Workstation / Server / Gaming Rig

[John Cutburth]

My current home workstation is a few years old MSI gaming laptop with GTX 1060, 32gb ram, 500gb m.2, and 2tb 7200rpm drive that I will be handing off so no stealing parts from my workstation. I am getting ready to build new system and I got such good advice when upgrading both my son's gaming rigs for the holidays that I thought I would get suggestions on build direction. 

 

Location

I am located in Central US about 4 hour drive from Micro Center so any parts sourced from there would have to be worth the drive.

 

Budget

$1500 to $2000

 

Aim

• For work: I am a full stack developer, I spend most my time in Visual Studio 2019, VS Code, Unity3d, and Rhino 3D. I also manage a few clients networks so I have on average 2 or 3 Hyper-V VM's running in the background to connect to their networks VPNs without affecting my primary systems networking or I might spin up a VM for application testing. 
• For Fun: Besides using Rhino 3D for asset for games I also design 3D models for 3d printing. I do enjoy gaming but am not super hard core but when I do play I want it to look good. After watching LTT THIS Replaced Every PC in my House! I was thinking that if I went big I could replace my Workstation/Game rig and Home server running Plex 2,steam cache server, and Hyper-V VM's (Minecraft server for son and his friends, pi-hole, vm for downloads,  and some other random VM's)

Monitor
I will be running 2 monitors I have a Acer et430k an ok 43" 4k but with the low refresh rate it is great for developer work but not so good for anything more then casual gaming so I am thinking of adding a second monitor for gaming. (this budget does not include the second monitor that would be above and beyond but suggestions would be appreciated)

 

Peripherals

I don't need anything here I am good. A second monitor suggestion would be good but not part of this budget. Super crazy refresh rate not needed. Would like to have a second nic for Hyper-V maybe even a 3rd so plex can have a dedicated card. I am going from a laptop back to a desktop so i will need a full build (case,PSU,fans) suggestions. Favorite colors are Orange and grey  my company colors so anything that will match up with that would be cool.

 

Why am I upgrading?

Needing replacement PC. Home server is old and slow, having issues with plex even when Minecraft server turned off. I am wanting to streamline to one pc for all work/gaming/server needs. I would like a nice looking computer but don't need RGB everything but not bothered by it if I can turn it off.

 

[John Cutburth]

Also I have a 6tb drive I use primarily for plex that is 80% full so I will need at least 1 more large storage device and room for more.

 

[brob]

A system like the one in the link will not fit in the budget.

[John Cutburth]

3 hours ago, brob said:

A system like the one in the link will not fit in the budget.

Yeah I was just inspired by it. 

[brob]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($324.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler  ($59.95 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME X570-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($234.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($87.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Crucial MX500 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($213.48 @ Adorama) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card  ($499.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Design Define R6 USB-C Blackout ATX Mid Tower Case  ($138.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1830.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-18 02:39 EST-0500

[John Cutburth]

20 hours ago, brob said:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($324.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler  ($59.95 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME X570-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($234.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($87.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Crucial MX500 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($213.48 @ Adorama) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card  ($499.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Design Define R6 USB-C Blackout ATX Mid Tower Case  ($138.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1830.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-18 02:39 EST-0500

So will this build handle everything I want to do or should I think about increasing the budget to 3k? I am just worried that with all the VM's I run it will bog down my normal daily workflow or game play. 

[brob]

If you upped the budget by a few hundred, you could go with a 3900X and NH-D15S. Unless the vm use a lot of processor I doubt the upgrade would significantly impact overall performance. But such an upgrade would significantly improve cpu rendering times.

[John Cutburth]

On 1/19/2020 at 5:46 AM, brob said:

If you upped the budget by a few hundred, you could go with a 3900X and NH-D15S. Unless the vm use a lot of processor I doubt the upgrade would significantly impact overall performance. But such an upgrade would significantly improve cpu rendering times.

So I have increased my budget on this project to 3k are you saying a few hundred more than 3k so like $3300?

[John Cutburth]

On 1/19/2020 at 5:46 AM, brob said:

3900X and NH-D15S.

If I went with the 3900x would I need to go with DDR-4600 to take full advantage of it?

[brob]

When I wrote a few hundred I meant 2,200 - 2,300.

 

2 hours ago, John Cutburth said:

If I went with the 3900x would I need to go with DDR-4600 to take full advantage of it?

No. DDR4-3600 CL16 is considered the sweet spot. Particular applications / games may do better with other memory speed and timings but most people use more than one app.

 

[boggy77]

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor	$749.00 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$74.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard	$279.99 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$154.99 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$154.99 @ Newegg
Storage	HP EX950 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$242.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Seagate IronWolf NAS 6 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$159.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card	$503.98 @ Newegg
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$98.99 @ Walmart
Power Supply	Corsair RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$109.99 @ Amazon
Case Fan	ARCTIC P12 PWM PST(5-pack) 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans	$27.99 @ Amazon
Monitor	AOC CQ27G1 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$249.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$2827.84
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$2807.84
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-29 05:34 EST-0500

 

[igormp]

On 1/18/2020 at 4:40 AM, brob said:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($324.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler  ($59.95 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME X570-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($234.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($87.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Crucial MX500 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($213.48 @ Adorama) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card  ($499.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Design Define R6 USB-C Blackout ATX Mid Tower Case  ($138.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1830.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-18 02:39 EST-0500

32gb might not be enough, the build from the guy above seems nicer for work stuff.

[John Cutburth]

1 hour ago, igormp said:

32gb might not be enough

I had started to build a system up and I think @boggy77 build might be closer to what I am looking for. I think I am wanting 64gb of ram though. I am also looking to replace the fans with something quieter the 5 pack is a good deal but when spending this kind of money why cheep out on fans.

[John Cutburth]

4 minutes ago, John Cutburth said:

I think I am wanting 64gb

sorry @boggy77 I knew I upgraded something. just realized you already had 64gb of ram I upgrade to a 12tb drive as my current 6tb plex server is 80% full and I just purchased it 3 months ago.

[John Cutburth]

13 hours ago, boggy77 said:

EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card

So after reading some reviews I am worried about how loud some say this card is. The case will be sitting next to me and with the meshify case there is nothing to stop the sound. I am wondering if the temp sacrifice might be worth going for something like a "be quiet! 600" for the sounds dampening plus I really dig the dark and orange look.

[boggy77]

7 hours ago, John Cutburth said:

So after reading some reviews I am worried about how loud some say this card is. The case will be sitting next to me and with the meshify case there is nothing to stop the sound. I am wondering if the temp sacrifice might be worth going for something like a "be quiet! 600" for the sounds dampening plus I really dig the dark and orange look.

The xc ultra is one of the top end models, so should be quieter than others. If you found reviews that say otherwise, than trust those, don't take my word for it.

As for case, i've seen a few videos of mesh cases vs "quiet" cases, and the mesh cases are better in terms of sounds, as the component stay cooler and the fans don't reach high rpm's. But again, if you find something else regarding the specific models you're considering, go for that.

[John Cutburth]

@boggy77 This is what I have come up with so far. I am still unsure about the fans. I have adjusted a few items from your build. Let me know if any of my changes don't make sense or look to be a pore change. I dropped the monitor for now. I think I will add the monitor in a few months.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor	$749.00 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$99.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard	$279.99 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$154.99 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$154.99 @ Newegg
Storage	HP EX950 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$242.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Seagate IronWolf Pro 12 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$296.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Asus GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card	$519.99 @ Amazon
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair RM (2019) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$109.99 @ Best Buy
Case Fan	ARCTIC P12 PWM PST(5-pack) 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans	$27.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2736.85
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-30 02:51 EST-0500

 

[boggy77]

8 minutes ago, John Cutburth said:

@boggy77 This is what I have come up with so far. I am still unsure about the fans. I have adjusted a few items from your build. Let me know if any of my changes don't make sense or look to be a pore change. I dropped the monitor for now. I think I will add the monitor in a few months.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 3.5 GHz 16-Core Processor	$749.00 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15 CHROMAX.BLACK 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler	$99.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard	$279.99 @ Amazon
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$154.99 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory	$154.99 @ Newegg
Storage	HP EX950 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive	$242.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Seagate IronWolf Pro 12 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$296.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Asus GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB DUAL EVO OC Video Card	$519.99 @ Amazon
Case	Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case	$99.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	Corsair RM (2019) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$109.99 @ Best Buy
Case Fan	ARCTIC P12 PWM PST(5-pack) 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans	$27.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$2736.85
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-30 02:51 EST-0500

 

Asus dual evo is a low end model. Loud and hot. If you want to go with asus and not evga, go for the strix,but it will be significantly more expensive.

For the apu, there is a significant difference in quality between RM and RMX. Go for the RMX for a 3k build.

[John Cutburth]

3 minutes ago, boggy77 said:

Asus dual evo is a low end model. Loud and hot. If you want to go with asus and not evga, go for the strix,but it will be significantly more expensive.

For the apu, there is a significant difference in quality between RM and RMX. Go for the RMX for a 3k build.

ok that is good to know. I will switch them back.

[brob]

When buying 64GB if memory I'd suggest either 2x32GB or 4x16GB. Getting two 2x16GB kits is not optimal even though it may save a few $.

[John Cutburth]

23 hours ago, brob said:

When buying 64GB if memory I'd suggest either 2x32GB or 4x16GB. Getting two 2x16GB kits is not optimal even though it may save a few $.

Ahh I already ordered. I did 2 2x16gb

[John Cutburth]

so question. I was looking at different options and I think I ordered the wrong GPU. Not sure how it happened but it did. the one I ordered is this one https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-rtx-2070-super-08g-p4-3071-kr/p/N82E16814487456 and the one I was goign to order was this one https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-rtx-2070-super-08g-p4-3173-kr/p/N82E16814487453

 

Should I return it and order the one I was targeting or is the difference minor?

[boggy77]

8 hours ago, John Cutburth said:

so question. I was looking at different options and I think I ordered the wrong GPU. Not sure how it happened but it did. the one I ordered is this one https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-rtx-2070-super-08g-p4-3071-kr/p/N82E16814487456 and the one I was goign to order was this one https://www.newegg.com/evga-geforce-rtx-2070-super-08g-p4-3173-kr/p/N82E16814487453

 

Should I return it and order the one I was targeting or is the difference minor?

The one you ordered is the low tier one, the one you should have ordered is the high end model with better coolers. It's up to you. If it isn't very inconvenient, i'd replace it.

[John Cutburth]

2 hours ago, boggy77 said:

The one you ordered is the low tier one, the one you should have ordered is the high end model with better coolers. It's up to you. If it isn't very inconvenient, i'd replace it.

Well it was a $15 mistake. Good news is amazon had the EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB XC ULTRA GAMING for the same price as the EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB XC GAMING on newegg so I can step it up and get it in 2 days so I don't have to wait for it.