First Time Build - With donor options

moleyv · 29-07-2015 8:51pm #1

Looking for some advice;

I have an Alienware X51 R2. I had a couple of issues with it recently but I have extended warranty etc so it is all being looked after.

I've had it open and been reseating and removing some parts with guidance over the phone. Anyway, I will be getting some replacement parts installed.

Below is some of the specs:

i7 4770 (I have need for this, before people ask)
GTX 760 (Currently 660, but will be replaced with 760 as possible fault with current GPU and they have no 660s to replace it with, so will give me the small upgrade)
Slim slot loading dvd drive
8 GB (2x4) low profile samsung RAM
1TB 3.5 inch HDD (unsure brand, think Samsung)

And before anyone rides me for buying an Alienware, I got a very good deal, and it was around 150e more expensive than buying the parts (not including for case) and had a good warranty, already built, pretty nice case, so it was worth the small premium).

1. What is your budget? Depends, see three options at end, more of an upgrade bit by bit, but don't want to spend crazy money on a GPU

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? AutoCAD, PhotoShop, InDesign, ArcGIS, rendering from those previously mentioned, some video editing, Small amount of gaming, mostly monotonous simulators to relax, eg. Euro Truck Simulator (No laughing now!). Also some racing games, grid, NFS, maybe Asseto Corsa going forward, a little bit of battlefield 3, maybe 4 going forward.

Also important to mention, none of the above are really in a work environment, I have the work computers for that, they are mostly supplementary use.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [No]

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? Detailed above and below

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [2 x 1920x1080 23inch IPS

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [nope]

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [No - my i7 is not K version and not necessary]

8. How can you pay? [credit card/Paypal NOT bank transfer]

9. When are you purchasing? [1 month to 1 year (current warranty dependent ]

10. If you need help building it, where are you based
no help required

Anyway, CPU is running a little hot, so they are replacing heatsink, fan etc.

And there are intermittent issues with GPU.

And I'm not sure about the RAM, I had a small issue so won't rely on it for re use.

I have no real need to go beyond 1080p

So I was thinking, once my warranty is up, I might do some upgrades, I may use it as donor parts for a new build. All of the parts above can be used. There is no SSD, this will be a requirement. So I have three options,and was wondering the cost of the second two which are new builds.

and importantly opinions on which ones you think are good.

Option 1

Buy an SSD, small GB one and install, there is space for one (as it was an option) and I just need a few cables. All the information to do this is on the Alienware forums and videos etc.

Option 2 - Mini ITX Build

Using a case
Silverstone RVZ01
Silversotne RVZ02
Lian Li PC-05S
HAF Stacker 915

These need an SFX powersupply. I need an idea what power I would need

Use:
i7 4770
1TB HDD
Slim slot loading DVD drive
GTX 760

Requirements:
Mini ITX board with wifi
SFX powersupply
Decent Fan or small water cooler
SSD
RAM - 8GB (low profile maybe, if needed due to cooler/fan)
GPU - Can use the 760 and upgrade in future
Any other?

Option 2 - mATX Build with possible SLI

The only reason I would use an mATX as I would prefer smaller is to SLI with another 760? Thoughts on this? Wouldn't need to be immediate, but an upgrade in the short term.

Cases:
Corsair Carbide Air 240
Bitfenix Prodigy M

Use:
i7 4770
slim slot loading dvd drive (where case allows, it is not a necessity)
GPU

Required:
PSU ( advice on power needed for SLI???)
Motherboard - wifi - SLI - looks nice? - RAID?
RAM 8GB (low profile if water cooled or big fan)
SSD 256GB max needed
2x1TB 3.5 inch, maybe 2.5 inch drive in RAID
GPU - Second 760

If I am persuaded SLI is a bad idea with these cards, I would go for the ITX build.

I don't need larger than 1TB in RAID as I have a NAS drive (WD MyCloud 3TB)

Option 4 - Nuclear

Sell the Alienware, start from new!!! (Probably not a good economic decision!!)

Or any other option?

Summary

Is 2 x GTX 760s a good idea considering I already have one? I'm not really huge into gaming.

Should I just do an ITX build and get a better GPU after a while?

Does RAID need a special motherboard? aside from the required SATA etc?

I may get an SSD and do option 1 in the immediate future if it does not affect my warranty.

Liquid cooling necessary? A small one may give better clearance over the motherboard as the cases have space for the radiator/fans.

Thanks in advance!!

*I have looked any many cases and many builds online, those ones are my shortlist.

** If i go with the Lian Li I may need help colour coordinating

Digital Solitude · 29-07-2015 9:56pm

Option One, a 760 should be loads at 1080p for those games.

SLI should be reserved for totally OTT crap like 2 980Tis or something, I'd take 1 970 over 2 760s

Why do you need/want RAID? I'd don't see the point in it, especially seeing as you seem to want to put it in a small case

moleyv · 29-07-2015 11:01pm

Thanks for the response.

Ok so If a 970 would do better than 2 x 760 that rules out SLI. I guess one GPU would also cut down on PSU power, so saving money for future card upgrade.

I was looking at a 970, but it is relatively expensive, it would be something I would upgrade to. The 760 would do in the medium term. Then again, shiny shiny!

I suppose to flesh out my reasoning for wanting to build, the X51 has a 330W power brick. This severely limits upgrading, the case is also hugely cramped, limiting upgrades.

I also suspect there may be some underlying issue with the X51, and they are just throwing parts at it hoping it fixes it. I suspect this to be power, although there is no power crashing. Its more to do with random things going wrong then being perfect again.

Once out of warranty, I think it best to use the good parts to make a new build, I guess I have a good chunk of the expensive parts already.

This will also allow me future upgrading. I would really prefer an ITX build, so ruling out SLI settles that.

RAID: I know what it is, I know little about the practicalities of how it works.

Some of the software, ArcGIS to be precise, relies on linking lots of different datasets in a stupid amount of formats into one database. If these are lost, it is a nightmare to build it back up and re link all the filepaths.

Then again, it may be easier, to just have Google Drive on the relevant HDD and store them on the cloud. The monthly fee for upgraded storage is relatively reasonable. I already have 115GB, another 100GB would likely be sufficient in the medium term, and I can always upgrade again or move provider.

I have essentially talked myself out of RAID, but if the case allows, and it isn’t too expensive, I may do both cloud and RAID.

Option 1 is short term, and will do in the immediate future if it does not void my warranty. I may also be getting a complimentary extra year onto warranty, so that too may put this whole build off longer.

Digital Solitude · 29-07-2015 11:17pm

For 760s you'd be looking at 650+, whereas a 970 will happily chug at 450w

The 760s will be better for raw power but you do get a lot of crap with SLI.

Are you going to drop the x51 and carry to a new build then? It's fairly hard to make out what you want

moleyv · 30-07-2015 12:55am

Yes, sorry I went in circles.

So I will likely go with option 1 in the next few weeks.

What I need help with is configuring the ITX build, likely in next 6 months to 1 year.

I will be using

i74770
Slim slot loading DVD
1TB HDD
GTX 760 (initially)

What I need is advice picking parts and to be compatible with above:

ITX board with WiFi built in (antennas fine) and RAID support
SFX 450w
8GB Ram low profile
SSD doesn't need to be more than 240gb, less probably fine (I will also be buying this soon to upgrade x51 in short term)
Low profile CPU fan, needs to be quite good as CPU is regularly under stress. Possibly small liquid cooler, necessary?

Optional 2x 1TB 3.5 inch or 2.5 inch drives.

Anything else I would need? I know I would need to clean the top of the CPU.

Case to be decided separately depending on availability but the ones I am looking at need SFX PSU.

A 970 is like 400e?

Digital Solitude · 30-07-2015 1:01am

Should be closer to 350, nothing there is a large ask really, and most itx boards have WiFi

moleyv · 30-07-2015 1:12am

Digital Solitude wrote:

Should be closer to 350, nothing there is a large ask really, and most itx boards have WiFi

OK so, I think Silverstone are the ones that do the SFX PSU. They do 300,450,500,600 versions. The 450 is showing ca 115e and the 500 is ca 90e from Amazon sites.

If 500 is cheaper and not much longer I may go with that. I know its not needed but that's a good saving. These SFX are expensive.

Digital Solitude · 30-07-2015 1:17am

Might as well go the 500 yeah. Not much point speccing it now if you're not building for 6 months imo

Xenoronin · 30-07-2015 10:10am

Honestly I'd go for the first option too. The PC seems to be in good nick, minus a few issues. I'm running a 760 myself and it is perfect for 1080p gaming. Pretty much everything gets maxed, maybe a few things like shadows scaled back to make sure it hits 60fps consistently. It's no "throw everything to ultra 970GTX" but it gets the job done with minor tweaks. The SSD is just one of those things that will completely speed up your system so going for that is the best option money wise.

Down the line, the itx build actually won't really change in 6 months since you have the CPU locked down, it locks in the H/Z97 motherboard. If upgrading to the 970 I'd use a 500W PSU minimum. RAM won't really change, DDR3 1600mhz is standard. CPU cooler is also fairly standard due to needing to fit the socket, so that won't change. HDD won't change either. So if you want to go looking around for options I say go ahead! You seem to be the curious type so do some research and look at benchmarks and reviews. It's surprisingly fun

TL;DR: Invest in a larger SSD now with your budget. Don't upgrade the 760 yet. Spec out an ITX now if you want because it won't change much in 6months.

moleyv · 31-07-2015 5:28pm

Xenoronin wrote:

TL;DR: Invest in a larger SSD now with your budget. Don't upgrade the 760 yet. Spec out an ITX now if you want because it won't change much in 6months.

Thanks for the advice. I picked a couple of motherboards and downloaded the manuals and have been looking through.

The Lian Li case is about 330e so I'll be giving that a miss, it is a beauty though.

At the moment I am looking at building in the Silverstone Raven RVZ01. There is an owners forum and they have great advice on what can fit, biggest issue is a CPU cooler.

Also things like going for the 600w SFX PSU as it come with a flat cable kit that doesn't come with the smaller SFX PSUs. As the standard cables are limiting on the tight case. The flat cable kit can be brought separately but it makes more sense to minus the cost from upgrading to the 600w.

There is also a RVZ02 coming and it looks sweet as hell. Both are around 100e range.

I know I shouldn't be really limiting myself by case, but that is my criteria.

Also if I want to do RAID it will need to be 2.5 inch drives. For two 1TB drives it works out about 30e more expensive so I can easily live with that.

The initial build would cost 500e.

Adding RAID and GTX970 would come close to 1000e.

First Time Build - With donor options

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