Daddy-build, comments welcome

[Guest]

This might be a pretty boring build because I do not intend to be gaming or OC'ing at all. I will install some quiet fans if the noise bothers me. I am planning to build the system in BitFenix Prodigy (itx) black version with mesh front. Case is cheaper here in Finland than at amazon.co.uk.
Main use: Autocad, ArchiCad, Revit. Parts from Amazon.co.uk and
CPU i7-4770 212.67£
MOBO: Asus H81i-plus 49.38£
PSU: XFX ATX 550w 44.98£
SSD: 840 evo 250gb 99.99£
HDD: WD 1tb CaviarBlue 42.99£
RAM: Kingston 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL10 DIMM Memory Module (Kit of 2) HyperX Plug n Play 111.99£.

My main worry is this cheap mobo. Am I sacrificing anything going with such a cheap mobo? I will lose RAID, i guess. But how about fan control? Do I lose all fan connectors? So what would be my options when I try to adjust fan speeds. (I will be putting some money into quality fans if needed.) I can buy a fan controller, but do I get any info on temps from BIOS on such a cheap mobo. I am a total beginner in this.

What else am I sacrifing with this mobo? The price is just so tempting. I am open to suggestions on mobo.

I need to check if that psu is Haswell compatible, of course.

What about my RAM? Is it O.K? The prices on RAM are through the roof nowadays...

 

[YTeodosiev]

What is your father going to do with such a beast?

 

[Guest]

"Daddy" is me Three months old daughter, so no time for gaming anymore. Ever. Oh wait, she will be 18 eventually...So i have time to check that COD: Ghosts then.

 

[Guest]

Originally i was aiming for core i5-4570 or 4670. Not sure if all that "hyperthreading" is actually needed. Autocad is mainly single-threaded. But maybe i need to render something fancy and i will be happy to have hyperthreading. It is just about 100£ difference and I try to spread all the spent money into a 3-4 year span so it doesn't hurt so much.

 

[YTeodosiev]

Well played, Daddy

If you want to play COD : Ghost, BF4 and etc. you will need a GPU, because the integrated graphics in the 4770 aint play good the games. Also you dont need the I7 if you are not going to do some extreme video editing. They have hyper threading which the most of the games are not using. You can downgrade to a 4670k, 4570 if you are not going to overclock, downgrade to 8 GB ram and if you have enough money go for the 760/r9 270x. If not then go for the 750/ti/7790/7770 or the R7 260x. They should fit in your budget.

Edit : Oh, i see now that you want to use AutoCAD. The program is multithreaded and you will se a little bit better performance with I7 instead of i5 but for that little bit i dont think its worth the money

- Yoan Teodosiev

 

[Guest]

I forgot that 750 ti from my list. Actually I should get a workstation GPU for cad work. But most of the work is 2D, or really simple 3D. Not all of us engineers get to plan olympic stadiums and skycrapers.

 

[YTeodosiev]

Well, whats your budget? For workstation build ... it should be a lot

 

[Guest]

Budget is around 1000 £. Trying to save as much money as possible, of course. I could save 30£ for choosing cheap ATX case, but then i would lose some of that saved money on full size mobo.
16mb RAM is needed if i happen to have Autocad and Revit open at the same time. Files can be big. I could be doing basic 2D plans on AutoCad and 3D modeling on Revit.
I just noticed that H81i-plus has PCI 2.0 only. No PCI 3.0. So there we go. I need to find another mobo.

 

[Karadjgne]

Ram: most of the HyperX series run 1.65v and are not recommended for use with a Haswell CPU. Look at the G-Skill Ares or Ripjaws line for good ram at affordable prices and compatibilty.

If you are thinking towards a workstation maybe give the Xeon 1230 v2 or equivalent a lookover, no OC, no onboard gpu, all CPU i7 equivalent.

Nothing wrong with a H-81 mobo, but you may be better served with either a B-85 or H-87. They have a few more options, better chipsets and generally better performance, especially when matched up with a Xeon or i7 class CPU.

The PSU is Haswell compatible, most everything built by Seasonic is, its an excellent PSU for the price range.

When it comes to Gpu's, overkill is always better than underpowered. While an excellent entry level gpu, your PSU has the overhead to handle a more powerful gpu like a gtx 760 or r9 280x.

Since the focus is on CPU intensive software, give thought to a good aftermarket CPU cooler. Stock coolers, while generally decent for everyday computing, tend to sound like freight trains when pushed.

Congratulations on your daughter btw.

 

[ko888]

Well played, Daddy

If you want to play COD : Ghost, BF4 and etc. you will need a GPU, because the integrated graphics in the 4770 aint play good the games. Also you dont need the I7 if you are not going to do some extreme video editing. They have hyper threading which the most of the games are not using. You can downgrade to a 4670k, 4570 if you are not going to overclock, downgrade to 8 GB ram and if you have enough money go for the 760/r9 270x. If not then go for the 750/ti/7790/7770 or the R7 260x. They should fit in your budget.

Edit : Oh, i see now that you want to use AutoCAD. The program is multithreaded and you will se a little bit better performance with I7 instead of i5 but for that little bit i dont think its worth the money

- Yoan Teodosiev

Autodesk says that AutoCAD only supports multi-core technology in a couple of very specific areas of the product:

• 2D regeneration
• MentalRay rendering

AutoCAD is predominatley a single-threaded application.

It's doubtful that it will ever be rewritten to be fully mult-threaded for use on a local workstation. A cloud version based on a subscription model will appear before a multi-threaded local workstation version will ever exist.

 

[Guest]

Ram: most of the HyperX series run 1.65v and are not recommended for use with a Haswell CPU. Look at the G-Skill Ares or Ripjaws line for good ram at affordable prices and compatibilty.

When it comes to Gpu's, overkill is always better than underpowered. While an excellent entry level gpu, your PSU has the overhead to handle a more powerful gpu like a gtx 760 or r9 280x.

Since the focus is on CPU intensive software, give thought to a good aftermarket CPU cooler. Stock coolers, while generally decent for everyday computing, tend to sound like freight trains when pushed.

Congratulations on your daughter btw.

Thanks for the heads-up on my RAM. I need to check my RAM compatibility from pcpartpicker. Amazon is not the best source of info...The price of RAM is just killing me. I might downgrade to 8gb (2x4).

On GPU: I was just excited about low power consumption on 750 ti Maxwell. Wanted to wait and see what NVidia might come up with in the next couple of months and just get 750 Ti to get by. I should get a workstation grade GPU (Quadro or FirePro). But just look at the prices of the Quadro K series. I could get the cheapest Quadro, though. In everyday dull engineering tasks, one could manage even with a mid-range laptop. I mean just basic "blueprints" and other 2D tasks. A lot of my work is just basic stuff, no rendering. Those pretty rendered images are just for selling the plans, so I don't need to do that. Gtx and R9 are NOT Autocad certified

Cooler is something I am definitely going to get. Just need to pick the mobo and come back here with questions. I mean, on this forum there is so much info on different Z87 mobos and compatible coolers. I think that B85 and H87 mobos might have a different layout from Z87, so all aftermarket coolers might not fit if i go with cheaper mobo.
Oh!!! Just noticed that I also need to check the HEIGHT of my RAM if I want to avoid problems with aftermarket air coolers...Not too interested in watercooling. Costs extra.

 

[Guest]

Well played, Daddy

Edit : Oh, i see now that you want to use AutoCAD. The program is multithreaded and you will se a little bit better performance with I7 instead of i5 but for that little bit i dont think its worth the money

- Yoan Teodosiev

Autodesk says that AutoCAD only supports multi-core technology in a couple of very specific areas of the product:

• 2D regeneration
• MentalRay rendering

AutoCAD is predominatley a single-threaded application.

It's doubtful that it will ever be rewritten to be fully mult-threaded for use on a local workstation. A cloud version based on a subscription model will appear before a multi-threaded local workstation version will ever exist.

Yes. I am aware of Autocad not being multithreaded. That is why i was thinking of going to core i5 just to save some money. But rendering programs benefit from multithreading. Rendering the photorealistic images of a building is just the final phase when trying to sell the plans to a developer. I don't do that. Need more artistic people to handle that. But my wife is an architect so she might need to do some of that 3D modeling/rendering at home. I am making those plans they use on a construction sites. No 3D needed. Just flat linedrawings with all the needed measurements, annotations and so on.

Both ko888 and YTeodosiev, just check this forum for questions like "AutoCad Build" "Autocad Budget Build". So many people recommend the i7. Personally, i think they might be misinformed. Of course, anyone asking for help on an Autocad build, should be more accurate on their needs: 2D or 3D, rendering/not rendering. Lot of the answers to those questions would be more accurate then. This multithreading property is the only reason to go with i7...

 

[Karadjgne]

I hear you. The g-skills don't run with huge heatsinks, and corsair has low profile ram that is good.

As far as mobo's go, socket is a socket, any cooler, rated for socket lga 1150 will fit any socket lga 1150 mobo. The only real difference in h-87 and z-87 boards is the z are built with overclocking spec'd components and power phases and the h aren't. B-85 are close in design, but are tailored towards business.

 

[Guest]

I hear you. The g-skills don't run with huge heatsinks, and corsair has low profile ram that is good.

As far as mobo's go, socket is a socket, any cooler, rated for socket lga 1150 will fit any socket lga 1150 mobo. The only real difference in h-87 and z-87 boards is the z are built with overclocking spec'd components and power phases and the h aren't. B-85 are close in design, but are tailored towards business.

So there should be no layout issues with different types of 1150 mobos? I mean PCI being in some funny position and heatsink hitting the GPU or some stupid backplate issues...

 

[Karadjgne]

Nope, the only major changes happen below the top PCIe slot where differing boards will have differing components, PCIe x1, PCI, PCIe x16 etc. Pretty much most other parts are laid out in the same areas. Some boards will have extra heatsinks on specific stuff, or more sata 6G headers, or an extra USB 3.0 header, but the important stuff is pretty much in the same place