New PC Build 3000-3500 Euro

viperirl

1. What is your budget? ~3000 - 3500 Euro

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?
2a. Gaming + Video editing + Xilinx FPGA development boards. For gaming would like to run games like Skyrim, Crysis etc on their ultra settings.
For the FPGA dev work, the designs can sometimes take hours to build and are very CPU and memory intensive. Therefore a beefy CPU and lots of RAM are required to keep these times down. The card(s) are PCI-Express based so enough slots are needed on the motherboard plus the ability to run two graphics cards in SLI/crossfire.


3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No

5. Do you need a monitor? I have one 30inch 2560 x 1600 monitor but plan to add two more in the coming months. This is not part of the budget here.

5a. If yes, what size do you need. N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? No

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? I will need Keyboard + Mouse + Wireless Card + Card Readers. I have an external hifi/HT speakers so a card with HDMI out is required. I want to send the video and audio to my external receiver.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Not priority but its something that I might look into later.

8. How can you pay? Either Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser

9. When are you purchasing? In the coming 2/3 months

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Would prefer to build it myself.


Thanks in advance lads. I have done some research and would like to have the GTX 690 video card in there if possible but perhaps it's overkill?
Also I should mention that a case with good soundproofing is desired as I will be listening to music in the same room as the PC. Do such cases exist?

Eboggles

Well hello there .

Item|Price
Intel Core i7-3930K Retail, ohne Kühler, LGA2011|€510.24
ASRock X79 Extreme6, Sockel LGA2011, ATX|€195.21
4 x 8GB-Kit G.Skill Ares PC3-17066U CL11-11-11-31|€202.16
ASUS DRW-24B5ST bare|€22.90
OCZ Vector 256GB|€225.00
WD Red RD1000S 3TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB|€136.49
EVGA GeForce GTX Titan, 6GB DDR5, PCI-Express|€949.00
Fractal Design Newton R3 Smart Modular white 1000W|€193.99
Nanoxia Deep Silence One White, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€109.09
MS Windows 8 Pro 64bit (SB-Version) Englisch|€126.80
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€2689.87

That's without any peripherals or cooling. For cooling, you'd be looking at a custom watercooling loop. Ask Serephucus, he knows a lot about it.

I've chosen a TITAN over a 690 becuase it's better for compute, and you won't have to deal with SLI scaling.

By the way, there's a 1000 watt power supply in there for two reasons:

1. It'll provide power for an additional GTX Titan if the need should arise
2. It's white

Finally; don't get a wireless card. You should get homeplugs instead. Google them if you've never heard of them before.

Serephucus

Nice build! There's more than enough room for a good watercooling loop there too. From what I remember, the Nanoxia can support 2x240 rads natively, which should be plenty for a single Titan and CPU.

There's also Corsair's 600T. It can take a 200mm rad in the front, a 240 in the roof, and a 120 in the back. It would give you a bit more room to expand in the future.

This is all dependent on what level of noise you find acceptable. If you can put up with 1000RPM fans then the Nanoxia would do you fine. If you want things to be very quiet, then maybe something bigger.

BloodBath

What about this for the case which would allow a 200x200 or 120x360 rad up top?

If you're going for a custom water cooling setup you might as well go full tower.

viperirl

Thanks guys.

To be honest I'd need the case to be as quiet as possible and with plenty of room for upgrading in future, therefore I think I'll go for a full tower.

Since I work in ASIC and FPGA design, I do understand a lot about chip design but know practically zero when it comes to these water cooling systems so I'll have to do a bit of reading up on that. What exactly do u mean by custom watercooling? => you buy all the bits and pieces for assembly yourself as opposed to a ready-made solution thats more or less fit and forget?

I wasnt aware to date on problems with SLI scaling. From what I've come across so far, its seem that multi-card or multi-GPU systems will give higher raw framerates but the single GPU such as the Titan will deliver a more consistent experience.

BloodBath

Yes exactly. There are several ready made solutions on the market which offer cpu only cooling but even the best ones only offer about the same performance as top end air coolers.

A custom loop using high quality rads, fans, water blocks and pump would perform a lot better but can get pricey. You would be looking at around €300 for a decent custom setup.

Alternatively just stick with a Noctua NH D14 for the cpu cooler and get a good after market quiet graphics card and you will get similar performance while keeping relatively quiet for only €80.

SLI scaling is around 80% last time I checked.

Serephucus

I can help you with research, questions, etc. if you like.

BloodBath makes good points, except where an NH-D14 and aftermarket GPU cooler would be comparable in terms of noise; it wouldn't be. That's true when compared to all-in-one setups (the D14 actually beats a few of them in that department) but not when compared to a full loop.

I should also mention the option of an external radiator. You can get very big ones that you can run with very low speed fans. You get quiet performance, and the option for a tonne of expansion. The only disadvantage is only really in looks, as some people (myself included) like everything to be in one package.

Example: http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/Phobya-Xtreme-Nova-1080-Radiator-pid-12098.html

Related point: Specialtech is the cheapest place to get watercooling gear, and they also have a very big selection of stuff. You can read up on all of this, but to save you some time, you'll be looking at an MCP-655 (D5) variant pump, XSPC Raystorm block, full cover GPU block, rads of some sort, Scythe Gentle Typhoon fans, and probably 1/2-3/4 tubing with appropriate fittings. If all of that sounds like gibberish, PM me and I can go over it all with you over PMs or Skype or something.

BloodBath

Well yes if you want high level overclocks and silence then custom water setups are the only way to go.

A stock gtx titan gets up to about 50db under load which is pretty audible. Overclocking it would make it loud.

Serephucus

I've heard closer to around 42-45. A moot point for me though. Anything about around 25 is too loud, though I tend to try for around 20 or lower when speccing parts for myself.

@OP: If you're looking at a full tower case, there's the Define XL R2 from Fractal Design to consider. Soundproofing included, big, looks very nice, and a bunch of watercooling support (think 240 in the front, 240/possibly 280 in the top, and 120 in the back.

viperirl

Thanks guys for all the info.

I think initially I’m gonna leave out the water cooling and just go with a big ass heatsink and fan for the CPU.
The NH-D14 mentioned above looks good and the reviews are good too.
It’s not too expensive and I’ll come back to the watercooling at a later stage for sure when I want to quieten things down.

1. Question on airflow:
The fan above seems quiet large and moves a lot of air but how can you ensure proper airflow or pressure within the case itself as you generally have one fan intake on the front and one exit fan on upper rear of a case. If the NH-D14 is more powerful than the case fans, does this create any problems or issues?

2. As I mentioned above, I plan to add more monitors in the coming months. Any recommended ones? (at least 2560x1140, 27inch minimum)

Thanks

SpannerMonkey

If you want quiet I can recommend my set up it runs around 24 db

The case is a coolermaster Cosmos 2 . Its massive plenty of room for future and keeps internals reallycool and quiet

And my cpu cooler is a BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 2. Also excellent at keeping things cooled on my overclocked i7. And runs eerie quiet

Serephucus

RE monitors, the U2713M is probably your best bet. Best value for money monitor around.

http://hardwareversand.de/27+inch/65503/Dell+UltraSharp+U2713HM.article

If you're looking for something cheaper (i.e. you don't care about the stand or any extras, and just want a good panel) then there's the Yamakasi Catleap also (there's a thread here about it).

BloodBath

1. Question on airflow:
The fan above seems quiet large and moves a lot of air but how can you ensure proper airflow or pressure within the case itself as you generally have one fan intake on the front and one exit fan on upper rear of a case. If the NH-D14 is more powerful than the case fans, does this create any problems or issues?

It can cause turbulence issues yes. Ideally you would want something that has a big top and rear exhaust. A 200mm on top and a 120-140 at the rear. You would want a front 200 intake and side or bottom intake then to balance the airflow.

viperirl

Thanks for all the input lads. Much appreciated.

I've settled on the following build and am about to order the parts from various suppliers. I've ended up going a bit over my budget but I've sold some uneeded audio equipment which has more or less funded the entire PC build.


- Asus GeForce GTX Titan 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- 3x Hazro HZ30Wif 30" (2560x 1600)LCD Widescreen Professional Monitor
- Intel Core i7-3930K 3.20GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor
- ASRock X79 Extreme9 Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard
- Corsair Obsidian 800D Full Tower Case - Black
- Corsair Professional Series AX1200 High Performance 1200W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply (CMPSU-1200AXUK)
- Western Digital Caviar Red 3TB SATA 6Gbs 64MB Cache WD30EFRX - OEM HDD
- Corsair Dominator 16GB (4x4GB) PC3-14900C9 1866MHz DualQuad Channel
- Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gbs Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW)
- Microsoft Windows 8 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (FQC-05955)
- Qpad MK-85 Red LED Pro Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - UK Layout
- Noctua NH-D14-2011 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler with PWM Fans (Socket LGA2011)
- Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24B5ST SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM)
- Cooler Master Xornet 2000DPI Gaming Mouse


I'll come back to the water cooling in the coming months so I'll be back for more advice then.

Serephucus

Couple of things:

I'd swap the motherboard out for this:
http://hardwareversand.de/Socket+2011/54212/ASUS+RAMPAGE+IV+FORMULA%2C+Sockel+2011%2CATX%2C+DDR3.article

A) Because that tiny fan on the ASRock's Southbridge is probably going to be pretty obnoxious, especially if you're going to water cool later on. And The Rampage IV is much easier to get blocks for. Not a necessity to cool your motherboard, but at least you have the option this way.

I'd also go with the 840 Pro SSD, as it's quite a jump over the 840 (and comes with a free game).

A 1200W PSU is complete overkill, unless you're planning on running three four Titans in the future. This 660W Platinum PSU will be more than enough for two Titans, including overclocking.

viperirl

Serephucus wrote: »

A 1200W PSU is complete overkill, unless you're planning on running three four Titans in the future. This 660W Platinum PSU will be more than enough for two Titans, including overclocking.

The FPGA dev cards that I will be adding to this are quite power hungry and the load will vary depending what design I put on them. Therefore I decided to go a bit overboard on the PSU.
An extra Titan will go in there at some point too.

Serephucus

Exactly how much power are we talking about? I can't imagine them needing much. Then again, it's been a few years since I've even seen one, and I didn't know much about them in the first place. :P

BloodBath

Totally agree to pay the extra for the pro version of the samsung 840. It performs way better and is worth the extra.

660w would be asking for trouble with that and would be a minimum for just 1 titan and that processor. Both use in excess of 200-250w when overclocked. Adding a second titan would not work at 660w. While 1200 is overkill (unless going 3 way sli) I'd say 800-900w should be the minimum.

I'd also have an issue with the choice of case. It's a great great case for water cooling but not so good for air cooling. This isn't an issue if you aren't overclocking but it's a big issue if you want good air overclocks. You could be looking at a difference of 5-10c between this a good aircooling case.

While it's a fair bit more expensive I'd go for this. It has far better air cooling potential and more than enough room for water cooling down the line if you decide to go that route. The general build quality and features pushes it ahead of the corsair as well imo.

I'd spend a little more on the mouse as well. This is great for the money.


Total beast of a machine though. Post some pics when you have her built.