New build for 2D editing and 3D rendering - 3-4K budget

[7rigg3r]

Hi Everyone!

Been reading up on specs for days now...my eyes and head hurts... Looking for some help! English isn't my native language so sorry if I write something wrong/weird.

I have an old Quad Q9450 rig that's just too slow. I'm keeping the old machine as is and will use it as an extra rig for downloading/surfing and rendering 3D projects that aren't in any hurry. The new build will be used for my freelance work.

Approximate Purchase Date: Within a week
Budget Range: Max 4000$ but preferably lower
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Photoshop, Blender, Illustrator, Autocad, After Effects
Need to buy OS: No
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Komplett.ie (in english) or any other big swedish site. Happy with recommendations or links to non-swedish sites aswell.
Location: Malmoe, Sweden
Overclocking: Yes, but nothing hardcore
SLI: Yes
Monitor Resolution: 4800x1200/1600x1200 (3 x HP LP2065)
Additional Comments: I would like a quiet PC.

I bought two GTX580 four days ago (last they had at a really low price) which will be used in the new build. Reason for those old cards are that they perform better than GTX 6xx series in the Blender Cycles render engine. The plan is to eventually get one or two GTX Titans or GTX 7xx once they have been released, tested and dropped in price and move the GTX580' to the old rig.

List of components I would like to get:
CPU: i7 3930K 4499SEK - 690$
RAM: 32GB
GPU: 2 x GTX 580 Gainward 1536MB - 4545SEK - 697$ for both (already bought)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl - 889SEK - 136$

The GTX580 takes up 2.5 slots so I need to be sure they fit in the case and on the motherboard.
When it comes to motherboard and memory I'm clueless and would really appreciate some help! I'm also looking for SSD drive/s and a soundcard, unless the motherboard have it built in good enough for listening to music? I really want a quite machine but have never built a water-cooled system before.


Would be really happy and grateful for any help I can get!

 

[7rigg3r]

Been reading up some more. What do you think about this build? anything that needs changing or could be improved?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($95.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 PRO ATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($303.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($304.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($474.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.98 @ Outlet PC)
Power Supply: Corsair 1200W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($299.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $2078.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-06 22:29 EDT-0400)

Parts and components already bought and to reuse:
GPU: 2 x GTX 580 Gainward 1536MB 783Mhz
HDD: Spinpoint F1 1TB
Monitors: 3 x HP LP2065, 20", 1600x1200


Thankful for any help!

 

[manofchalk]

You already seem to be quite knowledgeable in what your doing, the rig as you have specced it out so far is fairly good. Some things I would change though.

- Dont bother with Dominator memory, your paying near double the cost for a shiny heatsink. A kit like this is a far better option, just get two of them.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml16gx3m2a1600c9
Also unless you can get it cheap, dont pay extra for RAM faster than 1600Mhz. The difference between 1600Mhz and 2133Mhz in benchmarks is minimal, in actual usage it wont be noticed.

- 1200W is a bit overkill, for a rig like that, would say go for an 850W unit.

To your questions.

- Motherboard you picked is actually fairly good, if a bit overkill.

- Modern motherboards come with a decent onboard sound card, fine for what most people want. If your running 2.0/2.1 speakers or sub $100 headphones, then I recommend an ASUS Xonar DG or DGX respectively at most. If you have an audio setup worth dropping a few hundred on a good sound card, then chances are your already enough of an audiophile to know which one to get.

- What do you mean by the water-cooling comment? Just there are two kinds, and they vary quite a lot in cost, complexity and performance.

CLC's (Closed Loop Coolesr) are your Corsair Hydro series type units, they come pre-assembled and all you do is hook it up to the rig and plug it in. No real assembly required, no maintenance other than dusting the rad.
However, they perform no better than a big air heatsink could manage. For instance that H100i is roughly equivalent to a Noctua NH-D14 for performance, which is a good $20-30 cheaper.

Then you get to your Custom Water-Loops, which is where you buy each part (Pump, radiator/s, fittings, CPU block, etc...) seperately and assemble it yourself. This costs and requires maintenance the most of all the "normal" cooling solutions, but you get unparalleled performance and if you do it right, will be very quiet. Also far greater flexibility, you can cool near everything with water if you wanted.
If your interested in custom-water cooling, I suggest you read the WC sticky.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/277130-29-read-first-watercooling-sticky

 

[7rigg3r]

Thanks a lot for the help! Dunno what's up with Tre Kronor btw since I don't follow hockey, more into crossfit and running

How do these changes look to you? I only added the Asus GTX580's to make sure they would fit since those card take up 2.5 slots just like the Gainward 580's I already bought.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler ($80.02 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5 EATX LGA2011 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($269.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($474.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($637.48 @ TigerDirect)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 580 1.5GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($637.48 @ TigerDirect)
Case: Fractal Design Define XL R2 (Black Pearl) ATX Full Tower Case ($129.98 @ Outlet PC)
Power Supply: FSP Group 1000W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($175.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $2905.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-07 08:45 EDT-0400)

 

[manofchalk]

The hair combs they glue to that RAM might get in the way of the cooler, would go for a low profile option like this.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml32gx3m4a1600c10

Otherwise looks fine to me.

 

[7rigg3r]

Oops, didn't mean to pick 1866MHz sticks from what you said and I also read on some forums where they said the same thing.
Can't find the memory available you linked to here in Sweden. Link below shows all available DD3 32GB 1600MHz sticks in Sweden, like pricerunner. One swedish krona=0.15$ US, what would you recommend?...if I may be so bold. Sorry for asking so much, really appreciate your help!

http://www.prisjakt.nu/kategori.php?k=980#rparams=l=s126197537

 

[manofchalk]

This G.Skill kit is the equivalent to the the Corsair RAM I linked above.
http://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?p=1334931

All good man, better you ask the questions now than after you'v spent all your money on a mis-informed decision.

 

[7rigg3r]

Excellent, but you picked sticks they don't have in stock which means up to two weeks waiting. I want to start building sooner than that

Ticked of they out of stock/only by order, ones. Could you please pick some other sticks please, please?

http://www.prisjakt.nu/kategori.php?l=s126197537#rparams=l=s126200969

 

[manofchalk]

You could just buy two 2x8GB kits.
http://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?p=1292952
http://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?p=1596101
http://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?p=1598344

 

[7rigg3r]

Thanks a million Manofchalk and Noob12!!! You really helped me AND saved me a bunch of cash too! 😍

I just ordered everything and am now looking for a laserprinter (Scanner/printer-combo), soundcard (Mobo have a Realtek built-in sound chip that I haven't checked out how good it is yet) and maybe a fourth monitor aswell...have to burn my saved money on something 😀 Need a monitor to use with the old rig in the kitchen anyway so there's three options as I see it

1. Use one HP LP2065 20" in the kitchen and get a new 24" e-ips/ips 1920x1200 between the remaining two LP2065's
2. Buy a cheap whatever monitor for the kitchen-rig

Also looking at USB-drives for back-up, one at home and one somewhere else. It just never ends does it...
Not buying all of the listed tuff though...not made of money...I wish.

I'll post a detailed list once I'm done sínce it might help someone else. Once again, thanks a lot guys!

 

[manofchalk]

^ Depending on when that was manufactured, it could be a very good monitor to get your hands on. If thats the 2B version manufactured in February last year, the thing can potentially overclock to 120hz.

 

[7rigg3r]

Thanks again for your help guys!

I'm posting a list of everything I ordered since it might help someone else looking for a similar build. I skipped the printer and scanner since I probably won't have much use for it right now, my old B/W laser printer will have to do for now. I did however get a washable keyboard, destroyed two already by spilling coffee/soda on them, the one I'm typing on now included. Have to copy/paste a few characters...pretty annoying
Bought a 24" 1920x1200 monitor which will replace my middle 20" 1600x1200 and two 2TB USB-drives for back-up. The cheaper power supply was sold out once I ordered it but I found one that had a 25% off special deal and went for that. Total cost is more than I planned but my current rig is around 4 years old so...


PCPartPicker part list (Link includes most of the parts)

CPU: Intel Core i7-3930K 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($499.99 @ Microcenter) ($690 in Sweden)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 CPU Cooler ($80.01 @ Amazon) ($104 in Sweden)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5 EATX LGA2011 Motherboard ($152 in Sweden)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($124.99 @ Newegg) ($122 in Sweden)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 512GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($474.98 @ SuperBiiz) ($583 in Sweden)
Video Card: Gainward GeForce GTX 580 - 1536MB "Phantom" ($345 in Sweden)
Video Card: Gainward GeForce GTX 580 - 1536MB "Phantom" ($345 in Sweden)
Case: Fractal Design Define XL R2 (Black Pearl) ATX Full Tower Case ($129.98 @ Outlet PC) ($164 in Sweden)
Power Supply: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1200W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($214.99 @ Amazon) ($228 in Sweden)
Monitor: HP ZR2440w 60Hz 24.0" Monitor ($333.00 @ Newegg) ($521 in Sweden)
Keyboard: Logitech K310 Wired Standard Keyboard ($31.99 @ Newegg) ($46 in Sweden)
USB Drive: Seagate 2TB Expansion USB 3.0 3.5 Inch Desktop Hard Drive ($122 in Sweden)
USB Drive: Seagate 2TB Expansion USB 3.0 3.5 Inch Desktop Hard Drive ($122 in Sweden)

Total: 3667$ - 23914SEK (Total of what I paid in Sweden, probably a lot cheaper in the US)

Bought everything from Webhallen and CDON. Could have saved maybe 40-50$ by buying from more vendors but on the other hand I would have had to pay for shipping more times then and these two have stores in my hometown so now I can walk over there if I'll get any issues regarding warranty and what not.

Can't wait to get all the part delivered so I can start building! 😀