MITX Dan-Case Workstation. $5kish budget.

Dredgy · September 4, 2018

Hi all. Time to replace my $10k workstation that I built in September 2014. At 4 years old, it's typically alot sooner than I'd replace a PC (usually every 7 years) but one of the graphics cards borked out & the other's about to go. I want to replace all the monitors as well, so I figured if I was going to be spending $3k on monitors, I might as well just spend another $2.5k on components. The old workstation will either be repurposed or sold as it's still performing exceptionally well. The replacement is more for fun than anything, though I will address a few shortcomings, but will likely not be a huge leap in performance.

This thread will be updated sporadically, as I'm working overseas alot. I will be making 2 or 3 videos detailing assembly - one on core components, one on peripherals & ergonomics and general work area, and a 3rd on building my dream keyboard. This first post just outlines the plan.

My last PC was huge, and was designed to be everything (media centre, video editing workstation, NAS, gaming machine) all at once, and all contained in one case. For the next build, I've decided to pull a Mac Pro - one small, stylish tower that can fit on my desk and basically external hubs for everything else. This way I can have card readers, SSD docks etc where I need them, and maintenance will be a lot less painless if I don't have to drag a 50kg case from under the desk everytime I want to get rid of some dust.

Originally I was going to get a NUC with thunderbolt & have an external GPU but decided against it because it wasn't cost effective. I'm still compromising on performance a little bit - switching to MITX limits the amount of RAM to 32GB which is less than ideal. Also limits me to a single GPU.

Parts List

Core Components - All prices inclusive of shipping

Case: Dan Case A4-SFX - $245USD (+$30 for magnetic dust filters) - I originally wanted a build in a Corsair Obsidian 250D but was unable to track one down to buy. So decided to fuck it all and just see how small I can go.
PSU: Silverstone 650W SFX - $164AUD. No-brainer for the form factor.
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming-ITX/ac ($223AUD) - only MITX (or MATX) board with thunderbolt, which I need for my external SSD dock. Am awaiting Z390 to see if the successor is worthy (and also if 32GB DIMM support is added).
CPU: Intel Core i7 8700 ($397AUD) - stability & longevity is important, so I never overclock. Due to the form factor, thermals on a K chip could also be an issue. Again, awaiting the refresh to see what other options come along.
GPU: Zotac 1080Ti Blower ($989AUD) - only blower 1080TI I could find and also the cheapest. Doesn't completely replace the power of my previous 2 cards in SLI, so I will probably get a 2080 or 2080TI but need Australian pricing to be released.

Monitors & Peripherals

Eizo EV2730Q ($1890AUD) - my dream monitor. Used them at work before I quit that job, did a review on one & never been the same since. Should be able to pick it up wholesale for a slight saving.
Ultrawide of some sort ($700AUD budget) - looking for a 29" 2560*1080 monitor, preferably IPS. I currently have a 34" 3440*1440 (LG 34UM95) and is too pixel dense and Windows scaling is an issue.
Das Keyboard 4 Professional ($249AUD + $100AUD in switches). Replacing all the switches on my Das Keyboard with Cherry MX clears
Blackmagic MultiDock ($750AUD + cost of custom rack mount)

So that's the plan. The case has been ordered, and, and I'm Sri Lanka for a couple of weeks so hopefully Z390/RTX card pricing will have been announced by the time I get back and I can start building!