Having a custom pc built, questions on a few parts

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ltylert1996

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Apr 9, 2015
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Im building a nice pc that can support multiple monitors(Not for gaming). When going through the parts, this graphics card EVGA FTW Edition ACX 2.0 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 ACX 2.0 4GB GDDR5 PCIe 3.0 x16 says it can support up to 4 monitors. It says it has an hdmi port, a display port, and 2 dvi ports. I for some reason thought you couldnt use dvi ports and hdmi ports at the same time, so if someone could clarify that, that would be great. Also, I assume different ports can put out different max resolutions, so what are the max resolutions for each port? Next is the power supply. The computer I built shows a recommended power supply of 570 w. Should I get something like a 1000 w just to be safe? And is one plugin able to supply that much power? I use a surge protector and wasnt sure if i could plug this into the surge protector or if it needed an individual plug. Or maybe even more than 1 plug. Anyways thanks for any help and advice you can give me and I apologize for asking some stupid questions, I just want to be sure about everything.
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
This will do what you need, and then some. Not great for gaming, but great for six displays showing stock market data. It's also not using high end workstation components, but even at two grand it would be a stretch to go with an E5 Xeon, ECC memory and a WS board of any quality. This would be fine. Far better than what we were thinking about earlier in the thread.

You will however need to get two DVI to HDMI adapters in order to use the two DVI ports as HDMI. Two of the monitors can run on D-Sub (VGA), two can run natively on HDMI and two can run on adapted HDMI. I also threw in a Blu-ray player instead of a DVD optical drive. You never know, on a slow day you might want to watch a movie. Heh.

PCPartPicker part list / Price...
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Nah, not for a business critical machine. We're not talking a budget office machine with a work station card slammed in there. He probably can't afford for this to EVER go down in the middle of a run. At least, that would be my guess. It could be devastating to a stock session.
 
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I mean in the future I will probably do a little gaming, but im by no means a gamer. I may play my xbox like once every 2 weeks so it doesnt have to be anything special for gaming. Im most likely not gonna notice any reslution/fps differences. The monitors all have an hdmi and a vga port.
 
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Yes if my computer crashes in the middle of trading that would be very very bad for me haha
 
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This will do what you need, and then some. Not great for gaming, but great for six displays showing stock market data. It's also not using high end workstation components, but even at two grand it would be a stretch to go with an E5 Xeon, ECC memory and a WS board of any quality. This would be fine. Far better than what we were thinking about earlier in the thread.

You will however need to get two DVI to HDMI adapters in order to use the two DVI ports as HDMI. Two of the monitors can run on D-Sub (VGA), two can run natively on HDMI and two can run on adapted HDMI. I also threw in a Blu-ray player instead of a DVD optical drive. You never know, on a slow day you might want to watch a movie. Heh.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($264.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($124.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($142.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($124.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($59.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Thermaltake Core V51 ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($82.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.88 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1178.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-14 00:34 EDT-0400
 
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Solution
I like what darkbreeze did. Here is my small twist on that. I added two drives for RAID and a more efficient psu assuming it's going to be on all the time. I saw an opportunity to save some money on the cpu + mobo + RAM.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($96.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($142.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Thermaltake Core V51 ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.88 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1068.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-14 01:43 EDT-0400
 
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Im really liking these guys, only thing im unsure about is the case, i looked it up and it seemed to have mixed reviews. I watched a youtube video where they said its hard to manage cables and its very dificult to get the drives plugged in the way its made. Other than that, Id say everything looks good to me. As for your list CTurbo, i would just wanna make sure that switching those parts wont hurt performance any. I dont wanna sacrifice performance just to save an extra hundred bucks. But if they are pretty much the same, saving money is always good 😀
 
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Personally, and this is just my opinion, I don't like using RAID on secondary drives. The added speed or reliability of having mirrored images, depending on the type of RAID used, isn't worth bothering with on storage drives IMO unless you do a hell of a lot of transferring of large files to your storage drives. For a market rig, that's probably not the case, but I don't know that with any certainty.

If you don't like the case then I'd suggest the Phanteks Enthoo Pro or the NZXT H440. Both are great cases. You could also go with a Corsair 400R.
 
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RAID1 is useful for secondary drives because of the extra reliability. The pro is, if one drive fails, you don't lose any data. The con is, you'd only have 1tb of total storage space with two 1tb drives.

I actually meant to change the case to the Corsair 350D. That's why I switched to a microATX motherboard. I thought you may appreciate having a slightly smaller PC in case you had to carry it around a lot. If you do not care about size, I recommend the Fractal Design Define R4.

The 1241v3 is $25 more than the 1231v3 and the only difference is 100mhz. I think the 1231v3 is the better buy. There would be no real world difference in performance between the two.

Same with the RAM, $28 for 266mhz more. I added a different set of GSkill that is 1866mhz for only $99.

As far as the motherboards go, the Asus offers an extra PCIe slot due to being a full ATX board, as well as a M.2 slot. Unless those are important to you, I don't see paying the extra $20 for that. If you did want to go full ATX, the ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE will match the Asus' features for $79.

I'm a big bang for buck kinda guy.

 
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No, I dont plan on having any large files on this computer. I will probably do most personal stuff on my laptop instead. So i dont think having RAID would be a real necessity. I also dont plan on moving the computer much, it'll have to stay with my monitors which would be a huge hassle to move haha. So having a smaller case isnt really necessary either. As for the psu, why would it be more efficient to have the weaker power supply?

Oh and I like the case recommendations!
 
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Well here are my recommended changes. RAID1 has nothing to do with moving large files, that's more for RAID0. RAID1 is more about reliability which is probably important for you. So I left it in.



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PERFORMANCE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Gaming Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.99 @ Best Buy)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($49.99 @ Micro Center)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($61.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($42.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.79 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1056.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-14 16:11 EDT-0400



This build will draw 300-350w at most. I feel like that would be below a 750w 80+ Bronze psu's sweet spot for efficiency. A 550w 80+ Gold psu is better suited for it IMO.
 
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Oh I see. When it comes to setting up RAID, how do you have to do it? Is there some special way to set it up or do you use a program or something? Also, I didnt realize how low the wattage was getting, 750w does seem like overkill now. Another thing, you were talking about getting the cheaper cpu because its only 100mhz difference and you said something similar about the ram. So I think you may have meant to switch the ram to 1600mhz instead of 1866 but im not sure.

Nevermind about RAID, I just looked up on youtube how to set that up
 
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Yes you will set the RAID up and it is not hard.

There is little to no real world performance difference between 1600mhz and 1866mhz RAM in any application outside of benchmarks, but I found a decent set of 1866mhz for $99 so I added them. The 1600mhz kit at $96 would be just as good since they have a lower CAS.


 
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Oh I see. Well I have awhile before I actually can get this stuff, so maybe the prices will go down even further by that time. Either way Im pretty happy, I was ready to spend 2 thousand for a custom built pc when I can get the parts for half the price and have it built for free. Thanks for all your help man, I really appreciate it!

Another thing I was wondering is how using multiple monitors effects screen resolution. Say you could support 1 4k monitor. If you plug in 2, does it divide the pixels between them to give them each a 2k resolution? Im just wondering because I dont really want some of my monitors displaying at lower resolutions than the others. Just a reminder that my monitors are 1920x1080 and I would like to run all of them at full resolution. I currently run a 32in tv at a much lower resolution and it gives me headaches to look at a blurry screen all day.
 
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No, they would all operate at their native resolutions, unless you CHOSE to change the resolution on some of them. Using the recommended resolution, which is always notated beside the available resolutions, is, well, recommended. So they'd all be at 1080p. Now, if you had high refresh rates, and the GPU couldn't support that refresh rate on all those units, it might only support a lower refresh rate due to the clock restrictions when using three outputs, but not in this case as I doubt any of those monitors are higher than 60hz. In fact, I'd recommend not using higher than 60hz and since you're not gaming, 30hz would probably be fine but using whatever it's native settings for that are is the best option.
 
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Awesome. So thats why you originally said my graphics cards werent necessary and I could get cheaper ones to serve my purpose. As long as they can run all 6 monitors at 1080p im happy haha. I think Ive about got everything picked out. I liked the NZXT H440 but my optical drive wouldnt fit in it so I think I decided to go with the Phanteks Enthoo pro.
 
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1st, Grats on Mod. Didn't know you gotten it. Grats ^.^

Anyways, I agree with those recommendations. From what the thread has implied, I would go with the Pro because of the upgradbility.

 
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Thanks Fins. Yeah, I've only done two builds with the Pro so far, but I expect to do many more for clients and friends. For a 100 dollar case it has almost every feature you could want. I mean, it's clearly not a 175-300 dollar case, but it's not supposed to be one either.
 
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