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Building a comp

Volgathras

By Volgathras
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Volgathras Newbie

Volgathras

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And I want your thoughts. Too much? Not enough? Does everything gel? Etc..

-AMD Radeon HD6990

-Crossfire X/LGA2011 motherboard

-Intel i7 3930 CPU

-Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM

-7200 RPM SATA hard drive, 500 gigs

-Aureal sound card

-1,200 WS power supply

And I think I need a decent cooling system, but I dunno what to get.

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aaa Newbie

aaa

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You're sinking that much into a comp and not getting a solid state drive?

Why a 6990?

I have a 7950 and it doesn't run into any trouble.

16gb ram is overkill. 8gb is enough.

If you go with a 7950 you won't need a 1200w power supply, 800 - 1000w will be enough.

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aaa Newbie

aaa

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Well, the bottle neck of that system is the 7200rpm hard drive.

You'll need a solid state drive for at least the operation system and some heavy loading games.

Get a secondary drive for big media etc.

Get 2x4gb ram, you can always get another 2x4 at a later date. (You won't need 16gb unless you're rendering multiple graphics engines or doing design media.)

In regards to the 6990, its the old generation. The 7970 dwarfs it at a fraction of the power consumption. (You can always go crossfire 7970's at a later date for future proofing)

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inscribed Newbie

inscribed

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What are you going to be using the computer for? How important are price, power efficiency, noise, etc? 1200W PSU is definitely overkill. Ideally, you want to figure out the power usage of your system under average loads, then double it and use that figure to buy a power supply, since power supplies run most efficiently at half load.

Use this site to build your system: http://pcpartpicker.com/

It'll give you best prices from a variety of sites and give you estimated benchmarks and power usage, as well as a few other cool features.

I'm actually in the process of putting together a new build myself. I'm hoping to get some decent deals during Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Here's what I have so far:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($28.98 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Amazon)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial M4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($184.95 @ B&H)

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB Video Card ($321.97 @ Newegg)

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 850W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($139.99 @ Newegg)

Monitor: Asus VE228H 21.5" Monitor ($129.99 @ NCIX US)

Monitor: Asus VE228H 21.5" Monitor ($129.99 @ NCIX US)

Keyboard: Das Keyboard Model S Ultimate Silent Wired Standard Keyboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $1635.82

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-21 00:46 EST-0500)

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Volgathras Newbie

Volgathras

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The psu was picked to accomodate the radeon sInce is runs at 300 when idling, if i remember correctly.

The comp will be used for gaming, some mmo's. Noise isn't an issue. My primary concerns are high end rendering, speed and heat management. Thanks for the site, i'll check it out when i'm back at my comp.

From what I read the primary difference in SSD is load times (marginal) and noise reduction, maybe a little less heat. Didn't seem to justify an increase in price.

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L-A Newbie

L-A

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Somethings are off, some times I can't tell and need more info:

* 7200rpm drive is off when you have high end specs for everything else. It will work (and no you don't need a SSD or 10 000rpm) but if you're doing high end rendering and/or gaming that less time that you're hammering a drive the faster things go.

* 500GB is really small too - again, looks like your penny pinching on a high end system. Don't do that. If you don't go SSD (which would mean two drives and a slightly more complex setup) use a WD 2TB Black. 3TB is available but you mightn't like the price.... Do NOT use a WD Green for a system drive unless you like waiting for things.

* What's the break up of your RAM (ie 4 x 4GB, 2 x 8GB or 1 x 16GB) and why only 16GB on a system used for rendereing? Going to 32GB via 4 x 8GB Vengence sticks will cost you ~$200.

* 16GB RAM for high end rendering - is this enough? Going to 32GB is only going to cost you ~$100 and you'll probably need it.

* Are you using Solidworks (as you mention rendering) and is your card supported?

* If heat is an issue you need to consider case design fans - or more likely water cooling.

If you're on a budget but are going to look for power don't skimp on you RAM or HDD. RAM is cheap and an SSD won't be beaten on a system load and running time. Save money by getting an i5 (less power, most rendering programs cannot make use of multiple cores in any case) to get the price down.

L-A

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f0xx Newbie

f0xx

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Jeez, what are you going to run on this beast? Planetary simulations?

You understand how much this is going to cost right?

That being said, I wish I could afford this kind of build. I envy you greatly.

Now for comments & recommendations:

Video - AMD Radeon HD6990 - WHY? You know this is previos gen, dual GPU graphics card? It is noisy, generates a lot of heat, requires a HUGE PSU (power supply unit) and expensive. The fact that it generates a lot of heat means you need a case with good airflow ~$199-299. My recommendation - AMD Radeon HD7970. Get one. If you find it bottlenecking your system, then you can add another one and Crossfire them. Unless you've found that 6990 very cheaply, don't buy it.

Motherboard - Crossfire X/LGA2011 motherboard - Here the most important question you must ask yourself is what socket you want. The one you've chosen (LGA2011) is enthusiast (performance) oriented. Very expensive, very fast, SandyBridge-E architecture. It is currently the top of the line socket. The motherboards for it support quad channel RAM, the PCI slots are 3.0. You just need to ask yourself if you really need that much power. Buying this socket will be future proof for at least 5 years ahead.

CPU - Intel i7 3930 CPU - Just so you know, there is no such CPU existing :P . The model is actually called "Intel i7 3930K CPU". The "K" coming from the fact that it has unlocked multiplier which means it can be overclocked. It's a good and expensive processor man. Unless you are crazy about overclocking, I would suggest buying the much less expensive "Core i7 3820".

RAM - Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM - If you are going to buy a LGA2011 socket, make sure the RAM is quad channel (i.e. four pieces of RAM - 4x4 GB), otherwise one of the biggest strengths of the platform is lost. Currently, LGA2011 is the only platform that supports quad channel RAM. The previous generation Enthusiast oriented platformed supported triple channel RAM, the last gen Consumer oriented platform (Ivy Bridge) supports only dual channel RAM.

Storage - 7200 RPM SATA hard drive, 500 gigs - This here is your weakest point. As some pointed out, putting a conventional HDD in such a high spec system is a total waste of money (not for the HDD, but for the other parts). If you choose to have only HDD, this will bottleneck your performance greatly. SSD is a must not only for enthusiast systems, but for consumer ones as well. Currently, the most reliable SSD drives on the market are Intel's 320 SSD series. With 5 year warranty, they are the best you can get and I would suggest getting either a 120 or 160 GB drive. Please note, the SSDs are quite expensive currently, and they are to be used as partition on which you install only your OS and the programs you use most often. All programs that are installed on the SSD drive will be tremendously fast. Having SSD in your build does not mean you don't need HDD as well though. Those outdated pieces of hardware are still the most cost efficient tool we have to store huge amounts of data. Buying at least 1 TB HDD on which you will store your pictures, movies, MP3 files and all other data you deem "important" is a must. Once again, your important programs (apps) and your OS go to your SSD, the not so important ones, like games, and all the data goes to your HDD. I would suggest Blue or Black WesternDigital series for a consideration. Don't buy Green.

SoundCard - Aureal sound card - Meh... do you really need a sound card? If so, I don't understand **** about them. Never used one, never will :)

PSU - 1,200 WS power supply - This mostly depends on the consumption of your GPU. If you really plan to buy that HD6990, then you will need at least a 1000 Watt PSU. If not, a 700-800 Watts one will be more than enough. I would suggest SeaSonic X's line of PSU. Pure quality. NOTE: If you are going to spend so much money on a high end system, please be very picky about your PSU. It is the base of your system.

Important additional notes: If you are going to buy LGA2011, have in mind that they don't come with stock cooler, so you must pick and buy one yourself. Noctua NH-D14 is a high end CPU cooler that will well suit to your system. Seeing the heaviest task you are going to use the system for is rendering, you might consider buying more RAM. Have in mind the LGA2011 can have a total of EIGHT ram slots at maximum, and four at minimum, depending on the MB. You need four exactly same sticks of ram so you can utilize the quad channel (4x4, 4x8, 4x16).

That being said, inscribed's configuration is VERY competent (although I doubt you need dual monitors and such an expensive keyboard) and much less expensive than yours. I believe it will be enough for your needs too. Buying an LGA2011 system is such a tease though.

3TB is available but you mightn't like the price....

4TB has just become available too :)

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f0xx Newbie

f0xx

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F0xx' date=' your right arm looks like it came from Mike Tyson, [b']Your left arm looks like it came from Kiera Knightly. Your "educated" enough

"You are", you damn engineer.

And my two arms look perfectly symmetrical, thank you. I "learn" with both of them :)

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Akoz Apprentice

Akoz

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EVERYONE has a budget in the end so it's hard to offer alot of build advice without knowing so I did my best. Feel free to PM me for cheaper options as there are ways to get what you want on almost any budget.

First off, do NOT go with an i5 > i7. Yes for Rendering it more then likely would NOT matter except for the fact that A: Your i7 there is a SIX core beast and cores matter even if HT is not supported! B: If you get into encoding/trans-coding (which my guess is you will as most people are do alot of renderings do) you will be kicking your self in the tail end.

-AMD Radeon HD6990 ( I would go for the 680 4GB Card IMHO. Cooler, Quieter, Less Power. It really comes down to WHAT 680 or 6990 you go for)

-Crossfire X/LGA2011 motherboard (ASUS Z9PE-D8. It will hold up to 64GB of Quad Channel Memory)

-Intel i7 3930 CPU (Intel Core i7 3930X is a Nasty little b***h)

-Corsair Vengeance 16GB RAM (For 16GB go with Vengeance 4x4 DDR3 2133 Quad Channel. Model: CMZ16GX3M4A2133C9R Has a Cas Lat of 9. Yummy.)

-7200 RPM SATA hard drive, 500 gigs (Get a Solid State. A Small boot one is not going to run alot.)

-Aureal sound card

-1,200 WS power supply (Get a small PSU - The heat this thing is going to emit is emence and you will likely overheat your case and not use 75% of this thing at max load. Go with something that is at least rated 80 Gold).

Will keep an eye on this thread but if you have an concerns or questions PM me. I do alot of custom building for users just like yourself going into Video Editing / Encoding.

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inscribed Newbie

inscribed

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Newegg has some pretty killer deals going on now for early Black Friday. You might like one of these sets of RAM:

110$ G.SKILL Sniper Gaming Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)

55$ G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)

They will probably sell out quick. The last 2x8GB 1866 RAM set they had on sale at 55$ sold out within like 5 hours.

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Volgathras Newbie

Volgathras

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This is what I'm looking at right no. What do you all think?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oMbH

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oMbH/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oMbH/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling ACFZI30 74.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme6/GB ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($259.99 @ Amazon)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($93.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($389.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($389.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Antec Sonata Proto ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 1000W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($199.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $2093.90

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-22 07:52 EST-0500)

Case is a placeholder. I'm going to choose a custom one later.

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f0xx Newbie

f0xx

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This is what I'm looking at right no. What do you all think?

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oMbH

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oMbH/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/oMbH/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling ACFZI30 74.0 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: ASRock X79 Extreme6/GB ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($259.99 @ Amazon)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($93.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($74.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($389.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card (CrossFire) ($389.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Antec Sonata Proto ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 1000W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($199.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $2093.90

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-11-22 07:52 EST-0500)

Case is a placeholder. I'm going to choose a custom one later.

Beastly.

Just some last recommendations:

Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($74.99 @ Newegg) - I would personally avoid OCZ SSDs, they seem the most unreliable of the bunch, but then that's just personal preference I guess...

Case: Antec Sonata Proto ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon) - That case seems a bit weak... your config deserves a full tower. A good one too. I don't even know if that antec can hold your GPUs inside... better read some previews before buying.

Overall it looks great.

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Akoz Apprentice

Akoz

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I recommend NOT Cross-firing cards. It is unsupported by to many things and STILL has a lot of driver issues. I would either step in an get a GTX690 or wait for the price to drop a little on it.

If your going to SLI/Crossfire - go 2x GTX680's as you will recive better performance in most games. With a lot less heat :)

I have alot of the same advice. Steer clear of OCZ. While they have some of the fastest SSD's they are the most unreliable. Honestly Go Intel. Slower but MUCH more reliable.

Yes, Full Tower case unless you want all your stuff to not fit and have heating issues.

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inscribed Newbie

inscribed

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Another thing to keep in mind, Haswell is due out Mar-May time frame, which is going to make both the 1155 and 2011 sockets obsolete. Since neither will be very future proof, you might consider sticking with 1155 since its cheaper and offers similar performance, then Ebay them once Haswell comes out.

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