High End Build -- Need some advice

[ArbY]

*EDIT: Final note: the computer I ended up building is now in my signature!*

I'm looking to upgrade my current build.

What I will be doing with the computer:

• Gaming at max settings. 30" monitor will be coming later.
• WinRAR compressing and extracting large files from archives.
• Running multiple simultaneous Virtual Machines using VMWare.
• High resolution Photoshop usage.
• Leaving it on 24/7
• Other, misc.

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• I will not be overclocking.

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I picked out the following parts:

• Intel 3930K Sandy Bridge - E [ Link ] - $599.99
• ASRock X79 Extreme4 LGA 2011 Intel X79 [ Link ] - $214.99
• G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 [ Link ] - $239.99
• Crucial M4 512GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) [ Link ] - $529.99
• EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit [ Link ] - $499.99

TOTAL: $2084.95 USD (before tax & shipping)


I'm looking more for performance rather than value. The X79 motherboards have their SATA ports in those horrible, stacked, and parallel configurations that rest under the video card's heatsink. It looks like I may not have as much trouble with that using the ASRock mobo I picked out.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Quartz-1]

Are you going to need a data drive?

 

[ArbY]

Yes, I'll be recycling the F3 for that purpose.

 

[tiraides]

AsRock isn't good on the warranty or performance fronts. AsRock has one- or two-year warranties on its motherboard whereas other manufacturers have three-year (or greater) warranties on theirs. Plus, recent [H]ard|OCP reviews on a couple of AsRock Z68 boards showed that they weren't as good perfomance-wise as similarly priced boards.

What are you going to use as CPU cooler? The i7-3930K doesn't come with one.

Your RAM is a horrible choice. First, it runs at 1.65V, which may damage Intel processors. We recommend buying RAM that runs at 1.5V or lower. Second, you don't need DDR3 2400; you will be fine with DDR3 1333 or DDR3 1600 RAM. Also, the tall heatspreaders combined with the fans may interfere with the placement of some third-party CPU coolers.

Instead of the Ripjaws Z, I recommend a quad-channel set of G.Skill Ares RAM.

Are you going to reuse your PSU (listed in your sig) as well? How old is it?

 

[ArbY]

I was planning to re-use the PSU. It is a year or two (at most) old.

I didn't know the 3930K didn't come with a cooler. What are your thoughts about a Corsair H60? I've read the 3930K has a higher TDP than 1155 SB parts. I may not overclock, but an H60 will ensure cool temperatures and perhaps extend the life of the processor. If this system should last me three years (from what I've been told), I don't think an H60 is a bad idea, but I'm open to whatever [H]'ers have to say.

I chose the ASRock because I don't intend to overclock, and I am not sure I need all the frills that the $300+ boards offer (not to mention I feel the LGA 2011 desktop motherboards are grossly overpriced). As a complaint, the Sabertooth for instance, has its SATA ports in a position that will be blocked by the GPU cooler. I will have 7 storage devices, and do with enough frequency have the need to access and rearrange my HDDs. Due to this, I'd like as much of a painless experience of getting access to them.

I gave no thought other than compatibility when I chose the RAM. I'm actually going to be getting 32GB (4 x 8GB) due to my running a lot of Virtual Machine instances simultaneously and other reasons. So, if there are any suggestions for that I'm all ears.

 

[Dangman]

I was planning to re-use the PSU. It is a year or two (at most) old.

You sure about that? The HX620 was phased out quite awhile ago due to the release of the HX650. In any case, the HX620 should still be fine.

I didn't know the 3930K didn't come with a cooler. What are your thoughts about a Corsair H60? I've read the 3930K has a higher TDP than 1155 SB parts. I may not overclock, but an H60 will ensure cool temperatures and perhaps extend the life of the processor. If this system should last me three years (from what I've been told), I don't think an H60 is a bad idea, but I'm open to whatever [H]'ers have to say.

If you're looking for that WOW factor, then go for the H60.

I chose the ASRock because I don't intend to overclock, and I am not sure I need all the frills that the $300+ boards offer (not to mention I feel the LGA 2011 desktop motherboards are grossly overpriced). As a complaint, the Sabertooth for instance, has its SATA ports in a position that will be blocked by the GPU cooler. I will have 7 storage devices, and do with enough frequency have the need to access and rearrange my HDDs. Due to this, I'd like as much of a painless experience of getting access to them.

Well you're lucky in this case as that particular AsRock was actually well reviewed here at HardOCP twice. If you're fine with the supposed three year warranty it has (Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI have five year warranties) as well as the fact that it runs fairly hot, then go ahead and grab it. Though personally I'd go with this X79 mobo instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128532

Same parallel SATA layout like the AsRock. I trust Gigabyte a bit more than I do AsRock. But again, that AsRock isn't a horrible choice.

I gave no thought other than compatibility when I chose the RAM. I'm actually going to be getting 32GB (4 x 8GB) due to my running a lot of Virtual Machine instances simultaneously and other reasons. So, if there are any suggestions for that I'm all ears.

I recommend this RAM to start then:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231556

Then later on, just add another 2 x 8GB set and you don't have to replace any RAM.

 

[ArbY]

Thanks for the recommendations. I remember you back when I joined, you're the home build guy.


People were saying DDR3-1333 was all you needed back when LGA 1366 debuted. Still, I feel like I've seen more systems with DDR3-1600. I believe back several years, the FSB was commonly clocked at 1333MHz on Intel boards, so you'd want to pair that with 1333MHz RAM. I could be confusing this fact with AMD.

If that speed is still being recommended for a $600 six-core processor today I have to wonder as to why. Maybe you or someone else can tell me. Why not DDR3-1600? DDR3-2400? Is the entire point of the higher clocked memory either a gimmick, or for e-peen or overclocking?

I will probably take up that Gigabyte board you suggested, thanks for that. Also, thanks for the RAM suggestion, I'm just feeling a number of different things right now -- confusion being one of them. I should probably look up some recent memory benchmarks to clear up some questions.

The HX620 is around 2 years old. It was sent as a replacement by Corsair since my old one had a slight problem.

 

[Dangman]

People were saying DDR3-1333 was all you needed back when LGA 1366 debuted. Still, I feel like I've seen more systems with DDR3-1600. I believe back several years, the FSB was commonly clocked at 1333MHz on Intel boards, so you'd want to pair that with 1333MHz RAM. I could be confusing this fact with AMD.

You're confusing that with something else. FSB technically "disappeared" with the introduction of the Core i7 CPUs back in 2008. The Core 2 CPUs were the last Intel CPUs to have a FSB.

If that speed is still being recommended for a $600 six-core processor today I have to wonder as to why. Maybe you or someone else can tell me. Why not DDR3-1600? DDR3-2400? Is the entire point of the higher clocked memory either a gimmick, or for e-peen or overclocking?

Current Intel CPUs are designed and built in a way that it doesn't need sheer memory bandwidth or speed to provide performance. So you would not notice a difference betwen DDR3 1333 and DDR3 2400 RAM with real world apps and games with current Intel CPUs. With that said, the price difference between DDR3 1600 and DDR3 1333 is generally small and somewhat matches the amount of theoritical performance increase you might get. So in terms of price to performance, DDR3 1333 and DDR3 1600 RAM is where you want to be.

One of the major reasons for having higher-speed RAM in the past was that it allowed you to OC the CPU since RAM speed and CPU speed were somewhat linked. However that changed with the Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs: Now you can OC the CPU as high as you want without touching the RAM.

So yes, higher speed RAM is pretty much just a gimmick and for e-peen these days for Intel CPUs. This topic was discussed somewhat a few months back on this forum:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1665003

However it might be different with AMD CPUs. But no one has done extensive RAM testing on non-APU AMD CPUs.

The HX620 is around 2 years old. It was sent as a replacement by Corsair since my old one had a slight problem.

All righty then.

 

[ArbY]

Thank you Danny Bui and others who helped me out with the information.
The build I finally ended up going with is in my sig. It's overkill perhaps to some, but for me, it'll do what I need it to do. Run multiple virtual machines without tanking, and be future proofed with a flagship socket and high end parts. I got the motherboard you suggested Danny, I don't need to spend $350+ on something like that, the last time I overclocked was on an AMD Athlon XP+. I might as well though now that it's so easy and I have the H80.

Okay, a little bit of e-peen wagging. But I'm excited about this.

 

[Dangman]

Good to see the build is working for you.

 

[zandor]

Ah, good. You got 32GB of 1600. At the price they wanted for that 2400 you could have gotten that or at least come close. I don't see a lot of point to buying 1333 these days just because the price of 1600 is really close to the price of 1333.

Just for "technical completeness" there's another reason why 2011 doesn't need fast ram. It runs quad channel if you put 4 chips in the right sockets. You can use slower ram and it's still got a lot of bandwidth compared to Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge on 1155, and those two aren't particularly sensitive to memory bandwidth either. 1155 with 1333 v. 1600 doesn't register in the "pants-o-meter" (meaning you won't generally notice a difference without test programs). 1333 on a 6 core 2011 system gives you the same bandwidth per core as a theoretical/manually clocked 1777 setup on 1155. Just with 1333 that's more bandwidth than you need, and if you install 1600 you're right up there on latency to take care of those little synthetic benchmark disadvantages.

tl;dr:
Glad you got more ram instead of faster ram. More ram could be useful for something. DDR3-2400 is just a waste of money with current Intel procs.

 

[ArbY]

Thanks for the post zandor! Good words.

Let me just comment on the Gigabyte board I got, the UEFI is, in my opinion, rather awful compared to the UEFI in my girlfriend's 1155 Z68 board: ASUS P8Z68-V LX. These are the only two UEFI's I've had experience with, but the ASUS one is much more manageable and intuitive. Heck, the motherboard I just replaced had a simpler BIOS to navigate.

This is not a slight on you Danny, but maybe the Tom's Hardware Approved stamp on top of anything means Steer Clear!.

Regardless, I got things set up. I lost 2TB of data in the process though. I set up RAID 1 between two previously mirrored 2TB harddrives using the Marvell controller. It didn't say in the process that everything would (somewhere -- Windows/Marvell?) be erased. It's going to take a while to get my stuff back on there. What was the deal with that? You can't migrate your RAID array onto another PC, with a different controller without reformatting them? *sigh*

 

[Dangman]

This is not a slight on you Danny, but maybe the Tom's Hardware Approved stamp on top of anything means Steer Clear!.

LOL!

Regardless, I got things set up. I lost 2TB of data in the process though. I set up RAID 1 between two previously mirrored 2TB harddrives using the Marvell controller. It didn't say in the process that everything would (somewhere -- Windows/Marvell?) be erased. It's going to take a while to get my stuff back on there. What was the deal with that? You can't migrate your RAID array onto another PC, with a different controller without reformatting them? *sigh*

Yes. Only a few high-end $400+ hardware RAID controllers can even use RAID arrays from different controllers not of the same manufacturer. However, you can usually move a RAID array made on an Intel contoller to a newer Intel (or same manufacturer as that controller) controler without issue. Basically if the controllers aren't from the same manufacturer, you can't move arrays between those controllers without losing data.

Hope you had a backup.