Building my first PC

[seriouslysupersonic]

First I would like to say hi to everyone here on Linus Tech Tips.

 

I've been using Mac's for a long time, but now college really made take the decision to build my own system. I'll use it for some light to medium CFD simulations and I'll do some flight simulation as well.

 

Since I've never built a PC I have some doubts I hope you guys could help:

 

I have some space restrictions so it would be nice if I could use a case like:

• Fractal Define R4 (I'm leaning towards this one)
• Antec P280
• Corsair 650D

I would like to know if is it possible to fit an Asus Sabertooth Z87 and a Swiftech H220 in any of these cases (specially the Define R4).

 

Thank you

[TheSLSAMG]

The H220 and Sabertooth Z87 are a go in the R4.

Edited August 7, 2013 by TheSLSAMG

[zip2k4]

1st sabertooth would fit.

 

2nd they should be able to support swiftech h220.

[seriouslysupersonic]

Thank you for the quick answer!

[Haggis_]

Welcome to the wonderful world of PC. You are going to get frustrated, but you will never switch back.

[zip2k4]

Welcome to the wonderful world of PC. You are going to get frustrated, but you will never switch back.

 

it's not that bad... not even close, unless you messed up something bad then u can get frustrated for a bit :3

[TheSLSAMG]

Other way around, A 240mm rad will fit but a 280mm wont

 

I realized that and have changed my comment accordingly.

[seriouslysupersonic]

Welcome to the wonderful world of PC. You are going to get frustrated, but you will never switch back.

 

Thank you for all the feedback! It is indeed a big change for me. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed with the whole process of choosing the right parts and looking up the right information but now, as I get more into it, I'm starting to enjoy it. LinusTechTips has helped me a lot  :lol:

 

I understood the SLSAMG correction. I was initially planning on getting the Corsair H110 and, with some luck, fit it in the 650D (it shows as compatible on Corsair's website). But then I read some reviews and it seems the Swiftech H220 is slightly better and a little smaller. As it uses the 240mm rad, I thought I might fit it in the R4 (which I actually prefer over the 650D). However, I was a bit concerned there might be some clearance issues with the Sabertooth Z87 (because of the Thermal Armor). It's nice to know it will all fit because I'll be able to have the computer on my room without changing the furniture  :D

 

I'll also take the opportunity and ask your opinion on the build itself (I'll gladly take your suggestions as this is the first time I do such a thing).

 

My budget is around €2500 to €3000 and I plan on doing some moderate OC.

 

CPU: i7 4770k

Mobo: Asus Sabertooth Z87

GPU: Asus GTX 780 DC2OC

Cooler: Swiftech H220

SSD: 512GB Samsung 840 Pro (or wait a bit here and get the 1TB 840 Evo)

 

I still have to do a little more reading on RAM and the PSU. I'm considering 32GB of Vengeance Pro Series...

 

What you think? Is the R4 good enough cooling wise for this parts?

 

Once again thank you

[ShadowRaven]

I world suggest a fracta design artic midi r2 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ujH42NYOgbI

 

[Haggis_]

Thank you for all the feedback! It is indeed a big change for me. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed with the whole process of choosing the right parts and looking up the right information but now, as I get more into it, I'm starting to enjoy it. LinusTechTips has helped me a lot  :lol:

 

I understood the SLSAMG correction. I was initially planning on getting the Corsair H110 and, with some luck, fit it in the 650D (it shows as compatible on Corsair's website). But then I read some reviews and it seems the Swiftech H220 is slightly better and a little smaller. As it uses the 240mm rad, I thought I might fit it in the R4 (which I actually prefer over the 650D). However, I was a bit concerned there might be some clearance issues with the Sabertooth Z87 (because of the Thermal Armor). It's nice to know it will all fit because I'll be able to have the computer on my room without changing the furniture  :D

 

I'll also take the opportunity and ask your opinion on the build itself (I'll gladly take your suggestions as this is the first time I do such a thing).

 

My budget is around €2500 to €3000 and I plan on doing some moderate OC.

 

CPU: i7 4770k

Mobo: Asus Sabertooth Z87

GPU: Asus GTX 780 DC2OC

Cooler: Swiftech H220

SSD: 512GB Samsung 840 Pro (or wait a bit here and get the 1TB 840 Evo)

 

I still have to do a little more reading on RAM and the PSU. I'm considering 32GB of Vengeance Pro Series...

 

What you think? Is the R4 good enough cooling wise for this parts?

 

Once again thank you

Hi

 

Nothing wrong with the parts that you have picked out. You will have a great computer, but "bang for the buck" you can do better.

Edit: buck no problem since you are used to mac  lol

 

If you are willing to compromise a little on performance you can do it much cheaper.

So my suggestions down here are based on "bang for the buck"

 

Processor: get a 4670K instead, you don't need faster for gaming, but you will take a little hit on some cpu intensive application

Edit: 4770K is better for you, dont know about the extreme edition, but i quess it is going to be extreme expensive

 

Motherboard: There are motherboards for half the prize, but I really like asus and I feel that motherboard are something to invest in. So Sabertooth is good

Edit: Still apply

 

GPU: 780 is great but to expensive. "Bang for the buck" you should not go higher then 760/ 770 or 7950/7970. Try to find a good/silent card with a blower designed fan. This will help you get really low temp in your case.

Edit: Here is where things starts to get really interesting. If the application you are planing to run is able to use the GPU for calcutaion power, you will be counting seconds not minutes. The calculation power is in a different league. I have no experience of this, but call the companie that makes this application and ask if it is possible and what they recommend. If this works, you are going to be popular at collage.

 

Cooler: Don't know about Swiftech H220. One option is to go H80i instead. Not the same cooling but unless you are going to get crazy OC you don't need it. The H80i has a 120mm radiator, meaning that you can keep the sounddamping topcover on, making the pc more quite.

Edit: Go for a dual 120mm solution, you will need the cooling when OC haswell

 

Fans: You didn't say anything about that but get Noctua NF-F12 for the radiator. The ones included usually are to noisy. The fans included in the R4 are OK, no need to replace them.

Edit: Still apply

 

SSD: 840 pro is great but is more for enterprise use. Wait a week or two and get the cheaper 840 evo instead. A 250GB is enough for boot and application. Install games and store music, movies etc on a 2 TB HDD instead.

Edit: Still apply

 

Case: Love the R4. There are better for airflow, but you don't find a better silent case for the money. 

Edit: Still apply

 

RAM: You don't need faster then 1600 Mhz. Don't know what you are going to run on the PC, but for gaming 8 GB is enough. I use VMware so I need a little extra. 2x8 GB 1600Mhz is probably right for you.

Edit: Dont know if you need faster then 1600 Mhz, but go for 2x16GB

 

PSU: You need between 600-750W, depending on what GPU you get. Just get a silent one

Edit: Still apply

 

Last advise. Don't rush. Read, ask people and learn before buying. Good luck 

Edit: Still apply

[WittItDew]

Thank you for all the feedback! It is indeed a big change for me. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed with the whole process of choosing the right parts and looking up the right information but now, as I get more into it, I'm starting to enjoy it. LinusTechTips has helped me a lot  :lol:

 

I understood the SLSAMG correction. I was initially planning on getting the Corsair H110 and, with some luck, fit it in the 650D (it shows as compatible on Corsair's website). But then I read some reviews and it seems the Swiftech H220 is slightly better and a little smaller. As it uses the 240mm rad, I thought I might fit it in the R4 (which I actually prefer over the 650D). However, I was a bit concerned there might be some clearance issues with the Sabertooth Z87 (because of the Thermal Armor). It's nice to know it will all fit because I'll be able to have the computer on my room without changing the furniture  :D

 

I'll also take the opportunity and ask your opinion on the build itself (I'll gladly take your suggestions as this is the first time I do such a thing).

 

My budget is around €2500 to €3000 and I plan on doing some moderate OC.

 

CPU: i7 4770k

Mobo: Asus Sabertooth Z87

GPU: Asus GTX 780 DC2OC

Cooler: Swiftech H220

SSD: 512GB Samsung 840 Pro (or wait a bit here and get the 1TB 840 Evo)

 

I still have to do a little more reading on RAM and the PSU. I'm considering 32GB of Vengeance Pro Series...

 

What you think? Is the R4 good enough cooling wise for this parts?

 

Once again thank you

 

There have been some topics posted about AMD's 7990 graphics card price drop

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/43549-amd-7990-price-drop/

 

Including these two from newegg, one has a rebate price of $629 and the other with a rebate price of $669. Both include a promo code for 8 games (I assume you want to play games) and if you're going with a single monitor, accompanied with AMD's new drivers... The 7990 will outperform the 780. 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131493

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131483

[seriouslysupersonic]

Thanks again for the replies.

Haggis_, thank you for your suggestions, but being a long time Mac user I'm not too worried about bang for the bucks. Anyway, this built will be way better in that regard (even if I use high end parts) compared to any Mac I've owned

Having said that, although I will indeed do some gaming, the main purpose of this built isn't gaming. I will use this computer to help me with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations. At college we have limited access to Xeon based workstations (e.g. we can only use one core per student, up to 8 cores simultaneously). As we are around 30 students, it becomes really slow and painful to perform these simulations.

When I mean "light to medium simulations" I am talking in a "workstation" environment (e.g. using just one Xeon core a "light simulation" can take around 45 mins and use as much as 10GB RAM (and I'm considering 2D simulations only). This grows exponentially with slightly more complex things. I've written all this so you can better understand that CPU is really important to me. That's why I plan doing some moderate OC. I'm just not confident enough to do some extreme water cooling and OC on my first build.

I was even considering waiting for intel to launch the extreme edition of their haswell processors, but I guess they must be way too expensive right?

As I said I'm still learning a lot but I guess this system will be much faster than using just one Xeon core...

RAM is indeed important because meshing is very RAM consuming.

Once again my budget is around €2500 - €3000, maybe a bit more if a CPU upgrade justifies...

Do you think it might be worth considering the Extreme CPU's that might be coming?

Thanks again.

[Haggis_]

Thanks again for the replies.

Haggis_, thank you for your suggestions, but being a long time Mac user I'm not too worried about bang for the bucks. Anyway, this built will be way better in that regard (even if I use high end parts) compared to any Mac I've owned

Having said that, although I will indeed do some gaming, the main purpose of this built isn't gaming. I will use this computer to help me with CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations. At college we have limited access to Xeon based workstations (e.g. we can only use one core per student, up to 8 cores simultaneously). As we are around 30 students, it becomes really slow and painful to perform these simulations.

When I mean "light to medium simulations" I am talking in a "workstation" environment (e.g. using just one Xeon core a "light simulation" can take around 45 mins and use as much as 10GB RAM (and I'm considering 2D simulations only). This grows exponentially with slightly more complex things. I've written all this so you can better understand that CPU is really important to me. That's why I plan doing some moderate OC. I'm just not confident enough to do some extreme water cooling and OC on my first build.

I was even considering waiting for intel to launch the extreme edition of their haswell processors, but I guess they must be way too expensive right?

As I said I'm still learning a lot but I guess this system will be much faster than using just one Xeon core...

RAM is indeed important because meshing is very RAM consuming.

Once again my budget is around €2500 - €3000, maybe a bit more if a CPU upgrade justifies...

Do you think it might be worth considering the Extreme CPU's that might be coming?

Thanks again.

Hi again

 

Well now that i have some more information, i think i need to do some editing. I will update my advise on the first post.

[seriouslysupersonic]

Thanks for all the answers.

 

Haggis_ sorry for not being so clear in the first place about the aim of this build. I will indeed follow your advice and read a lot more - I'll only start picking the parts next month 

 

I think I'll stick with the 4770K + Swiftech H220 (which is has a dual 120mm rad as you suggested).

 

I will also get the full 32GB of RAM, but I am still not sure wether or not going above 1600MHz or even 1866Mhz would bring any noticeable improvement...

 

I love the Define R4 as well, but the Arc Midi R2 ShadowRaven posted caught my attention because it seems really nice cool wise, while retaining the Define R4 form factor.

 

Finally, the GPU: I went with nvidia because all the software I use, as well as my own code, can take advantage of CUDA computing. This is why I'm having a hard time deciding weather or not the extra €300 are worth for an upgrade to the GTX Titan. CUDA can really cut down the runs duration so it might be a good move. However, I would like to have an informed opinion on this.

 

On nvidia website (https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-gpus) it seems there is a significant (0,5) difference between the "compute capability" of the GTX 770 (3,0) and GTX 780 (3,5). However, there is no difference in "compute capability" between the GTX 780 and the GTX Titan...

 

I know the Titan has more CUDA cores, as well as a faster texture fill rate, but is this enough to be considerably faster? (I really have no experience on this subject)

 

Thanks again.