Advice for New PC

[Nitroblast]

Project Solar

Don't ask me why I called it that. :3

 

Budget

 

£2000-£2500 GBP

 

The budget for this PC is really random, I could be spending £1000 or £3000, I don't necessarily have the money, but I have A LOT of time to get the money to pay for the components. I will be buying the parts in 'stages', even though it is not recommended, it is important for me personally for reasons I will not go into. This budget needs to include a monitor, components and chassis, any misc items will be noted by me. I already have parts that I have bought and I will not be returning them.

 

Aim

 

Gaming, Rendering, Editing, Coding, Media

 

I will be using this PC for many many many different things, I want to be gaming at 60fps on high-ultra settings at 1440p on the latest AAA titles, e.g Far Cry 4 and Battlefield 4 but also things like MMOs. I will also be doing heavy rendering in Cinema4D and editing in Photoshop, Premiere Pro and After Effects. Finally I will be doing general media things like watching movies and web browsing like many other people.

 

Monitors

 

Single, 1440p

 

I would definitely need an IPS monitor for colour work and for the fact that I hate TN panels, at least 60Hz with 1-8ms latency.

 

Peripherals

 

None

 

I do not need any peripherals or an OS as I already have some that I will upgrade for better ones in the future.

 

Why am I upgrading?

 

Current PC = Slow

 

My current PC is extremely slow, it is a 2010 laptop with a 2.67 Ghz dual core CPU, 6GB RAM, GT 315M GPU etc, it is very very slow.

 

Brands

 

These brands only

 

I personally like some brands, and I don't like others for again reasons I will not go into. Obviously recommend products from other brands, but the chances are I will not use them, this is not for all builds but for this one I will most likely stick to the ones below.I am a very picky person unfortunately whether it is food to TV programmes, so please bear that in mind. Everything also has to be colour matched with red and black with the exception of some things.

 

Components

 

CPU - Intel

GPU - Nvidia [ASUS]

MOTHERBOARD - Republic of Gamers

RAM - Corsair, HyperX

CPU COOLER - Corsair, Be Quiet!

HDD - Seagate, Western Digital

SSD - Samsung, HyperX, Intel

PSU - Corsair

THERMAL COMPOUND - IC Diamond 7

 

Peripherals

 

MONITOR - Asus

KEYBOARD - Razer [Chroma]

MOUSE - Razer [Chroma]

HEADPHONES - Audio Technica, Sennheiser

MICROPHONE - Blue, Sennheiser, Razer

 

Plans

 

Future plans for the PC

 

In the future I have many many plans, which I will now state in order of what I plan to do, if you have any recommendations, please again tell me them but refer to the brands list above if you wish to do so without wasting your time.

 

1. Upgrade Keyboard and Mouse
2. Upgrade Headphones (Maybe get Magni 2 Uber & Modi 2 Uber)
3. Upgrade Mic
4. Upgrade external cable management
5. Upgrade CPU cooler

Large Upgrades

 

1. Liquid cool system
2. Build server/NAS, get rid of HDDs and switch to SSD + NAS storage

 

Useful Information

 

Please check this before replying

 

With this PC, I have some of the things I will be doing listed. I will be running the two SSHDs in RAID 1 for redundancy so I do not lose all my data if one of the SSHDs fail, as I will have some important content, I will also be purchasing some shock adapters so I can put them in the 5.25" drive bays so I do not sacrifice airflow and space with drive cages. I chose SSHDs as they're cheaper than WD Black drives (Which is what I would have got instead) yet offer much better performance. With the SSD I am also looking at the HyperX Predator M.2 SSD which Linus featured in his CES coverage but is not yet released which is why an SSD is not listed yet.

 

This system will be mounted on the top of my wardrobe, so there will not be much dust included with less noise as it is further away from me and with a DIY cooling system I showed off in another post, but with that I will install a custom switch to turn the PC on from my desk for ease of use. The front panel will be off so there is more airflow from the front fans, the top dust filter will be off as the fans there will be in an exhaust configuration and I have installed two dust filters in the bottom 120mm fans

 

I again will not be returning anything I have already bought unless faulty of course, and will be buying in 'stages' which means I will buy a component once I have the money allocated for it instead of buying them all at the same time. I know the motherboard is completely overkill but there is a reason why I need to get that motherboard instead of another. 

 

If I forget to mention anything, I will update this post with the information.

 

PC

 

As of 17/01/2014.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  (£293.94 @ Aria PC) 

CPU Cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 87.0 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler  (Purchased For £33.74) 

Motherboard: Asus RAMPAGE V EXTREME EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  (£330.14 @ Amazon UK) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£269.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 

Storage: Seagate  2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  (£79.99 @ Aria PC) 

Storage: Seagate  2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive  (£79.99 @ Aria PC) 

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Matrix Video Card  (Purchased For £359.99) 

Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case  (Purchased For £117.59) 

Power Supply: Corsair RM 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£136.75 @ Aria PC) 

Monitor: Asus PB278Q 27.0" Monitor  (£449.08 @ Amazon UK) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition 39.9 CFM 120mm  Fan  (Purchased For £11.63) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm  Fans  (Purchased For £19.62) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm  Fans  (Purchased For £19.62) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm  Fan  (Purchased For £12.00) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm  Fan  (Purchased For £12.17) 

Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 67.8 CFM 140mm  Fan  (Purchased For £12.17) 

Other: TP-Link 5 Port Gigabit 10/1000 Desktop Switch Black (Purchased For £12.60)

Other: D-Link Twin Pack DHP-309AV/B Powerline AV500 Mini Adapter Starter Kit (Purchased For £23.75)

Other: 120mm Silverstone SST-FF122B (Purchased For £3.47)

Other: 120mm Silverstone SST-FF122B (Purchased For £3.47)

Total: £2281.70

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-17 20:44 GMT+0000

[christianled59]

Nice. However, 1000w psu seems a little over kill. You could save some money on that and get a 750w or even an 800w and sli. (considering you're wanting to do rendering) Also, for almost 3k, why not sli? 

[Nitroblast]

Nice. However, 1000w psu seems a little over kill. You could save some money on that and get a 750w or even an 800w and sli. (considering you're wanting to do rendering) Also, for almost 3k, why not sli? 

Thanks :3.

 

As as I mentioned, I can go higher, but I will be waiting longer, and if I want to get SLI, I will have to get it soon as the 780TI has been discontinued which I really don't have the money allocated for right now. I also don't think I will need SLI for what I need to do for now. The 1000W PSU is simply for (F-Word) 'futureproofing' as I may add more things that will need that 1000w, and I definitely have the money for that over the 850w version.

[christianled59]

Thanks :3.

 

As as I mentioned, I can go higher, but I will be waiting longer, and if I want to get SLI, I will have to get it soon as the 780TI has been discontinued which I really don't have the money allocated for right now. I also don't think I will need SLI for what I need to do for now. The 1000W PSU is simply for (F-Word) 'futureproofing' as I may add more things that will need that 1000w, and I definitely have the money for that over the 850w version.

Yeah, true. Future proofing would be nice. Well have you considered getting a titan? It's cheaper than sli 780ti's, is a beast for rendering, and really good for future proofing. You could sli in the far future but be really good for now and get more out of your budget.

 

Edit: 500 posts!!!

[brob]

@artic,

 

A note on branding. Corsair does not manufacture a single psu. Their better models are built by manufacturers like Seasonic, CWT, and Flextronics. The RM series is not generally considered one of their better lines.

 

If you want to stay with Corsair you can stay within the color scheme by going with a unit from the Flextronics built AXi series. The AX-1200i, while more than needed would likely be the best fit. Otherwise you might consider the Superflower built, black EVGA 120-G2-1000-XR which comes with black and red cables. (Superflower is another very well regarded psu manufacturer.)

 

I would suggest buying the ssd to start. (The ideal would be a Samsung XP941 M.2 ssd.) Reinstalling a system is a major and time consuming project. What you might consider is getting the ssd and one of the hdd you intend to put in the NAS. That should hold you until you are ready to get the NAS. I would advise you not to get hybrid hdd.

 

Little point in commenting on a number of other items as the purchases have been made.

[Nitroblast]

Yeah, true. Future proofing would be nice. Well have you considered getting a titan? It's cheaper than sli 780ti's, is a beast for rendering, and really good for future proofing. You could sli in the far future but be really good for now and get more out of your budget.

 

Edit: 500 posts!!!

I probably wouldn't see much difference with a Titan due to the fact that Cinema4D is mainly affected by the CPU, and it is £1000 here and the 780TI was £360... :3 and I have already bought the 780TI, infact it is right next to me so yeah :3

[Nitroblast]

@artic,

 

A note on branding. Corsair does not manufacture a single psu. Their better models are built by manufacturers like Seasonic, CWT, and Flextronics. The RM series is not generally considered one of their better lines.

 

If you want to stay with Corsair you can stay within the color scheme by going with a unit from the Flextronics built AXi series. The AX-1200i, while more than needed would likely be the best fit. Otherwise you might consider the Superflower built, black EVGA 120-G2-1000-XR which comes with black and red cables. (Superflower is another very well regarded psu manufacturer.)

 

I would suggest buying the ssd to start. (The ideal would be a Samsung XP941 M.2 ssd.) Reinstalling a system is a major and time consuming project. What you might consider is getting the ssd and one of the hdd you intend to put in the NAS. That should hold you until you are ready to get the NAS. I would advise you not to get hybrid hdd.

 

Little point in commenting on a number of other items as the purchases have been made.

I will definitely consider a better PSU considering the amount I am already spending, seeing as Christianled59 said 1000w may be slightly overkill and a 1200i is extremely overkill, do you think an AX860i would be okay?

 

I would honestly like to wait to see the price and speeds of the HyperX Predator, but if it isn't good, I will get the XP941 instead. Why wouldn't an SSHD be a good idea btw?

 

I just put that there just in-case :3

[brob]

I will definitely consider a better PSU considering the amount I am already spending, seeing as Christianled59 said 1000w may be slightly overkill and a 1200i is extremely overkill, do you think an AX860i would be okay?

 

I would honestly like to wait to see the price and speeds of the HyperX Predator, but if it isn't good, I will get the XP941 instead. Why wouldn't an SSHD be a good idea btw?

 

I just put that there just in-case :3

 

Something in the 800W range would not allow for the addition of another GTX 780 Ti. That is why I suggested a 1000W model. PCPartPicker estimates the stock max draw of the system with a second gpu at just under 850W.

 

SSHD have a fairly small flash portion so their better than hdd performance only shines when there is a concentration of frequently referenced blocks. When the access pattern is more evenly distributed the advantage drops. In my opinion an sshd is only suitable if used as a boot drive when it is not possible to use an ssd. 

[Fgtfv567]

I would recommend an 120 gb SSD for better boot-up times, lowering the PSU to 650W or 750W, and getting a ASUS Strix 980, possibly 2

[Nitroblast]

Something in the 800W range would not allow for the addition of another GTX 780 Ti. That is why I suggested a 1000W model. PCPartPicker estimates the stock max draw of the system with a second gpu at just under 850W.

 

SSHD have a fairly small flash portion so their better than hdd performance only shines when there is a concentration of frequently referenced blocks. When the access pattern is more evenly distributed the advantage drops. In my opinion an sshd is only suitable if used as a boot drive when it is not possible to use an ssd. 

Right, I will definitely look into the AX1200i or HX1000i, but I will probably never add another 780TI due to what I will be doing, and considering that that model has already been discontinued, it will be unlikely I will even be able to find another so I will keep that in mind.

 

I will probably change them out for WD Red or WD Black for the sheer reliability, speed and the warranty that is included with them.

[Nitroblast]

I would recommend an 120 gb SSD for better boot-up times, lowering the PSU to 650W or 750W, and getting a ASUS Strix 980, possibly 2

Please read the full post before recommending things next time, but I would see what you mean if I had not already bought the 780TI, and am waiting for the HyperX Predator M.2 240GB SSD but is it not released yet, so that is why it is not listed. I also will be overclocking and may add more power consuming things in the future, so I will not be going below 850w.