Project Drafting: Build Planning $5000 AUD

[Matty F]

Hi All,

 

I would appeciate some advice on my proposed rig.

 

1. Budget & Location

I am in Brisbane, Australia so this build is in $AUD.  I am trying to stick to ~$5000.00 which will include at least 1 additional monitor.

2. Aim

I am a building services draftsman, so this beast will need to run Autodesk products (Revit, AutoCAD & Navisworks) without missing a beat.  I love my games but am looking to get more into a few more simulators (taking advantage of the multiple monitors).

3. Monitors

At minimum I will be running 3 x 27" monitors - not looking at 4k as yet, my overall system though I want to be able to run 6.  I can easily use the real estate of 3 but 4 in reality is the most I would use outside of gaming.... 6 is just for ego!

4. Peripherals

While I will be replacing the 2 Acer 27" monitors I currently have - I need at minimum 1 additional monitor within the budget to get my minimum 3.  OS needs to be included as well.  Don't ask about the cost of an Autodesk licence that is a seperate budget.

5. Why are you upgrading?

Current machine is getting on a little bit.  It will become the home server.  Its fun to build computers from scratch.

 

My latest component list - budget is under at the moment (though the monitor is not listed).

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($375.00 @ CPL Online) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($149.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard  ($378.00 @ CPL Online) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($429.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Intel 530 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($189.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($599.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($599.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II (Black) ATX Full Tower Case  ($379.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Power Supply: Antec High Current Pro Platinum 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($305.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro (OEM) (64-bit)  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Total: $4227.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

Just as I am putting this post together, I think I need to boost that 240 SSD to a 512.  Remaining HDD's will be in RAID 5.

 

My build log will actually be starting soon for this - desk included!  But I needed to get some advice on my components first.

 

Cheers,

 

Matty

[Katsu-K1L]

Everything looks awesome but 1 thing thou i'd switch the 2 780's for a Single Titan black.

[SAV1OUR]

better use the quote button if you want my help

edit forgot to say this is a more for less option

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($659.00 @ CPL Online)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 98.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($148.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 WS SSI CEB LGA2011 Motherboard  ($489.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Memory: Kingston Beast 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($449.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($165.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Western Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($127.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Western Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($127.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Western Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($127.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Western Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($127.00 @ CPL Online)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($499.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($499.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case  ($199.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus 1000W 80+ Silver Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($189.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($115.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $3919.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[CoolBeans]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($409.00 @ CPL Online) 

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($88.00 @ CPL Online) 

Motherboard: MSI Z97-G55 SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($179.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Memory: Kingston Fury Black Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($185.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($165.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($549.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290X 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)  ($549.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Case: Corsair Air 540 Silver ATX Mid Tower Case  ($179.00 @ CPL Online) 

Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($298.00 @ CPL Online) 

Total: $3261.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[Guest]

Why are those 780s there? Fix it with 780tis then you are golden.

[P e r s e p h o n e]

I'm not really one to advise on the requirements of Autodesk, from the perspective of a Autodesk guru, I'm relatively inept; so take my word with a grain of salt. First you should swap out that 4820k for a 4930k due to the sheer volume of work and resolution it is wise to beef up that processor. Plus the added benefits are quite staggering as you get a 6 hyper-threaded cores rather than 4. The 4960x is pointless as it offers little performance advantage at double the price. Second that CPU cooler could use an upgrade at this level of a budget with an NZXT Kraken x61 as it is a 280mm radiator with better software control. The 280mm adds extra surface area for heat to dissipate and ultimately that is what will definite the performance of an AIO (all in one)water cooler plus by all means the benchmarks show they're superior to the H100i. Another concern of mine is the lack of a professional graphics card. I believe they're needed in this case for the increase accuracy in tasks and the sheer driver support. The drivers they feature are specifically tuned to boost the performance of a professional work setting. I believe you can still use the consumer cards as extra CUDA acceleration power. Your GPU might be able to utilize more VRAM just from the sheer power of a quad or sextuple monitor setup. Lastly I believe the Phanteks Enthoo Pro is the best EATX case.

As a side note, if you're not dropping cash now on this rig it might be wise to wait for Broadwell, DDR4, PCIE 4, and Nvidia Maxwell to come out as they're soon approaching.

By the way what resolution will those monitors be at?

Phanteks Enthoo Pro

NZXT Kraken x61

Benchmarks comparing the CPUs I mentioned:http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

[daemonowner]

I would go with an NH-D15 for the reliability of air coolers, a single Titan/Black, 4930k, Enthoo Pro, and EVGA Supernova G2 750W/850W.

[wng_kingsley7]

I would go with an NH-D15 for the reliability of air coolers, a single Titan/Black, 4930k, Enthoo Pro, and EVGA Supernova G2 750W/850W.

It's a great cooling solution however without the proper thinking for low profile ddr3 ram kits & the needed extra slot for the first pci-e slot to make up for required cooler to fit appropriately it'd might work.

[wng_kingsley7]

@Matty F I guess most people will be already posting builds oriented around the 4930K X79 platform but would you consider waiting for Haswell-E to arrive? 2 months is a long time to wait but it's so close right now.

 

Here is my build, I'm thinking that you'll be getting another GTX Titan Black to accompany the one you may be buying, if not I would consider downgrading to the asus GTX 780 strix however a lot of hardware isn't available within Australia

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/YwHvqs

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($659.00 @ CPL Online) 

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler  ($88.00 @ CPL Online) 

Motherboard: Asus P9X79-E WS SSI CEB LGA2011 Motherboard  ($559.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($389.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($289.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Storage: Crucial MX100 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($289.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($129.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($129.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($129.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($129.00 @ CPL Online) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX Titan Black 6GB Video Card  ($1299.00 @ CPL Online) 

Case: Silverstone FT04B-W ATX Full Tower Case  ($219.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($299.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)  ($109.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Total: $4715.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[brob]

@Matty F, are you sure you do not need the added precision & reliability available with a workstation gpu?

 

Autodesk does not support multiple-gpu.

 

As @Laforet suggested, an i7-4930K would be a much better choice for cpu. You may even want to wait for Haswell-E. If the rumors are accurate that will be before the end of the year. The i7-5930K will be a slight improvement over the 4930K. Better yet, the X99 chip will apparently support 10 SATA 6Gb/s ports.

 

Any particular reason for selecting the Pro version of Windows 8.1?

[Matty F]

Wow, thanks all for your quick responses.  I'll try to reply in kind.

 

@Katsu-K1L  The advice I have received to date seems to indicate that because I want to run multiple monitors that the money is better spent on 2 slightly lower cards than the single Titan black.

 

@SAV1OUR  Thanks for your research, I do like the cooler option - I have to be honest however that I am a bit of an Nvida fanboy and have been using their cards to date without any issues, I would be hard pressed to change now.

 

@Davsmith4  I think your right, I'm starting to push the budget, but for now the 2 x 780TI's are in.

 

@Laforet  Thankyou for your efforts.  As above starting to push the budget but I like your theory on the CPU - the 4930K makes the cut  , since there is only a few dollars between the coolers, I will take your advice as it was similar to a previous post.  Regarding the video cards, the computers I have used to date at work (not my home PC) have never seems to use a professional grade card so thus I figured that I should be alright.  This machine will already have double the RAM, much faster CPU, bigger SSD etc which when I compare the 2 I will still be on top for a while yet.  I haven't settled on the monitors yet, but looking at the ASUS PB278Q 2560x1440.  The work I do is not graphic intensive there is no real high res work - that's left to the 3DS lads ha ha!  I will only use the full potential of the monitors with gaming.

 

@wng_kingsley7  Again i'll be honest, waiting has never been my strong suit.  Plus my concern is that it will be a little while before the new kit even comes down in price to put in a system within budget.  I'm sure its the same everywhere but in Australia the latest hardware seems to be even more expensive (proportionally) than most places outside the US.

 

@brob  The multiple GPU's are set up mainly for gaming, its more the CPU power that I need for work.  As far as the Pro version of Windows is concerned, only because there wasn't much difference between them have I opted for that version.

 

So my latest build is looking like:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($659.00 @ CPL Online) 

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($159.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard  ($378.00 @ CPL Online) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($429.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Intel 530 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($189.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($839.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($839.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II (Black) ATX Full Tower Case  ($379.00 @ CPL Online) 

Power Supply: Antec High Current Pro Platinum 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($305.00 @ CPL Online) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro (OEM) (64-bit)  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Total: $5001.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

Thanks again for your responses, I will be starting my build log tonight - I hope its worth your time to look at 

 

Cheers

 

 

[Guest]

Wow, thanks all for your quick responses.  I'll try to reply in kind.

 

@Katsu-K1L  The advice I have received to date seems to indicate that because I want to run multiple monitors that the money is better spent on 2 slightly lower cards than the single Titan black.

 

@SAV1OUR  Thanks for your research, I do like the cooler option - I have to be honest however that I am a bit of an Nvida fanboy and have been using their cards to date without any issues, I would be hard pressed to change now.

 

@Davsmith4  I think your right, I'm starting to push the budget, but for now the 2 x 780TI's are in.

 

@Laforet  Thankyou for your efforts.  As above starting to push the budget but I like your theory on the CPU - the 4930K makes the cut  , since there is only a few dollars between the coolers, I will take your advice as it was similar to a previous post.  Regarding the video cards, the computers I have used to date at work (not my home PC) have never seems to use a professional grade card so thus I figured that I should be alright.  This machine will already have double the RAM, much faster CPU, bigger SSD etc which when I compare the 2 I will still be on top for a while yet.  I haven't settled on the monitors yet, but looking at the ASUS PB278Q 2560x1440.  The work I do is not graphic intensive there is no real high res work - that's left to the 3DS lads ha ha!  I will only use the full potential of the monitors with gaming.

 

@wng_kingsley7  Again i'll be honest, waiting has never been my strong suit.  Plus my concern is that it will be a little while before the new kit even comes down in price to put in a system within budget.  I'm sure its the same everywhere but in Australia the latest hardware seems to be even more expensive (proportionally) than most places outside the US.

 

@brob  The multiple GPU's are set up mainly for gaming, its more the CPU power that I need for work.  As far as the Pro version of Windows is concerned, only because there wasn't much difference between them have I opted for that version.

 

So my latest build is looking like:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4930K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($659.00 @ CPL Online) 

CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($159.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X79 ATX LGA2011 Motherboard  ($378.00 @ CPL Online) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($429.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Intel 530 Series 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($189.00 @ Mwave Australia) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($839.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($839.00 @ PCCaseGear) 

Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II (Black) ATX Full Tower Case  ($379.00 @ CPL Online) 

Power Supply: Antec High Current Pro Platinum 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($305.00 @ CPL Online) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro (OEM) (64-bit)  ($165.00 @ CPL Online) 

Total: $5001.00

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

Thanks again for your responses, I will be starting my build log tonight - I hope its worth your time to look at 

 

Cheers

Wow. I have never seen someone call out every person individually and thank them. Bravo sir.