Large build, needs planning

[Guest]

I'm the computer person in the household and I'm rather enthusiastic about creating a set of 3-4 PCs for the whole family. I'm taking inspiration from LTT's 2015 build log in which he used rack mounted PCs with elgato Thunderbolt Docks for silent working.

 

These PCs have the following requirements:

PC 1: Gaming/Music production rig. Needs plenty of USB ports and an external sound card. 2+ ultrawide 1440p monitors (most likely 2 as the TB dock can't support more).

PC 2: Mid-range gaming rig. Nothing too special. Monitors are being taken from my current PC.
PC 3: Music production rig. Not much on the graphics at all, all in the processor and sound card. Multi-monitor would be useful.

PC 4: Probably not needed. Simple low end office PC. Multiple monitors would be best.

 

These are the ideas I have at the moment:

PC 1: Intel core i7 6850K, 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4, 1 (or 2) GTX 1080Ti (when they come out), 2TB of PCIe SDDs

PC 2: Intel core i5 6600K, 16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4, GTX 1060 (may be changed), 2TB of PCIe SSDs

PC 3: Intel core i7 5960X, 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4, GPU already owned, 2TB of PCIe SSDs

PC 4: Intel core i3 7100U, RAM already owned, GPU already owned, 1TB of PCIe SSDs

 

We're also going to have a large network storage setup with enough HDDs to keep all the PCs fully backed up. This is all going in a cupboard area under the staircase. It'll be modified for ventilation. The door is 46cm wide and 56cm tall at the left, going up to 94cm tall at the right so it'll be a bit of a squeeze. The fans would have to go on the right and back so cool air can be drawn from the adjacent larder and sent out the wall.

 

The workstation for PC 3 will be the closest to the machines, just at the end of the corridor about 3-4m away. The workstation for PC 1 will be on the first floor, almost directly above it and we currently have an ethernet cable going through the floor up to it from where the workstation for PC 3 is. The router will likely be moved into the cupboard too to minimise the mass of ethernet cables going to it. Workstation 2 will be the furthest away, at the other side of the house on the first floor so a very long TB2 cable would be needed. The optional and unlikely workstation 4 will be in the room next to that of workstation 1.

 

You'll notice I haven't picked out any motherboards yet, This is because they are the only component I'm not very knowledgeable in, so I'll need some help picking some out. The optional 4th PC would have DDR3 where the rest will have DDR4.

 

We also simply don't have the money to do this all at once so it'll be done PC by PC over quite a long time. However budget shouldn't be much of a problem as long as it doesn't go too far above £1000 - price more relates to time than feasibility for this project. I'm also trying to use similar components across the PCs for the sake of ease of troubleshooting as then most driver software and settings are the same across all PCs which would make everyone's lives easier.

 

So what do people recommend or suggest for the PCs? What motherboards would be best for such machines, and are there any spec I should change? What things should I keep in mind while planning out the logistics of this project?

 

Thanks for any help and suggestions and if there is any more info that would be useful and I can provide it then I certainly will.

[gtx1060=value]

10 minutes ago, OTheB said:

I'm the computer person in the household and I'm rather enthusiastic about creating a set of 3-4 PCs for the whole family. I'm taking inspiration from LTT's 2015 build log in which he used rack mounted PCs with elgato Thunderbolt Docks for silent working.

 

These PCs have the following requirements:

PC 1: Gaming/Music production rig. Needs plenty of USB ports and an external sound card. 2+ ultrawide 1440p monitors (most likely 2 as the TB dock can't support more).

PC 2: Mid-range gaming rig. Nothing too special. Monitors are being taken from my current PC.
PC 3: Music production rig. Not much on the graphics at all, all in the processor and sound card. Multi-monitor would be useful.

PC 4: Probably not needed. Simple low end office PC. Multiple monitors would be best.

 

These are the ideas I have at the moment:

PC 1: Intel core i7 6850K, 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4, 1 (or 2) GTX 1080Ti (when they come out), 2TB of PCIe SDDs

PC 2: Intel core i5 6600K, 16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4, GTX 1060 (may be changed), 2TB of PCIe SSDs

PC 3: Intel core i7 5960X, 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4, GPU already owned, 2TB of PCIe SSDs

PC 4: Intel core i3 7100U, RAM already owned, GPU already owned, 1TB of PCIe SSDs

 

We're also going to have a large network storage setup with enough HDDs to keep all the PCs fully backed up. This is all going in a cupboard area under the staircase. It'll be modified for ventilation. The door is 46cm wide and 56cm tall at the left, going up to 94cm tall at the right so it'll be a bit of a squeeze. The fans would have to go on the right and back so cool air can be drawn from the adjacent larder and sent out the wall.

 

The workstation for PC 3 will be the closest to the machines, just at the end of the corridor about 3-4m away. The workstation for PC 1 will be on the first floor, almost directly above it and we currently have an ethernet cable going through the floor up to it from where the workstation for PC 3 is. The router will likely be moved into the cupboard too to minimise the mass of ethernet cables going to it. Workstation 2 will be the furthest away, at the other side of the house on the first floor so a very long TB2 cable would be needed. The optional and unlikely workstation 4 will be in the room next to that of workstation 1.

 

You'll notice I haven't picked out any motherboards yet, This is because they are the only component I'm not very knowledgeable in, so I'll need some help picking some out. The optional 4th PC would have DDR3 where the rest will have DDR4.

 

We also simply don't have the money to do this all at once so it'll be done PC by PC over quite a long time. However budget shouldn't be much of a problem as long as it doesn't go too far above £1000 - price more relates to time than feasibility for this project. I'm also trying to use similar components across the PCs for the sake of ease of troubleshooting as then most driver software and settings are the same across all PCs which would make everyone's lives easier.

 

So what do people recommend or suggest for the PCs? What motherboards would be best for such machines, and are there any spec I should change? What things should I keep in mind while planning out the logistics of this project?

 

Thanks for any help and suggestions and if there is any more info that would be useful and I can provide it then I certainly will.

1 pc can't go over 1000 pounds? And do you want rack mounted like linus and yvonne's personal rigs or the stackable cooler master ones?

[Energycore]

All I can say for starters is, don't get Dominator Platinum, it's a waste of money. HyperX Fury Black or Vengeance LPX memory will perform exactly as well.

 

Probably don't need PCI-E SSDs for PC 4 since at those speeds light workloads don't benefit more than the best SATA SSD out there. If you do get a PCI-E, have it be cheap like an Intel 600p.

 

As for server mountable motherboards, I know nothing about, but I bet there are rack mounts that support standard ATX and mATX motherboards out there.

[NTDaws]

PC: 1 http://pcpartpicker.com/list/xx23m8

You don't need 1080 ti's, this will be quite perfect for gaming at 1440p, you can also go surround and buy 3 monitors for gaming. If that's your thing.

PC: 2 http://pcpartpicker.com/list/hkgsnn

 

Simple Build for Gaming and Production

[Guest]

13 hours ago, gtx1060=value said:

1 pc can't go over 1000 pounds? And do you want rack mounted like linus and yvonne's personal rigs or the stackable cooler master ones?

I'm probably going to go with rack mounted like Linus' ones as it makes them easier to work with and install. Also, I'm not putting a strict cap at £1000. That's an ideal maximum, but I'd put the cap at £2000 as in my current situation, more cost just adds time to save up rather than feasability.

13 hours ago, Dawson Wehage said:

PC: 1 http://pcpartpicker.com/list/xx23m8

You don't need 1080 ti's, this will be quite perfect for gaming at 1440p, you can also go surround and buy 3 monitors for gaming. If that's your thing.

PC: 2 http://pcpartpicker.com/list/hkgsnn

 

Simple Build for Gaming and Production

These look good, but we already have the keyboards and mice we need for all the workstations. As for the motherboards, the first one looks good, but I think they should all be ATX size for the PCI-E slots. I'm tempted by the Asus one as it has all the stuff I need. I will just stick with a 1080 though. But I'm interested to know how I can have more than 2 monitors hooked up to the TB dock as I can only get two by having one on HDMI and the other on Thunderbolt to Displayport. PC 1 will definitely have 3 monitors if possible, but the rest will be more than happy with 2. We already have 3 monitors, one pair and another slightly larger one. The pair will probably go on either PC 3 or PC 2 and the single one may be sold or we may buy another of the same kind for dual-monitor on PC 4 - but all of our monitors are DVI so they may not be able to be connected to the dock.

 

But otherwise, this is a very helpful guide for finishing off the spec for each PC.

13 hours ago, Energycore said:

All I can say for starters is, don't get Dominator Platinum, it's a waste of money. HyperX Fury Black or Vengeance LPX memory will perform exactly as well.

 

Probably don't need PCI-E SSDs for PC 4 since at those speeds light workloads don't benefit more than the best SATA SSD out there. If you do get a PCI-E, have it be cheap like an Intel 600p.

 

As for server mountable motherboards, I know nothing about, but I bet there are rack mounts that support standard ATX and mATX motherboards out there.

Different RAM noted. That's really helpful as that'll knock off quite a bit of the cost. As for the SSDs, PC 4 is really going to be a Frankenstein's monster, made from the remains of the current 2 PCs we have (and may not happen at all as we can't find a space for the workstation yet). I am probably going to find a rack mountable case that can fit in ATX boards as that will just make everything easier to plan as I too know relatively little about server parts.

 

Thanks for the advice so far as it's really got me further in planning.

[Guest]

Ok. After some further research and planning: I have the following spec for the PCs.The PSUs are chosen based on the OuterVision PSU calculator and taken from the Corsair CS series. However, if the PSUs in our current machines are adequate, we will use them.

 

PC 1:

Intel Core i7 6850k

32GB HyperX Fury Black DDR4

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080

2x intel 800GB 750 Series PCI-E SSDs

Asus X99-Deluxe II ATXC LGA2011-3

Corsair CS550M 550W PSU

 

PC 2:

Intel Core i5 6600k

16GB HyperX Fury Black DDR4

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060

2x Intel 800GB 750 Series PCI-E SSD

Asus X99-Deluxe II ATX LGA2011-3

Corsair CS450M 450W PSU

 

PC 3:

Intel Core i7 5960x

32GB HyperX Fury Black DDR4

Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 (already owned)

2x Intel 800GB 750 Series PCI-E SSD

Asus X99-Deluxe II ATX LGA2011-3

Corsair CS550M 550W PSU

 

PC 4:

Intel Core i5 2400 (already owned and on correct motherboard)

12GB HyperX Fury DDR3 (already owned)

AMD Radeon HD 6670 (already owned)

Intel 800GB 750 Series PCI-E SSD

Asrock Z75 Pro 3 (already owned)

Corsair VS350 350W PSU

 

If there is anything missing or that should be changed for compatibility reasons then please provide feedback.

[Energycore]

2 hours ago, OTheB said:

Ok. After some further research and planning: I have the following spec for the PCs.The PSUs are chosen based on the OuterVision PSU calculator and taken from the Corsair CS series. However, if the PSUs in our current machines are adequate, we will use them.

If there is anything missing or that should be changed for compatibility reasons then please provide feedback.

Your choices of PSU aren't stellar especially that VS, so I'll suggest other PSUs.

 

For PC 1 just in case you want to do SLI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438028

For PCs 2 and 3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093

For PC 4: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151074

 

Seasonic just does the best PSUs

 

There are alternatives, if you want Platinum there's the Rosewill Quark 550W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA07234S8693

If you want more watts and Gold, the EVGA 650W GQ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438059

 

Compared to the CS, that's a fine unit but I would choose all these others over it erryday.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, Energycore said:

Your choices of PSU aren't stellar especially that VS, so I'll suggest other PSUs.

 

For PC 1 just in case you want to do SLI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438028

For PCs 2 and 3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151093

For PC 4: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151074

 

Seasonic just does the best PSUs

 

There are alternatives, if you want Platinum there's the Rosewill Quark 550W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA07234S8693

If you want more watts and Gold, the EVGA 650W GQ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438059

 

Compared to the CS, that's a fine unit but I would choose all these others over it erryday.

Thanks . I'll probably go with the EVGA one for the better efficiency and the higher wattage might be useful if I overclock.

[Guest]

What are the best monitor manufacturers to look into? I'm after value most and fairly standard grade monitors would be fine (as in not gaming monitors). Here's the kind of thing I'm after:

PC 1: 2 (3 if possible) 21:9 1440p monitors. 34" maximum (could be a bit bigger with only 2 monitors)

PC 2: 1 of the above

PC 3: 2 16:9 1440p monitors, similar size to the above

PC 4: 1 21:9 1080p monitor, slightly bigger than the above.

I'm not bothered whether they're curved or not, but I don't want the price to be too sharp (I'm not an expert on monitor pricing but I'd rather not save up almost £800 for one screen as that's almost as much as the computer itself). I'm after the bottom end of that spec for the monitor but without the fancy stuff that can knock up the price. The one catch is that because of the TB docks, the ones that are coming in pairs would need support for both display port and HDMI so they can both be connected to the TB dock. however if there is a way we can connect more than 2 monitors to it by other means then that would be extremely useful.

[brob]

The architecture involves a lot of expensive overhead and complexity with little benefit.

 

Don't bother investing in expensive motherboards and ssd if you are going to use less than excellent psu. 

 

Seasonic M12II & S12II models are quite good. EVGA G2, GQ, P2 are excellent. Corsair RMx and RMi are also excellent.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, brob said:

The architecture involves a lot of expensive overhead and complexity with little benefit.

 

Don't bother investing in expensive motherboards and ssd if you are going to use less than excellent psu. 

 

Seasonic M12II & S12II models are quite good. EVGA G2, GQ, P2 are excellent. Corsair RMx and RMi are also excellent.

Indeed. I have written this into my plan already. I'm now working on peripherals (keyboard, mouse, and speakers are covered already) and logistics and in what order I'm going to be upgrading the current two PCs to the final product as the cost is too great to do it all in one go, and the longer time-frame may mean reduced prices of some components in the future or better components which is always nice. The only problem I'm having is that both of the PCs we have at the moment are DDR3 and won't work with any of the desired CPUs or RAM so they all have to be upgraded with the motherboard which is a bit of a pain.

 

While I'm on this topic: At what point should I upgrade the PSU? Should this be just before the motherboard upgrade? Or right at the start, before the GPU or storage?

[brob]

I would start an upgrade with the psu. It will establish a stable, quality power environment for the new components.

 

Not knowing what equipment is already in place makes it difficult to suggest an optimal path. But if they do not already have them, adding ssd will likely extend the useful life of the DDR3 systems

[Guest]

Just now, brob said:

I would start an upgrade with the psu. It will establish a stable, quality power environment for the new components.

 

Not knowing what equipment is already in place makes it difficult to suggest an optimal path. But if they do not already have them, adding ssd will likely extend the useful life of the DDR3 systems

The current systems both have SSDs and the lower level one has a HDD too. However these will all be replaced. Though this is helpful. So would an adequate baseline path be something like:

PSU, GPU, Motherboard CPU RAM, Storage?

Then I also need to fit in a point for monitor upgrades after the GPU upgrade so when the TB Docks are installed, there are compatible monitors ready to go.

[brob]

New gpu models are introduced every year. CPU generations are a touch slower. I would go for the motherboard and memory, then the gpu.

 

As I said before, I don't believe the TB Dock based design is worth the cost and added complexity. Especially when one considers the fairly rapid evolution of gpu and TB.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, brob said:

New gpu models are introduced every year. CPU generations are a touch slower. I would go for the motherboard and memory, then the gpu.

 

As I said before, I don't believe the TB Dock based design is worth the cost and added complexity. Especially when one considers the fairly rapid evolution of gpu and TB.

Ok. I am still probably going to go down the TB dock route though as music production benefits greatly from minimum noise, and having constant fan noise for extended periods of time isn't great. I'm also doing it for cooling reasons as both of the current PCs have to be in rather tight places. The higher level one's home is in the corner of the smallest bedroom, below a raised bed in the corner farthest from the window and it gets rather hot. If I put them all in a properly ventilated cupboard up against an exterior wall to draw air in from and send out of in another place then I get brilliant air flow and cooling as well as the neat, out of the way, and most importantly, quiet working that is what is best for my needs. This whole system would probably be continually upgraded over time as needed. It might end up rather outdated in TB, but if it still works great then there isn't a need to upgrade. As soon as there are compatibility issues or it becomes slow, it can be upgraded.

[Guest]

New development:

After some further research into 2 monitor setups on the dock, I have found that connecting one to HDMI and the other to thunderbolt won't work. However, it will work if the motherboard has 2 TB ports, but the one I've got planned out only has 1. This means I need to find a new motherboard with similar features but 2 TB ports and I'm good.

[brob]

2 hours ago, OTheB said:

New development:

After some further research into 2 monitor setups on the dock, I have found that connecting one to HDMI and the other to thunderbolt won't work. However, it will work if the motherboard has 2 TB ports, but the one I've got planned out only has 1. This means I need to find a new motherboard with similar features but 2 TB ports and I'm good.

DP 1.2 and later support multi-streamed monitors. There are resolution restrictions, but this may be a workable option. I have seen at least one Thunderbolt adapter card that supports DP multi-stream transport. To use this one needs suitable monitors. DP daisy chaining should be transparent to the dock.

 

If I understand the setup correctly the multi-monitor systems are reasonably close to the computer room. You might consider using long DP cables for the monitors (https://www.startech.com/uk/Cables/Audio-Video/DisplayPort/). Use a long USB cable with a hub for peripherals (https://www.startech.com/uk/Cables/USB-2.0/USB-2.0-Cables/, https://www.startech.com/uk/Cables/USB-3.0/). Means more than one cable, but they are not that thick.

 

[JonU]

What kind of music production are we talking about? Are you going to be recording instruments and/or vocals with a mic or is it a bunch of D/I sources? Also instead of getting a sound card for music production (especially if recording) it would make more sense to get a quality digital mixer and have it connected to the computer through a DAW. I'll probably be connecting my mixer to my PC once I get a new subscription for Pro Tools or Ableton Live. I honestly don't see fan noise being an issue even if you are recording with mics. I've got an AKG C214 condenser microphone and most of the time it is sitting within 2 feet if not 1 foot of my PC and you don't hear any fan noise in the background. Right now though I have my mic and headphones plugged into a Focusrite Scarlet 2i4 w/ USB interface. I just feel like you are over estimating how loud the fans are in a properly setup PC. Put that PC a more reasonable distance away from the mic and you won't be having issues

[Guest]

10 hours ago, JonU said:

What kind of music production are we talking about? Are you going to be recording instruments and/or vocals with a mic or is it a bunch of D/I sources? Also instead of getting a sound card for music production (especially if recording) it would make more sense to get a quality digital mixer and have it connected to the computer through a DAW. I'll probably be connecting my mixer to my PC once I get a new subscription for Pro Tools or Ableton Live. I honestly don't see fan noise being an issue even if you are recording with mics. I've got an AKG C214 condenser microphone and most of the time it is sitting within 2 feet if not 1 foot of my PC and you don't hear any fan noise in the background. Right now though I have my mic and headphones plugged into a Focusrite Scarlet 2i4 w/ USB interface. I just feel like you are over estimating how loud the fans are in a properly setup PC. Put that PC a more reasonable distance away from the mic and you won't be having issues

A combination of that and electronic production. A mixer is unnecessary as there's already an absurdly powerful one in FL Studio. It's also not entirely a matter of noise in recording, I've had a computer with little fan noise for about 2 years now and I just want to hear the end of it.

11 hours ago, brob said:

DP 1.2 and later support multi-streamed monitors. There are resolution restrictions, but this may be a workable option. I have seen at least one Thunderbolt adapter card that supports DP multi-stream transport. To use this one needs suitable monitors. DP daisy chaining should be transparent to the dock.

 

If I understand the setup correctly the multi-monitor systems are reasonably close to the computer room. You might consider using long DP cables for the monitors (https://www.startech.com/uk/Cables/Audio-Video/DisplayPort/). Use a long USB cable with a hub for peripherals (https://www.startech.com/uk/Cables/USB-2.0/USB-2.0-Cables/, https://www.startech.com/uk/Cables/USB-3.0/). Means more than one cable, but they are not that thick.

 

Would you care to explain the DP1.2 option in more detail as it sounds very promising. The multi-monitor systems are going to be the closest 2, but they are still several meters of cable away which is going to create latency (which I notice). I'm also thinking that if adequate monitors can be found at a reasonable price, then all 4 systems would have 2 monitors. If this limited resolution per display is good enough for 3440x1440 for each monitor then that's pretty much sold.

 

I've also been looking into other TB Docks in case there are better options and I found a good one that may solve the problem. It's called a Belkin Express Dock. The bit about dual monitors is as follows:

Dual displays allow you to connect two more monitors to your laptop as you keep your workspace organised and streamlining your setup. But take note that at least one display should have Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 technology-ready. If not, you can use either Mini Displayport or HDMI.

This comes across as a bit misleading. It says that I can connect 2 monitors if one is TB ready, or if I don't have a TB monitor, does it mean a mini DP and a HDMI? Or a Normal DP in the TB port and then either a mini DP or a HDMI one?

 

Research into thunderbolt monitors yields a lot of 4 digit numbers which isn't promising, so I'm probably going to have to rely on other means. If such a thing just can't be done with one dock then they can be daisy-chained to get 2 monitors, but that adds another £250-ish to the overall cost per PC.

[Guest]

I have a plan: I'm looking at the LG 21:9 UltraWide 34UM95 thunderbolt monitor. It has USB ports and is daisy-chain-able so the TB dock wouldn't be needed. If this will run properly on the devices then we have a winner - and as it's not the newest monitor, the price is down quite a bit and is well into reasonable. So I now have the following questions (which I am researching but not to much yield):

1. How many thunderbolt ports would be needed to daisy-chain two of these at 3440x1440 60Hz?
2. Will the USB ports and other sockets on the second monitor work?

Thanks for any help, answers, or guidance.

[brob]

4 hours ago, OTheB said:

I have a plan: I'm looking at the LG 21:9 UltraWide 34UM95 thunderbolt monitor. It has USB ports and is daisy-chain-able so the TB dock wouldn't be needed. If this will run properly on the devices then we have a winner - and as it's not the newest monitor, the price is down quite a bit and is well into reasonable. So I now have the following questions (which I am researching but not to much yield):

1. How many thunderbolt ports would be needed to daisy-chain two of these at 3440x1440 60Hz?
2. Will the USB ports and other sockets on the second monitor work?

Thanks for any help, answers, or guidance.

Tunderbolt is an Apple technology that is not well supported in the Windows world.

DisplayPort is more limited resolution wise when daisy chaining. The PC Thunderbolt implementations I have seen use a DP connection to the gpu. So I suspect that DP resolution limits would apply. 

Active DP cables, one per monitor will work.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, brob said:

Tunderbolt is an Apple technology that is not well supported in the Windows world.

DisplayPort is more limited resolution wise when daisy chaining. The PC Thunderbolt implementations I have seen use a DP connection to the gpu. So I suspect that DP resolution limits would apply. 

Active DP cables, one per monitor will work.

Worry not! For I have found a terrific Motherboard that has a 2 port TB expansion card designed for it. It connects to the GPU with two DP cables which will easily be enough for one monitor each. In future if I use a multi-GPU setup, I could even have one GPU per monitor, provided I don't try and run any programs across both monitors as that could look a little off.

 

I am well on my way to having a proper plan now. I just need to know one more thing: A GTX 570 is going to die at the sight of two of these monitors and doesn't even have DP. What's a good GPU to just support these two monitors - assuming there won't be any intensive games running on it (the most I expect my dad to be trying to run on it is Minecraft) and any more resource demanding programs being used will be CPU-oriented with little need for a high-end GPU.

 

And also just to be sure: What kind of performance should I expect to get with a GTX 1060 on the mid-range gaming rig? Would it be a valid idea to get a better GPU for that?

[brob]

2 hours ago, OTheB said:

Worry not! For I have found a terrific Motherboard that has a 2 port TB expansion card designed for it. It connects to the GPU with two DP cables which will easily be enough for one monitor each. In future if I use a multi-GPU setup, I could even have one GPU per monitor, provided I don't try and run any programs across both monitors as that could look a little off.

 

I am well on my way to having a proper plan now. I just need to know one more thing: A GTX 570 is going to die at the sight of two of these monitors and doesn't even have DP. What's a good GPU to just support these two monitors - assuming there won't be any intensive games running on it (the most I expect my dad to be trying to run on it is Minecraft) and any more resource demanding programs being used will be CPU-oriented with little need for a high-end GPU.

 

And also just to be sure: What kind of performance should I expect to get with a GTX 1060 on the mid-range gaming rig? Would it be a valid idea to get a better GPU for that?

Unless one is running graphics intensive games a GTX 1060 should have no problem driving a couple of 3440x1440 monitors. I've seen GTX 750 Ti setups comfortably driving such monitors in general computing environments.

 

In a gaming system I'd be tempted to get something better than a GTX 1060.

[Guest]

19 hours ago, brob said:

Unless one is running graphics intensive games a GTX 1060 should have no problem driving a couple of 3440x1440 monitors. I've seen GTX 750 Ti setups comfortably driving such monitors in general computing environments.

 

In a gaming system I'd be tempted to get something better than a GTX 1060.

If a GTX 1060 might not be best for gaming on one of these (unless you were thinking of both of the monitors), then would a 1070 be more appropriate? Also the 750Ti is a perfect recommendation for PC 3.

[brob]

3 hours ago, OTheB said:

If a GTX 1060 might not be best for gaming on one of these (unless you were thinking of both of the monitors), then would a 1070 be more appropriate? Also the 750Ti is a perfect recommendation for PC 3.

Take a look at the gaming benchmarks in https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1060/ and https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1070/ between them you will get a pretty good idea of the performance differences between the 1060, 1070, and 1080. While the LG 34UM95 resolution is not tested, it can be interpolated based on the raw pixel count of the various resolutions.