Advice on $3,400+ Office/Productivity/PhotoShop

[WhiteWelcomer]

New System Configuration -
Building new work computers for my office; simultaneously running 30+ (sometimes upwards of 50+) applications, including Photoshop.
Budget: $3250 each, but authorized to go over slightly in order to be able to obtain five (5x) 27" monitors. (Ideally, if I could find some inexpensive, but quality, 2560x1600 resolution monitors, that would be best. Not likely to find that anywhere, though.)
Contraints: Purchasing everything from NewEgg.com; free 2-day shipping through them. Plus, their product quality and customer service are, more or less, unmatched in my book. If I have any problem, they get it fixed asap. I prefer to purchase everything through NewEgg.
I have left room in the build to upgrade RAM capacity (MB Supports 64GB, and I am placing 8GB Sticks in each slot, beginning with 2x8GB=16GB), as well as another GPU for additional processing-power and (up to) seven (7) additional monitors as productivity continues to climb and the necessity for greater multitasking capability rises with it.
According to a power calculator, I will need at least 575W to power the machine as-is, let-alone once there is more RAM and an additional GPU.
As is, 850 x .8 (80 PLUS Certified) = 680W. Each FirePro W600 draws up to 75W.
With an additional GPU, the system power-draw would become 680W + 75W = 755W.
850W Should leave an acceptable amount of 'breathing room' (even with the additional power-draw of [potentially] an additional six (6) 8GB sticks of DDR3 1600 RAM).

Every part has either a 4/5 or a 5/5 rating on NewEgg.com

Case: Fractal Design - Define R4, Titanium Grey
MB: ASRock X79 Extreme6 Socket-2011
CPU: Core i7-3930k Six-Core 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) Socket-2011
RAM: G.Skill 16GB DDR3 1600
GPU: AMD FirePro W600 2GB - Six-MiniDisplayPort
SSD: OCZ Agility 120GB SATA-III
HDD: Western Digital Green 1TB IntelliPower SATA 6.0GB/s
Media: LG 24x CD/DVD Burner
PSU: Rosewill Xtreme Series 850W 80 PLUS Certified
Monitor(s): 5x Asus 27" DisplayPort
Keyboard/Mouse: Logitech MK550 Wireless Ergonomic
Adapter Cable(s): 5x SIIG 6.6 ft. MiniDisplayPort to DisplayPort

-Price: $3,417.79 after tax/shipping (shipping only on Case; everything else qualifies for free 2-day shipping).


Advice?
Suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Deleted member 217926]

OCZ Agility drive have an awful reputaion. Get a good SSD like the Samsung 840 Pro. Either the 256GB or even the 512GB model would not be out of place in a high end build like this. This is simply the fastest SSD on the market and one of the most reliable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147194

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147194

Rosewill has some very good power supplies but that is not one of them. A high end build deserves a high end power supply. Look at the Seasonic X series. One of the best on the market. The only models potentially better are the Seasonic Platinum series and Corsair AXi series. And it would be a close comparison.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102

Honestly I don't know crap about those graphics cards to say if they are the best choice for you or not.

Edit: This might be one of the few cases I would recommend RAM faster than DDR3 1600. DDR3 1866 or 2133 is not much more expensive these days and will give you a small boost that will add up over time. With a business build time is money. If you were building a gaming computer then DDR3 1600 would be best for sure.

 

[manofchalk]

^ All of Anorts points.

You haven't specified any cooling to go on the CPU, since its a 2011 chip it doesn't come with any at stock. Given that it seems these will be heavily used, I don't think a 212 EVO is going to cut it on a 125W chip over a long period. I recommend you get something like a Noctua NH-D14, that will run very quietly and will keep the CPU cool.
Noctua NH-D14. $81
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

From what I'm seeing you using this rig for, I think storage performance is going to be an issue with this rig. Getting a Green drive is only going to exacerbate the problem. Would go for Seagate Barracuda's or WD Blacks, ideally in a RAID10 array for redundancy and added performance.

Your calculated power requirements are very much off. Unless those Firepro cards draw more power than you state, I think it would be fine to use a 550W unit.
Also 80+ Certification specifies the efficiency of the PSU, not its wattage. An 80% efficient PSU will still output its rated wattage, but you will find it draws 20% more power from the wall than it outputs. As you get more efficient supplies, this gap shrinks.

The motherboard has a Quad Channel memory configuration, for optimal performance you need four or eight sticks of RAM in it. Would get a 4x4GB kit, that will let you upgrade to 32GB later if you need it. Wont be able to get 64GB, but I highly doubt you will need that much. Also Low Profile memory so it doesn't conflict with the cooler.
G.Skill Ares 16GB (4x4) 1600Mhz CL9 1.5v. $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231545

 

[Deleted member 217926]

I would not recommend GSkill Ares memory with Sandy Bridge / SB-E or Ivy Bridge due to the high VCCSA/VCCIO voltage required to run them in XMP. Ripjaws is fine. Also the above point is correct about X79 and quad channel. You need 4 sticks to use it. 4 x 4GB sticks will probably be cheaper than 2 x 8GB stick and should give you better timings as well.

I actually started my reply to mention cooling and got carried away and forgot

Manofchalk is correct a Noctua is a great choice. The Corsair H100/H110 also would be very good as long as it will fit in your case ( 99.9% sure it will ).

 

[g-unit1111]

OCZ Agility drive have an awful reputaion. Get a good SSD like the Samsung 840 Pro. Either the 256GB or even the 512GB model would not be out of place in a high end build like this. This is simply the fastest SSD on the market and one of the most reliable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147194

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147194

I definitely agree here. If you're going for an SSD I'd recommend the 840 Pro. If you want an OCZ SSD their Vertex 4 and Vector SSDs are amazing drives that are very fast.

I would not recommend GSkill Ares memory with Sandy Bridge / SB-E or Ivy Bridge due to the high VCCSA/VCCIO voltage required to run them in XMP. Ripjaws is fine. Also the above point is correct about X79 and quad channel. You need 4 sticks to use it. 4 x 4GB sticks will probably be cheaper than 2 x 8GB stick and should give you better timings as well.

Really? I always thought that you needed 1.5V for SB-E. Most of the compatibility filters I've used say it works.

Manofchalk is correct a Noctua is a great choice. The Corsair H100/H110 also would be very good as long as it will fit in your case ( 99.9% sure it will ).

I personally wouldn't bother with a plastic water block. Stick with the D14 or any other strong air fan you can get.

 

[WhiteWelcomer]

This might be one of the few cases I would recommend RAM faster than DDR3 1600

Oh? I can't remember where I was reading it, but somewhere I saw mention that the processor specifies either 1333 or 1600.

 

[g-unit1111]

This might be one of the few cases I would recommend RAM faster than DDR3 1600

Oh? I can't remember where I was reading it, but somewhere I saw mention that the processor specifies either 1333 or 1600.

Yeah that's true - RAM isn't the place to blow tons of money on a rig. 16GB (4 x 4GB) for X79 is really all you need. Unless you're setting up a RAM disk do you need faster RAM.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Really? I always thought that you needed 1.5V for SB-E. Most of the compatibility filters I've used say it works.

It will work but I learned from Jaquith a while back that Ares uses lower quality modules than Ripjaws and can be dangerous for Intel chips IMCs.

See this thread.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/308402-30-skill-ripjaws-skill-ares

Oh? I can't remember where I was reading it, but somewhere I saw mention that the processor specifies either 1333 or 1600.

The processor supports DDR3 1600 by default and in 99% of cases that is all you need. However it has been shown that the few places faster RAM actually helps would be in builds like yours when processing photos and video. For most people on here asking about gaming builds the difference in frames per second is exactly 0. You would see a small performance gain in the order of 2-5% making it worth it in my opinion with RAM as cheap as it is.

 

[g-unit1111]

Really? I always thought that you needed 1.5V for SB-E. Most of the compatibility filters I've used say it works.

It will work but I learned from Jaquith a while back that Ares uses lower quality modules than Ripjaws and can be dangerous for Intel chips IMCs.

See this thread.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/308402-30-skill-ripjaws-skill-ares

Wow, that's very interesting and comes as news to me. I shall investigate this further. I usually thought that most RAM came off the same assembly line in Taiwan and that there were no real differences but I guess I'm very wrong here. :lol:

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Oh no it's different. In fact even kits with the same specs from the same companies can have different manufacturers. There is no complete list I can find anywhere but this one is the best of the ones I can find.

http://ramlist.i4memory.com/ddr3/

Amazing that even Crucial the consumer division of Micron uses both Samsung and Powerchip made modules. I believe Samsung is the only RAM you can buy that you can be sure who made it.

Edit: Great job on that PC stores by country list! That has been on my favorites list for a few months now and has helped with quite a few threads.

 

[g-unit1111]

Oh no it's different. In fact even kits with the same specs from the same companies can have different manufacturers. There is no complete list I can find anywhere but this one is the best of the ones I can find.

http://ramlist.i4memory.com/ddr3/

Amazing that even Crucial the consumer division of Micron uses both Samsung and Powerchip made modules. I believe Samsung is the only RAM you can buy that you can be sure who made it.

Edit: Great job on that PC stores by country list! That has been on my favorites list for a few months now and has helped with quite a few threads.

Thanks, it took me quite a while to compile all that but it's definitely helped out a lot. I'm still finding plenty of stores around. Maybe PC Part Picker can expand into more countries this way (as long as I get credit... :lol: ).

I'll check out that list later.