Looking for productivity, dual 4k monitor build, any suggestions / key components?

wyckedscepter · Aug 12, 2015

Hello All,

First time poster, looking to put together a build for an office "power user". I'm not doing gaming on the machine, or high end video rendering / editing, but I'm consistently running multiple programs, and basically want a fast system with great display and ability to hook up great audio.

Looking for "audiophile" sound, I think I'm going to accomplish that via an external DAC ($200), and connect to Audioengine A5+B Powered Book Shelf Speakers, and a pair of high end heahphones. I wonder if an internal sound card would accomplish / be additive to the DAC.

Ideally:
- fast processer
- 16gb ram
- 128gb - 256gb boot ssd
- 1tb disk drive
- video card that can power 2, 28 inch 4k monitors, but don't need at gaming speed
- Relatively quiet
- budget, can this be accomplished for $1000 (not including all the audio stuff and monitors), or what should I be looking at?

Any and all help / guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Sakata · Aug 12, 2015

$1000 is a little light, but I would say get an i7 6700k, Samsung 850 evo 250GB, also I would pick up a WD RED 2tB HDD and get a noctua NH-D15 to cool it. And for audio gear Look at Schiit gear ( the name is miserable but the gear is great) And perhaps KRK Rockit 6 or Emotiva speakers in place of the Audio engines, although Audio engine isn't bad.

Edit : For graphics cards look at the Nvidia GtX 970 or 980, and for Schiit gear I would get at the least the Magni, Modi combo.

wyckedscepter · Aug 12, 2015

Sakata :

Hey Sakata, thanks for the quick response, would the graphics card be powerful enough to run dual 4k monitors, something like:

- Samsung 28-Inch Ultra High Definition LED Monitor (U28D590D)
- Dell Ultra HD 4k Monitor P2715Q 27-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor
- ASUS PB287Q 28-Inch Screen LED-Lit 4K Monitor

Sakata · Aug 12, 2015

I don't see a reason why the GTX 970 couldn't do it. Although you will want to make sure you will have the proper connections and I don't think HDMI can do 4K. So you might ned like DVI and Displayport or an adapter of some sort.

fkr · Aug 12, 2015

in all honestly you do not need any video card if you are not gaming or using a video card for rendering. you can power three monitors off of this chip from what I understand. two generations ago you could easily power a single 4k monitor without any lag.

go to the bottom and read if you like

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation/4

MarkW · Aug 12, 2015

Which 4K do you want? 30 Hertz or 60 Hertz. Because that is your choices, and it you are not going to be running games, dual 4K 30 Hertz can probably be done on a GTX 980, FTX 980Ti, Radeon Fury or Fury X. Even an R9 390 or R9 390X could probably do that as well.

Two 4k monitors are going to blow up that $1000 budget right off the bat though.

fkr · Aug 12, 2015

MarkW :

you do not need a discreet card to run windows at 4k. at worse he could run one off of the CPU and another off any cheap card. do you have any links to show a discrete card is needed to power two 4k monitors.

Blueberries · Aug 12, 2015

My 3570k streams 4k on YouTube just fine. You may get cleaner audio from an AIC if it's well made but typically a high quality motherboard is all you need and has several other benefits.

Of course you won't usually get two display ports without a video card but it can be done.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188160
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132126

wyckedscepter · Aug 12, 2015

MarkW :

True that on the 4k monitors, was not factoring into the budget trying to hit, just for the system.

Thanks Mark. I think 30 hertz should be sufficient, frankly, I want to make a powerful work machine.

If I have a Nvidia GtX 970 - $382.98 what noticeable difference wold I have using Nvidia GtX980 - $552? What speed of processor am I going to need, and any suggestions on motherboard?

wyckedscepter · Aug 12, 2015

This build gets to $1200, any thoughts on where I could trim, if this would work well:

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/tsigerson/saved/49rBD3

fkr · Aug 12, 2015

wyckedscepter :

the question is what are you going to use than 980 for. I run 2 1080p monitors off of a i5 2500k and a 1440p off of a 970 but i do allot of gaming. I still think it is a waste to get such a high end GPU if you are not doing any rendering or gaming.

here is a list from nvidia of GPU's that support 4k
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/4k/supported-gpus?field_gpu_type_value=All&page=1

yes you could get a gtx650 to run one 4k monitor and the other from the integrated GPU on the newest intel CPU which is even more powerful than a 650.

I know the recommendations here are way overkill if you are not gaming or rendering.

in all honesty you will be best served by buying a cheap GPU and an 8 core intel CPU. this would allow you to run way more programs at the same time. all of these recommendations are for GPU power which you are not going to use and all you need is a simple GPU and a ton of CPU power.

my first computer was a tandy 1000sx and from my knowledge I do not see why a $500 GPU would do you better then a $200 or less GPU

fkr · Aug 12, 2015

wyckedscepter :

the question is what are you going to use than 980 for. I run 2 1080p monitors off of a i5 2500k and a 1440p off of a 970 but i do allot of gaming. I still think it is a waste to get such a high end GPU if you are not doing any rendering or gaming.

here is a list from nvidia of GPU's that support 4k
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/4k/supported-gpus?field_gpu_type_value=All&page=1

yes you could get a gtx650 to run one 4k monitor and the other from the integrated GPU on the newest intel CPU which is even more powerful than a 650.

I know the recommendations here are way overkill if you are not gaming or rendering.

in all honesty you will be best served by buying a cheap GPU and an 8 core intel CPU. this would allow you to run way more programs at the same time. all of these recommendations are for GPU power which you are not going to use and all you need is a simple GPU and a ton of CPU power.

my first computer was a tandy 1000sx and from my knowledge I do not see why a $500 GPU would do you better then a $200 or less GPU

wyckedscepter · Aug 12, 2015

fkr :

wyckedscepter :

the question is what are you going to use than 980 for. I run 2 1080p monitors off of a i5 2500k and a 1440p off of a 970 but i do allot of gaming. I still think it is a waste to get such a high end GPU if you are not doing any rendering or gaming.

here is a list from nvidia of GPU's that support 4k
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/4k/supported-gpus?field_gpu_type_value=All&page=1

yes you could get a gtx650 to run one 4k monitor and the other from the integrated GPU on the newest intel CPU which is even more powerful than a 650.

I know the recommendations here are way overkill if you are not gaming or rendering.

in all honesty you will be best served by buying a cheap GPU and an 8 core intel CPU. this would allow you to run way more programs at the same time. all of these recommendations are for GPU power which you are not going to use and all you need is a simple GPU and a ton of CPU power.

my first computer was a tandy 1000sx and from my knowledge I do not see why a $500 GPU would do you better then a $200 or less GPU

Thanks fkr, this is great advice.

I changed the partpicker, took down the gpu, and lowered the power supply wattage. Do you mind looking at my new list? Do I need this high end of cooler, motherboard, is the quad i5 3.5ghz solid, or do I need to step up to i7? Also, audio is relevant, so set up that has good audio would be great, but will probably end up getting a separate mini amp and dac

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/tsigerson/saved/RshNnQ

fkr · Aug 12, 2015

so a Intel Core i7-5820K. this is a 6 core intel and and it is a truly superior CPU. if you do not want to spend that much then the i5 will work just fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117402

so here is the thing. with that CPU you picked or one of the newer CPU's that just came out will support 3 monitor and at least 2 at 4k. if you go 6 core you have to get a cheap GPU
the most important thing about the GPU or CPU will be if it has the connectors you will need for your monitors. what monitor are you planning on buying.

here is intel ark for the CPU you picked. it is good to look at every CPU there for the best info on connectors. just go down to the graphics section
http://ark.intel.com/products/80811/Intel-Core-i5-4690K-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_90-GHz

MarkW · Aug 12, 2015

wyckedscepter :

As long as what is being displayed is 2D graphics, the difference should be next to nothing. In fact, it might be exactly the same speed. 2D stuff is so easy for a video card, its like being almost at full idle. Its the 3D mode stuff that a video card has to work hard at.

Just make sure that whatever video card you get has at least 2 DisplayPort 1.2 connections. And that your displays have DisplayPort connections as well. 99% of the 4K monitors will have it. We are not quite up to that level of DisplayPort ports on video cards yet.

4K video, even at 30Hz, has required HDMI to upgrade itself just to keep up with DisplayPort. The amazing thing about DisplayPort is that it has supported the bandwidth to support 4K video at 60Hz since 2009. In fact, a single DisplayPort connection can drive 2 monitors, but you have to buy a special hub to do it, and its just a lot cheaper to make sure the video card you buy has the 2 DP ports instead.

fkr · Aug 12, 2015

with the Intel® Core™ i5-4690K he can just get a good motherboard and run one 4k monitor off of a hdmi 1.4 @30hz and the other 4k @ 60hz using the dp. no GPU is even needed.

also I would like to add that the new z170 chipset is going to be available any day and it is a very complete chipset compared to the last couple of chipsets. also several of the vendors are taking a big step forward with the audio. I would really recomend to read over this article and see what you think about a bunch of the new features especially the audio portions

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9485/intel-skylake-z170-motherboards-asrock-asus-gigabyte-msi-ecs-evga-supermicro

MarkW · Aug 12, 2015

Somehow, I am not sold on the Intel iGPU being able to do dual 4K displays even at 2D yet. Intel graphics has been so crappy for so long... But maybe I am wrong. I just know that I would most certainly feel much more comfortable if I had a discrete video card. But at the same time, the last time I had a system that was 2D only was wayyyyyyyyyyy back under MS-DOS 3.31...

fkr · Aug 13, 2015

MarkW :

i dont know why since the intel integrated 4600 gets the same score as a gtx 750.

http://www.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu/Intel+HD+Graphics+4600/review
http://www.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu/NVIDIA+GeForce+GTX+750/review

the newest architecture is even more powerful. hell it can play bioshock at 1080p. it will also do 3 4k monitors.

fkr · Aug 13, 2015

it is also worth adding that if you first try and use the onboard graphics and it does not work out nothing is lost as you can just buy a discrete card later. why spend money before you even know if you need it.

wyckedscepter · Aug 13, 2015

fkr :

Good call on the cpu, I wonder when that chipset is going to come out? Thanks so much for all the help!

here's my build again, if I dump the separate gpu, that saves $150, which means I could get the higher end cpu's below, because I have $389.99 currently budgeted for cpu + discrete gpu.

Any thoughts on the right motherboard to pair with the intel 4690 3.5ghz quadcore? Or the motherboard would work well with the below?

i7 6700k - $359.99
Intel Core i7-5820K - 378.000
Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor - $328.99

Check out the new build below:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/tsigerson/saved/#view=xkD...

My brother suggested this as a good basic build:

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/tsigerson/saved/rW9Zxr

Blueberries · Aug 14, 2015

MarkW :

Displaying a picture @ 4k is easy to do, that doesn't take much processing power. Rendering is a whole 'nother ballpark.

fkr · Aug 14, 2015

i made a long post earlier that had allot of good info but it looks like i forgot to submit it. I am to tired to post it all again now but it basically said the new chipset will be out by the end of the month and ther are some really high quality boards coming out with superior audio from soundblaster integrated that you need to check out.

please go to pcperspective / pcper.com and click the motherboard header and check out the gigabyte boards that are on the way. you may be really happy with just a really powerful cpu and great motherboard. I will be around later today and I will check back in for questions

wyckedscepter · Aug 25, 2015

fkr :

Good call, yep, new chipset looks like it is going to be dope

Bungle11 · Aug 27, 2015

Sakata :

HDMI 2.0 can do 4k @60hz, just bloody google it.

For productivity work based stuff. a gtx 960 should more than enough to power two 4k displays. so save your money. any thing above this is a waste of money for your needs. a gtx 950 will work as well for productivity and some of them have 3 display ports, so they can run 3 monitors

no need for a i76700k its too expensive that the performance gain is marginal. Get a Intel Core i7-4790K. You will need a 250gb ssd at least. would suggest a 1tb hdd for storage.

A Z97 motherboard

16gb ram

at least a 700w psu

Bungle11 · Aug 27, 2015

wyckedscepter :

For $1,100 your build should be:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z8Tngs
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Z8Tngs/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($263.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! PURE ROCK 51.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.90 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($67.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($77.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.98 @ Mac Mall)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.98 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($170.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Micro Center)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Enermax UCEVA12T 76.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($11.99 @ Directron)
Case Fan: Enermax UCEVA12T 76.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($11.99 @ Directron)
Total: $1037.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-27 12:34 EDT-0400

a xeon 1241 is essentially a i74790 but without a igpu, its cheaper too
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-E3-1241-v3-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790

Looking for productivity, dual 4k monitor build, any suggestions / key components?

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