PC Build Planning - Purpose to Parts

[Aereto_Compuru]

Despite identifying my needs and purpose, my weeks-long research for parts and meeting the mentioned resulted in a muddled conundrum. I have a few characteristics I need to pat down before I could further refine my build proposals. I'll give a run-down of the important things, spoiler'd for space convenience.

 

1. Budget - Approximated $500 to $1000 preferred, plus up to $500 Ceiling for Future Resilience Planning/Future Expansion Budget/GPU+CPU Priority Budget, but $0 Software Budget.

Spoiler

While I am looking for a part-time job, I am well aware that my spec demands will result in rather costly parts, which I will explain later. I can live with directing my funds to either paying my financial aid while in college, or to the build resource pool. I am not keen for other sources of investments from anyone else, but I will make use of whatever benefits offered as a student or employee. Microsoft Office, Windows, and even Visual Basic will be free for purchase once, as far as I checked, so minimum software requirements will be cost-effective.

 

Due to the budget, Intel processor performance is being compromised that AMD may have no problems with. Permanent prices are taken account, as sales are temporary.

 

As a bonus, whatever profit and donations I get when I make and publish games goes to Upgrade Budget for parts and software, Donation Pool for supporting the software that made the development possible, and Personal Pool dedicated to whatever financial issues that befall me or family members when they happen. No Crowd Funding because of this business model.

2. Purpose - Shared Multi-Purpose Gaming and Wide-Spectrum Independent Development and Content Creation as a hobby.

Spoiler

This purpose tends to be misunderstood by a good deal of people, and is in need of input from users with working developer experience. I will subject the build to playing games of various performance demands, including ones in active development and excluding the usual AAA games and FPS. Forget playing Battlefield, Crysis, or FarCry; Space/Medieval Engineers or Kenshi are where the real fun begins, whose still-optimizing builds will make even the highest end of components run for their money and reputation if the software is not the bottleneck.

 

The habit of playing games still in development is also in my interest in test-playing for various independent developers in my spare time, reporting bugs and exploits that are not well addressed in the community. I am also subjecting the build into situations that will be part of the development process:

• 3D Modeling, Animation, and Rendering - I can't make assets without modeling software first. Blender will be first choice, since my software budget is set to $0. The peak demand I'm putting this will be up to actually making 3D animated videos, so the graphics card will be subjected to demands not usually found in typical games. That would also mean I need a larger RAM capacity in system and GPU once my projects become very complex.
• Audio Workstation - I'd rather not use the royalty-free music if they don't quite fit the way I want things to be. If you want it done right, do it yourself! I am likely to use LMMS for my music needs as part of $0 software planning. I'm not likely to make my own soundfonts at this point. The audio mastering and incorporating into video will be a CPU-intense process, and a reason why I am skeptical in using A-series APUs.
• 2D Graphic Arts and Textures - Not as graphically intensive, but affects peripheral choices, which will be covered later. GIMP is a preferred choice.
• Indie Game Development and Testing with OS Virtualization - In a nutshell, I'll put it all together towards a game engine or two. A gaming graphics card will definitely handle the testing process, but the most stressful moments of the components will be the development involved. The level of complexity will start small, but slowly escalates as my skills and working knowledge continue to hone. This will be a one-person operation, so the build will handle all parts of the development process, not off-loading to any work to other devices. Expected to operate on Windows, and the hardware must be handle Linux distributions as a virtual machine. Not expected to be accessed remotely by laptop, but remains an option. Tied between Unreal Engine and CRYENGINE due to their business models. Multi-GPU testing optional, depending on project complexity.
• Data protection priority - Due to the nature of work involved, the data drives would need RAID 1 as a minimum to perform post-failure recovery operations. RAID 5 or 10 may be chosen, depending on how may drive bays the case can hold. I will always carry backups, but such snapshots are not as up-to-date as recovery methods.

3. Monitors and Audio - No 4k resolution expected, using current single TVs or 2 monitors available if adapters allow. Likely to use studio headphones.

Spoiler

I have a few LCD monitors that are some years old, though they have old VGA connections.

4. Peripherals - Using available equipment, but needs new ambidextrous trackball mouse. LCD Graphics Tablet needed. May upgrade keyboard if spare funds allow.

Spoiler

In this day and age, ambidextrous trackball mice, whose marble ball is dead-center, are crowded out by the optical/laser mice. Right-handed trackball mice are an ergonomics nightmare since only the thumb will be subjected to repetitive strain instead of typical wrist and arm. An old trackball of mine is starting to lose button response, and one of the same model and brand, or at least design, will be sought soon. I have a pair of USB wired keyboards that will suit functional needs.

 

As someone who sketches with pencil and paper, graphics tablets are a must, but found that non-LCD ones are not friendly for cross-learning drawing skills to the digital medium. I'll take looking where my pencil is at, any time and day, than getting increasingly frustrated and angry when my drawing lines do not match with the intended spot with multiple fail-undo cycles. This could develop OC behaviors if I don't choose my tablets correctly.

5. Case and Cooling - Air-cooled, Closed-Air, No overclocking except as an emergency measure. All intake case paths filtered. North Hemisphere Temperate Climate with Cold Winters. Rear-directed exhaust preferred. No direct top exhaust unless heated air escapes sideways. No side air paths preferred or be forced into exhaust duty. Windowed side for inspection. One-fan Upright Heatpipe CPU cooler planned for use. PSU takes internal air than external. At least one 5.25" bay required. 200mm case fans preferred if not violating limitations set previously.

Spoiler

As I live in a place where winters can frequently hit 0 C, I am taking advantage of the cool ambient air. Not expecting summers to go +30 C for more than a week, but room AC is present to lower ambient air temperature if necessary.

 

I am vary precarious with heat exhaust management, as does air intake. All intake air paths must have dust filters; any path that doesn't have is either exhaust or no path at all. The computer is likely placed on the hardwood floor, so dust filters is a must for all intakes.

 

As I am anticipating topside obstruction and protecting the internals from any water spills, there must no vertical top exhaust path. Any liquid, be it a spill from anyone or very lucky drops of rainwater dripping from the ceiling, can put all of my planned budget to the trash (Do try not to argue with this). If there's top exhaust, at least guide the air horizontally like the NZXT H440 or Cooler Master Mastercase Maker 5.

 

I need the case to have a window. Exposing the components while it runs prevents accurate airflow checks, while any issues with the components can be seen as they happen. I am likely to replace the vented expansion slot unused plates with full steel non-vented ones. GPU air cooling will affect internal ambient temperatures and board-wide heat dissipation.

 

For the sake of power distribution and case fan usage, I'll take a 1 exhaust, 1 intake fan approach. 140mm is fine, but why not 200mm?

6. Other Considerations - Longevity Priority; Motherboard, PSU, CPU, and CPU heat-sinks are designated as Life-long priority. Motherboard and PSU total failures will not be tolerated as they will spread damage to the rest of the parts. Highly resilient motherboards are heavily preferred (expecting to survive BIOS malware). Full-color controllable LEDs preferred for illumination/inspection duty. CD/DVD and flash memory read/write drive will be used. Blu-Ray drive optional. USB 3.0 needed due to use by backup HDDs.

[Starelementpoke]

17 minutes ago, Aereto_Compuru said:

Despite identifying my needs and purpose, my weeks-long research for parts and meeting the mentioned resulted in a muddled conundrum. I have a few characteristics I need to pat down before I could further refine my build proposals. I'll give a run-down of the important things, spoiler'd for space convenience.

 

1. Budget - Approximated $500 to $1000 preferred, plus up to $500 Ceiling for Future Resilience Planning/Future Expansion Budget/GPU+CPU Priority Budget, but $0 Software Budget.

  Hide contents

While I am looking for a part-time job, I am well aware that my spec demands will result in rather costly parts, which I will explain later. I can live with directing my funds to either paying my financial aid while in college, or to the build resource pool. I am not keen for other sources of investments from anyone else, but I will make use of whatever benefits offered as a student or employee. Microsoft Office, Windows, and even Visual Basic will be free for purchase once, as far as I checked, so minimum software requirements will be cost-effective.

 

Due to the budget, Intel processors performance is being compromised that AMD may have no problems with. Permanent prices are taken account, as sales are temporary.

 

As a bonus, whatever profit and donations I get when I make and publish games goes to Upgrade Budget for parts and software, Donation Pool for supporting the software that made the development possible, and Personal Pool dedicated to whatever financial issues that befall me or family members when they happen. No Crowd Funding because of this business model.

2. Purpose - Shared Multi-Purpose Gaming and Wide-Spectrum Development and Content Creation as a hobby.

  Hide contents

This purpose tends to be misunderstood by a good deal of people, and is in need of input from users with working developer experience. I will subject the build to playing games of various performance demands, including ones in active development and excluding the usual AAA games and FPS. Forget playing Battlefield, Crysis, or FarCry; Space/Medieval Engineers or Kenshi are where the real fun begins, whose still-optimizing builds will make even the highest end of components run for their money and reputation if the software is not the bottleneck.

 

The habit of playing games still in development is also in my interest in test-playing for various independent developers in my spare time, reporting bugs and exploits that are not well addressed in the community. I am also subjecting the build into situations that will be part of the development process:

• 3D Modeling, Animation, and Rendering - I can't make assets without modeling software first. Blender will be first choice, since my software budget is set to $0. The peak demand I'm putting this will be up to actually making 3D animated videos, so the graphics card will be subjected to demands not usually found in typical games. That would also mean I need a larger RAM capacity in system and GPU once my projects becomes very complex.
• Audio Workstation - I'd rather not use the royalty-free music if they don't quite fit the way I want things to be. If you want it done right, do it yourself! I am likely to use LMMS for my music needs as part of $0 software planning. I'm not likely to make my own soundfonts at this point. The audio mastering and incorporating into video will be a CPU-intense process, and a reason why I am skeptical in using A-series APUs.
• 2D Graphic Arts and Textures - Not as graphically intensive, but affects peripheral choices, which will be covered later. GIMP is a preferred choice.
• Game development and testing with OS virtualization - In a nutshell, I'll put it all together towards a game engine or two. A gaming graphics card will definitely handle the testing process, but the most stressful moments of the components will be the development involved. The level of complexity will start small, but slowly escalates as my skills and working knowledge continue to hone. This will be a one-person operation, so the build will handle all parts of the development process, not off-loading to any work to other devices. Expected to operate on Windows, and the hardware must be handle Linux distributions as a virtual machine. Not expected to be accessed remotely by laptop, but remains an option. Tied between Unreal Engine and CRYENGINE due to their business models.

3. Monitors and Audio - No 4k resolution expected, using current TVs and monitors available if adapters allow. Likely to use studio headphones.

  Hide contents

I have a few LCD monitors that are some years old, though they have old VGA connections.

4. Peripherals - Using available equipment, but needs new ambidextrous trackball mouse. LCD Graphics Tablet preferred. May upgrade keyboard if spares funds allow.

  Hide contents

In this day and age, ambidextrous trackball mice, whose marble ball is dead-center, are crowded out by the optical/laser mice. Right-handed trackball mice are an ergonomics nightmare since only the thumb will be subjected to repetitive strain instead of typical wrist and arm. I have a pair of USB wired keyboards that will suit functional needs. An old trackball of mine is starting to lose button response, and one of the same model and brand, or at least design, will be sought soon. As someone who sketches with pencil and paper, graphics tablets are a must, but found that non-LCD ones are not friendly for cross-learning drawing skills to the digital medium. I'll take looking where my pencil is at, any time and day, than getting increasingly frustrated and angry when my drawing lines do not match with the intended spot with multiple fail-undo cycles. This could develop OC behaviors if I don't choose my tablets correctly.

 

I'll leave the mouse to you, no clue where I'd find one:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3jbpGf
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3jbpGf/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($18.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($62.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: PNY Anarchy 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($52.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ NCIX US) 
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($52.50 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card  ($269.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ NCIX US) 
Monitor: Sceptre E225W-1920 22.0" 60Hz Monitor  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $945.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-10 18:31 EDT-0400

I'd wait for the AIB 480's to be released.

[Zyndo]

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZLLyXH

 

spent a while putting that together. it exceeds your 1k budget request, but you said you don't mind about 500 more (only spend 250 more). I don't know to what scope you intend to do these professional applications, but this computer should do a pretty darn good job of them all.

[Aereto_Compuru]

1 hour ago, Starelementpoke said:

I'll leave the mouse to you, no clue where I'd find one:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3jbpGf
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3jbpGf/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($18.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H-A Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($62.88 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: PNY Anarchy 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($52.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($57.99 @ NCIX US) 
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($52.50 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card  ($269.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Corsair SPEC-01 RED ATX Mid Tower Case  ($39.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 550W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($59.99 @ NCIX US) 
Monitor: Sceptre E225W-1920 22.0" 60Hz Monitor  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $945.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-10 18:31 EDT-0400

I'd wait for the AIB 480's to be released.

Ok, I looked into the parts after I updated the original posts to further refine the scope. My trackball mouse is the Logitech Trackman, which has been in service since 2000s, serving 2 desktops, 2 laptops, and 1 Raspberry Pi until it had problems.

 

A 4-core Intel may be fine, though 6-core or higher clock speed may be preferred when I'm running the above situations. A-series do not have more than 4, as I am expecting work distribution to be strained. Not all programs multi-thread efficiently, but I am likely to run more processes in background, especially when I want to have the antivirus actively intercepting (tend to be resource heavy despite the optimizations) at the same time.

 

I narrowed the case specs, and the SPEC-01 has straight-up top air flow, so I may look into other cases to research.

 

While the 480s are sold out, I'm not buying any parts within a month or three due to resource pooling priority, so I don't mind unless they can't supply them anymore.

[Aereto_Compuru]

33 minutes ago, Zyndo said:

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/ZLLyXH

 

spent a while putting that together. it exceeds your 1k budget request, but you said you don't mind about 500 more (only spend 250 more). I don't know to what scope you intend to do these professional applications, but this computer should do a pretty darn good job of them all.

I'll look into the parts chosen for analysis on my end once I have rested enough and rest of my college homework done. I will edit this post containing my conclusion later.

 

In terms of scope, I will use the software mentioned above, possibly running more than one of them simultaneously when making precise alterations. I added the extra 500, since squeezing the 1k or 500 budget will lead to compromising expected operating lifetime and obsolescence resilience. Post-build Replacements/Upgrades will add to the budget costs.

[Zyndo]

1 hour ago, Aereto_Compuru said:

A 4-core Intel may be fine, though 6-core or higher clock speed may be preferred when I'm running the above situations.

I agree, but it's not in the cards if you want everything else you mentioned. a 4 core with 8 threads at 4GHz is alot. If you want a 6core, you have to go X99 (with the exception of Xeon's, but i don't know much about them), and in order to really get the full mileage out of your X99, you're going to need to overclock it and cool it well. things you said you didn't want to do. Not to mention you're going to  have to get a big case to house all the things you need. All of this isn't going to come cheap, and will use all of your 1000 dollar budget and your 500 extra buffer. BUT if you want to do that, you could get this build. I also spent an extra 30 bucks to make it all colour coordinated (20 for matching ram, instead of ugly green ram, and 10 on the white version of the case instead of the black or green one)

 

Other than that the only way to save money on this build is to downgrade or remove components. Its up to you if you want to do that and which ones you cut out. But if you really want a solid productivity rig, and a 6 core CPU, this is probably your best bet (although i'm not familiar with whatever Xeons can bring to the table in this bracket)

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/yp7w6X

 

As a side note, you should be able to get this chip to 4.2-4.4 GHz range fairly easily on this cooler/motherboard. if you don't mind investing a bit more to get a really big air cooler or a good AIO cooler, you could potentially get a bit more. but even 6 cores/12 threads at anywhere near 4 GHz should be pretty solid.

[Aereto_Compuru]

8 minutes ago, Zyndo said:

I agree, but it's not in the cards if you want everything else you mentioned. a 4 core with 8 threads at 4GHz is alot. If you want a 6core, you have to go X99, and in order to really get the full mileage out of your X99, you're going to need to overclock it and cool it well. things you said you didn't want to do. Not to mention you're going to  have to get a big case to house all the things you need. All of this isn't going to come cheap, and will use all of your 1000 dollar budget and your 500 extra buffer. BUT if you want to do that, you could get this build. I also spent an extra 30 bucks to make it all colour co-ordinated (20 for matching ram, instead of ugly green ram, and 10 on the white version of the case instead of the black or green one)

 

Other than that the only way to save money on this build is to downgrade or remove components. Its up to you if you want to do that and which ones you cut out. But if you really want a solid productivity rig, and a 6 core CPU, this is probably your best bet (although i'm not familiar with whatever Xeons can bring to the table in this bracket)

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/yp7w6X

Fair point. Intel has hyper-threading. Distributing threads or utilizing hyper-threading is not practiced by all programs, but helps when the computer has multiple programs to run such as virtualization. The processor has 3.4 GHz as its base, increased up to 4GHz, which the selected CPU cooler can cover the elevated heat emission.

 

I'll take up the other build plan into consideration, also. The plan may not be finalized until after a some months when the resource pool has grown enough and the market conditions change.

[Zyndo]

6 minutes ago, Aereto_Compuru said:

Fair point. Intel has hyper-threading. Distributing threads or utilizing hyper-threading is not practiced by all programs, but helps when the computer has multiple programs to run such as virtualization. The processor has 3.4 GHz as its base, increased up to 4GHz, which the selected CPU cooler can cover the elevated heat emission.

 

I'll take up the other build plan into consideration, also. The plan may not be finalized until after a some months when the resource pool has grown enough and the market conditions change.

the suggested cryorig H7 is more than enough to let the 6700 run at 4 GHz all day every day if it wants to.

 

Also if you're not building for a while, the new Kaby Lake CPU's should be coming out sometime in late Q3 or early Q4. and AMD's Zen in Q4 2016-Q1 2017. Depending on how long you're waiting, it might be worth looking at those as well.

[Aereto_Compuru]

54 minutes ago, Zyndo said:

the suggested cryorig H7 is more than enough to let the 6700 run at 4 GHz all day every day if it wants to.

 

Also if you're not building for a while, the new Kaby Lake CPU's should be coming out sometime in late Q3 or early Q4. and AMD's Zen in Q4 2016-Q1 2017. Depending on how long you're waiting, it might be worth looking at those as well.

I will look into the processors and motherboards when they come out. At least AMD will get back on the field again. As far as I analyzed various sources, Windows 10 becomes the minimum Windows OS generation.

 

The waiting period helps putting more time to research components and overall consumer feedback and manufacturer response. Gives time for newer things to show their offering prices and major sales events such as Black Friday to arrive.

[Zyndo]

Well whatever the case, GL with your build! =)