Oculus Rift School Build!

[ProdigyzMined]

Hey guys, I'm really happy to say I have worked with a teacher at school (not my Computer Science teacher, an Engineering/ 3D modeling teacher) for his Oculus Rift DK2. I actually didn't know about this until yesterday, had a $1,200 budget and he specifically wanted a GTX 970 and for it to be powerful enough to do 3D modeling as well as rendering, as an extra system for students to render on when he isn't geeking out over the Oculus. We have an abundance of HP z400 workstations with 4 core Xeons, with render times sometimes adding up to over 24 hours. Keep in mind that those systems cannot be used for any of his other classes while rendering, so the 8 thread Xeon E3-1230 V3 will help with that hopefully. Full parts list:

 

CPU:Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 4 Core 8 Threads

Motherboard: Asus Z97-AR

GPU: Gigabyte G1 GTX 970

Memory: 8GB (2x4) 2133MHz Corsair Vengeance Pro

Hard Drive: Western Digital Black 1TB 7200RPM

PSU: Corsair CX750M 750W 80+ Bronze Semi-Modular

Case: Corsair Carbide Series 500R White

 

Overall I've got to say I'm very, very excited about this machine, as it'll be my first 100% all me school build, which also makes me very nervous. Still, excited for the outcome and I think He'll be very pleased with not only his Oculus Rift results, but also the rendering horsepower this machine will have. Everything was ordered from Tiger Direct today, fingers crossed there won't be any DOA parts.

 

Build log to come? Hopefully, though I'd like to use a real camera rather than my S4 as my mom's Sony NEX-5R bit the dust. We'll have to see how that pans out.
 

Also, how does the name Project Oculus sound? seems appropriate!

[Pugs501]

Why no E3-1231 V3?

[Bravosgrad]

I would go evga for psu, ram is overpriced, everything else is fine. would get a high end cpu cooler to increase the overall airflow and keep the xeon cool.

[WoodenMarker]

I would've probably went with the 5820k, 290, and possibly a used 3GB 580 from eBay due to rendering times. 

[ProdigyzMined]

Why no E3-1231 V3?

Not on Tiger Direct, settled for the next best thing. Hell, even the image for this one was wrong, had to triple check and make sure it was actually an LGA1150 chip. Guess I should double check everything next time on a real retailers website

 

Product Page: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7974854&csid=_61

[ProdigyzMined]

I would go evga for psu, ram is overpriced, everything else is fine. would get a high end cpu cooler to increase the overall airflow and keep the xeon cool.

I chose the corsair for the extra wattage at the lower price, even though I sacrificed the 80+ Bronze rating instead of 80+ Gold.

 

Also, I meant to grab a hyper 212 EVO, but totally forgot We'll see how temps are and I'll suggest it if needed (likely)

[ProdigyzMined]

I would've probably went with the 5820k, 290, and possibly a used 3GB 580 from eBay due to rendering times. 

There is no way that would have happened with a $1,200 budget and being limited to Tiger Direct. this Xeon will work just fine, I'm sure. Its already an improvement over the z400's that we have already.

[WoodenMarker]

There is no way that would have happened with a $1,200 budget and being limited to Tiger Direct. this Xeon will work just fine, I'm sure. Its already an improvement over the z400's that we have already.

Why only TigerDirect? Was it some silly limitation from school funding?

[ProdigyzMined]

Why only TigerDirect? Was it some silly limitation from school funding?

Bingo. I've brought this up with him on a few occasions, he says we'll ditch TD likely by the end of this school year for Newegg, Hopefully we can get some deals due to the shear mass of hardware that we order as a school.