Haswell Basic Workstation with K600: $1082

[unrinoceronte]

Hi, for the last weeks i have been following many of the posts on this Hardware Forum, and with the kind advice and recommendations in those posts from members like Dimitri Tolios, Numerobis, Benjamin Steinert, Juraj Talcik, and others, i have tried to digest all the info and make my best judgement for the new computer that i want to build. ( I have never Overclocked a CPU and this will be my first built ever, so i had little knowledge in this areas..., but anyways i have also done my research online for many of the components in this post...)

 

Please correct me if i am wrong, but i consider this configuration a "BASIC Workstation" with Viewport performance emphasis (not GPU rendering)... I will use it as a solution until i buy a really strong Workstation on the start of 2014... Then this will become a backup Workstation / render node. Hopefully other members here are looking for a somewhat Budget solution like this too.

 

Budget is very tricky in this range, so here is the Configuration i want to buy. Please give me your toughts... :

 

 

HASWELL BASIC WORKSTATION with BUDGET VIEWPORT PERFORMANCE GPU:

(Medium Overclockable and air cooling)

 

CPU: Intel i7-4770K $339.99

 

MOBO: I have several options, but i am not sure if they will work with the GPU, Ram and Fan that i want. I am also undecided on wheter mATX or ATX is best for this config...

- Asrock Z87M Extreme 4 mATX $156

Alternative Options:

mATX:

- Gigabyte Z87MX (GA-Z87MX-D3H) $125

ATX:

- Gigabyte Z87X (GA-Z87X-UD3H) $159

- Asrock Z87 Extreme 4 $180

- ASUS Z87-PLUS $165

 

COOLER:Cooler Master Hyper 212EVO $33.99

 

RAM: G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB $138.99

(Any other Model or brand you recommend? ....I have read that Kingston and Corsair are good, and that it might probably need to be Low Profile Ram...)

 

GPU: NVIDIA Quadro K600 1GB DDR3 $166.99

Alternative Options: (I have found these 2 other options, but i am not sure if the 3 are the same, or one is better?

- PNY VCQK600-PB Quadro K600 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Low Profile $180.64

- ADAPTR Quadro K600 1GB $247.07

 

HDD: WD Caviar Black 1 TB – WD1002FAEX $ 89.99

 

CASE: Corsair Obsidian 350D = $89.99

Alternative Options: (What do you think?)

- Corsair Carbide 200R = $ 59.99

- Corsair Carbide 300R = $ 88.77

- Fractal Design Core 1000 = $46.97 I was recommended this Case for a render node, but i think it might struggle with this Workstation components, specially with the Cooler. (I like very much the smaller size and the "looks" of it the most. _ It is the smaller one of them all)

- Any other better CASE suggestion on this price range?

 

PSU: Corsair CX500M 500W Modular Bronze $65.99

Alternative Options:

-Rosewill capstone-550-M Gold = $89.99

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TOTAL: (for first options) $ 1081.93

 

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EXTRAS:

 

OS: Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit (OEM) $124

 

DVD DRIVE: Lite-On DVD+/-RW Dual Layer IHAS124-04 $21.69

 

SSD: Samsung 840 120 GB $100.96 (The 840 PRO is better because of MLC, so it has a longer lifespan, BUT more expensive)

 

THERMAL PASTE: Any recommendations on the best or good enough?

 

GIGABIT SWITCH: Any recommendations for a 4 to 8 port switch? I need this for my small office. Right now i only have a NAS with gigabit, and soon this Workstation. But i expect to have 2 to 3 more PCS with gigabit in a year or two....

______________________________________________________________________

 

 

Please feel free to comment, change or add the components that you think will work better if needed, or in the other hand change or take away the ones you fill are overkill, or that can be replaced by other that can help save some money.

 

NOTES:

- My main use will be 3DS Max, CAD and Photoshop. I want viewport performance, and not GPU rendering, hence the Quadro K600... ( I don"t do gaming)

- Most of the links to components where kindly provided by Dimitri Tolios in some other Threads.

- All prices from AMAZON US

Edited July 14, 2013 by unrinoceronte
wrong link on the cooler

[unrinoceronte]

Before i buy the Final Components, i still have a few doubts regarding these 4 components: Motherboard, Ram, Case, and PSU.... I hope someone here can help me sort this out:

 

MOBO: the Asrock and Gigabyte where very recommended, my doubt is if i should go with ATX instead of mATX... My main reason for going mATX is for size, that is why i liked a suggestion on the Core 1000 Case, but when i realized that i had to put many other components (cooler), etc on a such small case, and the probability of medium overclocking i decided to go for a little bigger Corsair 350D case, which is still mATX.. But what i dont know is if for this kind of configuration, components, and use, a mATX will be the right choice? If you think it will i will keep with the mATx, but i dont know if i will miss something if not choosing a normal ATX...?

 

RAM: The GSkills where chosen because where the ones recommended to me, is there other brand or model you suggest with low profile (Low profile is what i need right?) I have tried to research this on my own, but i think i do not have the adequate knowledge to choose other brand models... Which Corsair or Kingston would be good choices?

 

CASE: well, that will depend on what you tell me about the MOBO... But if by any chance you say i should keep with the mATX, do you think all this components will work on the CORE 1000? I can save a little money with that, but more importantly i am very curious if a cheap very nice looking case like the CORE 1000 can handle this kind of Workstation components... Also i read in a review that someone that tried o install the CM Hyper 212 EVO cooler on the CORE 1000 had a rough time doing it, and that the top of it was touching the LID when he closed the Case... Any toughts on the Corsair 200R versus the 350D?

 

PSU: will it be worth the extra bucks going for the Rosewill Capstone 550-M Gold instead of the Corsair CX 500M Bronze? will it be overkill? I had never heard of the Rosewill brand before... How reliable is it compared to Corsair?

 

 

Thanks

[Dimitris Tolios]

Case: Kinda late for case suggestions maybe, but I haven't take notice in it before yesterday:

 

The Cooler Master N200mATX case is pretty decent.

It is not 350D, as it costs roughly half the money and it definitely looks like a more advanced enclosure than the Core 1000 or many sub $50 cases.

Has all the basic cable management holes (though without rubber gromets), can easily be reconfigured to accomodate 240mm radiators @ front (best place really, as the rad gets cooled by freshly introduced air into the case) and relatively ok room for SSDs/HDDs.

 

Still has room for CM 212 cooler. I don't know if it will fit the Noctua, Thermalright and Phantec dual 140/150mm monsters, but even much bigger cases have troubles with those (my CM 690 II Adv barely fits the Silver Arrow, with the 150mm center fan touching or having a couple of mm clearance from the side-panel. Ofc it is suspended by springs, so some play is allowed).

 

 

The look in the N200, much like all the N line (N400, N600) is pretty minimal, borrowing aesthetics from both older popular CM cases and what I think looks like latest Dell and HP workstations. In all, pretty attractive - if you are after a professional look.

 

PSU: Rosewill Capstone 80+ gold series I believe are sourced by Super Flower, well known and pretty respected OEM PSU manufacturer.

Edited July 19, 2013 by dtolios

[beestee]

MOBO: The biggest difference between ATX and mATX will be available PCI slots, and not just the number of slots, but the number of high-speed slots. Looks like you are only planning on a GPU for PCI slot occupation, so you should be good there either way you go. Also, you will want to double check maximum RAM support for each MOBO. You might also lose some back panel connections with a mATX, but this might not matter depending on your case and the available busses on the MOBO.

 

RAM: GSkill is the best for the money, has been for a few years now. I would only go with Corsair if you were wanting higher quality and higher price RAM. It is probably a toss up between GSkill and Kingston in terms of price vs performance, but I do believe GSkill probably fills a higher volume of orders due to popularity, and would likely be less prone to bad sticks.

 

When buying RAM it is best to buy as a complete kit so that you will get chips that were produced in direct succession, this will ensure that they are compatible with one another on data rates. Used to be a much bigger issue, but is still good to err on the safe side.

 

Not sure about low-profile RAM and how that might affect where each of these providers stands.

[RyderSK]

Well, anytime you want to have more than 2 modules, low-profile is a no-brainer imho :- ) I've yet to see/read about higher profile fitting in slots right next to cpu cooler (even if you use pretty minimal or stock cooler). There is no disadvantage at all, it's all merely a "tuned" looks.

 

I would take small pre-caution at small cases. Some (like mentioned FractalCore) do not support well aftermarket coolers without slight modding. But it's mostly only the super-cheap (like Core :- ). I would go the smallcase/mAtx board because it's so nice and portable. I am tired of the XL tower I can't even move around (FractalXL)

[unrinoceronte]

Hi guys, thanks everybody for your answers, i was away for the last 3 weeks, and i did not replied but i got to read your posts. In the next few days i will post here all the computer parts that i ended up buying. They arrived last weekend, and i am about to start assembling it all together.

 

I let you know how it goes. Thanks all for your recommendations.

[unrinoceronte]

So Finally i got to post the Configuration that i bought... This are the parts and final cost.

 

 

 

HASWELL BASIC WORKSTATION with BUDGET VIEWPORT PERFORMANCE GPU:

(Medium Overclockable and air cooling)

TOTAL COST: $ 1075 + EXTRAS (JULY 15th 2013)

 

 

CPU: Intel i7-4770K $339.99

 

MOBO: Gigabyte Z87MX (GA-Z87MX-D3H) $125

 

COOLER:Cooler Master Hyper 212EVO $33.99

 

RAM: G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB $138.99

 

GPU: NVIDIA Quadro K600 1GB DDR3 $166.99

 

HDD: WD Caviar Black 1 TB – WD1002FAEX $ 89.99

 

CASE: Corsair Obsidian 350D = $89.99

 

PSU: Corsair TX650 650W 80+ Bronze $89.99

 

______________________________________________________________________

TOTAL: $ 1075

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

EXTRAS:

 

OS: Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit (OEM) $124

 

DVD DRIVE: BUFFALO 8x USB 2.0 Portable DVD Writer $33.99

 

THERMAL PASTE: Arctic Silver CMQ2-25G Ceramique 2 Tri-Linear $7.89

 

THERMAL Material Remover and Purifier: ArctiClean 60ml Kit $7.63

 

GIGABIT SWITCH: NETGEAR GS108NA ProSafe 8-Port Gigabit $53.34

 

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If anyone else, like me, is new to building their own PC, i recommend this educational links:

 

- The First-Timer's Guide to Building a Computer from Scratch

 

-

(Take a look also at Part 2 and 3)

 

 

For Choosing Computer Parts and Configurations, this sites are very helpful:

 

- PCfoo

 

- Logical Increments (I found this after i bought my parts, but nonetheless the information is very good and extensive.

 

 

Benchmarks: (Altough do not take them as something definitive written in stone) Some experts here in CGarchitect differ from this benchmarks, with good reasons and knowledge)

- AnandTech Bench

 

 

Overclocking:

...This i copied from another thread here in CGarchitect, and bare in mind that it might be different from your board (model or brand), and perhaps from a previous generation technology (Ivy Bridge), because now the current technology is HASWELL... So anyways, i have not tried Overclocking yet, but it could be useful to get you started. This was taken from a post from member NUMEROBIS: The overclocking guides are a bit different depending on the board, because not all boards support the same options. If you have chosen a board you should look for specific guides. Here are some good to start with:

 

-

 

-

 

-

 

- Ivy Bridge Overclocking Guide Asus Motherboards

 

- Ivy Bridge Overclocking Guide

 

I will be glad and thankful if someone can help updating this OVERCLOCKING links to the current HASWELL Platform. Recommendations are welcome. I will look to update this myself as soon as i got some spare time to research.

 

 

Well, thats it, hope someone finds it useful.

Edited October 11, 2013 by unrinoceronte
mispelling

[numerobis]

I will be glad and thankful if someone can help updating this OVERCLOCKING links to the current HASWELL Platform. Recommendations are welcome. I will look to update this myself as soon as i got some spare time to research.

I have no experience with Haswell but as far as i know the process is basically the same as with ivy bridge with some different voltages, higher temps and some new additional features (straps, adaptive voltage). Here are some guides, but without guaranty! I didn't watch them all...

 

http://www.overclock.net/t/1411077/haswell-overclocking-thread-with-statistics

http://www.overclock.net/t/1401976/the-gigabyte-z87-haswell-overclocking-oc-guide

 

http://www.overclockers.com/3step-guide-to-overclock-intel-haswell

 

and if it's getting too hot...