Opinion on new build for heavy app dev & beginning VR

[dsl101]

PC will be used daily for 2D (web) and some 3D development (including sketchup), lots of browser tabs + local node server for app dev, some audio, photo and video editing (not pro). Occulus Rift experiments and potentially VR content creation.

No gaming, apart from Rift

I'd appreciate any opinions on this spec, plus some specific questions below:

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£215.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - GeminII S524 Ver 2 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£23.49 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£149.20 @ Box Limited)
Memory: Patriot - Viper 4 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£178.28 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£102.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card (£389.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Corsair - VS 450W ATX Power Supply (£44.79 @ Alza)

I have other SSD & HD storage, monitors, etc. already, so that M.2 is just for OS & apps. I also have a tower case built in to a desk mount so would like to reuse that too, but see below.

The two specific things I couldn't figure out are:

1. The right cooler for that CPU. I'd like to use my existing case, but it only has 15cm clearance from motherboard to side panel, so things like the Evo 212 won't fit. I'm not going to overclock—I'd prefer silence over absolute performance. It also seems hard to figure out how well that cooler, motherboard and graphics card will play together. What will get fouled up or not fit properly?

2. The difference between 1060, 1070 and 1080 is about £200-£300 each 'step up'. But I'm also from the 'buy the most expensive and buy less frequently' school. Anybody got any view on how quickly VR might outgrow the 1060?

Many thanks for any advice. Need to place order in next few days, so maybe just cross fingers and hope .

 

[n0ns3ns3]

for decent VR experience, i'd say GTX 1070Ti or better.
lots of tabs + IDEs = more ram is better.
not overclocking = bad value as you miss some 20-25% performance.
scythe fuma is 149mm clearance and can be found for +-45 USD/EUR/BP.
The VS450 is no go for your system. decent budget option would be CX550m (silver label).

 

[dsl101]

for decent VR experience, i'd say GTX 1070Ti or better.
lots of tabs + IDEs = more ram is better.
not overclocking = bad value as you miss some 20-25% performance.
scythe fuma is 149mm clearance and can be found for +-45 USD/EUR/BP.
The VS450 is no go for your system. decent budget option would be CX550m (silver label).

Thanks. My current (old) system gets up to about 9GB–10GB used during the day. Still got 2 more slots free if it gets worse. I would happily overclock providing it doesn't put the noise up to much. Will look at that cooler, tx.

I'm curious about the PSU though. I put my full spec into the CM calculator (including all the other SSDs / HDDs) and it came out at (from memory) 323W (80%), so less than 400W PSU required.

 

[guanyu210379]

My rough calculation (without any tool) says that you will need about 350-380W as extreme minimum and recommended minimum 400-450W.
450W should still do the trick without having only small very room (close to none) for OC and if the PSU is a good quality one.
VS450 is not among the best.
To be frank, I would rather take 500-550W to have room for OC or future upgrades.

You can also try this:
https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator
Do not forget to put "Gaming/Video Editing/3D Rendering Time" to "8 hours"...not the "no gaming/3D apps"

 

[dsl101]

https://outervision.com/b/VvdWzt (Stock)
https://outervision.com/b/Obfn3i (OC, don't know if the numbers for Clock / Vcore are reasonable)

Very similar to the CM calculator. Did I miss something? I'm not averse to getting a bigger PSU, just wondering...

 

[n0ns3ns3]

the cooler i mentioned should do both cool and quiet even with overclocked CPU. There are other options as well (from Be Quiet for example),
As for the PSU, it's more about quality then just wattage.
The VS series is very basic, can't properly handle high loads, does not provide consistent voltage, lacks many safety features, using cheap basic components (read reliability and lifespan - hence very short warranty) and of course noisier. That not to mention that decent PSU can serve you for many years (read 10 is not the limit) If you really after "quiet", you should be looking at something like Corsair RM650x or EVGA G2/G3/P2 ~650w. those units will not even spin their fan 90% of the time.

 

[dsl101]

Upgraded to 1070Ti and Corsair RM550x—of course, over budget now

The cooler was import only with fees and delays. Any opinions on the Arctic Freezer 12? Looks like a good size for my case requirement...

 

[n0ns3ns3]

the freezer 12 is very basic. IMO, kinda waste of money as it is will not be quiet and will not keep the CPU cool enough.
Keep in mind RM550x is an excellent PSU, but that thing I mentioned with 0 RPM fan has much lower limit - something like 200w. above that, the fan will kick in. though it is still very quiet. on the other hand, you will probably hear the GPU and CPU first anyway

 

[dsl101]

I think the Fuma is still too big tbh. _Motherboard_ to case is 150mm, so by the time that cooler is on top of the CPU, it will be through the side. Also looking at Noctua nh-c14s which looks low profile enough.

 

[n0ns3ns3]

Fuma will fit.
the noctua is great, just a bit expensive IMHO.
you have similar type from scythe and be quiet

 

[guanyu210379]

https://outervision.com/b/VvdWzt (Stock)
https://outervision.com/b/Obfn3i (OC, don't know if the numbers for Clock / Vcore are reasonable)

Very similar to the CM calculator. Did I miss something? I'm not averse to getting a bigger PSU, just wondering...

Basically, I already wrote, I am doing the estimation without tool.
If your PC will suck 325W or 350-380W according to my rough estimation. It is only 20-25W (1 bulb) different to the 350W part.
Using the calculator, you will of course get more accurate estimation than my rough estimation.
If you read in my previous post, I also wrote that 450W PSU should do the trick , if it s from good quality.
well...I did the estimation only for 1060, not 1070Ti.
1070Ti will suck more juice than 1060.
If you plan to get 1070ti (future update and OC, like I mentioned before too), 450W is no longer exactly recommended.
Choosing PSU is not only about considering what you have but also your near future plans.
...and VS450 is not exactly among the best....I have to mention this again....

 

[maxalge]

PC will be used daily for 2D (web) and some 3D development (including sketchup), lots of browser tabs + local node server for app dev, some audio, photo and video editing (not pro). Occulus Rift experiments and potentially VR content creation.

No gaming, apart from Rift

I'd appreciate any opinions on this spec, plus some specific questions below:

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£215.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - GeminII S524 Ver 2 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (£23.49 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£149.20 @ Box Limited)
Memory: Patriot - Viper 4 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£178.28 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£102.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card (£389.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: Corsair - VS 450W ATX Power Supply (£44.79 @ Alza)

I have other SSD & HD storage, monitors, etc. already, so that M.2 is just for OS & apps. I also have a tower case built in to a desk mount so would like to reuse that too, but see below.

The two specific things I couldn't figure out are:

1. The right cooler for that CPU. I'd like to use my existing case, but it only has 15cm clearance from motherboard to side panel, so things like the Evo 212 won't fit. I'm not going to overclock—I'd prefer silence over absolute performance. It also seems hard to figure out how well that cooler, motherboard and graphics card will play together. What will get fouled up or not fit properly?

2. The difference between 1060, 1070 and 1080 is about £200-£300 each 'step up'. But I'm also from the 'buy the most expensive and buy less frequently' school. Anybody got any view on how quickly VR might outgrow the 1060?

Many thanks for any advice. Need to place order in next few days, so maybe just cross fingers and hope .

PCPartPicker part list: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/y87rHh
Price breakdown by merchant: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/y87rHh/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (£215.99 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-C14S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£66.95 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£98.12 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (£147.59 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING Video Card (£315.69 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£69.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £914.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-03-09 07:23 GMT+0000


something like this would be minimum


a gtx 1070 TI, gtx 1080 would be ideal

 

[n0ns3ns3]

^^ reading is complicated.
OP already changed to GTX 1070Ti and RM550x.

 

[dsl101]

Thanks all for the thoughts. In the end I read some things about RM550x and it's family being a bit loud under load, so will probably go for Be Quiet (my current BQ 430W has been running silently for over 8 years now). Pure Power 10 600W is probably the one, but another £10 over the RM550x.

And I've gone for the BQ BK002 Shadow Rock LP cooler as well. Over £30 cheaper than the Noctua but still with a 120mm fan. So, final list, in case anyone is interested:

CPU i5 8600k
Be Quiet BK002 Shadow Rock LP
MB Asus z370-a
SSD Samsung 250 NVMe
MSI GTX 1070Ti
Patriot 2x8GB 3200 DDR4
Be Quiet Power 10 CM 600W

Total was £1350 so only a little over my £1100 budget. Thanks for the discussion!

 

[n0ns3ns3]

shadow rock lp is too "small" for an overclocked 6 core CPU.
As for RMx series, have no idea where you have found the "loud" info, but it will be the last part you can hear. your GPU will produce more noise under load.

 

[dsl101]

RM550x—some amazon reviews talk about coil whine, fan clicking, etc., plus my previous good experience with BQ just swayed me in the end. I know noise is a very subjective thing though. I found a post on here (can't just see it now) where someone was going in circles trying to choose the PSU, and I felt like I was heading that way .

As for the cooler, we'll see how it goes. A video review showed it slightly quieter at 100% fan than the bigger version. But at least it's one of the cheapest things to replace if needed.

 

[dsl101]

Just to say I completed the build and all working nicely. Running at stock speeds with that cooler, Prime95 sits at between 70C and 90C, so for sure there is no headroom for OC. I actually have a Scythe Mugen 2 from my old build, and apparently they do a new mounting kit for 1151, so I will probably look into that. At least I can be sure it will fit .