Motherboard and Power supply Advice

[ChemWizard]

Hello,

This is the first time I am building a computer from scratch andI need some advice on purchasing a motherboard and power supply. I have bought an i7-3930K and 2 GTX 690s (well one I got as a gift), but I am not sure which Asus X79 motherboard to buy (as there are many different versions), also I hear you need a power supply with over 1000W if you have 2 GPUs. Please advise. Thanks in advance!

 

[Bejusek]

For this system you need at least 60A on 12V rail. For such a power hungry machine there can be no compromise and only the best of best PSUs should be considered. My personal opinion is that SeaSonic makes the best ones, thus I recommend a Platinum series 860W model: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151111

As for the motherboard, if you want ASUS go with PRO or DELUXE. Deluxe has more USB 3 ports on the back than PRO, better bluetooth module than PRO, has 2 network interfaces and supports efficient ethernet standard (pro doesn't). Is it worth $75 more? Its up to you to decide.
From the other brands I would choose a Asrock Fatal1ty X79 Professional board. Its an outstanding product.

 

[cball1311]

Wow, 2 690s, impressive. That will be sweet for any game in the years to come.

First, I would suggest the ASUS Rampage IV Extreme. I has everything you would need to go with those 690s.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131802

64GB Max RAM (up to 2400 DDR3)
5 x PCIe slots (4 @ x16; 1 @ x8)
Many SATA ports (RAID and AHCI)

For the power supply, 1000W is about right. Those cards are beefy when it comes to power not to mention the 130W CPU. The ENERMAX ERV1000EWT-G 1000W ATX12V has great review plus is backed by a 5 year warranty (don't mind the newegg specs on warranty, they are incorrect). This is also a modular PSU so you can add the cables as you need them. I made this mistake and went with a non-modular 750W PSU and I have loads of extra wires just stuffed on the back side of the case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194101

I would love to see some benchmarks from this rig when its done. This is a beast. With the Rampage IV, you could always add another 690 for 3-way SLI (that is why I suggested the PSU because it has 6x6+2 PCIe power rails)

Good luck with the build

 

[Bejusek]

You can't SLI more than two GTX690, it's already a quad-sli configuration, maximum of what is supported.

 

[cball1311]

Thanks for the clarification Bejusek. Should have done the proper specification review. Never have looked at these, in depth, anyway, as they are out-of-this-world expensive. I don't have that kind of cash.

 

[iceclock]

yea thats 2 bigpus in quadsli.

heres a great powersupply for ur needs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194092

enermax quite solid as hell.

also :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703037

or :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207020

witch are all hardcore powersupplies with great stability no need for platinum thats overkill.

 

[ChemWizard]

Thank you Bejusek and cball1311 for your responses. Perhaps I should have clarified (much to your disappointment i am guessing ) that I will not be using the computer I am building for any gaming whatsoever. I will be using it as a workstation for high performance computations on CPU and GPU (using CUDA). I have adopted this approach because the performance/cost of extreme gaming components are much higher than components designed for workstations for example , i7-3930K is 1/3 the cost of a Xeon E5-2670 but the latter is only 20% faster and the GTX 690 is almost 1/4 the price of Tesla K20 but the latter is only 50% faster.
I am also not attaching any display or input devices to the box, the only thing I am attaching to it is an Ethernet cable, and submit my computations remotely via ssh. I know this description will probably not alter my PSU needs, but will the ASUS P9X79 (which i think is the lowest end) be sufficient for me.

 

[Bejusek]

1200 or 1350W is an overkill. Why would you invest more money in less efficient PSU with wattage that you don't need? First you save on PSU itself, second, your electricity bill is lower.

Edit:
With or without display you still need a good PSU. CUDA computations are equally power demanding as gaming. However if this is going to be a workstation only, no need for maxi-featured mainboard, go with the cheapest x79 one, all of them support x16/x16 for pci-e.

 

[djangoringo]

the best for your needs : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703028
If you want more wattagge : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151109
The mobo : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157289

 

[iceclock]

not really, if the powersupply is very energy efficient it wont actually use all of the wattage, it only uses up how much it needs,

also its never overkill for future upgrades, good to keep head room for the future.

 

[Bejusek]

You don't say?!
I was referring to difference between efficiency of gold and platinum certified units. Platinum one will draw less power from wall socket due to its higher efficiency, meaning it will cost you less per month in electricity bill. So it's obviously better to buy more efficient PSU with the wattage you need (with some excess of course) than a more expensive one with overkill wattage and lower efficiency. Double savings, as I wrote before.

I doubt that for future upgrades you would need a more powerful PSU than for dual GTX 690 nowadays. Current trends are to limit power consumption everywhere. New manufacturing processes (20 and 14 nm) have lower power requirements, new regulations are about to limit graphics cards maximum power draw. And you still want a to buy a PSU with 500W of spare power?

 

[iceclock]

in my opinion i say otherwise, anyways cheers

 

[ChemWizard]

Best answer selected by ChemWizard.