Planning for Project: Pandora Hearts

[Unilision]

So during summer and now that it has ended, with a month into the new semester, I decided to pick up a hobby in between my life, since I need a new PC, I thought of building a PC & than had the idea to build a desk. Everything is still in the process of planning, but most are confirmed, so far I've been debating, researching and planning on what to get, when to get and how to get it. Though my build for my PC is done, and the Two build that I placed below will depend on the cost when the sales in my city come along; November 28th, December 1st, & December 26th. A few months from now, but I'm open to suggestion, if anything can improve my build, design or etc. So place all your honest opinion/two cent, if you wish and enjoy !

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($359.79 @ DirectCanada)

CPU Cooler: Swiftech H220-X 55.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($154.99 @ NCIX)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($124.95 @ Vuugo)

Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($139.79 @ DirectCanada)

Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($139.99 @ Canada Computers)

Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 295X2 8GB Video Card  ($1714.89 @ Newegg Canada)

Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case  ($184.98 @ Newegg Canada)

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($94.99 @ NCIX)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)  ($108.34 @ TigerDirect Canada)

Monitor: Asus MX299Q 29.0" Monitor  ($505.95 @ Vuugo)

Total: $3528.66

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-19 15:41 EDT-0400

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/z46Lpg

PCPartPicker part list:

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/z46Lpg/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($338.97 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($94.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($120.00 @ Amazon) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($166.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($429.00 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($429.00 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: HIS Radeon R9 295X2 8GB Video Card  ($1006.50 @ Newegg) 

Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case  ($149.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.99 @ NCIX US) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)  ($90.26 @ OutletPC) 

Monitor: LG 34UM95 60Hz 34.0" Monitor  ($999.99 @ Micro Center) 

Case Fan: Antec Two Cool 140 Blue 33.6 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($5.20 @ Mwave) 

Total: $3960.87

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-22 16:44 EDT-0400

 

There's not really any difference between the two build besides the Storage. However depending on what happens in the next month or so, I might switch from z97 mobo to a x99, though I'm still researching and reading up around forum, youtube, and post in the internet about them. 

As for the Graphics card, I'm still considering the R9 295x2, but I heard that AMD as well might be releasing a new GPU, so let's see if the performance of it, matches or surpasses the R9 295x2. My budget is roughly $3'000 to $4'000 CAD. So feel free to produce a build of your own, if you believe that my build is insufficient.

I will be creating a Build Log once I start obtaining all my parts since I feel that since I won't be getting it till another 2 months, that people will be displeased with a project not starting yet.

Now the reason to why this Project is called "Pandora Hearts". I plan on custom making one of the side panel of the NZXT Case if possible, I am still looking into it, to a different design, and plan to cut it into this:

Of course the outer ring is most likely not going to be there so don't worry about it, it's mainly just the design on the inside. 


Now done with talking with the PC itself, it's time to move towards the desk. I take too long to design, never really have the motivation to create one unless an idea was originally given to me. So I asked for some help from my cousin, and one of my lil sis, to help me out with this. Cousin drew a spectacular design for me, and will be helping me create it while the lil sis is going to help me figure out the dimensions for it. It's still in the first stage of designing it, but this is the general layout.

Basically from the design, It seems a bit bulky. but in a sense though odd, I plan on making it so that it can detach, moving around would be simpler plus my brothers can use it as well since it can split into 3.
Now I love the design in my own way. I plan on using black melamine and adding variety of things instead to make it work, though it's been a while since I've actually built something so it's time to learn about it again. On the top of the table I plan on adding glass so that it would show the inside while I will place the PC and add in some LED strips to make it look fancy  . I plan on as well making some certain panels of the desk have mesh or something that will allow the inside have some circulation, since my PC will be inside of the desk itself. That's about it that I have, but please give me your opinion on this, it would be greatly appreciated. I may have missed some important detail but if anything just ask away. I'm quite proud of how far I have gone though not much. I appreciate if you read this all and support me on the way to something amazing in the end ! 

 

[JuTheBarbarian]

Well here's what changes I'd make to the computer.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($338.97 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($94.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($120.00 @ Amazon) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($166.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($239.00 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($85.20 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($85.20 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($85.20 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($559.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($559.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case  ($149.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($114.99 @ NCIX US) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)  ($90.26 @ OutletPC) 

Monitor: LG 34UM95 60Hz 34.0" Monitor  ($1007.58 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: Aerocool DS 140mm Blue 93.4 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($18.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $3717.33

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-22 18:59 EDT-0400

 

First thing I changed (and probably the most important thing) was your GPU solution. Compared to the Radeon R9 295x2, you can get much better performance out of 2 GTX 980s (I also read that 2 GTX 970s can compete with the R9 295x2, and those aren't as powerful as the GTX 980s) while spending just a little bit more money up front for the 980 graphics cards. That's leaving out the fact that the 980 graphics cards use much less power (saving you money on your electricity bill), and generate a ton less heat (meaning that in the middle of summer running your computer will not give you heatstroke. The R9 295x may have a fancy water-cooler to deal with the heat within the card, but that heat has to go somewhere and in this case it'll probably be the room that your computer is sitting in). So with better performance, potential money saved through spending less on electricity, and a ton less heat output, the dual GTX 980s are just a better solution.

 

The next think I changed was your storage. I got rid of one of the SDDs, simply because 500GB is more than enough space for any open projects or storing the games you play the most. Doing this offered you more room in your budget for storage in general. So I went and added 3 2TB 7200 RPM Seagate Barracuda HDDs. More than enough storage at a great price!

 

Other than that I changed your power source as the 2 980 graphics cards don't need nearly as much juice as a r9 295x2, so I went with an EVGA 850W 80+ Gold. I also replaced you case fan simply because the one you chose had pretty bad performance when compared to others. So instead on the Antec Two Cool I went with the Areocool DS 140mm. It's rated to move a lot more air (almost 3x the CFM) while also staying way quieter than the Antec Two Cool (the Areocool DS is rated to only put out about 15.5 to 23.4 dbA, while the Antec Two Cool is rater to put out 21.8 to 26.0 dbA). It's just a better fan in my mind. Plus it's still got a blue LED, and LED's are cool right?

 

So yeah, that's what I suggest for your computer build. I simply implore you to use the GTX 900 series cards instead of anything else, simply because they are cheaper and perform better than pretty much anything else on the market right now. Hope I helped and Happy Building!

[Unilision]

 

Well here's what changes I'd make to the computer.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($338.97 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($94.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($120.00 @ Amazon) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($166.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($239.00 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($85.20 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($85.20 @ Amazon) 

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($85.20 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($559.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($559.99 @ Amazon) 

Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (White) ATX Full Tower Case  ($149.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($114.99 @ NCIX US) 

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)  ($90.26 @ OutletPC) 

Monitor: LG 34UM95 60Hz 34.0" Monitor  ($1007.58 @ Newegg) 

Case Fan: Aerocool DS 140mm Blue 93.4 CFM 140mm  Fan  ($18.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Total: $3717.33

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-22 18:59 EDT-0400

 

First thing I changed (and probably the most important thing) was your GPU solution. Compared to the Radeon R9 295x2, you can get much better performance out of 2 GTX 980s (I also read that 2 GTX 970s can compete with the R9 295x2, and those aren't as powerful as the GTX 980s) while spending just a little bit more money up front for the 980 graphics cards. That's leaving out the fact that the 980 graphics cards use much less power (saving you money on your electricity bill), and generate a ton less heat (meaning that in the middle of summer running your computer will not give you heatstroke. The R9 295x may have a fancy water-cooler to deal with the heat within the card, but that heat has to go somewhere and in this case it'll probably be the room that your computer is sitting in). So with better performance, potential money saved through spending less on electricity, and a ton less heat output, the dual GTX 980s are just a better solution.

 

The next think I changed was your storage. I got rid of one of the SDDs, simply because 500GB is more than enough space for any open projects or storing the games you play the most. Doing this offered you more room in your budget for storage in general. So I went and added 3 2TB 7200 RPM Seagate Barracuda HDDs. More than enough storage at a great price!

 

Other than that I changed your power source as the 2 980 graphics cards don't need nearly as much juice as a r9 295x2, so I went with an EVGA 850W 80+ Gold. I also replaced you case fan simply because the one you chose had pretty bad performance when compared to others. So instead on the Antec Two Cool I went with the Areocool DS 140mm. It's rated to move a lot more air (almost 3x the CFM) while also staying way quieter than the Antec Two Cool (the Areocool DS is rated to only put out about 15.5 to 23.4 dbA, while the Antec Two Cool is rater to put out 21.8 to 26.0 dbA). It's just a better fan in my mind. Plus it's still got a blue LED, and LED's are cool right?

 

So yeah, that's what I suggest for your computer build. I simply implore you to use the GTX 900 series cards instead of anything else, simply because they are cheaper and perform better than pretty much anything else on the market right now. Hope I helped and Happy Building!

Yeah someone told me this similar build but I was leaning towards it and I was unsure still due to the fact that I'm not exact on whether or not I need that much storage. As for the graphics, I debated on the 980 but left it as the R9 295x2 because I'm waiting on the release of the 300 series from AMD [if they even decide to do that] but it'll be another month or two but thank you I really do appreciate the time you thought and this interests me more, I think I will get this kind of build

Aside from that, Yeah I was unclear of what kind of fans to get, I wanted to do a white/blue and maybe a bit of red in my theme, as I'm reflecting my PC to a character from the show, so thank you ! 

 

As for the monitor, a lot of my friends complained about me getting a Monitor for 1'000 so that's why I removed it from my build list, but my god it's sexy ain't it? LOL 

 

Also I just saw that LG released a Curved monitor might go towards that more maybe 

[JuTheBarbarian]

 

Yeah someone told me this similar build but I was leaning towards it and I was unsure still due to the fact that I'm not exact on whether or not I need that much storage. As for the graphics, I debated on the 980 but left it as the R9 295x2 because I'm waiting on the release of the 300 series from AMD [if they even decide to do that] but it'll be another month or two but thank you I really do appreciate the time you thought and this interests me more, I think I will get this kind of build

Aside from that, Yeah I was unclear of what kind of fans to get, I wanted to do a white/blue and maybe a bit of red in my theme, as I'm reflecting my PC to a character from the show, so thank you ! 

 

As for the monitor, a lot of my friends complained about me getting a Monitor for 1'000 so that's why I removed it from my build list, but my god it's sexy ain't it? LOL 

 

Also I just saw that LG released a Curved monitor might go towards that more maybe 

 

 

Yupyups! No probs!

 

As far as the 300 series I have no idea when of if those are coming out.

 

As far as storage goes, you could always replace the 3 HDDs for another SDD at around the same price. However I'd only do that if you're not planning on storing too many things on it (movies and video games can really stack up quick). I just always suggest putting mostly used programs on an SSD while keeping an HDD around for storage. HDDs are just way cheaper and for things like movies, music, pictures, and backed up information you don't really need the extra speed offered by an SSD.

 

For the case fans, you can look at them on PC part picker for a better look (there are 4 different color options mehinks, and they all have LEDs).

 

As for the monitor, I would totally recommend that monitor regardless of anything your friends are telling you, you simply cannot get a monitor like that anywhere else. I especially consider it better than using a 3 monitor setup not only because there are no bezels, but also because while the resolution is extremely good it does not require 2 graphics cards to play game on it with the graphics set to ultra. It may be an expensive monitor, but the productivity and awesome gaming experience you can get out of its ultra-wide profile and high resolution make the price well worth it (just make sure you don't try to skim corners by getting a smaller and less expensive 1080p ultrawide. They look good on paper by they're just too short to increase the productivity and viewing experience methinks). I have also seen a review on the curved version of this monitor, but I probably would stick with the non-curved version. Mostly because I'm not sure I've gotten aboard the Curved display train (I don't want my screen image be curved too), and also in Linus' review I there was some light-bleeding in the corners and that would really bother me....

 

Anywhoo! Glad I could help!

[Unilision]

Yupyups! No probs!

 

As far as the 300 series I have no idea when of if those are coming out.

 

As far as storage goes, you could always replace the 3 HDDs for another SDD at around the same price. However I'd only do that if you're not planning on storing too many things on it (movies and video games can really stack up quick). I just always suggest putting mostly used programs on an SSD while keeping an HDD around for storage. HDDs are just way cheaper and for things like movies, music, pictures, and backed up information you don't really need the extra speed offered by an SSD.

 

For the case fans, you can look at them on PC part picker for a better look (there are 4 different color options mehinks, and they all have LEDs).

 

As for the monitor, I would totally recommend that monitor regardless of anything your friends are telling you, you simply cannot get a monitor like that anywhere else. I especially consider it better than using a 3 monitor setup not only because there are no bezels, but also because while the resolution is extremely good it does not require 2 graphics cards to play game on it with the graphics set to ultra. It may be an expensive monitor, but the productivity and awesome gaming experience you can get out of its ultra-wide profile and high resolution make the price well worth it (just make sure you don't try to skim corners by getting a smaller and less expensive 1080p ultrawide. They look good on paper by they're just too short to increase the productivity and viewing experience methinks). I have also seen a review on the curved version of this monitor, but I probably would stick with the non-curved version. Mostly because I'm not sure I've gotten aboard the Curved display train (I don't want my screen image be curved too), and also in Linus' review I there was some light-bleeding in the corners and that would really bother me....

 

Anywhoo! Glad I could help!

Appreciate the help and yeah I watched the video, I had second thoughts afterwards, but thank you, yeah that's what I believed to do as well but wasn't sure just yet.

Now on the side note... How overkill would it be to do a 3 way or 4 way SLI? LOL 

[JuTheBarbarian]

Appreciate the help and yeah I watched the video, I had second thoughts afterwards, but thank you, yeah that's what I believed to do as well but wasn't sure just yet.

Now on the side note... How overkill would it be to do a 3 way or 4 way SLI? LOL 

 

Extremely overkill, lol especially on that monitor. But with the diminishing returns I can barely even recommend going for that even on 4k. It would probably look awesome in a large windowed case though.

 

IT WOULD BE BEAUTIFUL!

[Unilision]

Extremely overkill, lol especially on that monitor. But with the diminishing returns I can barely even recommend going for that even on 4k. It would probably look awesome in a large windowed case though.

 

IT WOULD BE BEAUTIFUL!

Haha thanks appreciate it, yeah I was debating cause the cost isn't too bad and the performance is great... So why not go ham and get 3 or 4  

[JuTheBarbarian]

Haha thanks appreciate it, yeah I was debating cause the cost isn't too bad and the performance is great... So why not go ham and get 3 or 4

 

Well the performance would be great, but technically on that screen you shouldn't even need the 2 cards to max games out (the second one is pretty much there for future proofing down the line). So if you're gonna use that screen (which would also bottleneck those cards to 60fps anyways), you would probably see absolutely no difference in terms of framerate (unless you were using an fps counter to tell you the potential framerate the cards are working to put out, but even then the only difference you would be able to see is a higher number on the top right of the screen). So yeah, while the screen space and pixel density of that monitor is great it still only goes up to 60hz (which I'm pretty sure translates to 60fps).

 

So unless you want 60+fps on a 4k setup, you simply would not have any need of 3 or 4 cards whatsoever and they'd simply be a waste of energy in the meantime. But hey if you do decide to go with a 4 card setup, make sure you get the 980s instead of the 970s because I think the 970s don't support 4 way SLI and only support 3 way SLI.