$1500 Dollar Fast Software Dev. Workstation Build

DarkTerbear

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Dec 12, 2014
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Hi guys,
I am building myself a workstation for around $1500. It will mainly be used for software development, web development, and a lot of other work related stuff including office files. I will be working with Eclipse, Android Studio, and all the software dev. stuff. The GPU is purely for light gaming on Minecraft with shaders, TF2, CSGO, etc.
Here is my build so far: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fwYjwP
Couple Questions:
1. Will I notice faster load and boot times with the NVMe SSD?
2. Is X99 better for my applications?
3. Should I go with AIO cooling knowing that I will eventually upgrade to a custom loop later?
4. Suggestions on my build?
 
Solution
Ok, for development I'd suggest dual monitors, or at least a single 1440P 27" monitor. I don't think I need to explain this. Programming, compiling on one screen, and the next screen for the test. With web pages the editing and saving on 1 screen, and the website loaded in the browser on the next screen with a refresh.

An X99 system is more expensive but uses quad channel ram and socket 2011 CPUs. It's supposed to be faster for rendering. I'm not sure how much it would affect you but out of curiosity I'd check some benchmarks to compare the socket 2011 to 1151 to see how much that quad channel ram would affect you.

But with that SSD and I7 with 16GB RAM you should be fine. It'll be a beast.

As for the AIO. Stick to the...

medreththedragon

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Your build seems perfectly fine, you have an i7 cpu, which has great performance. The GTX 960 will run minecraft shaders at about 60-70fps most of the time I have a gtx (950 and i usually have about 60 fps)
 

inanition02

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Looks great from a performance perspective - one question though from a fellow developer. You don't seem to have a storage drive - VMs, mutliple IDEs, etc and other needs will eat the 256GB in no time. Also, I'd go hardwire over wifi, but that's just me and might not be possible in your scenario.

And I love my AIO cooler just for sheer quiet factor.
 

targetdan

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http://pcpartpicker.com/p/mPwLzy

Changed your psu - unless you want to sli in future then 650 is more than enough.

I would definitely think about going down the AIO route if you are planning on a custom loop in the future. Kits like the EK predator 360 come pre filled but also allow you to add components later along the line. Would probably need a bigger case too though :p
 

gondo

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Ok, for development I'd suggest dual monitors, or at least a single 1440P 27" monitor. I don't think I need to explain this. Programming, compiling on one screen, and the next screen for the test. With web pages the editing and saving on 1 screen, and the website loaded in the browser on the next screen with a refresh.

An X99 system is more expensive but uses quad channel ram and socket 2011 CPUs. It's supposed to be faster for rendering. I'm not sure how much it would affect you but out of curiosity I'd check some benchmarks to compare the socket 2011 to 1151 to see how much that quad channel ram would affect you.

But with that SSD and I7 with 16GB RAM you should be fine. It'll be a beast.

As for the AIO. Stick to the Cryorig. They are good coolers. The AIO designs are not the best of quality. If you do go that route Fractal Designs Kelvin are very good. I'm more a fan of a custom loop but you're talking $400 or even more by the time all the parts are purchased. Not worth it to run at stock speeds...it's more for the cool factor. AIO have a cheap pump, and fixed piping so routing is not most flexible. I prefer a custom loop where you run piping inside the case and mount the rads on the exterior and cut the tubing to custom length and have a reservoir up front in the 5 1/2" slot.

Don't worry about boot times. That SSD is a beast and will boot faster than 30sec. You may want to consider a storage drive of 1TB or more. 256GB of SSD will fill up fast.

Consider a nice keyboard you like typing on. And a comfy mouse. With development you'll be doing lots of typing and layouts with the mouse especially for web. I'm going to put my word in for Steeleseries. I find them very reliable and nice products. Their Apex keyboard and Rival mouse are very nice and can be had for $30 each or so.

That platinum power supply is overkill. You pay a lot for platinum certification. Some Gold series power supplies are just as good as a platinum and way cheaper. Check out EVGA, they are king of the hill now with their upper power supplies having 10 year warranties. Check www.jonnyguru.com for power supply reviews.

But the biggest thing I notice is that I'd be tempted to reduce the I7 to an I5 and go for some monitors. You may already have that taken care of though :)
 
Solution

That looks fine, although dependent upon what you're doing, you may run out of storage (VMs eat space quickly!). I'm using a Dell E7440 (i7-4600U, 16GB DDR3L, 250GB Samsung 840 EVO OEM SSD) as my main development machine, and it copes with MS Visual Studio, SQL Server, and Virtual Box absolutely fine - everything loads quickly, with Linux VMs booting in about 15s. Sometimes VS bogs down compiling, but that's just the CPU being dual-core.


Well, NVMe drives are around 2x as fast as SATA drives, so things should load faster. However, my experience is that things load more than fast enough off a Samsung 840 EVO. My home PC has a 256GB Samsung 850 Pro, and boots Windows 8.1 in 6s (Fast Boot disabled - it actually takes longer to POST than to boot Windows!), loads Office 2010 in under 0.5s, and Visual Studio 2013 in about 2s.


Only if you're going to be using the extra cores or hammer the memory.


That's up to you. I have a Noctua NH-U12S on my i7-4790K (in a Fractal Design Define R4) - it idles in the low 20's (C), doesn't exceed 60C, and is "silent" (i.e. I can't hear it), so spending lots on cooling may not be necessary.


I'd have a look at more storage. There are some good budget 500GB+ SSDs you could add as a secondary drive, and store your libraries on (MX200, BX200, 850 EVO, etc), or you could get an HDD as a secondary...

++EDIT: +1 on Gondo's recommendation of decent monitor(s) (I have a pair of Dell U2515's, which are great), a decent keyboard & mouse (I use a standard Cherry G6105 & CoolerMaster Mizar, as it's based off an MS IntelliMouse 4), and the EVGA SuperNova G2 series.
 

DarkTerbear

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I forgot to say that I already have 2 screens (I am coding right now on a 920). I may go with the 5820K since it may benefit me more, and I've heard reviews say that it can undervolt and still OC to 4 GHz. Also, I have a bunch of drives laying around waiting to be put into RAID 10. I already have myself a Razer Blackwidow 2014 and a Corsair Sabre RGB so peripherals are all set. Although I am a Corsair fan (no pun intended), I will check out some of EVGA's PSUs. I may put some of the money saved on a Gold PSU into more storage. Thanks!