just came out, wasn't worth it at the time, but then I couldn't upgrade the RAM after DDR2 was phased out without paying an insane premium for older RAM.
 
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capt_taco

capt_taco

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I would step the CPU down to an i5 quad-core, 4690K or so ... LGA1150 motherboard can then be in the $75-$100 range instead then, and 16GB of DDR3 (2x8GB will be easier to get stable than 4x4). That machine will still KILL at anything you throw at it today; the extra $1,200 spent will not make a noticeable difference. If you get 16GB of RAM now, that will almost certainly be enough in five years as well, so whether it's DDR3 or DDR4 won't matter; you will have enough.

As for future-proofing, basically, I look at it like this ... you want to have a good machine 5 or 6 years from now - you can either spend $1,200 now and have a very much top-of-the-line machine, then spend another $1,200 in 5 years and have another one ... or you can spend all $2,500 now, and in 5 years you'll end up with a machine that's worse than what $1,200 could buy you then. And then it also turns out you'll need to do a full motherboard/CPU swap to upgrade anyway, and by paying $300 for RAM today you saved yourself $60 on RAM tomorrow (when DDR5 is probably on the horizon). That's just the way these things go; one or more parts are always a moving target, and manufacturers don't worry about supporting 5-year-old tech, so upgrade paths tend to close for reasons you can't see coming ... so in other words, there is no such thing as future-proof.






 
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capt_taco

capt_taco

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Oh yeah, one thing to add on the W7 vs. W8 debate ... I don't really think it matters much which. There's a lifecycle issue to consider - Windows 7 is scheduled to receive support through 2020 before it gets "turned off" like XP; Windows 8 a few years longer.

In a practical sense, I don't see much difference in that. 8 is kind of the new Vista in terms of adoption; it's struggling along at a few percent while most people stay on 7. The same thing happened with XP and Vista. Now, a funny thing happened recently - when they retired Windows XP, Microsoft continued to issue updates for Vista, but within a matter of months a lot of other software companies started dropping support for it, since hardly anyone is using it anymore. So you run into usability issues nonetheless. I expect almost the exact same thing will happen with 8; when they pull the plug on 7, it won't be far behind and Windows 10 will be the standard everyone is pushed onto.

That's one of the reasons I'm waiting to upgrade my old LGA775 machine - when I drop in a new CPU and motherboard, and maybe an SSD, I want to be on W10, not W8 that goes away and then I have to spend more money on an OS again.

In terms of actual usability, I think the W7/W8 debate is much ado about nothing. Just like the XP/Vista debate was. Change like two things and there's hardly any difference; I really don't know what people are complaining about.
 
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deaf to light

deaf to light

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Thanks so much for all the input.

I made some revisions...

Main points, correct me if I'm wrong:
- If I ever even do upgrade to a multi-GPU setup, there's no way I would be going past 2-way SLI... so the 40 lanes in the 5960K are unnecessary and I might as well just go with the 5820K. This also means I can save on the PSU... I will never need 850W... 750W may even be too much but it seemed safe...
- The 980 seems like a waste of money for gaming, and the 970 seems like it will be just as good for $200 less. I just am not sure about the
SC and FTW versions, if they are worth it. I am also not sure about what brand to get.
- I had forgotten to change the case before I posted the build... I used to always get full towers, but they are really big and annoying to move when I have to clean them.... I was wondering, can I just go with a mid tower? Or does a system like this need to be full tower because of airflow? I chose the Cooler Master based on looks, but ideally I'd like a case that has good cable management and actually is practical, unlike the various pain in the ass cases I have encountered in the past.
- The Crucial SSD seems just as fast and reliable as the Samsung... right? I may even go 512GB for this.
- Still up in the air about the Haswell-E and DDR4 combo, so I haven't changed it yet. Definitely am paying a premium on the motherboard, as it's hard for me to choose those. They don't really affect benchmarks, but having extra USB 3.0 ports is nice. Also, ASUS used to always be the name brand, but I have been using ASRock for the new office PCs I've had to build at work, and I have liked them so far. They have good interfaces and haven't failed... yet. So I'm starting to wonder if I should save some dough simply by switching the brand from ASUS to ASRock.

I'm also wondering if any of these components will have major price drops online with Black Friday or Cyber Monday coming up.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($389.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus X99-DELUXE ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($386.75 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($82.43 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($379.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Blue ATX Full Tower Case ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1965.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-13 19:08 EST-0500
 
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zeyuanfu

zeyuanfu

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1, The CPU is a bit overkill, but if you really want to be future-proof...
2, A mid-end motherboard will be okay: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gax99ud3
3, The FTW version of the 970 is overpriced for nothing, the most I'd go with is the Superclocked ACX 2.0 for 350$
4, The case is overpriced for what it is, this would be equal: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/nzxt-case-phan001bk
5, The RM 750 and 850 are made by a crap OEM and use bad caps. I would go with this for less: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20750xr
 
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RazerZ

RazerZ

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If this is mainly for gaming and office/ light photoshop use there's absolutely no reason to get an x99 and 5820k. You could go with a much cheaper Z97 board which supports sli and a 4790k /Xeon if you wanted to. Even an i5 would work great.
 
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deaf to light

deaf to light

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I also want to stream 1080p media to the various smart TVs in my house. But I imagine this equipment in this system is far beyond the requirements for that, right?

Recording software (Pro Tools and Ableton) will also be run.

I'd like to drop the processor and chipset down, but I'm not sure if the new socket is gonna become the standard or not.
 
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deaf to light

deaf to light

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So judging from your suggestions, I put this together:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($329.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($157.50 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($369.25 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake VN10001W2N ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1615.67
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-16 12:38 EST-0500

What do you guys think? I'm also still confused if I need a full tower just for the sake of airflow or not. I don't plan on putting more than 2 video cards top in this thing, and even 2 vid cards is a maybe that would be down the line.


For shits and giggles, I put together this as well... at this price point, only a little more than $200 would give me the DDR4 system with Haswell-E, which may be justified......

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($378.96 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($31.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB FTW ACX 2.0 Video Card ($369.25 @ Amazon)
Case: Thermaltake VN10001W2N ATX Full Tower Case ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1845.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-16 12:39 EST-0500
 
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zeyuanfu

zeyuanfu

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I would change the CPU to a Xeon E3-1231V3, drop the CPU cooler, get the Gigabyte z97-UD5H (on sale for 129.99 after rebate), get cheaper RAM, save money on the GPU by going with the Superclocked version (the FTW version only offers a 0.02 MHz boost over the SC card), get the Cooler Master HAF XM (comboed with the UD5H gives you a 17$ discount, it's a pretty damn good case anyways, with 2 200mm fans and a 140mm fan) and replace the PSU with a WAY cheaper EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 (about 79.99 after rebate).
Otherwise, your build looks good!
 
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RazerZ

RazerZ

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By the time you need an upgrade from the i7 haswell a new generation of CPUs will be out which will use a different motherboard. A Xeon 1231 V3 is like a locked i7 without the integrated graphics. You could get it and use the stock cooler without a large performance loss. There really isn't a reason to get the 4790k for your purposes.

The DDR4 build would be an even greater waste of money.
 
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deaf to light

deaf to light

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I was looking forward to overclocking, which was why I leaned away from the Xeon.

and replace the PSU with a WAY cheaper EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2
Click to expand...
That seems like a good recommendation... I always read to never skimp on the PSU, and that's one area that I am not as opinionated on as some people on here... so I kinda never know which brand to go with.
 
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