Do I build or buy a built-in Games and Workstation pc?

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nature470

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Nov 22, 2014
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Hi,
I am thinking of getting a PC, mainly for big data analysis and gaming. The data that I will be working on are mostly online social networks. The games I am gonna play on it are League of Legends, and FPS and RPGs. I have a 1k budget, and plan on getting intel cores i7 (or others as good that can handle gaming or statistical data analysis) and 12gb of memory expandable to 16 or 32. I don't need more than 1tb of storage, 1tb is enough.

I am thinking of building one, but being a complete novice I am not sure where to start, since learning components like motherboards have a specific compatibility to certain CPUs.

If I can't build one, I am probably going to buy a dell xps 8700 tower pc, since it has the specs I need. It costs about 830$. I don't plan on multitasking between games and working.

Is it worth it to build my own pc at this point? If so, what components are better? (Is there a way to know which components are compatible with which from a novice standpoint?)
intel core vs amd? (I know only about amd and intel cores)
how much should I pay for the motherboard and other components? (I want to maximize computing power, and a better than decent graphics for games)

Additional question
are there data analysts who need more than 16gb of memory?



 
Solution
M
You're describing a system usage that really calls for ECC memory in order to minimize errors. You don't want to be doing intensive data crunching, or compiling, on a machine without ECC memory. In the long term, a machine without ECC memory is more apt to generate errors and cost you countless hours of unnecessary debug.

Supporting ECC memory on the Intel platform is a bit more expensive, as the least expensive workstation class motherboards that support ECC start at ~$200, and the least expensive CPUs that support ECC memory also cost ~$200+. The Xeon E3-1231V3 is a quad core, hyperthreaded, 3.4GHZ Haswell CPU with no iGPU. For all intents and purposes, it is an i7-4770 with ECC support enabled, and the HD4600 disabled. Price is...
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Building your own will produce a better or cheaper machine, with every part 'just right' for it's intended purpose. You will know good they are and if any corners have been cut, you will know where and why. In addition, you will totally know how your system works and what all the parts are and do and excellent 'care and feeding', so you can troubleshoot and later upgrade.

It will require you to become educated about parts and your system which, as a professional teacher, I think is a good thing.

There is a sandbox system configurator with prices called PCpartpicker.com. (Hours of harmless fun for children of all ages)

This is the sort of thing you might build.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($121.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($53.59 @ Directron)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($349.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Azza SIRIUS ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64-bit) ($94.99 @ B&H)
Total: $997.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-22 12:52 EST-0500

The CPU Xeon E3 is a locked chip (no overclocking) with no iGPU, but otherwise an Intel i7 in specification.

The GTX970 is the price performance leader for gaming at the moment, so you could save money by down grading.

The PSU is stout and good quality.

The case is cheap and to the budget.

Your applications may be able to use faster memory and the motherboard will handle another 16Gb :)

A $70 to $110 128Gb or 256Gb SSD (Solid State Drive) would be great for your operating system and applications and make your system much more responsive.

If you need a monitor and keyboard too, let me know.
 
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Hey thank you, I appreciate the list. I am looking at them right now. Would it be better to have SSD than HDD for big data analysis and programming? I know the SSD can do it faster than the HDD, and the loading speed time is faster for SSD, but what else can it do for a hybrid desktop?
 
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You're describing a system usage that really calls for ECC memory in order to minimize errors. You don't want to be doing intensive data crunching, or compiling, on a machine without ECC memory. In the long term, a machine without ECC memory is more apt to generate errors and cost you countless hours of unnecessary debug.

Supporting ECC memory on the Intel platform is a bit more expensive, as the least expensive workstation class motherboards that support ECC start at ~$200, and the least expensive CPUs that support ECC memory also cost ~$200+. The Xeon E3-1231V3 is a quad core, hyperthreaded, 3.4GHZ Haswell CPU with no iGPU. For all intents and purposes, it is an i7-4770 with ECC support enabled, and the HD4600 disabled. Price is ~$250 and it's probably your best all around performance option for the build you are describing.

On the AMD platform, many 970 and 990 chipset boards support ECC memory, and all Vishera/Zambezi CPU's also support ECC memory, so there are motherboard options around and under $100 to choose from with ECC memory support, and also CPUs to choose from in the $90-200 range with ECC support. Asus 970 and 990 boards are the best bet here, as they come with "official" support for ECC memory, whereas many others don't list the support officially).

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Here's how to do the Intel version:

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Rack C226 WS+ ($238.99 @ Superbiiz)
Memory: CSamsung DDR3-1600 8GB/1Gx72 ECC (2 X $88.99 @ Superbiiz)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1030.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-23 14:13 EST-0500

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Here's how to do the AMD version:

CPU: AMD FX-8370E 3.3GHz 8-Core Processor ($147.99 @ Directron)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($85.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: CSamsung DDR3-1600 8GB/1Gx72 ECC (2 X $88.99 @ Superbiiz)
Storage: Toshiba Q Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($199.00 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 290 4GB DirectCU II Video Card ($269.69 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1020.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-23 14:21 EST-0500

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The Intel option offers better performance, the AMD option offers better visual quality while gaming.
 
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