Help me build my new computer please!!!

[Dimitris Tolios]

I had chosen the Asus P9X79 WS, because some reviews said that it has a good efficacy, performance and overclocking capability. And low PWM temps.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p9x79-deluxe-g1-assassin2-x79-ud5-extreme9,3086-14.html

Works great so far for more than one year now.

 

There is now the P9X79-E WS available but i haven't seen any reviews. But i think it should be a very interesting board.

Up to 128GB RAM and 4-way 16x sli. So i think the overclocking with 64GB could be better than for the 64GB-max boards.

 

The WS is "more" than the Deluxe in my mind for sure, tho seriously "over-packed" with features for most buyers, definitely over-featured for most users. That's the nature of the beast, we often go all-out when we buy stuff thinking we are getting something "better".

 

The 128GB is tempting, but since home builders are usually after budget, non-registered RAM, we are limited to 8GB sticks, so 64GB is the limit anyways (or w/e the number of your dimm-slots x 8GB, there are some X79 boards with 4 slots).

 

Overclocking is not directly related with your maximum supported RAM capacity. It is related tho to the # of dimm slots populated.

Many boards (including Asus P7X79 line) are known to dislike populating all 8x slots.

Its kinda hit or miss, as many complain even with sticks that is known to work fine.

 

Since the memory controller is in the CPU, after certain stress points (clocks) you will have to choose going either for maximum CPU clock, cutting back on RAM O/C, or vise versa. Unless you go for certain benchmark scores, the choice is easy with intel SB/IB and Haswell CPUs, as they don't care about RAM speed that match...assuming your are already @ 1866/2133 speeds, you have reached like "99%" of w/e there was in the memory component. Squeezing 100MHz more in the CPU is more important than the same in RAM.

 

But all that is irrelevant to the Mobo nowadays outside power delivery, as components deal with each other more directly than ever.

The board's role is to power the sub-components @ a constant rate, and have a refined enough BIOS to support the increased speeds without crashing.

[rafman]

Hello Dimitri.

 

Unfortunetly the place where i am ordering the parts just confirmed me they can only find the p9x79. Is this ok or i should just keep looking?

[Dimitris Tolios]

If I was going to OC a 3930K, I would prefer going for a P9X79 Pro, X79 Sabertooth or better in the Asus X79 line.

Honestly, the vanilla P9X79 might do fine. I just don't know/read about anyone using it.

[rafman]

Hello guys, it has been an adventure to find all parts for the computer, i think i found all parts except for the ram. I dont find a 32 g pack, is there any difference or problem if i buy 2 packs of 16 g?

 

Thanks

[Dimitris Tolios]

Hello guys, it has been an adventure to find all parts for the computer, i think i found all parts except for the ram. I dont find a 32 g pack, is there any difference or problem if i buy 2 packs of 16 g?

 

Thanks

 

There is a very very slight probability of the 2 different packs belonging to a different batch, with the even more rare probability the two batches having different XMP settings etc that might cause conflicts.

 

In general you are pretty "safe" going for the same model of the same company.

 

I am running 4x different DDR3 samsung "dual channel" kits, bought in 3 different occasions and all work together pretty well (both @ stock and overclocked).

[Tim Nelson]

If I was going to OC a 3930K, I would prefer going for a P9X79 Pro, X79 Sabertooth or better in the Asus X79 line.

Honestly, the vanilla P9X79 might do fine. I just don't know/read about anyone using it.

I built one a few weeks ago with the P9X79 base model, OC'd to 4.5ghz and is doing very well! Haven't tried to push it further but I'm happy with this. It took a few tries to find the right cooler, but the Corsair H80i is doing a good job.

[Dimitris Tolios]

I built one a few weeks ago with the P9X79 base model, OC'd to 4.5ghz and is doing very well! Haven't tried to push it further but I'm happy with this. It took a few tries to find the right cooler, but the Corsair H80i is doing a good job.

 

Sounds pretty decent for me, as in reality the "features" the fancier models have and charge dearly for are underutilized by the vast majority of users.

 

The P9X79 base model is similarly priced with a upper-mid-range Z87/Z77 board, and if it can support a 3930K @ 4.5 would be a great choice.

Actually, keep you eyes open for offers on 3820 and especially 4820K chips, as those go often on sale for much less than s1155/s1050 i7 quads.

 

I bought my 3820 @ $225 from Microcenter (US Store) brand new in a retail box, and used it as a stepping stone to get my 3930K (paid sub-$400 for it). I have to admit it was an impulse buy (as everything?), as I was pretty happy with my 3820 running already above 4.5GHz.

 

The 4820K which is similar in IPC performance with the 3770K is already rumored to launch below $300, when 3770K/4770K are at $310-320. EDIT: scratch that, newegg has the 4820K listed @ $330

There are no reviews out yet for the quad IB-E, but chances are that it will be overclocking pretty well.

 

Even with the stock frequency @ 3.7GHz base /3.9 boost, the 4820K should as fast if not slightly faster than the 3.5 base/3.9 boost 4770K, which was the fastest quad to date, so a total bargain if you can pair it with a board that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, offers you access to quad channel memory (up to 64GB vs. dual channel 32GB for 3770K/4770K and AMD FX) and 40 PCIe lanes for multi-card configs

Edited September 12, 2013 by dtolios

[rafman]

Hello;

 

After an unexpected problem i can now start to build my computer but i have a simple question. Is there any substantial difference between

gskills tridentx, gskill sniper or Corsair Dominator Platinum? i am looking at the sniper because it is the least expensive, however if there is an important difference i am willing to spend the extra bucks.

 

 

CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM 16GB 1866MHZ DDR3 NON-ECC DIMM (2X8GB) (CMD16GX3M2A1866C10) Most expensive

G.SKILL [TRIDENTX 16GB 2400MHZ DDR3 NON-ECC DIMM XMP (2X8GB) (F3-2400C10D-16GTX)

G.SKILL [sNIPER] 16GB 2133MHZ DDR3 NON-ECC DIMM XMP (2X8GB) (F3-2133C10D-16GSR) Least expensive

 

Thanks again

[RyderSK]

All 3 of them are overpriced eye-candy gimmicks for overclockers, a will restrict you pretty much to water cooling (of course with exceptions, but the biggest towers will not fit) with the size of its passive blocks. Instead of buying over-priced 16gb, why not buy reasonably priced 32GB ?

 

If you're looking for "least expensive" you're in wrong category anyway.

 

Buy low-profile Kingston with reasonably low clock (CL9/CL10) at 1600Mhz and low voltage and you have a fast, safe and reasonably priced ram. If you see 1866 at same price, than buy that instead, but know there is close to zero benefit.

 

I can't even stand the "g.skill" brand. It gives off the same feeling like old Alienware. Ugly, colorful crap with idiotic name for 12 years old gaming enthuasiasts. Maybe it's good deal for its price, but I would never buy it into serious workstation. I would get heart-attack every time I would open the case.

[Dimitris Tolios]

Juraj speaks the truth, tho I don't share his feelings on G.Skill (just get the plain lines, Ares etc).

Corsair Dominator are expensive as hell, for no reason other than the fancy name/heatsink. Looks cool (imho), adds nothing but that tho.

It is not the best ram you can buy (overclocking or not), it is not more stable, faster etc...just brand name / looks.

 

DDR3 1866 is plenty fast. Get 2133 if you are gaming with new titles in high resolutions, with very fast GPUs. Otherwise, you won't see much difference. Actually there will be NO difference in "workstation" related tasks with either. The RAM speed is not the bottleneck in pretty much anything, so only after all other components are maxed out (i.e. top of the line CPU, overclocked, with top of the line GPU(s), overclocked) latencies and bandwidths become relevant. Sure, you can run RAM specific tasks to see the difference, but don't think you will be saving seconds of your renderings or load times etc...same goes for running Quad channel in s2011 platform, tweaking timings or w/e crap. Makes no difference in real world desktop applications.

 

I have Samsung 30nm RAM, pretty versatile, running it anywhere from DDR 1600 to 2400, @ quad channel. My clocked 3930K doesn't really care, my GPU tests don't really care (are the same within expected % variation, a bit up some times, a bit down). I leave them @ 2133 with low voltages / timings, but it is a vice, not a necessity.

[edwardsutton]

Ed Sutton

This seems like a useful thread to read and post in. I live in the USA and want to build a rendering system, but have never built a computer yet, so I have joined up to learn, toddle, crawl, start to walk and finally build a useful scalable modular rendering home system. I am very wet behind the ears; looking forward to learning.

[rafman]

Finally putting the computer together over this weekend. Now the question is Windows 7 Pro 64 or Windows 8 Pro 64. For what Dimitris explains there have been complains on Windows 8. Do you guys think all major issues have been fix and it is actually better to get the windows 8 now? or Windows 7 is still the best option?

 

Thanks again for the help

[Dimitris Tolios]

People are very emotional with changes, especially when those come from the MS side...it Apple would be doing Metro UI etc, it would be "fresh", "a great change", "a revelation".

 

Most people that used Win 8 with an open mind, soon discovered that it is a tad faster than Win7 (that was known for some time), boots faster and it uses RAM more efficiently. 8.1 patch supposingly gives more options as far as the UI goes, and the Start Menu can be restored to almost Win7 style without the need for the Start8 plugin that most were using (and was dirt cheap). 8.1 also adds better optimizations for working on multiple and/or high resolution monitors. Scalling is pretty good (they had to catch up with the new 1600/1800p laptops, some say they did a great job, some say its better than OSX - no idea). It is also proven to perform better than Win7 with most modern games.

 

Personally I've greatly regretted that I did not purchase the Win 8 Pro for $15, like so many did when it first launched. I have little to no experience WORKING with it, just used it on Surface Pro tablets and a couple of laptops for very little, unfortunately not with a rMBP or the equiv. samsung models to see how scaling works with it. If I had it, I could load it on one of my laptops and whatnot, getting better with it before diving deep.

 

I am not aware of any real issues - at least as far as compatibility with latest apps etc goes.

I do not recommend win 8 to users, simply because I don't want to be "held responsible" for any preferential miss-match as far as the UI goes, not because Win8 lacks in any particular way vs. win 7.

[RyderSK]

I am big proponent of Windows 8.1. I adopted Windows8 straight in public Beta being early-adopter and I did quite struggle in initial months, but eventually adopting it. The change between 8.0 to 8.1 was in my opinion quite drastic and to better. The MetroUI became much more modular and customisable, effectively replacing regular desktop (I haven't used desktop since, I use MetroUi and taskbar). I am very sensitive to any noticeable performance improvement (this doesn't mean it renders faster or anything, but it's more responsive, and that counts for mental comfort).

 

Now, lot of people will start buying 4K monitors this year, with Dell Ultrasharp 32" already being 2000 euros (from original 3200 just 3months ago!) at lot of e-shops and Windows8 tackes the UI scaling quite well.

 

There has been a lot of back-tracking by Microsoft to appease angry users so in April will another patch come to 8.1, probably making it even more regular desktop for those who despise Metro. So you can have Windows8 looking like 7 anyway, with the performance under hood.

 

Good that you consider "Pro". My laptop is only PC that came with OEM Win8 and obviously...not Pro. Now it doesn't have remote control and I am slightly pissed about it.