New Workstation Build

[braddewald]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($378.95 @ OutletPC)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Asus X99-DELUXE ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($379.98 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($384.99 @ B&H)

Storage: *Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($422.51 @ OutletPC)

Storage: *Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($227.99 @ NCIX US)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Superclocked ACX Video Card ($329.99 @ B&H)

Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair Professional 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($142.99 @ Amazon)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($197.97 @ OutletPC)

Total: $2615.34

 

I've been thinking about getting a new workstation for a while. My current one was purchased in 2011 (i7-2600, GTX-560Ti, 32GB DDR3 RAM, 2x 2TB HDDs) and I'm wondering if it's time for an upgrade.

 

1) Is the new list overkill?

2) Is it even necessary to upgrade given what I have now? Would I only be seeing small improvements?

3) Any other suggestions/comments?

4) Are there any price drops coming or new products being introduced that I should hold out for?

Edited November 13, 2014 by braddewald

[RyderSK]

It's unbalanced build. You overspend where you don't need to (X99-Deluxe) and underspend where you would most benefit (CPU cooler).

 

The additional benefit of Deluxe is DualNic for 1gbit lan (in case you would use link aggregation), lot's of ports but if you don't need it (I would say not), X99-S is the same board just without that but 100 dollars cheaper. But it's still luxury board and you can go even less for regular vanilla Asus X99-A board. They have almost identical overclocking capabilities (S and Deluxe have better cooled VRM and chipset but you don't really need that with 6-core so much)

 

The CPU cooler is joke. You don't pair enthousiast CPU to super-budget cooler. Especially when proper cooler can help you extract additional 15-20perc. of performance that you wouldn't be able to get otherwise. Go straight into Noctua NH-D15 territory and don't think about it. There is no other sensible solution.

 

GTX770 is not a good buy right now. It's Kepler that borders with price on Maxwell based GTX970. Buy that one if you need powerful GPU for GPU rendering, real-time engines, occasional computer games,etc. But if you don't, just settle for GTX750Ti with identical 3dsMax viewport performance.

 

I would also swap 1TB SSD in workstation for more sensible 256-512GB but better one like 850Pro.

 

 

i7 2600K is quite old but still good CPU. For me it was too slow to even worth keeping as render-node, so I use it as fileserver now, overclocked 5820K will easily be double as fast. Depends on you whether you feel like you need it. If that's your only PC...I guess yes.

Edited November 13, 2014 by RyderSK

[braddewald]

Does this look more balanced?

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($378.95 @ OutletPC)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($93.98 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Asus X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($256.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($384.99 @ B&H)

Storage: *Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($422.51 @ OutletPC)

Storage: *Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($227.99 @ NCIX US)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($129.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair Professional 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($142.99 @ Amazon)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($197.97 @ OutletPC)

Total: $2356.35

[Nikolaos M]

I would choose something like this:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Micro Center)

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Universal 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Asus X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($256.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($384.99 @ B&H)

Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($202.86 @ NCIX US)

Storage: Western Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($339.98 @ NCIX US)

Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ NCIX US)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($197.97 @ OutletPC)

Total: $2162.73

 

Comments:

1. Cryorig R1 is probably the best air cooler around at this moment.

2. You don't realy need a 1TB ssd if you are going to store your work in hdds. You can save almost 200$ with a 500gb ssd. MX100 is a fairly good choise.

3. I would personaly split my hdd space to 2x2TB in order to secure data with a raid configuration. The WD Reds are good for this kind of setup.

4. In a 2200-2300$ built, I believe it's unthinkable to get anything less than a gtx 970 for a graphics card.

[numerobis]

Will you overclock your 5820K? If not, i think a Noctua D14 should be enough. But yes, the D15 is nice... and i think it should fit into the case (max cooler height is 170mm).

Concerning the speed gain... without overclocking you should see a maybe ~60-65% higher multithread performance and ~8-9% higher single thread performance.

 

Why 1TB SSD + 4TB HDD? The SSD for new projects and textures, etc.? Or how will you use it?

Why Win 7 Ultimate?

Edited November 13, 2014 by numerobis

[braddewald]

I'm probably not going to be doing any overclocking. Yes the 1TB hard drive is for all software and current project files. Textures are stored on a NAS. A 500GB would probably be enough but I don't want to have to worry about constantly unloading current projects and managing space etc.

Edited November 13, 2014 by braddewald

[RyderSK]

You don't need to have antipathy towards over-clocking, the X99 Asus boards have "single click" overlock :- ) literally. It's the "5-way optimization" tool, and it works just as advertised, without issue. Will give you additional free performance at no hassle as the temperatures will be more than ok with Noctua.

No idea when 850 Evo releases (should have been here already), but maybe worth checking, it will feature 3D-Nand, preferably without current EVO issues.

[beestee]

I have an 850 Pro at home right now, waiting for a cooler to arrive to do the rebuild. Purchased from Newegg, the price surprised me compared to previous generation Pro models. The 1TB 850 Pro was somewhere above $600, I ordered the 512 GB since it had much less spread in price compared to the 512 GB 840 Evo.

[Stephen Thomas]

Yep, if you're buying an Asus board it would be daft not to take advantage of the easy overclock software. It really is as simple as one click, and it assesses all your components, even fan positions, to find stable clock speed. I got 4.3 GHz on my 4930k on x79.

 

Also planning to finally upgrade my home PC from my Q6600 to a 5820k x99 system soon. Does anyone know is it worth waiting for Black Friday deals on any of this stuff? Or is it generally older stock that gets reduced?

[braddewald]

@Ben: Do you suggest going with the 850 1TB PRO vs the 840 EVO 1TB? The price difference is huge but I feel like in the end I'd regret not just forking over the extra couple hundred bucks. Is the performance of the 850 PRO that much better?

[braddewald]

Also, I'm starting to rethink that 5820k. Is there a better card out there for what I'm doing? I'll be doing all of my 3ds Max and Photoshop work (some light autocad as well) on this machine but pretty much all of my rendering is done on the small farm I have (except for small test renders). Is there something better to consider?

[beestee]

@Ben: Do you suggest going with the 850 1TB PRO vs the 840 EVO 1TB? The price difference is huge but I feel like in the end I'd regret not just forking over the extra couple hundred bucks. Is the performance of the 850 PRO that much better?

 

Go with the 840 Evo.

 

The performance difference on the 850 Pro compared to the 840 Evo that is in my workstation is not enough to justify the cost. Maybe over time there will be improvements due to the stacked memory modules but they are not yet apparent and the cost difference makes that a gamble for now.

[braddewald]

I've heard about the firmware issues with the 840 EVO. Do you think that I have to worry about that if I'm buying one new or do I need to run the update as soon as I get it up and running - which I guess is probably the best time to do it (before I load up everything).

[beestee]

The performance fix tool is easy to find and use. I never noticed a problem with mine, but to be on the safe side you should probably run it once you have your OS up an running. If it is already "fixed" from the factory, the tool will not allow you to run it again.

[numerobis]

I've heard about the firmware issues with the 840 EVO. Do you think that I have to worry about that if I'm buying one new or do I need to run the update as soon as I get it up and running - which I guess is probably the best time to do it (before I load up everything).

 

Samsung SSD 840 EVO Performance Restoration Software

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/us/html/support/downloads.html

 

Just install windows and maybe the drivers and then run the tool. There would be no problem to do it later, but it will take longer with more files. I have done it on several Win 7 systems without any problem. You can uninstall the tool after applying the fix.

[braddewald]

Got it.

 

And about that 5820k - is there a resource for figuring out which is the best processor for 3ds max work? I feel like as many of these threads as there are there should be a good list of the ones that perform best for 3d work vs gaming which is what pretty much every source out there is concerned with.

[Dimitris Tolios]

• 840 EVO was great for me - even before the patch / performance fix (notably faster reads than my older Crucial M4 256).
  

 

 

 

• Which features of the X99-Deluxe are you after? The gazillion extra USB 3.0, the more SATA ports, the WiFi module (also on the cheaper X99-Pro)?
  The only unique feature on the X99-Deluxe vs. the cheaper X99-Pro and X99-A, is the 2nd GBit controller, and of course the plethora of extra USB/Sata ports. Same phases for OC, same bios features / optimizations.
   
   
  If you don't plan on using more than 1x GBit controller or the WiFi module, the X99-A is exactly what the Deluxe & Pro are, for less.
  If you plan on using more than 3x dual slot GPUs, you should go ROG or WS.
  

 

 

 

• GTX 770 for $330 seems a huge waste when you can get a GTX 970 4GB for less than $350.
  

 

 

 

• DDR4-2133 is more than enough, but I still Crucial's DDR4-2400 kit is roughly the same price, $10-20 more, so I would get that "just cause".
  

Edited November 19, 2014 by dtolios

[RyderSK]

Also, I'm starting to rethink that 5820k. Is there a better card out there for what I'm doing? I'll be doing all of my 3ds Max and Photoshop work (some light autocad as well) on this machine but pretty much all of my rendering is done on the small farm I have (except for small test renders). Is there something better to consider?

 

Going 4770k would further save you some money for identical single-threaded performance (also saving another hundred or two from Motheboard + DDR4 since you woudn't need it), but is it worth it ? In grand scheme, it's quite little investment for far better workstation, that will be faster even on that occasional test render where even distributed might not be worth it (and some algorithms aren't networkable anyway, like LC in Vray) so multi-threaded performance is always welcome. Software is slowly getting better at multi-threading so 2-3 years down the line, 6-core will be superior to 4-core even more, and outside of purely rendering.

 

Nope, I would say 5820k is good minimum level to stay at.

[braddewald]

• 840 EVO was great for me - even before the patch / performance fix (notably faster reads than my older Crucial M4 256).
  

 

 

 

• Which features of the X99-Deluxe are you after? The gazillion extra USB 3.0, the more SATA ports, the WiFi module (also on the cheaper X99-Pro)?
  The only unique feature on the X99-Deluxe vs. the cheaper X99-Pro and X99-A, is the 2nd GBit controller, and of course the plethora of extra USB/Sata ports. Same phases for OC, same bios features / optimizations.
   
   
  If you don't plan on using more than 1x GBit controller or the WiFi module, the X99-A is exactly what the Deluxe & Pro are, for less.
  If you plan on using more than 3x dual slot GPUs, you should go ROG or WS.
  

 

 

 

• GTX 770 for $330 seems a huge waste when you can get a GTX 970 4GB for less than $350.
  

 

 

 

• DDR4-2133 is more than enough, but I still Crucial's DDR4-2400 kit is roughly the same price, $10-20 more, so I would get that "just cause".
  

 

@Dimitris - I updated the list later in the thread a few posts down and did indeed go for the X99-A and went down to a GTX 750Ti:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($378.95 @ OutletPC)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($93.98 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Asus X99-A ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($256.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Crucial 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($384.99 @ B&H)

Storage: *Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($422.51 @ OutletPC)

Storage: *Western Digital BLACK SERIES 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($227.99 @ NCIX US)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($129.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Corsair Professional 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($142.99 @ Amazon)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($197.97 @ OutletPC)

Total: $2356.35

 

Do you think the 970 would be a huge improvement? I don't do a lot of GPU rendering.

[Dimitris Tolios]

Sorry for not following the built properly =(

 

 

If you don't do GPU renderings, I doubt the 970 would be a huge improvement.

 

 

I agree with Juraj on the 4770K being actually phased out slowly.

I would ofc go for the 4790K if I was after a tower costing less than $1500, but if you can go 5820K, do it.

 

 

I am actually in the process of parting a new WS for myself based on the 5820K + X99-A, but overclocking to 4.5ish is almost a given, so the single threaded advantage of the 4790K is not a real issue. Even if you do 5GHz on a 4790K vs. 4.5 on a 6-core (5820K casually goes more than that, it is a matter of cooling & silicon lottery for you to get a chip that doesn't require lots of volts past 4.5), the difference is far less noticeable than 4.4 GHz (turbo) vs 3.7GHz (turbo) for the stock CPUs.

 

 

This will be a new office workstation, so I will be limited by a 240-280mm CLC cooler, instead of my home's push-pull 240+360 thick rad open loop, but I think I can manage 4.5 with a 6-core Haswell-E without problem. They offered me a BOXX Quad @ 4.5GHz as an option, but I convinced them to take the "gamble" and let me built something "same or better" for less than 1/2 the price.

 

 

Will also have a 970 4GB for GPU. If it happens for me to get it before you, I will let you know differences vs. a 750Ti - although I won't have 3DS loaded @ that machine. Only Sketchup / Revit / Acad. Will probably blog my setup when it is finalized later this week, but it is pretty much along the lines we discuss already.

 

 

The only real upgrades think would make a difference, for notably more money ofc, is going 5960X for the CPU and M.2 for the SSD. The 1st is an obvious 2-core advantage (tho you might see no improvement in single core, might even be worse if you don't o/c), and a decent M.2 drive like the Samsung XP941 will give you almost 2x the speed of the best SATA drives, for 2x the price.

 

 

Faster than 2400 RAM is clearly wasted money as those are seriously overpriced (really corsair? really?), 850 Pro vs. EVO is nowhere near as faster as price suggests, the 9xx cards are not yet cleverly utilized by apps outside GPGPU etc etc.

Edited November 19, 2014 by dtolios

[braddewald]

Haha cool thanks! As far as RAM goes, the Crucial 32GB DDR4-2133 kit is going for ~$385 but I can't find the DDR4-2400 version you mentioned for under ~$500....

[beestee]

I have my rebuilt PC with a 970 at work right now for exactly this, to compare vs the 750 Ti that I have in my workstation...just waiting for my workload to let up enough to get the software installed.

 

As far as Windows is concerned, the 750 Ti gets a 7.7 on the experience index and the 970 get's a 7.9...although the scale does max out at 7.9 and this comparison is likely far too complex to boil it down to just this...but it does show how capable the 750 Ti is, the card is a rare anomaly of low price and good performance.

[braddewald]

Is there nothing in between a 970 and a 750 Ti that's good for the money. I'm worried that upgrading from a 560Ti to a 750Ti isn't going to be future-proof enough and may not fit well with a system that's already upward of $2500.

[Nikolaos M]

Is there nothing in between a 970 and a 750 Ti that's good for the money. I'm worried that upgrading from a 560Ti to a 750Ti isn't going to be future-proof enough and may not fit well with a system that's already upward of $2500.

 

http://forums.cgarchitect.com/77264-new-workstation-build.html#post396644

 

You can make some changes and save some money, in order to fit one gtx970 inside the budget (see link above). Of course there are some choices in between 750Ti and 970, but not with the same architecture (gtx 960 will probably be released in Q1 2015 but no one is sure). You' re going to spend a lot of money. Imho, don't buy anything less than a gtx 970, especially if don't upgrade often. You might want to try new stuff (software etc) in the near future and change the use of your ws.

Edited November 20, 2014 by nikolaosm

[Dimitris Tolios]

Well, not too many options between 750Ti & 970, but for good or bad there are 2 benefits:

1) The performance difference is small - if any - for most viewports.

2) The 750Ti is dirt cheap (by comparison) so getting one and replacing it later is not a big ding...ofc who wants to keep himself busy with hardware upgrades ???

 

 

I would not go 760 atm, doesn't worth double the money of a 750Ti. I don't know how good a 960 will be, but again if you are going $260-280 that the 960 will be for Q1 2015 till demand settles (and the 560/660/760 lines are the highest volume ones = prices don't drop nearly as fast), you are not that far off a 970 that is available now and probably will be some fire sales @ $300-320 by xmas.

 

 

On the RAM side, you are right, the Crucial DDR4-2133 did drop a lot! Had prices from 2-3 weeks ago in mind (and logged in my spreadsheet - Used to be like $500@2400 vs $470@2133).

Newegg too has them now on sale for $180-190 per 2x8GB kits. Yes, I agree that DDR4-2400 won't return their worth of 20-25% larger investment.

Edited November 20, 2014 by dtolios