Workstation Build - Future Proof, Unlimited (almost) Budget

FlatBlackCoffee

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 27, 2008
Messages
138
Adobe CC apps slow enough to frustrate with my current system built with your [H]ardForum help in 2011. Ideally, want to build anew and forget about it for another bunch of years. Because of work and love I've drifted away from staying current on the state of hardware. I was a curious dabbler at best but now I am LOST.

I would rank stability and performance equally with a willingness to pay more to get both.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere), CAD, Crystal Reports, MS Office Suite (big Excel spreadsheets), several browser tabs open at once
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Budget is pretty much unlimited but I don’t want to be wasteful.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
USA, Midwest, not near a big city
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Motherboard
CPU
CPU Cooling
RAM
Bootable Storage for OS (fast is nice)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
LIAN LI PC-X500B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (I like this case – hope new mobos fit it)
2 x Samsung Desktop Class Spinpoint F3 1 TB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 32 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare-OEM Drives, HD103SJ
1 Port PCI RS232 Serial Adapter card with 16550 UART
LG BD - ROM/DVD Rewriter CH08LS10
Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
Logitech Wireless Performance Mouse MX X000STEQGN
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
2560 x 1600, 30” NEC PA302W-BK (will likely upgrade to 32" PA322UHD-BK-2 in coming years)
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Can buy parts now unless there is a reason to wait.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Would like to run existing SATA drives in RAID 1. If you tell me these will be a bottleneck, I can get new drives.
I have a notion to run a couple of 950 Pros in RAID 1.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I have a Windows 7 Ultimate 64 license. Will upgrade to Windows 10 when we are done testing.
 
1 Port PCI RS232 Serial Adapter card with 16550 UART

I think that's going to be your sticking point. x99 doesn't have PCI slots anymore, so the best we can do here is Skylake i7. Lucky you, there are plenty of boards with multiple slots.

I'll make you a build later this afternoon when I get free time.
 
Go with the X-99 and just resign yourself to spending $50 to $75 more bucks on a PCI-e RS232 Card if you really need one!
 
Would also recommend an Intel 750 series NVMe PCI-e AIC as a boot drive. Would be faster than the 950 Pro's even in Raid 0. The 1.2TB version is just a little over a grand. Use your Samsung's for storage and just add more drives when need arises. ASUS Sabertooth X-99 with an I7-5930X or a 5960X (for the 40 PCI lanes) & 64GB of memory makes a great combination with the Intel 750! The AMD FirePro W8100 is a great CAD video card also just a little over a grand. Corsair AIO coolers can't be beat for CPU cooling. Could wait a few months if you want to and buy a Broadwell-E instead of the 5930X/5960X. If money doesn't matter, then around $5000 will build quite a future-proof workstation.
 
I think that's going to be your sticking point. x99 doesn't have PCI slots anymore, so the best we can do here is Skylake i7. Lucky you, there are plenty of boards with multiple slots.

I'll make you a build later this afternoon when I get free time.

Oh man, I'm not going to allow that little card to hold back the rest of the system. I use that for interfacing with Cisco stuff. I'll just buy the PCI-e RS232 card as jrweis suggested the next time I need one. Thank you for catching that and thank you for helping me, defaultuser.
 
Would also recommend an Intel 750 series NVMe PCI-e AIC as a boot drive. Would be faster than the 950 Pro's even in Raid 0. The 1.2TB version is just a little over a grand. Use your Samsung's for storage and just add more drives when need arises. ASUS Sabertooth X-99 with an I7-5930X or a 5960X (for the 40 PCI lanes) & 64GB of memory makes a great combination with the Intel 750! The AMD FirePro W8100 is a great CAD video card also just a little over a grand. Corsair AIO coolers can't be beat for CPU cooling. Could wait a few months if you want to and buy a Broadwell-E instead of the 5930X/5960X. If money doesn't matter, then around $5000 will build quite a future-proof workstation.

Can I put two Intel 750 series NVMe PCI-e AICs into RAID1 without frustration? I'd really like to retain the redundancy we currently have on all of our workstations (which has been awesome the times we've needed it).

This is outstanding information, jrweis, and shows me just how in need of help I am. I would rather not wait a few months - just because I'm impatient. I think the "almost" qualifier in my title is going to kick in somewhere under $4000. Probably.:)

My system currently has an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 in it and I can draw without a hiccup. I do some 3D CAD stuff maybe 2 times a year. Most of my drawing is 2D and not sexy. Given my needs, will the FirePro W8100 give me value?

Thank you again, jrweis.
 
Would also recommend an Intel 750 series NVMe PCI-e AIC as a boot drive. Would be faster than the 950 Pro's even in Raid 0. The 1.2TB version is just a little over a grand. Use your Samsung's for storage and just add more drives when need arises. ASUS Sabertooth X-99 with an I7-5930X or a 5960X (for the 40 PCI lanes) & 64GB of memory makes a great combination with the Intel 750! The AMD FirePro W8100 is a great CAD video card also just a little over a grand. Corsair AIO coolers can't be beat for CPU cooling. Could wait a few months if you want to and buy a Broadwell-E instead of the 5930X/5960X. If money doesn't matter, then around $5000 will build quite a future-proof workstation.

Disagree: the one thing Intel sucks at is boot times:

Samsung's 950 Pro 512GB SSD reviewed

The 950 Pro and Intel 750 are virtually identical in real-world speed. I don't know what you're thinking of.

And why are you recommending a CAD card for someone who will never use it? This is Adobe we're talking about here, any powerful GPU will do!

The Adobe vector lighting engine has been phased out, and adobe Lightroom hardly uses GPU acceleration t all.

No need to spend insane amounts on a stupid "professional" card.
 
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What's wrong with a USB to Serial adapter? You can get ones that support the full spec and actually work properly, because yes, some don't. I have used the FTDI Chipi-X ones for a lot of embedded development stuff and they work properly (RTS/CTS support and all). Then you can go X99, and go with an 8 core, or even with a Xeon for more cores. You could put one of the new Broadwell Xeons in there for 10+ cores. If you are doing a lot of video editing and want faster render times, then more cores will definitely speed you up. If you really have an unlimited budget, you may even want to consider going with a 2P Xeon system, but you will be staring down the barrel of $10+k real quick.
 
What's wrong with a USB to Serial adapter? You can get ones that support the full spec and actually work properly, because yes, some don't. I have used the FTDI Chipi-X ones for a lot of embedded development stuff and they work properly (RTS/CTS support and all). Then you can go X99, and go with an 8 core, or even with a Xeon for more cores. You could put one of the new Broadwell Xeons in there for 10+ cores. If you are doing a lot of video editing and want faster render times, then more cores will definitely speed you up. If you really have an unlimited budget, you may even want to consider going with a 2P Xeon system, but you will be staring down the barrel of $10+k real quick.

extide, you sound like you may have had a similar bum-out as I did when I discovered the USB-to-serial adapter I purchased did not work. I have no problem using a USB one that does. Worst case, I can use an old server that has the RS232 on the back of it for configuration if I'm in a pinch. Thank you for the Xeon suggestion. Their power, however, may be wasted on my humble tasks. I do some video editing but not every day or every month even.
 
extide, you sound like you may have had a similar bum-out as I did when I discovered the USB-to-serial adapter I purchased did not work. I have no problem using a USB one that does. Worst case, I can use an old server that has the RS232 on the back of it for configuration if I'm in a pinch. Thank you for the Xeon suggestion. Their power, however, may be wasted on my humble tasks. I do some video editing but not every day or every month even.

So all you do is basic photo editing? Very little 3D or video editing?

Then you might be wasting money going eight cores. The only thing multiple cores can speed up is your RAW import times. If those are seriously holding you back, then we can drop cash. But otherwise? The 8 core processor is clocked slower than the 6-core!
 
So all you do is basic photo editing? Very little 3D or video editing?

Then you might be wasting money going eight cores. The only thing multiple cores can speed up is your RAW import times. If those are seriously holding you back, then we can drop cash. But otherwise? The 8 core processor is clocked slower than the 6-core!

This is EXACTLY the kinds of insight I was hoping for, default|user! You're right, not a ton of video editing so based on what you're teaching me, the 6-core sounds preferable.
 
Okay, here is my cut:

PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K ($582.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ($174.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.SKILL 32GB (4 x 8GB) Ripjaws 4 Series ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 GTX 970 GAMING 4G ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 220-G2-0750-XR ($84.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW ($322.57 @ Amazon)
Storage #2: SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW ($322.57 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 ($29.49 @ Amazon)
Total: $1,952.56
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound



I only went with a single 950 Pro because the boards with dual m2 slots have had a rash of bad m2 slots!

Also, the motherboard I did pick you cannot see the 950 Pro in the BIOS, but Windows will see it.

X99 Extreme4 does not detect Samsung Pro 950 M.2

It seems if you want a cutting-edge drive tech, you have to take the faults with it. I could always build you a RAID 1 850 Pro system instead, if you don't want to deal with bugs.
 
Okay, here is my cut:

PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-5930K ($582.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ($174.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.SKILL 32GB (4 x 8GB) Ripjaws 4 Series ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 GTX 970 GAMING 4G ($309.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 220-G2-0750-XR ($84.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW ($322.57 @ Amazon)
Storage #2: SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW ($322.57 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 ($29.49 @ Amazon)
Total: $1,952.56
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound



I only went with a single 950 Pro because the boards with dual m2 slots have had a rash of bad m2 slots!

Also, the motherboard I did pick you cannot see the 950 Pro in the BIOS, but Windows will see it.

X99 Extreme4 does not detect Samsung Pro 950 M.2

It seems if you want a cutting-edge drive tech, you have to take the faults with it. I could always build you a RAID 1 850 Pro system instead, if you don't want to deal with bugs.

Thank you for taking the time to put this together for me. So, to get the RAID1 protection, Windows 7 could do software RAID to create a redundancy with my bootable 950s?
 
Thank you for taking the time to put this together for me. So, to get the RAID1 protection, Windows 7 could do software RAID to create a redundancy with my bootable 950s?

I don't know man, RAID is not my specialty. That' why I just offered to use dual 850 Pro SSDs instead. You'll have easier compatibility, and matched drives, and still have pretty good performance.
 
As defaultuser has pointed out, the Intel 750 AIC is slow to boot into windows, but once there it screams. I recommended the W8100 because FlatBlackCoffee had stated in his original Q&A that he did CAD work. The W8100 can be had for around a grand which is less than half of the Quadro's. The W8100 has 8GB of 512bit on-board memory and really makes a difference in 3D CAD work!. After reading all the posts since my post, I would agree that a $500 vid card would be enough for now. I like AMD's cards due to the faster memory bus speed and the R-9 Fury (X) & R-9 Nano use HBM. I don't see the need for Raid 1 for the OS, but it could be done for the storage if you want the redundancy. The problem with raid 1 is the only protection you get is for a hard drive failure. It does nothing for virus protection because you would write the virus to all the drives. A good back-up software with a regular schedule would give you the best of both worlds. Heck, if you want real redundancy buy 3 or 4 WD SE 3 or 4 TB drives along with a hardware Raid controller card and set them up in a raid 5 or Raid 6 configuration.

Here's my suggested rig:

CPU

Intel Core i7-5930K
$378.38

MOTHERBOARD

ASUS SABERTOOTH X99
$313.98

MEMORY

G.SKILL 32GB (4 x 8GB) Ripjaws 4 Series
$124.99

VIDEO CARD

XFX Radeon R9 Fury X R9-FURY-4QFA
$629.99

PSU


CORSAIR 850W HXi CP-9020073-NA
$164.99


STORAGE


Intel 1.2TB 750 Series SSDPEDMW012T4X1
$1,063.71


WD 3TB SE WD3000F9YZ
$179.99


WD 3TB SE WD3000F9YZ
$179.99


WD 3TB SE WD3000F9YZ
$179.99

CASE


Corsair Obsidian Series 550D
$149.97

CPU COOLER

CORSAIR H110i GTX
$119.99

RAID CONTROLLER

LSI MegaRaid 9361-4i
$380.98

BUILD TOTAL: $3,866.95
Wattage Estimate:
647W
 
As defaultuser has pointed out, the Intel 750 AIC is slow to boot into windows, but once there it screams. I recommended the W8100 because FlatBlackCoffee had stated in his original Q&A that he did CAD work. The W8100 can be had for around a grand which is less than half of the Quadro's. The W8100 has 8GB of 512bit on-board memory and really makes a difference in 3D CAD work!. After reading all the posts since my post, I would agree that a $500 vid card would be enough for now. I like AMD's cards due to the faster memory bus speed and the R-9 Fury (X) & R-9 Nano use HBM. I don't see the need for Raid 1 for the OS, but it could be done for the storage if you want the redundancy. The problem with raid 1 is the only protection you get is for a hard drive failure. It does nothing for virus protection because you would write the virus to all the drives. A good back-up software with a regular schedule would give you the best of both worlds. Heck, if you want real redundancy buy 3 or 4 WD SE 3 or 4 TB drives along with a hardware Raid controller card and set them up in a raid 5 or Raid 6 configuration.

Here's my suggested rig:

CPU

Intel Core i7-5930K
$378.38

MOTHERBOARD

ASUS SABERTOOTH X99
$313.98

MEMORY

G.SKILL 32GB (4 x 8GB) Ripjaws 4 Series
$124.99

VIDEO CARD

XFX Radeon R9 Fury X R9-FURY-4QFA
$629.99

PSU


CORSAIR 850W HXi CP-9020073-NA
$164.99


STORAGE


Intel 1.2TB 750 Series SSDPEDMW012T4X1
$1,063.71


WD 3TB SE WD3000F9YZ
$179.99


WD 3TB SE WD3000F9YZ
$179.99


WD 3TB SE WD3000F9YZ
$179.99

CASE


Corsair Obsidian Series 550D
$149.97

CPU COOLER

CORSAIR H110i GTX
$119.99

RAID CONTROLLER

LSI MegaRaid 9361-4i
$380.98


BUILD TOTAL: $3,866.95
Wattage Estimate:
647W
Thank you, jrweis, both for the explanation as well as the parts list. I agree that good back-up software is a necessity. Having zero downtime when the OS hard drive goes down, ohhhh MOMMA! It is a euphoric feeling to know the system can keep working and all I have to do is swap a hard drive after business hours. No back-up restore. No sad user (aside from them saying, "My computer is making a weird clicking noise"). I have RAID1 on my scratch disks too for the same reason. If I had to choose between performance and RAID1...hmm. Then again, I don't have RAID1 on my home system's SSD OS drive (living dangerously off-the-clock).

Would there be any advantage to maxing out the memory to 64GB? I am not looking to waste money but I'm curious if the extra memory would simply not be utilized by the OS or something.

Finally, where is the CPU available for $378.38? The places I've quickly looked show it as being over $500.

Thanks again for your help!
 
CPU cost was an error on PC Hound (linked to a 5920x). It is in fact over $500 everywhere. The memory was spec'd at 4x8gb so you would have 4 slots open on the motherboard to allow another 32gb kit be installed at a later date if you found that you needed more. Unless you are a rendering fool or have massive CAD files, 32gb should be enough for now!
Would also recommend starting with Win 10 if you do go the NVMe route as Win 10 has drivers built in that Win 7 does not. It also handles UEFI much better than Win 7. (I have held off on Win 10 myself, but use it for any new machines that I build. You just can't beat a "Clean" install)
 
As defaultuser has pointed out, the Intel 750 AIC is slow to boot into windows, but once there it screams. I recommended the W8100 because FlatBlackCoffee had stated in his original Q&A that he did CAD work. The W8100 can be had for around a grand which is less than half of the Quadro's. The W8100 has 8GB of 512bit on-board memory and really makes a difference in 3D CAD work!. After reading all the posts since my post, I would agree that a $500 vid card would be enough for now. I like AMD's cards due to the faster memory bus speed and the R-9 Fury (X) & R-9 Nano use HBM. I don't see the need for Raid 1 for the OS, but it could be done for the storage if you want the redundancy. The problem with raid 1 is the only protection you get is for a hard drive failure. It does nothing for virus protection because you would write the virus to all the drives. A good back-up software with a regular schedule would give you the best of both worlds. Heck, if you want real redundancy buy 3 or 4 WD SE 3 or 4 TB drives along with a hardware Raid controller card and set them up in a raid 5 or Raid 6 configuration.

Here's my suggested rig:

CPU

Intel Core i7-5930K
$378.38

MOTHERBOARD

ASUS SABERTOOTH X99
$313.98

MEMORY

G.SKILL 32GB (4 x 8GB) Ripjaws 4 Series
$124.99

VIDEO CARD

XFX Radeon R9 Fury X R9-FURY-4QFA
$629.99

PSU


CORSAIR 850W HXi CP-9020073-NA
$164.99


STORAGE


Intel 1.2TB 750 Series SSDPEDMW012T4X1
$1,063.71


WD 3TB SE WD3000F9YZ
$179.99


WD 3TB SE WD3000F9YZ
$179.99


WD 3TB SE WD3000F9YZ
$179.99

CASE


Corsair Obsidian Series 550D
$149.97

CPU COOLER

CORSAIR H110i GTX
$119.99

RAID CONTROLLER

LSI MegaRaid 9361-4i
$380.98


BUILD TOTAL: $3,866.95
Wattage Estimate:
647W
If he wont use more than 3 pcie devices (x8) then a 5820k is a better choice
 
`


Is it better because, why pay for more processor that won't be utilized? Thank you for taking the time to help me, PontiacGTX.
The only difference between the 5820k and 5930k are 28 vs 40 pcie lanes and a slighly different clock speed

there are some mobo that allow using 4x pcie2.0 from pch,and a 5820k with enough ports can do 8x/8x/8x/4x pcie 3.0

In microcenter the 5820k is usually 300
 
If he wont use more than 3 pcie devices (x8) then a 5820k is a better choice

It wasn't a mistake when I made my build.

If he's spending out the ass for a PCIe SSD, don't you think he should get full performance?

On a number of boards, part of remapping I/O for the 28 lanes of the 5820k is ditching two of the four dedicated lanes used for the m.2 slot. So yes, this is essential if he's going high-end I/O.
 
The original request was for a future-proof PC with a semi-unlimited budget. That was the reason behind all the suggestions. NVMe with a PCIe SSD kinda requires the 40 lane CPU (16x for vid card, 8x for SSD is 24 lanes in itself). I have always said you should choose the $ amount you want to spend and then purchase the best that that dollar amount will get you!
 
The original request was for a future-proof PC with a semi-unlimited budget. That was the reason behind all the suggestions. NVMe with a PCIe SSD kinda requires the 40 lane CPU (16x for vid card, 8x for SSD is 24 lanes in itself). I have always said you should choose the $ amount you want to spend and then purchase the best that that dollar amount will get you!
This seems critical. Thank you for the heads-up about this, jrweis. I was wondering about this as I strain my brain to decipher the requirements of the 950 Pro drives. Being as there aren't a gaggle of x99 motherboards with two spaces for these kinds of drives, can you tell me if using an adapter like the angel wings would hamper performance of those cards in any way?
 
No need to go with the Angel Wings if you choose the Intel 750 as it is available in PCIe format already. If you are set on using the 950 Pro's, my guess is that the Angel Wings would add to the boot time but probably wouldn't affect overall performance once you are in Windows. I say this as an educated guess as I have never actually used the Angel Wings adapter. I also don't know if they would allow the Raid 1 set-up that you are trying to achieve.
I would also change my mobo recommendation to the ASUS X-99 Deluxe/U3.1, Rampage 5 Extreme/U3.1, or X-99E WS/USB3.1 as these would give you more PCIe slots than the Sabertooth X99. I originally suggested the Sabertooth as it is the easiest board to get NVMe working properly and has a 5 year warranty instead of 3.
You probably see that I like Asus boards, but this does not mean I dismiss anything that other makers are building. Since Abit went out of the motherboard business, I have used nothing but Asus with just a single problem in over 30 builds (once had a mobo that wouldn't boot with a specific hardware configuration and Asus tech support provided a special Bios to accommodate my configuration).
 
No need to go with the Angel Wings if you choose the Intel 750 as it is available in PCIe format already. If you are set on using the 950 Pro's, my guess is that the Angel Wings would add to the boot time but probably wouldn't affect overall performance once you are in Windows. I say this as an educated guess as I have never actually used the Angel Wings adapter. I also don't know if they would allow the Raid 1 set-up that you are trying to achieve.
I would also change my mobo recommendation to the ASUS X-99 Deluxe/U3.1, Rampage 5 Extreme/U3.1, or X-99E WS/USB3.1 as these would give you more PCIe slots than the Sabertooth X99. I originally suggested the Sabertooth as it is the easiest board to get NVMe working properly and has a 5 year warranty instead of 3.
You probably see that I like Asus boards, but this does not mean I dismiss anything that other makers are building. Since Abit went out of the motherboard business, I have used nothing but Asus with just a single problem in over 30 builds (once had a mobo that wouldn't boot with a specific hardware configuration and Asus tech support provided a special Bios to accommodate my configuration).
Thank you again, jrweis. I used to buy Abit boards too and Asus is my current go-to brand of board and has been for some time. Thank you for the tweak to your recommendation about the X-99 boards over the Sabertooth. I am happy to have so many choices but actually choosing can be a challenge. The help from you and the other folks in this thread (and forum in general) make the dizzying process of picking at least manageable.
 
Angel wings adapter is 100% passive, will not change boot time or performance in any way (as long as it is plugged into a PCIe 3.0 x4+ slot)

I don't think x99 supports intel raid on PCIe NVME drives at all, but if it does it would not be through the CPU lanes, and thus would probably not work with an Angel Wings type adapter.

However, if all you care about is raid 1 -- then you can just install windows to a single drive, and then convert it to dynamic and add the mirror after windows is installed, and then have a software raid mirror, and on a fast box software raid can be fast. In some cases even faster than hardware raid (a 4+ ghz Haswell core is MUCH faster than a 10-15 year old <1ghz power pc core)
 
Lol it's a nearly unlimited build thread for editing/etc and people posting single socket x99 rigs?

Dual xeon in this bitch and either buy a temp card and wait for polaris/pascal or just get top end gpu(s) now, if money isn't an issue and you don't want to 4k game future proof.
 
Angel wings adapter is 100% passive, will not change boot time or performance in any way (as long as it is plugged into a PCIe 3.0 x4+ slot)

I don't think x99 supports intel raid on PCIe NVME drives at all, but if it does it would not be through the CPU lanes, and thus would probably not work with an Angel Wings type adapter.

However, if all you care about is raid 1 -- then you can just install windows to a single drive, and then convert it to dynamic and add the mirror after windows is installed, and then have a software raid mirror, and on a fast box software raid can be fast. In some cases even faster than hardware raid (a 4+ ghz Haswell core is MUCH faster than a 10-15 year old <1ghz power pc core)
Thank you, extide. This is what I was hoping would be true. So, I could have two 950 Pro drives running at full speed but use Windows software RAID1 to have redundancy? When I'm looking at motherboards, I get pretty confused as to making sure I have enough of what kind of PCIe slot. The same is true of the processors. I want to make sure that has enough lanes too? Taking the suggestions here and lining up the great advice with the specs I see listed for the Asus x99 motherboards is a pain. extide, what is your take on which motherboard and processor I should get?
 
Do you care about SLI or CF/running multiple GPU's? If not then a 5820K would be fine, with 28 lanes. That will leave 16 for the GPU, and then an 8x slot and a 4x slot, so you could use two 4x SSD's in those remaining lanes. If I have some time I can look through the x99 mobo's out now for something suitable for you. If you can wait a little bit the Broadwell-E chips should be available soon (still use x99). That would be a nice jump, 22nm->14nm, plus possibly another 2 cores for a similar price range. We will have to see exactly how the prices on the BDW-E chips fall...
 
Do you care about SLI or CF/running multiple GPU's? If not then a 5820K would be fine, with 28 lanes. That will leave 16 for the GPU, and then an 8x slot and a 4x slot, so you could use two 4x SSD's in those remaining lanes. If I have some time I can look through the x99 mobo's out now for something suitable for you. If you can wait a little bit the Broadwell-E chips should be available soon (still use x99). That would be a nice jump, 22nm->14nm, plus possibly another 2 cores for a similar price range. We will have to see exactly how the prices on the BDW-E chips fall...
I don't care about running SLI or crossfire. I can wait for Broadwell-E.
 
I've read a little about Broadwell-E and people do not seem impressed. How long do you figure I would have to wait for a potentially-impressive chip to come out? If it is a lot more than 6 months, I should probably get the show on the road and upgrade. Would you suggest going with the Broadwell-E or a predecessor if I want to buy now?
 
Quite a long time. IIRC, not until the second half of 2017 at the earliest. Just go build a PC now. As for which CPU path to go with, really depends on your choice of motherboard actually: Not all X99 motherboards will support Broadwell-E out of the box. As such, you would have to borrow someone else' LGA 2011V3 CPU to upgrade the BIOS for those motherboards to support Broadwell-E. With that said, from testing at work, it seems that MSI motherboards will work with Broadwell-E CPUs right out of the box. Whether or not the MSI motherboards will fit your other features requests is still on you.
 
Quite a long time. IIRC, not until the second half of 2017 at the earliest. Just go build a PC now. As for which CPU path to go with, really depends on your choice of motherboard actually: Not all X99 motherboards will support Broadwell-E out of the box. As such, you would have to borrow someone else' LGA 2011V3 CPU to upgrade the BIOS for those motherboards to support Broadwell-E. With that said, from testing at work, it seems that MSI motherboards will work with Broadwell-E CPUs right out of the box. Whether or not the MSI motherboards will fit your other features requests is still on you.

Thank you for taking the time to help me out, Dangman. I wonder how long it will be till there are motherboards besides those from MSI that support the new CPUs. It is good to know that I can just jump and build a new workstation now without regret.
 
My current workstation is starting to flake out on me a little so I'm ready to pull the trigger on a new build. I like EVGA and was excited to see they have a motherboard that accommodates two Samsung 950s that I will set up in Windows 10 as software RAID 1. I'll also set up the other SSD Samsung drives as RAID 1 for more space. PC Hound says I'm at 259 watts. It doesn't know about the DVD burner and case fans I'm going to use from my current workstation. I would like a modular power supply so I don't have wires that look like what Jay Leno calls "spaghetti bolognese". If you guys have a favorite PSU you'd suggest, that would be great. In the reviews I've read for this EVGA motherboard, people have mentioned not having enough room for the CPU heatsink and fan. I'm wondering if you could help me with that as well. The cooler in the list is just a placeholder for now.

If there is anything here you think is overbuilding to the point of wasting money, please share your opinion. I don't mind paying for the good stuff, but I don't want to waste money. Oh! And if there is something about to hit the market that I should wait a little bit longer for, please stop me.

Finally, would you guys suggest buying the Windows 10 Pro with thumb drive for easy installation?

Thanks again to all of you who have generously shared your skill and time with me. Here's where I'm at.

PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($329 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: EVGA Z170 Classified K 142-SS-E178-KR ($233.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: CORSAIR 32GB (4 x 8GB) Vengeance LPX ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 08G-P4-6183-KR ($649 @ Amazon)
Storage: SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW ($315.62 @ Newegg)
Storage #2: SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW ($315.62 @ Newegg)
Storage #3: SAMSUNG 1TB 850 EVO MZ-75E1T0B/AM ($314.49 @ Amazon)
Storage #4: SAMSUNG 1TB 850 EVO MZ-75E1T0B/AM ($314.49 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 ($27.95 @ Amazon)
Total: $2,640.14
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound
 
My general recommended PSU is actually an eVGA product as well:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IKDETOW/?tag=extension-kb-20

Considering that you're planning on using RAM hungry Adobe produts, you're really shooting yourself in the foot by going with 4 x 8GB sticks of RAM. I would recommend going with 2 x 16GB sticks of DDR4 RAM to start with. Since you're already going a tad overboard in regards to the motherboard, GPU, and SSD setup, you might as well get a CPU cooler to match. I recommend going with a liquid AIO since that would avoid any potential room issue with the CPU heatsink and fan. Specifically this:
ARCTIC COOLING Liquid Freezer 120 ACFRE00016A 120mm Liquid CPU Cooler-Newegg.com
 
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Thanks again, Dangman. Here's my updated grocery list.
PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($329 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: EVGA Z170 Classified K 142-SS-E178-KR ($233.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: CORSAIR 64GB (4 x 16GB) Vengeance LPX ($299.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 08G-P4-6183-KR ($644.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 220-G2-0750-XR 220-G2-0750-XR ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW ($315.62 @ Newegg)
Storage #2: SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW ($315.62 @ Newegg)
Storage #3: SAMSUNG 1TB 850 EVO MZ-75E1T0B/AM ($307.9 @ Amazon)
Storage #4: SAMSUNG 1TB 850 EVO MZ-75E1T0B/AM ($307.9 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC COOLING ACFRE00016A ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2,911.97
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound


Good to go?
 
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