New system - your input is much appreciated!

[Lupo-13]

Hi everyone,
I am building a new rig to replace an ancient PC at home and would greatly appreciate any thoughts you may have on the configuration I've included below.

Approximate Purchase Date: this week
 
Budget Range: <$3,000
 
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Photo editing (Lightroom & Capture NX), MS Office, music, internet browsing. No gaming.
 
Are you buying a monitor: No. Resolution of current monitor is 1920x1200. Single monitor set up.
  
Do you need to buy OS: Yes - Win 8 Pro 64-bit

Preferred Websites for Parts: newegg.com & amazon
 
Location: Boston, USA
 
Overclocking: Maybe or Not at all
 
SLI or Crossfire: No
 
Additional Comments: This is the current plan - hope it's "futureproof" enough to last at least 5 years, stable, and fairly quiet.
 
Processor: Intel Core i7-3930K
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth X79
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) F3-14900CL9Q-16GBXL [On the mobo QVL]
Graphics Card: EVGA Superclocked, Signature 2 02G-P4-2687-KR GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
SSD: SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD128BW 2.5" 128GB [For Windows & programs only]
HDD: SEAGATE ST2000NM0033 Constellation ES.3 2TB 7200 RPM 128MB cache SATA 6.0Gb/s [For all data files]
This is a new Seagate Entreprise drive so doesn't have many reviews out. Initially I thought of buying a RAID PCI card so I can have two 2TB drives in RAID 1 mode for full hardware redundancy, but then decided to consider this one to avoid the extra cost and potential complications of a RAID configuration.

Power Supply: CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850
Initially I was tempted to get the AX860 to take advantage of the Platinum efficiency, but it seems many users are experiencing noise problems. I also considered the AX860i but don't see much value in monitoring the PSU via software, plus the Cross Link software appears not be fully ready yet for Windows 8.

Cooling: CORSAIR Hydro H80i. I'm also considering the Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 to avoid the potential (small) risk of a leakage and the potential kinks of the new Corsair (e.g. software compatibility with Win 8), however the Noctua's size is monstrous and I won't have access to the DIMMs. According to the Noctua website, this cooler is compatible with both the mobo and RAM I have chosen. Also I have seen pictures of it installed in the Define R4 case therefore it fits.

DVD Burner: LG 14x SATA Blu-ray Internal Rewriter
Case: Fractal Design Define R4

Thanks in advance!

 

[Martin9630]

Looks more like a gaming build than anything else! If you do not intend on overclocking then water cooling is pretty much pointless imo.

 

[Outlander_04]

The socket 2011 have either no or only a very slight advantage in performance over socket 1155.
Partly this is because the sandybridge -e processors are still 32nm parts and 1155 has moved to 22nm .

IMO use a i7 3770k instead
On a motherboard with a z77 chipset
Use some of the money you save to buy an SSD . Or two and RAID them . The performance is astounding compared to mechanical hard drives .

Use a mechanical hard drive array, which you can build as a mirror in win 8 storage spaces, for secure storage

You do not need a GTX 680 to edit photographs. It will give you no benefit at all .

Even if you did use one then you would only need a 600 watt power supply

 

[MalenskiiPC]

If you are not gaming, don't get a 680, and instead of a 3930k, get a sabertooth z77 and a 3770k. Use the money you save from the CPU, MOBO, and GPU and get yourself a bigger ssd.

 

[Praxeology]

3K Budget nom nom

Alright, z79 build is not recommended mainly because quad channel ram has no practical performance increase anywhere, and definately not to fps; z79 does not support trim in raid 0 configurations, z77 does; It's boards are more expensive. The only reason I see in going z79 is for the six core processor, specifically for businesses that use programs that can utilize 6 cores to render things quicker thus making money faster. Unless this is making you money, don't do it. We can do a nice crossfire build for 1500ish. Take a look.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($159.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Gold 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($165.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1876.83
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-10 20:42 EST-0500)

This is with SLI 660Ti(660 sli is the best price/performance which would drop price by 100$), h100i(Drop this for a hyper212 80$ saved), highest rated case on newegg(Could drop this for a mid-tower/the case you provided 50$ saved), and raided SSD(And of course going with 1 ssd would bring price down 135$) All changes made brings price down 360$ equaling a 1500 dollar build as I mentioned above. For a x79 alternative to this,

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($569.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme6 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($228.49 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced ATX Full Tower Case ($159.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Gold 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($165.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2345.33
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-10 20:52 EST-0500)

And the same cutbacks above can apply here. We change the cooler for a hyper, 660Ti for 660, 1 SSD instead of raided(No trimm support when raided on x79) and finally the case change the total price would be 1980$

Either way you go these builds are bad ass. If you are worried about performance on SLI 660/660Ti here are 2 benchmarks:

SLI 660, max BF3 settings with source@ www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-geforce-gtx-650-benchmark,3297-5.html

SLI 660Ti, max BF3 settings with source@ http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/geforce-gtx-660-ti-sli.html#sect0

I would really not bother with sli 670s/80s because the fps difference between 660ti is 10, and 20 respectively. Granted you did say this wasn't for gaming but the general horse-power of the setup still applies; sli 660/Ti's will get the job done.

On a closing note, any one of these builds leaves you with 700+ for multi-monitor/speaker/headphone/sound card/keyboard/mouse&pad or just pocket change. And the case to end all cases will be sold on the 18th of March@369.99 http://www.corsair.com/900d It really is beautiful. For air-cooling or water-cooling setups, it ends all cases. It's closest equal is the Cosmos II @ http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6792

I hope I helped you out a bit, GL with your build and whatever you ultimately decide on.

-Prax

 

[Lupo-13]

Thank you all - very helpful.