Help finishing high end workstation/gaming pc

[manshiny]

Okay, over the past few weeks, I've been trying to put together an idea for my high end workstation/gaming pc. I've selected pretty much everything except ram, but would like some feedback + new ideas.

My computer will be used mainly for standard home use (for uni assignments and internet browsing), coding, gaming (high end, heavily modded) and some video & 3D work. May overclock if I get cpu cooler, but not too extreme.

Here's what I have (it's not final, but I feel it's almost complete) and I have not selected ram.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77 WS ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 1000W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($226.82 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($314.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($314.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($314.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: Razer RZ01-00780100-R3U1 Wired Laser Mouse ($65.00 @ Amazon)
Other: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card ($250.00)
Other: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card ($250.00)
Other: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card ($250.00)
Total: $3016.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-21 20:01 EDT-0400)

So, I've decided what I'm after. I'll give you guys an idea (it's similar to what I've selected)
So what do you think I should select?

Ram:
- I want 4gb sticks (I've read/heard many times that 8gb aren't anywhere near as stable) in a 4x4 set.
- Must have CAS8 or 9, voltages of 1.35-1.5 and be around 1600mhz - 1866mhz
- Brands I've considered: Corsair, G.Skill, Mushkin
- Only need around 16gb max

CPU:
1155: i7-3770k (Leaning towards this mostly because of price)
2011: i7-3820 (X79 seems to support Tri SLI better than Z77)
1150: i7-4770k (Something I could wait for, but doesn't seem worth it)

Motherboard:
1155: Asus P8Z77 WS (PLX, ATX Form Factor)
2011: Asus X79 Deluxe OR Asus ROG Rampage IV Extreme
1150: I'm guessing something along the lines of Asus ROG Formula?

CPU Cooling:
- May go with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo for now (nice and cheap) and then getting the Noctua DH-D14
* does the 3770k come with a stock cooler? If so, it would only be temporary and no overlocking!

Graphics cards:
This is either going to be:
a) EVGA GTX680 4gb -$250each
b) EVGA GTX680 FTW 4gb -$300each
*Haven't picked because I don't know if the FTW is worth the extra $50 for custom PCB and high clock speeds, plus lack of water cooling support.
- Will be buying 3, for Tri-SLI

Power Supply: (I need this computer to be as efficient on power as possible)
- Brands I've considered are Corsair and Seasonic
- Need at least 1000w
- Fully Modular + Platinum Efficiency

SSD:
- Either Samsung 840, Intel 520 or Crucial M4
- At least 256gb

Case:
- Going with the NZXT Phantom 630
- Also adding the NZXT Hue and NZXT Sentry or Sentry 2

This will all be running with three of these screens. 3x 1900x1200 (5700x1200), 120hz
http://www.amazon.com/PA248Q-24-Inch-Super-IPS-Professional-Graphics/dp/B008DWH00K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363779754&sr=8-2&keywords=Asus+PB248Q

Parts I will be adding later on:
Hard drives:
- Western Digital Caviar Black 2tb (about 4, 2 pairs in Raid0 or Raid1)
SSD(s):
- As above, however at around 512gb
Fans:
- Corsair SP
- SP Quiets for Outtake, SP Performances for Intake and Heatsink
CPU Cooler:
- Noctua DH-D14

So, what do you guys think of the overall plan/idea.
I plan on ordering parts around early to mid April, and buying the rest of the stuff later on.
Sorry for the long post! You're feedback and ideas will be appreciated

 

[TheBigTroll]

either wait for haswell (which will perform better) or get this.

since when were 680s 300 bucks a piece?

-8gb sticks are perfectly stable
-you dont need tri SLI. by then you are CPU bottlenecked. and the fact that its unefficient means that its a waste of money
-cas barely matters
-brand barely matters
-assuming you can get 680s for that price, you should be getting 2
-faster SSDs for cheaper
-way better case for half the price
-forget about aftermarket fans. you are wasting money when the stock fans are good
-cheaper monitor. i see no reason of paying 100 bucks more for a few more pixels
-750w is enough for 2way
-heatsink i chose is pretty good compared to the d14
-if you cannot get 680s for 250 bucks a piece, get 670s. they perform pretty much the same anyways
-way better keyboard and mouse
-raid is useless to me if you are not running this as a server. and for the price of a WD black, i can get 2 2tb seagates

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Lj9y

basically i threw your whole rig out

 

[manshiny]

Okay, over the past few weeks, I've been trying to put together an idea for my high end workstation/gaming pc. I've selected pretty much everything except ram, but would like some feedback + new ideas.

My computer will be used mainly for standard home use (for uni assignments and internet browsing), coding, gaming (high end, heavily modded) and some video & 3D work. May overclock if I get cpu cooler, but not too extreme.

Here's what I have (it's not final, but I feel it's almost complete) and I have not selected ram.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77 WS ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($329.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 1000W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($226.82 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($314.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($314.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Asus PA248Q 24.1" Monitor ($314.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 Wired Gaming Keyboard ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Mouse: Razer RZ01-00780100-R3U1 Wired Laser Mouse ($65.00 @ Amazon)
Other: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card ($250.00)
Other: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card ($250.00)
Other: EVGA GeForce GTX 680 4GB Video Card ($250.00)
Total: $3016.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-03-21 20:01 EDT-0400)

So, I've decided what I'm after. I'll give you guys an idea (it's similar to what I've selected)
So what do you think I should select?

Ram:
- I want 4gb sticks (I've read/heard many times that 8gb aren't anywhere near as stable) in a 4x4 set.
- Must have CAS8 or 9, voltages of 1.35-1.5 and be around 1600mhz - 1866mhz
- Brands I've considered: Corsair, G.Skill, Mushkin
- Only need around 16gb max

CPU:
1155: i7-3770k (Leaning towards this mostly because of price)
2011: i7-3820 (X79 seems to support Tri SLI better than Z77)
1150: i7-4770k (Something I could wait for, but doesn't seem worth it)

Motherboard:
1155: Asus P8Z77 WS (PLX, ATX Form Factor)
2011: Asus X79 Deluxe OR Asus ROG Rampage IV Extreme
1150: I'm guessing something along the lines of Asus ROG Formula?

CPU Cooling:
- May go with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo for now (nice and cheap) and then getting the Noctua DH-D14
* does the 3770k come with a stock cooler? If so, it would only be temporary and no overlocking!

Graphics cards:
This is either going to be:
a) EVGA GTX680 4gb -$250each
b) EVGA GTX680 FTW 4gb -$300each
*Haven't picked because I don't know if the FTW is worth the extra $50 for custom PCB and high clock speeds, plus lack of water cooling support.
- Will be buying 3, for Tri-SLI

Power Supply: (I need this computer to be as efficient on power as possible)
- Brands I've considered are Corsair and Seasonic
- Need at least 1000w
- Fully Modular + Platinum Efficiency

SSD:
- Either Samsung 840, Intel 520 or Crucial M4
- At least 256gb

Case:
- Going with the NZXT Phantom 630
- Also adding the NZXT Hue and NZXT Sentry or Sentry 2

This will all be running with three of these screens. 3x 1900x1200 (5700x1200), 120hz
http://www.amazon.com/PA248Q-24-Inch-Super-IPS-Professional-Graphics/dp/B008DWH00K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363779754&sr=8-2&keywords=Asus+PB248Q

Parts I will be adding later on:
Hard drives:
- Western Digital Caviar Black 2tb (about 4, 2 pairs in Raid0 or Raid1)
SSD(s):
- As above, however at around 512gb
Fans:
- Corsair SP
- SP Quiets for Outtake, SP Performances for Intake and Heatsink
CPU Cooler:
- Noctua DH-D14

So, what do you guys think of the overall plan/idea.
I plan on ordering parts around early to mid April, and buying the rest of the stuff later on.
Sorry for the long post! You're feedback and ideas will be appreciated

either wait for haswell (which will perform better) or get this.

since when were 680s 300 bucks a piece?

-8gb sticks are perfectly stable
-you dont need tri SLI. by then you are CPU bottlenecked. and the fact that its unefficient means that its a waste of money
-cas barely matters
-brand barely matters
-assuming you can get 680s for that price, you should be getting 2
-faster SSDs for cheaper
-way better case for half the price
-forget about aftermarket fans. you are wasting money when the stock fans are good
-cheaper monitor. i see no reason of paying 100 bucks more for a few more pixels
-750w is enough for 2way
-heatsink i chose is pretty good compared to the d14
-if you cannot get 680s for 250 bucks a piece, get 670s. they perform pretty much the same anyways
-way better keyboard and mouse
-raid is useless to me if you are not running this as a server. and for the price of a WD black, i can get 2 2tb seagates

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Lj9y

basically i threw your whole rig out

Thanks for your reply.

As stated, I'm able to get some components cheaper, I will not state how or why as it's a personal matter, all you need to know is that I can get only those EVGA ones cheaper.

I planned on getting those 3 screens to utilize the 680's to max potential, and give me better colour and screen quality when using programs like Maya, Photoshop, vegas etc. I also happen to prefer 120hz screens. Tri SLI looks like a waste of money on a single monitor, but once you move up to full surround, scaling becomes quite obvious. I've seen this demonstrated through a friend of mine who owns Tri SLI 680's with a i7-2700k (no bottleneck). The after market fans are there to cool the graphics cards and be eventually substituted for Radiator fans.

I'm not looking for "faster" ssd's, I'm looking for reliability. Those three brands are known to be extremely reliable, therefore I want to stay within those boundaries. In my experience, Intel has been exceptionally good, but I want to try other brands (hence learning towards Samsung).

Case is a matter of personal preference, and I prefer the Phantom 630's look over most other cases, therefore I will not be changing my decision. I would choose the 600T, but I plan on water cooling later on.

Raid may be useless to you, but some people benefit from it greatly. I happen to be someone who does benefit from it. Also, in my experience, Seagate is terrible, and I would never buy their products again. You may be able to buy 2 seagate drives for 1 WD drive, but I guarantee my wd will last longer (plus, I have 5 year warranty on it)

Finally, brand may not be everything, but I'd rather choose a more reliable source than something I don't know much of. Sure I like to explore new territories, but I'd prefer to stay in my safe zone, especially when spending a large amount of money.

Once again, thank you for you feed back. You have given me something to think about, especially the bottleneck issue. Even though my friend has no issues with bottleneck (and his CPU is weaker than the 3770k), I'm still anxious of this.

 

[TheBigTroll]

-fair enough. if you can get them that cheap, you may as well get the ftw editions.
-you arent going to get high quality 120hz panels. the only 120hz monitors are TN and in surround are pretty bad given they have poor viewing angles
-3 monitors never work out on me, but if you like it, go the route of getting 3 pb238qs.
-if you want surround to play out properly, you should be getting a gtx titan
-its not necessary to add fans to cool GPUs. they are closed designs. they are meant to be stacked together like that
-since when was corsair not a good SSD maker? and the SSD you picked out, the 840, is a super low end SSD. the 840 pro on the other hand is the best.
-the phantom isnt the best case to watercool in. go look at a switch 810 instead. much better option
-in my experience, WD is crap. my friend's brother has about every new Seagate product (all their 1tb models, 2tb, 3tb, and 4tb internal, external, and thunderbolt drives) and none of them have failed him. if you want to spend more money on a WD, by all means its your purchase. if you think it will be better, go ahead
-lower level raid are pretty useless. Raid 0 hard drives is useless given if you are going to do something fast, you do it on a SSD. and raid 1 on the other hand isnt the safest way to go
-if you are watercooling eventually, get this. you can expand on this unit by adding rads and tubing. its a expandable AIO with enough power to drive 2 video cards
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=79583

 

[manshiny]

-fair enough. if you can get them that cheap, you may as well get the ftw editions.
-you arent going to get high quality 120hz panels. the only 120hz monitors are TN and in surround are pretty bad given they have poor viewing angles
-3 monitors never work out on me, but if you like it, go the route of getting 3 pb238qs.
-if you want surround to play out properly, you should be getting a gtx titan
-its not necessary to add fans to cool GPUs. they are closed designs. they are meant to be stacked together like that
-since when was corsair not a good SSD maker? and the SSD you picked out, the 840, is a super low end SSD. the 840 pro on the other hand is the best.
-the phantom isnt the best case to watercool in. go look at a switch 810 instead. much better option
-in my experience, WD is crap. my friend's brother has about every new Seagate product (all their 1tb models, 2tb, 3tb, and 4tb internal, external, and thunderbolt drives) and none of them have failed him. if you want to spend more money on a WD, by all means its your purchase. if you think it will be better, go ahead
-lower level raid are pretty useless. Raid 0 hard drives is useless given if you are going to do something fast, you do it on a SSD. and raid 1 on the other hand isnt the safest way to go
-if you are watercooling eventually, get this. you can expand on this unit by adding rads and tubing. its a expandable AIO with enough power to drive 2 video cards
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=79583

Why do you recommend the 23inch Asus monitor? What does it have on the PA248Q?
And for surround, I'd rather get the 680's. 3x GTX 680 4gb FTW for $750-900 vs 1x GTX Titan, It makes more sense to get the 680's. Far superior in every way, cheaper. The only "disadvantage" is that it's a Tri-SLI set up, but in my experience (having SLI 580's previously), I never had problems with it.

I'm choosing WD because I've had many seagate drives fail me in the past, where's my WD drives didn't. I never said Corsair SSD's were bad, I was actually referring to OCZ. But, You do make a good point about the Samsung Pro, which I will take into consideration.

The case is still personal preference, and the Phantom 630 looks as though it's better than the switch 810. Plus, I personally think the 810 looks boring as :/ I prefer cases like the phantom or the corsair 600T.

I was going to raid the hdd's for safety, not for speeds. And thank you for the cpu cooler recommendation. Looks interesting.

 

[manshiny]

Just a quick note. Do you think I could pull off Tri-SLI and potential water cooling in a Corsair 600T? Would the airflow be alright?

Also, what are the fan options of the Corsair 600T, the website and reviews don't give a good idea of what fans you can actually use in it.

Would the NZXT Phantom 410 be another option?

 

[manofchalk]

Trying to fit a big rig into a mid-tower enclosure, I'l say right now you would struggle to water-cool Tri 680's + CPU in a conventional full tower like a HAF-X. For that amount of raddage (would say 2x360mm at least, another 240mm for thermal headroom and slow fans) you would need something akin to a Silverstone TJ07/TJ11, Corsair 900D, Coolermaster Cosmos II or something from Caselabs or Mountain Mods to house it all.
Unless your willing to externally mount rads or construct your own rad-box solution.

For a loop of this scale, I don't think the 6W pump on the H220 could handle it. By this point you are well in the territory where you would need two conventional water-cooling pumps.

For info on water-cooling, check out the sticky.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky
Suggest reading through it multiple times, its a lot of info to absorb.

 

[manshiny]

Trying to fit a big rig into a mid-tower enclosure, I'l say right now you would struggle to water-cool Tri 680's + CPU in a conventional full tower like a HAF-X. For that amount of raddage (would say 2x360mm at least, another 240mm for thermal headroom and slow fans) you would need something akin to a Silverstone TJ07/TJ11, Corsair 900D, Coolermaster Cosmos II or something from Caselabs or Mountain Mods to house it all.
Unless your willing to externally mount rads or construct your own rad-box solution.

For a loop of this scale, I don't think the 6W pump on the H220 could handle it. By this point you are well in the territory where you would need two conventional water-cooling pumps.

For info on water-cooling, check out the sticky.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky
Suggest reading through it multiple times, its a lot of info to absorb.

...You're kidding right? O.O
Maybe I'll just air cool it for the next few months inside a midtower or something. What would you suggest.

I still haven't got an idea for ram too. What should I grab?

 

[manofchalk]

Nope, your wanting to cool a serious amount of heat in the form of three 680's and a CPU (I estimate ~700W after overclocking under load, but you will want to figure it out more accurately), you need a ton of radiator to deal with that.

I think you need to realistically start deciding what you want. Because you cant have all of it water-cooled inside of a mid-tower unless you do something nifty like a rad-box solution (can link to a build log of one if you'd like).

Grab however many GB's you need of 1600Mhz, CL9 1.5v RAM that's low profile. Have a look at the Corsair Vengeance LP, G.Skill Ares and Sniper series. Considering your usage, would recommend you get 16GB.

 

[Gennaios]

i dont get the gtxs prices?whats wrong with that?

correct me if am wrong but you havent put a hard drive!250gb ssd for what?ssds are not for files storage!only for 3d applications which need fast data transferring!(not for files and games)!

 

[manofchalk]

Apparently he can get cheap 680's through some unknown contacts of his, BigTroll also brought that up.
He also address' HDD's at the bottom of his first post, but yeah, with the kind of money being thrown around in this rig you might as well just have them from the start.

 

[TheBigTroll]

-fair enough. if you can get them that cheap, you may as well get the ftw editions.
-you arent going to get high quality 120hz panels. the only 120hz monitors are TN and in surround are pretty bad given they have poor viewing angles
-3 monitors never work out on me, but if you like it, go the route of getting 3 pb238qs.
-if you want surround to play out properly, you should be getting a gtx titan
-its not necessary to add fans to cool GPUs. they are closed designs. they are meant to be stacked together like that
-since when was corsair not a good SSD maker? and the SSD you picked out, the 840, is a super low end SSD. the 840 pro on the other hand is the best.
-the phantom isnt the best case to watercool in. go look at a switch 810 instead. much better option
-in my experience, WD is crap. my friend's brother has about every new Seagate product (all their 1tb models, 2tb, 3tb, and 4tb internal, external, and thunderbolt drives) and none of them have failed him. if you want to spend more money on a WD, by all means its your purchase. if you think it will be better, go ahead
-lower level raid are pretty useless. Raid 0 hard drives is useless given if you are going to do something fast, you do it on a SSD. and raid 1 on the other hand isnt the safest way to go
-if you are watercooling eventually, get this. you can expand on this unit by adding rads and tubing. its a expandable AIO with enough power to drive 2 video cards
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=79583

Why do you recommend the 23inch Asus monitor? What does it have on the PA248Q?
And for surround, I'd rather get the 680's. 3x GTX 680 4gb FTW for $750-900 vs 1x GTX Titan, It makes more sense to get the 680's. Far superior in every way, cheaper. The only "disadvantage" is that it's a Tri-SLI set up, but in my experience (having SLI 580's previously), I never had problems with it.

I'm choosing WD because I've had many seagate drives fail me in the past, where's my WD drives didn't. I never said Corsair SSD's were bad, I was actually referring to OCZ. But, You do make a good point about the Samsung Pro, which I will take into consideration.

The case is still personal preference, and the Phantom 630 looks as though it's better than the switch 810. Plus, I personally think the 810 looks boring as :/ I prefer cases like the phantom or the corsair 600T.

I was going to raid the hdd's for safety, not for speeds. And thank you for the cpu cooler recommendation. Looks interesting.

-the pb238q is the 1080p version of the 248q. its 100 bucks cheaper for a small reduction in pixels

-the titan has a lot more double precision compute power than 680s. thats why people go for one. not to mention 6gb of usable vram

-ocz SSDs are pretty good as well. but the only one id get is the vector and the vertex 4. but they arent on sale so i wouldnt bother with that

-the problem with fancy cases is that if you keep staring at it for a few years, the design will get boring. a plain black box is timeless

-raid 1 isnt very safe. raid 10 is just raid 1 and 0 smacked together

 

[TheBigTroll]

the phantom 630 isnt exactly a mid tower, but it does have the WC capabilities of a mid tower.

you will need at least 2 240mm thick rads (45-60mm is optimal) or a 360 + 240mm rad to get stuff going

 

[manofchalk]

RAID 1 has its uses, just a lot of people mis-interpret it.

RAID 1 protects against disk failure, but it does not act as a backup like many think it does. You can still lose your data through software means, and RAID 1 wont protect against that.

 

[bambiboom]

manshiny,

Yours looks like a good scheme, but as you asked for suggestions.,,

This is called "workstation/gaming pc"- with workstation listed first. Can you say what workstation applications you're using and the proportion of workstation to gaming?

Based on the original post, you might consider >

1. Using a LGA 2011 CPU, the 6-core, i7 3960K @ 3.2 / 3.8, giving more cores for rendering, and 12MB cache ($560). Or if not the 6-cores, use the 4-core i7-3820 @ 3.6 / 3.8 , 10MB cache, no integrated graphics ($300). Both of these are said to be reliable with mild overclocking. I see the 3820 listed as fine at 4.1- 4.3 - 4.4.

2. The CPU choices then allow you to use an X79 motherboard and for that the ASUS Sabertooth ($339) or Rampage IV Formula ($479) are consistently seen in the highest benchmarked systems. Both of these have a very good layout and complement of slots, and can use 64GB of RAM. The Sabertooth is probably the more appropriate if you use dual SLI, the Rampage for tri-SLI.

3. The GTX 680 is another choice that I see listed in the highest rated systems, but if you look at performance, they are not linearly scalar- there is a very high benefit for using two- not double but very good, while but with three the benefit drops off considerably. I would consider using two, possibly the 4GB, but that's probably not necessary unless you're editing feature films or are doing home fluid dynamics modeling. You list the GTX 680 2GB at $250 which is the lower end for used 2GB cards.

4. I'm not an expert on RAM, but 16GB of low latency and 1866 or 2133 speed should give very good results. Motherboard manufacturer will post compatibility references as to the best choices, so choose the motherboard first and RAM to fit accordingly. As far as I know, 8GB modules are completely stable- there are 32GB modules and I saw a Tyan board for 4- E7 Xeon 10 core CPU's that uses those for 768GB. They are having soon a 1024GB board,..

Motherboards also are optimized to use RAM in sets of 2, 3, or 4. The ASUS boards are quad channel, suggesting a 4 X 4GB arrangement that would leave slots for another4 X 4GB later . I think the smaller capacity modules often have the lower latency too.

5. I would suggest an arrangement of a 128GB SSD OS/applications- Intel or Samsung, and then a 6GB/s HD like a WD Black 2TB- for files- very fast.

6. In my experience, if possible, it's important to see the monitors working and better yet, side by side with others. > You may well have chosen the ASUS monitors by seeing them of course. There are so many small details about the appearance- anti-glare coating, back-light bleeding , inconvenient or incomplete quality controls, poor text rendition, and so on- features and qualities that the specifications can't say, and reviews might not include.

Again, you would have more refined suggestions if you say more about you use- the work applications and games and so on, as well as some budget limit.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[manofchalk]

4. There might be prototype 32GB sticks, but there arent even 16GB sticks available on the market. So in reality, the most RAM you can put in consumer level system is 64GB, with 8x8GB sticks.
The manufacturer doesnt specify the memoey configuration of the board, the chipset does. Just so happens that mainstream Intel chipsets and AMd AM3/+ both use Dual channel, with X79 using Quad channel. There hasnt been Tri-Channel since X58 I think.
To get low latency, high frequency RAM sticks would require a hell of a lot of voltage, and Intel spec says dont go above 1.55v with memory, which basically limits you to at best CL9, 1866Mhz. But the price difference isnt worth it, I would normally recommend 1600Mhz, but 1333Mhz may even be justified with current RAM prices.

 

[bambiboom]

4. There might be prototype 32GB sticks, but there arent even 16GB sticks available on the market. So in reality, the most RAM you can put in consumer level system is 64GB, with 8x8GB sticks.
The manufacturer doesnt specify the memoey configuration of the board, the chipset does. Just so happens that mainstream Intel chipsets and AMd AM3/+ both use Dual channel, with X79 using Quad channel. There hasnt been Tri-Channel since X58 I think.
To get low latency, high frequency RAM sticks would require a hell of a lot of voltage, and Intel spec says dont go above 1.55v with memory, which basically limits you to at best CL9, 1866Mhz. But the price difference isnt worth it, I would normally recommend 1600Mhz, but 1333Mhz may even be justified with current RAM prices.

manofchalk,

There are indeed 32GB RAM modules on the market- the prototypes were done in 2009. Here's a page of the current Kingston 32GB range >

http://www.kingston.com/us/business/server_solutions/32gb_memory_modules/

RAM configuration is determined by the chipset, but listings for motherboard makers and system user manuals include a specification for RAM configuration accordingly- a convenience, so that users can buy and arrange the appropriate sets for new builds or upgrading. Yes, there are not many triple channel boards now, but there are some some- Newegg currently lists 5, and offers the RAM modules. Triple channel was mentioned here just because it's possible to run across and the RAM configuration is important to know- getting it wrong can seriously affect the performance. Only yesterday I was looking at an X58 board for someone who absolutely had to have a board with a TI IEEE1394 (Firewire) chipset- which the X58 board had. I could misremember, but I think there was even a flirtation with 8 channel or some kind of 4/8 configuration.

RAM speeds above 1866 are overclocking by using 1.65V, but there is 2400 RAM with a latency of 10 (10-12-12-31). I would agree it's better to use 1.5V, but gamers seem to like to live dangerously! I think of RAM as amazingly cheap** and for someone obviously after very high performance in games I would suggest at least the 1600 and probably 1866, 1.5V with a latency of 9. The ASUS Sabertooth suggest 1866 as the top speed while the Rampage supports O.C. RAM up to 2400- and from benchmarks results, I know quite a number use 2133 with that board, and probably with RAM cooling fans. RAM speed is experientially noticeable even in 3D CAD.

** [In 1993, I bought a 2MB -not 2GB- module in order to have the maximum 4MB RAM in my IBM 486 ($2,100) running DOS 6 /Win3.1 at 50MHz and that 2MB cost $180 -that's equal to about $9,000/GB. BTW, that IBM had an 85MB HD- the largest sold then were 540MB and cost almost $1 per MB- $525 or so. My old banger, a 2010 Dell Precision T5400 uses DDR2-667 ECC (1.8V) and the RAM for this is stupidly expensive as compared to DDR3- 8GB (4 X 2GB) can cost $250-300 while also being slow and running at 70-75C. ]

The good old days for PCs are now!

Cheers,

Bambiboom

 

[TheBigTroll]

there is no reason to get stuff faster than 1600mhz . anything faster wont really increase performance

the 32gb sticks are ECC

 

[manshiny]

Whoa! Lots of answers
I'll try to address them all Heads up, I can't paraphrase well on this, so I'll just bold the names XD

Manofchalk
I'll follow up the ram after I pick a chipset to go with as another post has posted something appealing about X79

I had addressed Hard drives, and the reason I'm NOT getting some now is because I already have a couple... hehe

I read somewhere that putting your hard drives in RAID1 is good because it helps protect it against disk failure. I don't want to see my hard drives die out. Though, with the WD Black, you have a 5 year warranty, so that's a good safety.

And yeah, I want to put this bad boy into a mid tower for now, but if a full tower helps with air flow, that would be great. I don't want to water cool for a good while though, not yet.

Gennaios
As state above, I already have a hard drive :O
The next few will just be for extra storage.

Thebigtroll
I'll keep my eye on both the screens. They seem to have the same specs, so It should be all good. I've heard a lot of good things about 19x12 though, and It does look really nice. I'd like to keep it at 120hz etc though.

I've read a lot that the Titan would be far better for future proofing and getting a second one would really bring it out at the resolution I plan on using (57x12). If I can get a better price on it, then I'll go for it. If not, I'll stick with 680's (either 2 or 3, depends on cooling solutions)

As with OCZ, I'll pass. Open to other brands

I like that point about cases, it actually makes a lot of sense. I'm actually a huge fan of the Fractal Define R4 (w/window) and I'd grab that, but my girlfriend likes more "fancy" cases. So I'm trying to find a balance.

I've never heard that RAID1 isn't safe. I'm new to RAID, so it's something I'll continue to get into. In previous computers, I only ever owned 1 HDD and an SSD. so never had the opportunity.

Finally!!!

Bambiboom The man who gave me this bold idea xD

Okay, so I guess my definition of "workstation" is probably far different to everyone elses. I'll be using it for Uni work, programming, 3D work etc and running a private server at home (most likely, nothing big)

I have considered LGA2011, I was eying up the Asus X79 Deluxe and the RIVE, plus the 3820. I was thinking I could go with that and upgrade CPU later, but I didn't know if I would realistically need all that grunt for an extra $300ish.

The Main reason I was eying up X79 was to utilize the GPU's more effectively, and I agree with you about this point.

I actually listed the GTX680 +4gb (non FTW) for $250, and the EVGA GTX680 FTW 4gb ($300)
I figured why not go Tri SLI since I can grab em cheaper.

I was intending to go with 4x4 arrangement to make the best use of quad channel. 16gb seems more than enough and 1600-1866 seems like more than enough

Regarding the screens. I don't think I've seen that exact model in store, but I've seen the 1080p version (As thebigtroll linked earlier) and various other screens. I figured they'd be similar, and I've heard many good things about 1920x1200, so I thought, heck why not. I've seen a few 19x12 in store, and it looks quite nice.

 

[TheBigTroll]

the pa series were never at 120hz. only the vg series are and they have TN panels which are rather crap for multi monitor.

the main benefit of 19x12 panels is that you can have the extra bit of monitor space in the top so you can in theory see a few more lines say for example a excel document. but for video work you most likely dont need that

arc midi r2 is another good option

get x79 if you are doing this like every day for a couple of hours. otherwise you cant make use of the cores. ivy bridge is faster than sandy bridge e in things that are single threaded and in games

 

[manofchalk]

RAID 1 wont stop the disk's from failing any less frequently, it only protects the data in the occurrence of disk failure.
RAID 1 basically has both drives mirrored, data is written to both drives. So if one fails, you still have the other with the data. Downside is if you have two 1TB drives, in RAID 1 they only have an effective capacity of 1TB, since the data is being written twice.