2k Workstation Build

[Big_Benni]

What do you think about this workstation build? It is meant to be used for video-editing, 3D modeling etc.

ASUS Z97-A (I can get either the Z97-pro gamer or the sabertooth Z97 mark 2 for the same price if i want to)
Core i7 I7-4790K 8 MB
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
Noctua NF-P12 (cpu fan)
Samsung 850 PRO MZ-7KE256BW 256 GB SSD
Fractal Design Define R5
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 4 x 8 GB
2x Noctua NF-A14 FLX (case fans)
WD Red WD40EFRX 4 TB
eVGA GeForce GTX 760 Superclocked w/ ACX Cooler (2 GB) (Another option is the new EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB PhysX CUDA - any thoughts on this gfx card?)
eVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2 PSU

I know there are better graphic cards and perhaps motherboards out there, but I reached my budget limit (I'm buying this in Denmark, which is more expensive than in the US).

Any help/thoughts/comments is appreciated, thanks!

 

[boogalooelectric]

Its a good build and you should see good results with it, and I would go with the 960 card, and a 970 would be even better.

The only thing I would consider is going with a socket LGA 2011 config, but I know you are at your limit budget wise. But if you chose that socket you could upgrade to a Xeon later. Perhaps if you backed off of the 4tb HDD to a 1 tb or 2 tb maybe you could afford a better video card or change to a LGA 2011 board.

 

[davidarad02]

CPU: its a great cpu for a workstation with a budget (xeons are stupid expensive).
MoBo: its an OK MoBo, but if you can, i say get the sabertooth one.
CPU Cooler: its a good cheap cooler, but if you really want to get into overclocking, get a better one. i recommend the Noctua nh-d15 for air cooling, or the cheapest 240mm AIO you can find.
storage: i dont see the point of getting a 850 pro with small capacity over the 840 evo with larger capacity. i suggest getting a bigger 840 evo instead. also, don't get the WD red if you're not doing RAID, it wont benefit you. i recommend getting the WD black for much better performance.
case: great case. if you like it, take it.
ram: 32gigs is more than enough, and will benefit you in rendering.
fans: their noctua fans, they're good.
GPU: don't get the outdated 760. if you want a graphics card at that price point get the gtx 960. its a better card for the same price (like the whole maxwell line).
PSU: its an good psu, and if you want it get it.

 

[Brillis Wuce]

Your PSU is a little overkill for a single, mid-range card. I'd consider swapping out the 850 watt PSU/GTX 760 for a 650/750 watt PSU and a GTX 960. Between those, you should save enough money to invest in a 512GB SSD. A 256GB SSD will fill up very fast for video editing and 3D modeling.

I know you also have a 4TB, but you'll want to put as much as you can on the SSD. Overall performance is way better.

 

[Big_Benni]

CPU: its a great cpu for a workstation with a budget (xeons are stupid expensive).
MoBo: its an OK MoBo, but if you can, i say get the sabertooth one.
CPU Cooler: its a good cheap cooler, but if you really want to get into overclocking, get a better one. i recommend the Noctua nh-d15 for air cooling, or the cheapest 240mm AIO you can find.
storage: i dont see the point of getting a 850 pro with small capacity over the 840 evo with larger capacity. i suggest getting a bigger 840 evo instead. also, don't get the WD red if you're not doing RAID, it wont benefit you. i recommend getting the WD black for much better performance.
case: great case. if you like it, take it.
ram: 32gigs is more than enough, and will benefit you in rendering.
fans: their noctua fans, they're good.
GPU: don't get the outdated 760. if you want a graphics card at that price point get the gtx 960. its a better card for the same price (like the whole maxwell line).
PSU: its an good psu, and if you want it get it.

Can you elaborate? Why is the sabertooth better, I really wanted it because of the build quality and 5-year warranty, but it lacks M.2 socket and SATA express.. should I worry about this?
I am not planning on overclocking, so I guess the hyper 212 is fine?
I thought the pro SSD was a good idea because of the 10 year warranty, I don't really need more space, I only need it to run my applications and OS which is around 140gigs of space altogether. What do you think? I could get the older 840 EVO 500gb (non pro) for 40USD extra?
Will the GTX 960 outperform the 760? Should I worry about the 128bit bus vs the 760's 256bit bus?
The WD black is too expensive for me, I could go for a 3tb drive, even though I read that you should stay away from 3tb drives, any thoughts on this? What about the green line, is it bad?

 

[Big_Benni]

Your PSU is a little overkill for a single, mid-range card. I'd consider swapping out the 850 watt PSU/GTX 760 for a 650/750 watt PSU and a GTX 960. Between those, you should save enough money to invest in a 512GB SSD. A 256GB SSD will fill up very fast for video editing and 3D modeling.

I know you also have a 4TB, but you'll want to put as much as you can on the SSD. Overall performance is way better.

I chose the 580watt because that I maybe will upgrade the gfx card in the future.. maybe I will even go SLI.. who knows

 

[davidarad02]

CPU: its a great cpu for a workstation with a budget (xeons are stupid expensive).
MoBo: its an OK MoBo, but if you can, i say get the sabertooth one.
CPU Cooler: its a good cheap cooler, but if you really want to get into overclocking, get a better one. i recommend the Noctua nh-d15 for air cooling, or the cheapest 240mm AIO you can find.
storage: i dont see the point of getting a 850 pro with small capacity over the 840 evo with larger capacity. i suggest getting a bigger 840 evo instead. also, don't get the WD red if you're not doing RAID, it wont benefit you. i recommend getting the WD black for much better performance.
case: great case. if you like it, take it.
ram: 32gigs is more than enough, and will benefit you in rendering.
fans: their noctua fans, they're good.
GPU: don't get the outdated 760. if you want a graphics card at that price point get the gtx 960. its a better card for the same price (like the whole maxwell line).
PSU: its an good psu, and if you want it get it.

Can you elaborate? Why is the sabertooth better, I really wanted it because of the build quality and 5-year warranty, but it lacks M.2 socket and SATA express.. should I worry about this?
I am not planning on overclocking, so I guess the hyper 212 is fine?
I thought the pro SSD was a good idea because of the 10 year warranty, I don't really need more space, I only need it to run my applications and OS which is around 140gigs of space altogether. What do you think? I could get the older 840 EVO 500gb (non pro) for 40USD extra?
Will the GTX 960 outperform the 760? Should I worry about the 128bit bus vs the 760's 256bit bus?
The WD black is too expensive for me, I could go for a 3tb drive, even though I read that you should stay away from 3tb drives, any thoughts on this? What about the green line, is it bad?

if the sabertooth motherboard lacks sata express and m.2, so its probably a z87 board. in that case, i say stick to your original option.
if you're not overclocking, the 212 is just fine.
if you really need the 10 year warranty and dont use the extra space, then the 850 pro is better then the 500gig 840 evo.
the gtx 960 will outperform the 760, as it's the replacer for it. you shouldn't worry about the 128bit bus, as this is a common thing in the 900 series, but nvidia does some stuff to make up for that.
i don't know why are you hearing to stay away from 3tb drives, as they should be just like any other drive. don't get the green ones, as they are very slow, and not worth it.

 

[Big_Benni]

CPU: its a great cpu for a workstation with a budget (xeons are stupid expensive).
MoBo: its an OK MoBo, but if you can, i say get the sabertooth one.
CPU Cooler: its a good cheap cooler, but if you really want to get into overclocking, get a better one. i recommend the Noctua nh-d15 for air cooling, or the cheapest 240mm AIO you can find.
storage: i dont see the point of getting a 850 pro with small capacity over the 840 evo with larger capacity. i suggest getting a bigger 840 evo instead. also, don't get the WD red if you're not doing RAID, it wont benefit you. i recommend getting the WD black for much better performance.
case: great case. if you like it, take it.
ram: 32gigs is more than enough, and will benefit you in rendering.
fans: their noctua fans, they're good.
GPU: don't get the outdated 760. if you want a graphics card at that price point get the gtx 960. its a better card for the same price (like the whole maxwell line).
PSU: its an good psu, and if you want it get it.

Can you elaborate? Why is the sabertooth better, I really wanted it because of the build quality and 5-year warranty, but it lacks M.2 socket and SATA express.. should I worry about this?
I am not planning on overclocking, so I guess the hyper 212 is fine?
I thought the pro SSD was a good idea because of the 10 year warranty, I don't really need more space, I only need it to run my applications and OS which is around 140gigs of space altogether. What do you think? I could get the older 840 EVO 500gb (non pro) for 40USD extra?
Will the GTX 960 outperform the 760? Should I worry about the 128bit bus vs the 760's 256bit bus?
The WD black is too expensive for me, I could go for a 3tb drive, even though I read that you should stay away from 3tb drives, any thoughts on this? What about the green line, is it bad?

if the sabertooth motherboard lacks sata express and m.2, so its probably a z87 board. in that case, i say stick to your original option.
if you're not overclocking, the 212 is just fine.
if you really need the 10 year warranty and dont use the extra space, then the 850 pro is better then the 500gig 840 evo.
the gtx 960 will outperform the 760, as it's the replacer for it. you shouldn't worry about the 128bit bus, as this is a common thing in the 900 series, but nvidia does some stuff to make up for that.
i don't know why are you hearing to stay away from 3tb drives, as they should be just like any other drive. don't get the green ones, as they are very slow, and not worth it.

The sabertooth IS z97 look: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_Z97_MARK_2/ The question is just if I'm gonna need the m.2 and sata express in the future?

Okay thank you very much. I will buy a 3tb WD black then.

Now, which of the 960's should I choose? Look at this screenshot:
http://oi62.tinypic.com/28hn32b.jpg
My only requirement is that it must support CUDA, and they all seem to do. Which one should I go for?

 

[davidarad02]

sata express and m.2 will probably be the future of storage, so i say get a board which has those.
i say get the gigabyte one for better cooling, if you want to pay just a bit more. if you dont want to pay extra, i say get the asus or the msi one.

 

[Big_Benni]

sata express and m.2 will probably be the future of storage, so i say get a board which has those.
i say get the gigabyte one for better cooling, if you want to pay just a bit more. if you dont want to pay extra, i say get the asus or the msi one.

Okay, I will get the Z97-A then.
Did you look at the screenshot i sent you? http://oi62.tinypic.com/28hn32b.jpg
Of the ones you mentioned, the Gigabyte is actually one of the cheapest ones Will the Gigabyte give me best performance?

 

[davidarad02]

notice, gigabyte has 2 versions. a windforce NON g1 gaming one, that has 2 fans and will perform worse, and theres the G1 gaming model. what model are you talking about?

 

[badboyrog2]

PCPartPicker part list: http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/Rn8q99
Price breakdown by merchant: http://de.pcpartpicker.com/p/Rn8q99/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (€324.86 @ Home of Hardware DE)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BL 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler (€74.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (€168.89 @ Home of Hardware DE)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory (€170.43 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€79.90 @ Caseking)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€169.26 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: GALAX GeForce GTX 970 4GB EX OC Black Edition Video Card (€371.14 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case (€148.53 @ Hardwareversand)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€132.27 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1640.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-23 18:59 CET+0100

 

[Big_Benni]

I was talking about this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125772&cm_re=Gigabyte_GeForce_GTX_960-_-14-125-772-_-Product

Ah, I found the one you mentioned.

You mean this one: https://www.komplett.dk/gigabyte-geforce-g1-gaming-gtx-960-2gb/835349 ?
So this will perform better than the other ones?

 

[davidarad02]

yes. the one you were thinking about is the ITX version, which only has one fan, and is intended for small ITX builds. i say get the G1 gaming one, it will perform better (will be cooler) then anyone else.

 

[Big_Benni]

Alright, thank you for your help my friend!

 

[davidarad02]

Alright, thank you for your help my friend!

happy to help 😉

 

[Big_Benni]

Alright, thank you for your help my friend!

happy to help 😉

One last thing. If I were to choose the Noctua NH-D15 for CPU cooling, will it fit in my case? It seems like a big cooler.

 

[davidarad02]

the nh-d15 is 165mm tall and the define r5 supports coolers up to 180mm. so yes, it will work

 

[Big_Benni]

I was more thinking about room for a SLI GFX setup for the future. I did som research and it seems like it would fit

I can't decide if I should get the Gigabyte G1 GTX 960 or save up som money and perhaps get a GTX 770?

EDIT: Oh, and are there any better alternatives to the 2x Noctua NF-A14 FLX case fans? Are there any quieter/better ones? Preferably Noctua.

 

[davidarad02]

the gtx 770 is now outdated and is discontinued, so i say get the gtx 960 instead

 

[Big_Benni]

Alright, thank you.

I added a question above.

"Are there any better alternatives to the 2x Noctua NF-A14 FLX case fans? Are there any quieter/better ones? Preferably Noctua."

 

[davidarad02]

it all depends on the amount you are willing to spend on fans, the NF-A14 from noctua are already great, the corsair AF140 are also good.

 

[Big_Benni]

Sweet!
This is the updated list for my build:

ASUS Z97-Pro (wifi) - I think the build quality on this is better than the Z97-A, so I changed it.
Core i7 I7-4790K 8 MB
Noctua NH-D15
Samsung 850 PRO MZ-7KE256BW 256 GB SSD
Fractal Design Define R5
Crucial Ballistix Tactical 4 x 8 GB
2x Noctua NF-A14 FLX (case fans)
WD Black WD3003FZEX 3 TB
eVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2
Gigabyte GeForce G1 GAMING GTX 960 2GB

Last comments/thoughts?

 

[davidarad02]

looks sweet 😉

 

[Big_Benni]

Once again, thank you for your help!