Need advise on a rig - Xeon E3 + GTX 970 or i7-4790K + R9 280

[Bambit]

This is my first post on the forum, so "Hello" to you all.

 

I am trying to put together a rig for a friend of mine.
She studies Graphic Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts.
So far, she's been working on an 'ol 6yr laptop, that begun to have a hickup.

 

She's in the States at the moment, doing some work&travel stuff, and she asked me to find her PC parts, she could buy and bring to Poland.

The prices we have are around 23% higher, so it is more than obvious to buy stuff in the States.

 

She will be doing a lot of Photoshop, CAD and whatnot. Basically all the fancy rendering/graphic/etc software.
She will also be playing some games: Arma 2 Dayz Mod, Arma 3, Witcher 1&2&3, Battlefront, MMOs (Lineage 2).
All in all, there will be more graphic design stuff done on the PC than gaming.

I know, she'll need as much horsepower as possible for rendering, hence the hyperthreaded CPU. 

 

I have been thinking of this setup:

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 (@Microcenter for $210)

RAM: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 (@Newegg_Support for $47)

SSD: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB (@OutletPC for $53)

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM (@OutletPC for $60)

GPU: Asus GeForce GTX 970 STRIX (@SuperBiiz for $320)

 

She has a budget fixed at $700 for these parts to buy in the States.
We'll get a 1x8GB of RAM for now and will upgrade to another 1x8GB, should need be later on.

We will buy the microATX mobo and case back in Poland (and PSU too).

 

And here's the tricky part. I have found THIS deal on Newegg for R9 280. It is $150 (with a rebate) for an R9 280, which is actually a deal breaker for us.
Now I am thinking of replacing the Xeon and GTX 970 with an i7-4790k and R9 280 (this would set us up at $590 for these parts, instead of $690).
The more we can cut on CPU, GPU, RAM and storage, the better monitor she can buy for her design/rendering needs.

 

Is this a reasonable switch? Will the stronger-per-core CPU be more futureproof? I would like this CPU to last for at least 3-4 years. 
If we buy the R9 280, we will replace it in 2 years time, so she should manage to play all these games at 1080p@60fps on high with this CPU until then. 

 

My friend does not need to OC the CPU just yet. I know this is an unlocked CPU, but this is the strongest-per-core CPU we could afford. It's $280 @Microcenter.

I am planning on putting the CPU on some cheap-ass microATX mobo like MSI H81M-P33 (after BIOS update).
She does not need a flashy mobo or flashy case, so I intend to keep it in the microATX size.

 

We would change the mobo along with the GPU in 2 yrs time and OC the CPU when it struggles to keep up (which should not be the case for quite some time).

The only concern that I have is if this switch from Xeon to i7 makes sense.

I've read everything there is on LTT forum and other. I've checked every possible benchmark and review. It's just that I can't make up my mind. 

I bet there are quite experienced folks on this forum, so I hope you can enlight me.

Cheers!

[thekeemo]

a 1231 is marginally slower than the i7 (the 1241 is the 4790k equivalent)  FYI

personally I would get a 1241 and a 290x unless the software doesnt support opencl (the adobe suite supports it)

[TomvanWijnen]

I don't think it would be a good idea to later on switch the mobo. I'd suggest to now buy the 4790k, a Z97 motherboard, and the r9 280.

[Bambit]

a 1231 is marginally slower than the i7 (the 1241 is the 4790k equivalent)  FYI

personally I would get a 1241 and a 290x unless the software doesnt support opencl (the adobe suite supports it)

1231 is 3,4GHz and i7 is 4Ghz.

That's more than marginally (i think)

 

I don't think it would be a good idea to later on switch the mobo. I'd suggest to now buy the 4790k, a Z97 motherboard, and the r9 280.

Noted

[Nena Trinity]

Do yourself a favor and get 390 over the 970 unless you most have Nvidia!

[thekeemo]

1231 is 3,4GHz and i7 is 4Ghz.

That's more than marginally (i think)

 

Noted

real world just very slightly

[thekeemo]

1231 is 3,4GHz and i7 is 4Ghz.

That's more than marginally (i think)

 

Noted

real world just very slightly nvm the 1286 is the equivalent

[NumLock21]

Get the xeon with the 970 or a 960. Amd cards cost less so that might be a option as well. For the rest, go with the cheapest decent parts. Forget about unlock cpus, she not oc, so getting those is a waste.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI H97M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Kingston Savage 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($73.88 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($189.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Aerocool DS-Cube Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $755.82

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-04 10:07 EDT-0400

[Sintezza]

I agree about the Xeon, pair it with a cheaper H97 board.

Put the rest of your money in the best gpu possible at your budget,

And you are good to go for gaming + productivity.

 

4790K isnt that much better then the xeon e3 in gaming.

Only a very few mmo´s like planetside 2 who love single threaded performance, the 4790k will shine.

But most AAA games there wont be much of a diffrence.

[SteveGrabowski0]

I agree about the Xeon, pair it with a cheaper H97 board.

Put the rest of your money in the best gpu possible at your budget,

And you are good to go for gaming + productivity.

 

4790K isnt that much better then the xeon e3 in gaming.

Only a very few mmo´s like planetside 2 who love single threaded performance, the 4790k will shine.

But most AAA games there wont be much of a diffrence.

 

But she plays Arma, where there will be a difference.

[Sintezza]

But she plays Arma, where there will be a difference.

 

Then she could tweak the game config file, to let it better utilizing cpu threads.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Get the xeon with the 970 or a 960. Amd cards cost less so that might be a option as well. For the rest, go with the cheapest decent parts. Forget about unlock cpus, she not oc, so getting those is a waste.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($242.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: MSI H97M-G43 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($86.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Kingston Savage 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($46.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Seagate 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($73.88 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card ($189.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Aerocool DS-Cube Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($59.99 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $755.82

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-04 10:07 EDT-0400

Consider using a GTX 770 or 760 as they have better support for most pro apps. Adobe apps don't work with 900 series gpu's.

[NumLock21]

Consider using a GTX 770 or 760 as they have better support for most pro apps. Adobe apps don't work with 900 series gpu's.

Really, that's interesting.

[Nena Trinity]

But she plays Arma, where there will be a difference.

Arma? Everything is doomed in Arma!!!

 

Well that game is poorly optimized and you gotta fix it YOURSELF!!!