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Some advice for new Workstation appreciated


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Hi there,

 

I'm planning on buying a new computer for my professional business.

I use Rhino for modelling, vray4c4d for rendering and photoshop.

Also here and there some aftereffects but that's not the main focus.

 

Here is my configuration so far which fits to my budget which is around €2000:

As I don't know very much about hardware any serious advice is highly appreciated.

 

 

Mainboard:

ASUS P9X79

 

CPU:

Intel Core i7-4930K

 

Cooler: (here I really have no clue at all?)

Alpenföhn Brocken 2

or

be quiet! Dark Rock 2

or

Enermax ETS-T40-TB

or

Noctua NH-D14 SE2011

 

Ram (32GB total):

G.Skill DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1866 Kit

F3-1866C10D-16GAB, Ares-Serie

 

GPU:

EVGA Geforce GTX 770 SuperClocked ACX 2GB

or

Gainward Geforce GTX 770 Phantom 4 GB

or

can I go with a 760 if I don't plan to use GPU rendering too often?

EVGA Geforce GTX 660, 2GB

 

PSU:

be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 750W

 

SSD:

Samsung 840 Pro series 2,5" 256 GB

 

HDD:

2x Seagate ST2000DM001 2 TB

 

Case:

Fractal Design ARC XL

 

Blue-Ray:

LG BH16NS40

 

Let me know what you think :-)

Thanks for your help!

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Hi there,

 

I went through some forum posts did a little research and changed a couple of things.

Here is my new configuration.

Still any advice is greatly appreciated - would you change anything

 

Mainboard:

ASUS P9X79

 

CPU:

Intel Core i7-4930K

 

Cooler:

Scythe Ashura

 

Ram (32GB total):

Kingston HyperX DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 Kit

 

GPU: (still not sure)

what about a

Gainward GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB

is the same price as a gtx 660

 

PSU:

Cooler Master V700 ATX23

 

SSD:

Samsung 840 Pro series 2,5" 256 GB

 

HDD:

2x Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2 TB

 

Case:

Fractal Design ARC XL

 

DVD:

LG GH-24NS

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Hi Grischa,

 

nice solid budget, from my experience probably the best high quality/solid price ration without compromising anything but neither going into unnecessary luxury.

 

First, great choice of case. Few things to note, if you chose it based on looks :- ) (if not, then forgive me...). The benefit of ARC or ARC XL is in cooling factor compared to Fractal Define (R3/R4) and Define XL. Since I own 5 fractal cases of the latter, I can attest they cool 4930k just fine with Noctua NDH14 at high clock with single GPU (mostly GTX760). The benefit of ARC would manifest probably more deeply once you go with multiple GPU setup where the additional air-flow would help. It's also the case that's much more water cooling friendly than Define.

 

TLDR: Arc is cool, if you really need super air-flow. But you actually don't, and Define is impecably more silent. And Silent is nice.

 

Cooler: Almost anything goes from the higher end, but, Noctua NDH14 is such a good choice, that unless you don't like it's tamed, but weird image, there's no reason to go with anything else. It's powerful, attacking close to the same level that cheap close-looped systems like Corsair i80/100, but so silent. Combine this with Define you have very, very silent PC.

 

GPU: Not sure why you suddenly included age-old GTX580, which in fact, was extremely good for GPU rendering, but sadly with 1.5GB is obsolete anyway. Any 4GB card will do well, so the choice between 760/770/780/etc... is purely on how much faster GPU rendering you want. I suggest staying with cheap but great 760 and wait what the future holds.

 

Now, regarding the brands for nVidia, it's up for personal preference, but note that they differ in cooling. Some contain the original nVidia reference cooling, which is a plus in multi-gpu setup, but can be louder. Other (Asus/Gigabyte,etc..) have multiple coolers without enclosure, resulting in mostly slighly more silent cooling. I am in favour of the latter.

 

PSU: Both are ok, but at this budget, you can easily afford Gold/Platinum Seasonics. Silent, modular, safe.

 

Ram: There are both low and high-profile modules available, but if you intend to stay with Air coolers for CPU (such as the Noctua), you do not have a choice here. Only low-profile will fit all the slots. You don't sacrifice anything here at all, they all cool the same. It's only nerdy looks.

 

Mainboard: It's good choice, but bear in mind you'll have to upgrade UEFI(bios) before it will acknowledge 4930k. It's easy, safe process, just warning.

If you feel saavy, I might suggest much newer Asus X79 Deluxe. It's not that big price difference, you budget allows for it and it has some nice additional features. And much rather,...why not.

Edited by RyderSK
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Juraj covered all bases pretty much.

Some thoughts / opinions:

 

Cooler: I agree on the cooler: the noctua ND14 is a "classic"...tho I personally used the Thermalright SilverArrow SB-E (even bigger and just as silent).

Be careful with the ram selection. High profile heatsinks are simply a deal breaker with those coolers.

 

pcfoo_20130119-9881.jpg

Above you see a SilverArrow SB-E over my P9X79 Pro, and low profile Samsung 30nm RAM sticks. Clearances are tight! More pics on my relative blog post

 

PSU: you are much safer with the Coolermaster over the bequiet. The CM "V" series, is based on the latest Seasonic 80+ Gold line. i.e. as good as it gets for their money.

 

Mobo: You don't need the Pro or the WS or the Deluxe for a workstation, unless you need dual NICs, a gazillion of SATA drives or better mosfets for overclocking The vanilla p9x79 probably will have a "power delivery" system that will out-do the average 4390K, i.e. you will run into issues with the CPU not being able to run higher, before the Mobo becomes the hindrance, but...some people want it all). The WS ofc adds the ability to add 4x dual width cards, but it is a bigger mobo (not that you cannot fit pretty much anything in a FD full ATX tower).

Edited by dtolios
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Hi there,

 

thank you guys very much for your input!

Your comments are quite helpful.

 

Still a bit confused about the RAM though.

 

Here is my "final" configuration:

I tried to stay below 2000€ that's why I didn't include all the suggested components.

But I still have a bit more than a month untill I'll order, maybe I can upgrade here and there a little :-)

 

Mainboard: (I think I'm fine with the "simple" and solid version - thanks Dimitris)

ASUS P9X79

 

CPU:

Intel Core i7-4930K

 

Cooler:

Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 (seems to be the "old" but good one)

the

SilverArrow SB-E is not available here at the moment.

 

 

Ram (32GB total): here is what I could find - would that fit ???

 

my favorite (cheap and simple)

Crucial DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 Kit

http://www.alternate.de/Crucial/DIMM_16_GB_DDR3-1600_Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1008052/?

 

Crucial DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1866 Kit

http://www.alternate.de/Crucial/DIMM_16_GB_DDR3-1866_Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1109427/?

Corsair DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 Kit

http://www.alternate.de/Corsair/DIMM_16_GB_DDR3-1600_Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1000995/?

Corsair DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 Kit

http://www.alternate.de/Corsair/DIMM_16_GB_DDR3-1600_Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1036128/?

ADATA DIMM 32 GB DDR3-1600 Quad-Kit

http://www.alternate.de/ADATA/DIMM_32_GB_DDR3-1600_Quad-Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1004872/?

G.Skill DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 Kit

http://www.alternate.de/G.Skill/DIMM_16_GB_DDR3-1600_Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1024548/?

 

GPU: (thanks Juraj - looks like a great one)

GIGABYTE GTX 760 4GB

GV-N760OC-4GD Rev. 2

 

PSU:

Cooler Master V700 ATX23 (just because it's a bit cheaper than the seasonic)

 

SSD:

Samsung 840 Pro series 2,5" 256 GB

 

HDD:

2x Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2 TB

 

Case: (like the idea of a quiet machine - and of course it looks good :-))

Fractal Design Define XL R2 Black Pearl

 

DVD:

LG GH-24NS

Edited by hkahk
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In your place I'd never go Kingston.

I had a really bad experience with every single piece of equipment I got from them.

 

I prefer G.Skill.

 

Yeah..no. Kingston is probably the most solid Ram seller and statistically the least faulty modules based on few e-shop ratings, and one of the biggest ECC modules provider, while G.Skill is childishly sounding fad for overclocking enthousiasts.

I had dozen of bad personal experience with Corsair...does that mean their products sucks ?

 

 

 

my favorite (cheap and simple)

Crucial DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 Kit

http://www.alternate.de/Crucial/DIMM_16_GB_DDR3-1600_Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1008052/?

 

Crucial DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1866 Kit

http://www.alternate.de/Crucial/DIMM_16_GB_DDR3-1866_Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1109427/?

Corsair DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 Kit

http://www.alternate.de/Corsair/DIMM_16_GB_DDR3-1600_Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1000995/?

Corsair DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 Kit

http://www.alternate.de/Corsair/DIMM_16_GB_DDR3-1600_Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1036128/?

ADATA DIMM 32 GB DDR3-1600 Quad-Kit

http://www.alternate.de/ADATA/DIMM_32_GB_DDR3-1600_Quad-Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1004872/?

G.Skill DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600 Kit

http://www.alternate.de/G.Skill/DIMM_16_GB_DDR3-1600_Kit,_Arbeitsspeicher/html/product/1024548/?

 

 

 

I own both the Crucial and the Corsair. I've only bought the Crucial as it was the only in e-shop at time in 32GB sets :- ) All 3 are solid brands, Adata is cheaper OEM.

 

From this choice, I would go with Crucial.

Edited by RyderSK
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The Crucial 1866 CL9 kit is the fastest of all listed, and cheaper than the overpriced corsair.

 

EDIT: I would be anal, and match the blue/white color scheme of my mobo (your P9X79 I mean) with blue or white heat spreaders for the RAM instead of the yellow ballistix . But I am weird :o

Edited by dtolios
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The Crucial 1866 CL9 kit is the fastest of all listed, and cheaper than the overpriced corsair.

 

EDIT: I would be anal, and match the blue/white color scheme of my mobo (your P9X79 I mean) with blue or white heat spreaders for the RAM instead of the yellow ballistix . But I am weird :o

 

They do look quite weird,...but I was very surprised how little they are, they are 1/3 shorter than the Corsairs Vengeance LP in height. You can't really see them at all once they sit inside.

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The Crucial 1866 CL9 kit is the fastest of all listed, and cheaper than the overpriced corsair.

 

EDIT: I would be anal, and match the blue/white color scheme of my mobo (your P9X79 I mean) with blue or white heat spreaders for the RAM instead of the yellow ballistix . But I am weird :o

 

I think I have to go with the Asus P9X79 Deluxe then to match to colors :-)

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  • 1 month later...

Hi there,

 

I'm now about to order the system.

 

This is the latest configuration:

The only things I'm not sure is the RAM and the PSU.

A last advice there would be of great help!

 

Mainboard:

ASUS P9X79

 

CPU:

Intel Core i7-4930K

 

Cooler:

Cryorig R1 Ultimate

 

Ram (32GB total):

Kingston ValueRAM DIMM DDR3-1600 Kit, CL11

Crucial DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600, CL 8

 

GPU:

GIGABYTE GV-N760OC-4GD Rev. 2

 

PSU:

Cooler Master V850 ATX23 (the 700 is not available)

Seasonic Seasonic X-750

or is this one enough: Seasonic S12G-750?

 

 

SSD:

Samsung 840 Pro series 2,5" 256 GB

 

HDD:

1x Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2 TB

 

Case:

Define XL R2 Black Pearl

 

DVD:

LG GH-24NS

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Ram (32GB total):

Kingston ValueRAM DIMM DDR3-1600 Kit, CL11

Crucial DIMM 16 GB DDR3-1600, CL 8

I would go for a 32GB kit instead of mixing 2 16GB kits even if it is the same product. The settings are optimized for 32GB and they come with matching XMP profiles - you will not be able to run the Crucial @ CL8 with 32GB. And i would take 1866MHz for the 4930K. The price difference between CL11 and CL10 should be marginal, so i would take a CL10 kit. I think you will need a low profile kit for this cooler.

 

http://geizhals.at/de/?cat=ramddr3&xf=2216_DDR3~254_1600~2506_1.50~1126_Corsair~1126_Kingston~1126_G.Skill~1126_Crucial~253_32768~256_4x~1454_8192#xf_top

 

PSU:

or is this one enough: Seasonic S12G-750?

Yes, it is enough. Even a 650W Seasonic would be enough for a 4930K + GTX760. But i would go for the M12II, G-Series or X-Series to get the modular cable system. The X-Series has a better, more silent "semi-passive" cooling setup. If you take the X-750 look for the newer "KM3". The original "SS-750KM" is already 4 years old.

http://geizhals.at/de/?cat=gehps&xf=360_600%7E818_Sea+Sonic%7E366_abnehmbare+Anschl%FCsse#xf_top

Edited by numerobis
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I would take this one (i have it too for one of my 4930Ks ;) )

But the Alternate price is really quite high...

 

Did you look here?:

http://de.toppreise.ch/index.php?a=303195

http://www.kauftipp.ch

 

Alternate does not mention if it is the SS-750KM or SS-750KM3, but the photo shows the old one and the datasheet also has -12v with 1A instead of 0,5A like the new one - not sure what is better here btw., but i think i would buy the new one.

 

Btw. here is a PSU calcutator http://www.enermax.outervision.com/PSUEngine

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Thanks for your input again!

 

I'm ordering for my german office and I wanted to order from Alternate because they can put the parts together and I would not ahve to do it myself. But the price differences you send me are really quite huge.

If I put the thing together myself I would roughly save 200€! Maybe I should go that way...

 

Although I've never done that before...but it doesn't seem to be too complicated.

 

Just one thing about the RAM.

If I choose the Corsair or G.Skill mentioned above I get the following message:

"Der von Ihnen gewählte DDR3-Speicher entspricht nicht dem JEDEC-Standard. Daher werden wir diesen Speicher auf JEDEC-konforme Timings einstellen"

What does that mean? Can I do that myself?

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The latest 80+ Gold platform from Seasonic can be found for decent price wrapped inside the Cooler Master Vxxx series logo.

 

I would not worry much about compatibility issues with Asus X79 and either corsair or gskill. At least for 4 stick kits, you should be fine (X79 does act up sometimes with 8* sticks).

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If I choose the Corsair or G.Skill mentioned above I get the following message:

"Der von Ihnen gewählte DDR3-Speicher entspricht nicht dem JEDEC-Standard. Daher werden wir diesen Speicher auf JEDEC-konforme Timings einstellen"

What does that mean? Can I do that myself?

 

Sorry, i don't know what they mean... 1866MHz should be JEDEC-standard as far as i know - maybe CL10-11-10-30 is not standard, i don't know. But you could ask Alternate what they would like to change.

 

Can I do that myself?

Yes, it's really easy... If you don't want to overclock everything can be left at "Auto" (processor and RAM) and you just have change the RAM setting to the XMP-profile for 1866MHz (and maybe change the frequency of the RAM separately to 1866MHz, depending on the board).

Edited by numerobis
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Ok everything is ordered.

Finally I decided to put the stuff together myself - we'll see how that goes :-)

 

Thank all of you for your input - it was of great help!

 

Here is the final setup:

 

Mainboard:

ASUS X79-Deluxe (just because and it was only slightly more expensive)

 

CPU:

Intel Core i7-4930K

 

Cooler:

Cryorig R1 Ultimate (it just looks better than the Noctua)

 

Ram (32GB total):

Corsair Vengeance LP DDR3-1866 32GB, CL 10 (only 20€ price difference to the G.Skill)

 

GPU:

GIGABYTE GV-N760OC-4GD Rev. 2

 

PSU:

Seasonic Seasonic X-750

 

SSD:

Samsung 840 Pro series 2,5" 256 GB

 

HDD:

1x Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2 TB

 

Case:

Define XL R2 Black Pearl

 

DVD:

LG GH24NSB0 DVD-RW

Edited by hkahk
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