Budget Workstation/Gaming Build

Dumbtack · March 27, 2015

Hello...

I'm new to this Tech forum support, I just wanted some input on a build I'm making for a friend.

So the situation is that my friend wants a new PC for Work Station applications and gaming on the side. I've did a lot of research on this build/topic but I want another opinion from you guys. My friend's budget is around $750.00 (USD), and would prefer lower if possible. It was either between Intel or AMD of course. So I made builds for both platforms on PCPartPicker. The links for both builds will be below. For the Intel's build I chose a Xeon processor, due to the fact that Xeon processors are meant for workstation and server builds and applications. A Xeon E3-1220 V3 processor is what I went with for what it was worth and due to the amount of good rating it had for a $195.00 (USD) processor. For the Motherboard I went with a ASRock H97m Pro4. I wanted a board that was cheap, had good features, and was on the 1150 CPU socket and ?97 chipset. And for a $70.00ish (USD) Motherboard, I couldn't go wrong with that. I chose an H97 board instead of a Z97 board because I've heard that H97 aren't meant for Overclocking, tweaking and was for reliability. That was what I wanted and plus Xeon processor arent meant for Overclocking in the first place. For Memory, I don't really know much about how Memory affects Workstations, So I went with 2x8 for a total of 16 Gigabytes of RAM (Speed: 1600, Cas Latency: 9). And also because the AsRock Mother only supports up to 32GB of DDR3-1600 Memory. Okay now for the GPUs. This part was really confusing for me, and had to do a lot of research for this part of the build. So for the Workstation part I went with a Nvidia Quadro Refresh k620 for the pricing mostly and its an entry level workstation GPU. My friend uses basic workstation applications, small amount of CAD, Photoshop, and Auto desk, nothing too heavy. Now for the Gaming Part, I went with a Nvidia GeForce 750ti because for the pricing aswell, A $150.00 (USD) GPU that will give him low/med settings on the latest games is perfect. I've heard that you can have both a gaming GPU (Radeon and GeForce) and a Workstation GPU (FirePro and Quadro) on the same motherboard in one system and switch between them. Link to that is below.

Now for the AMD side of things. I went with an APU processor, an A10 7850K. The Motherboard that I picked is a MSI A88X-E45. Memory I chose 2x8 for a total of 16GB (Speed:2133, Cas Latency: 10). This MSI Motherboard only supports 32Gb up to 2133 speed. I chose 2133 Memory because on a APU system its better off going with the highest speed that the board takes because the APU uses system Memory. Link will be below. Now for GPUs. I chose for the workstation side of things a FirePro W4100 mostly for Pricing and the features it has. For the gaming side of things I went with a R7 250 BECAUSE I want to enable Dual graphics with the APU. and the R7 250 is the highest GPU that will be compatible with this APU.

Now this is where you guys come in. I want to know if these parts are good for what it is worth and give me some feedback on weather or not I should change or leave it as it is. I need your HELP. Please.

Thank you!

P.S: I saw Linus doing this build for way more that I'm asking for. Two GPU (Quadro & GeForce).

ULTIMATE Video Editing Workstation PC Computer "How To" Build Guide

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhkJLF3oyI8

Also, Tell me if I should go with a Xeon or an i7 Processor for price to performance.

Another thing, I have a 650w Power Supply, Case, And a 500GB Western Digital Black Hard Drive. This is why I didn't include it in the links below.

PCPartPicker Links:

Intel: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/CHJBJx

AMD: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ZpNsgs

Gaming GPU (Radeon and GeForce) Workstation GPU (FirePro and Quadro) Hybrid PC:

https://grabcad.com/questions/how-can-i-build-a-computer-for-both-gaming-and-work-hybrid-computer-build

AMD APU Onboard Graphics Performance - Does Faster RAM Really Matter?? NCIX Tech Tips: