Need a new build suggestion

Dapperdan

Dapperdan

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jun 17, 2002
Messages
6,306
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Work related, mainly small web server with a VNC server allowing 50+ people to connect to at once

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

$2000

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

US, Il

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.

I need everything, CPU (i7), Motherboard, Ram (12+ gigs), video cards and everything else. A key aspect is I need 3 video cards with a supporting mobo. Going to be running 6 monitors (technically 5 virtual monitors). The last similar system I built a few yrs ago the 3 video cards didnt fit, I need a proper suggestion on the 3 video cards that will fit with what ever mobo suggested

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

....

6) Will you be overclocking?

No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

Max res I can get

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Now

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.

Top features if possible, not sure if all will be used but would like to have the options there.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Win 7 64
 
If you're going to do three GPUs on an Intel platform, you're pretty much stuck with LGA 2011 (which means a motherboard that costs $300-ish and a CPU that costs almost $600). That's around $900 just for the motherboard and CPU alone. (Though there is a cheaper $300 CPU, I would not recommend it since it is no faster than CPUs made for the lesser LGA 1155 platform for the money that it costs.) And the reason that I'm also not recommending an LGA 1155 build is because it does not perform well with more than two GPUs.

That leaves only about $1,100 for the rest of the build. And given that you will need at least an 850W PSU and a big roomy case, and because of the hard drive prices that are still higher than they were seven months ago, you would have to either skimp on the GPU performance or go with fewer GPUs.

That is, if I were to configure a build to the exact specs. However, the software that you'd be using does not take full advantage of even a single entry-level GPU. In fact, most servers have extremely slow GPUs (relative to what we would be buying for gaming) - and only a single such GPU, at that.
 
Dapperdan said:
A key aspect is I need 3 video cards with a supporting mobo. Going to be running 6 monitors (technically 5 virtual monitors). The last similar system I built a few yrs ago the 3 video cards didnt fit, I need a proper suggestion on the 3 video cards that will fit with what ever mobo suggested
Click to expand...
Does it have to three video cards or can it be 2 video cards that supports six GPUs? I.e like the AMD Radeon HD 6xxx series
 
Danny Bui said:
Does it have to three video cards or can it be 2 video cards that supports six GPUs? I.e like the AMD Radeon HD 6xxx series
Click to expand...


I was just about to ask if these cards can work to support the monitor needs. If they could I would only need to of these cards. I really only need access to 6 screens but 8 would work as well and would only take 2 of these cards. I just need to make sure they are powerful enough to work for my needs.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...PCI Express 2.0 x16&ShowDeactivatedMark=False
 
Dapperdan said:
The last similar system I built a few yrs ago the 3 video cards didnt fit, I need a proper suggestion on the 3 video cards that will fit with what ever mobo suggested
Click to expand...
Is this the last similar system?:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1589592
Dapperdan said:
I was just about to ask if these cards can work to support the monitor needs. If they could I would only need to of these cards.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't recommend any of those cards due to their quality and really high pricing. I was thinking more of this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102960

Can output to three displays without requiring a displayport adapter which should make things easier.
 
This is an example of the program Ill be running for everyone on the VNC. It's not to graphic intense but I need to have good enough hardware to be able to handle the large load of people on while not sacrificing performance as to lessen any potential lag for both the system and the users.



d3ZpTl.png

http://imgur.com/d3ZpT
 
What's GPUs are you using now for that? If I know what GPUs you're using now and how well it's performing, we can better tailor the GPU recommendation.

The rest of the parts are easy to figure out but the GPUs are the stumbling block.
 
Yes Danny that's the last similar one. Im looking to build another one but just a bit more updated. Im honestly not as worried about price as I am performance. These are paid for by the company. I dont want to waste the company money but I do want to get the best options for it.
 
Danny Bui said:
What's GPUs are you using now for that? If I know what GPUs you're using now and how well it's performing, we can better tailor the GPU recommendation.

The rest of the parts are easy to figure out but the GPUs are the stumbling block.
Click to expand...



Well that system you linked to I ended up getting different cards just because the ones I originally picked out didnt fit. I have to look up what I ended up with. Ill also prob not do the same case again as in the one I got.

The other thing about that system you linked to also isnt used as heavily as this new one will. That system is used by under 10 people. This new system will have to handle at least 30-40 people as of right now. They mainly just look at the charts but a handful will be playing with aspects of the charts. Im not sure how much that will affect the over all performance though. The system Ill be replacing has 2 ATI HD 3600 cards in them...if that helps.


EDIT: ok just looked up whats in that last system build. Geforce 8400 GS, 3 of them. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814139032
 
Danny Bui said:
How well are those cards working for those 30 to 40 people?

And how well are those cards working for those 10 people?
Click to expand...



I dont hear complaints about lag unless I haven't restarted the computer in a week or so. But then again half the people are idiots and don't recognize a problem or speak up about it majority of the time. I usually have to ask them if there are any issues needing addressing before someone says anything. I think for the most part they handle ok. Lag seems to be the biggest issue that is fixed with a restart.
 
Hmm, in that case I think the HD 6450 1GB should be fine. It has double the VRAM, faster VRAM, and is faster than either the 8400GS or HD 3600 series. So it should do better than either of those cards.

Also, do you want a SSD? If so, how large? Also, how much storage do you think you'll need?

Here's a prelim build without storage or case:
$340 - Intel Core i7 3770K CPU
$200 - Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Intel Z77 ATX Motherboard
$105 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series F3-10666CL9D-16GBXL 2 x 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$134 - 2 x Sapphire FleX 100322FLEX Radeon HD 6450 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$90 - Corsair 650TX V2 650W PSU
---
Total: $869 plus tax and shipping

Case wise, I recommend the following cases:
$80 - Corsair Carbide Series 300R ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Antec 1100 ATX Case
$115 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Arctic White ATX Case
$120 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$125 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black Pearl ATX Case
$120 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Antec P280 ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Obsidian Series 550D ATX Case
$144 - Silverstone RV03B-WA ATX case
$150 - Silverstone TJ04B-EW ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$164 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$170 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case

Also, out of curiosity, why didn't the 9500GT I recommended last time fit or work for you?
$220 - Silverstone FT02S-W ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case
 
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I will defer to the experts but would he not be better off with a 3820 and X79 motherboard. You can buy that i7 with an 8 dimm capable motherboard for the same price
 
Prav said:
I will defer to the experts but would he not be better off with a 3820 and X79 motherboard. You can buy that i7 with an 8 dimm capable motherboard for the same price
Click to expand...
E4g1e's first post in this thread sums up the reasons why a 3820 + X79 route isn't too great of an option. In addition to what he said, apparently the Sandy Bridge-E CPUs are even more sensitive to RAM voltage then the IB or SB CPUs. Apparently you have to aim for RAM rated at 1.35V. There's only one single 8GB RAM kit out there rated at 1.35V and it's from a company I've never heard of:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0ST08P6246

As such, you would be stuck with 4GB sticks and would end up at the same max amount of RAM as the IB build I listed: 32GB.
 
Danny Bui said:
E4g1e's first post in this thread sums up the reasons why a 3820 + X79 route isn't too great of an option. In addition to what he said, apparently the Sandy Bridge-E CPUs are even more sensitive to RAM voltage then the IB or SB CPUs. Apparently you have to aim for RAM rated at 1.35V. There's only one single 8GB RAM kit out there rated at 1.35V and it's from a company I've never heard of:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0ST08P6246

As such, you would be stuck with 4GB sticks and would end up at the same max amount of RAM as the IB build I listed: 32GB.
Click to expand...

In addition, the i7-3820 and i7-3930K also have major compatibility and stability issues when used with any RAM that uses Micron ICs regardless of the DIMM voltage. Unfortunately, most companies will not tell you which company's ICs are used until you open the package and crack the codes. And most 8GB sticks that are currently on the market use Micron ICs.
 
Thanks for explaining. Always learning something new around here :)
 
That's awesome thanks for all of that. I dont think Ill be using a SSD, I dont think there would be an advantage to adding one. I dont need a lot of space in all, I use less then 50 gigs for basic use and dont have any other plans to use it for much of anything else.

As for the older system, the video cards wouldnt fit next to each other. I could get 2 in but not the 3rd one. The fan housing bumped out to much and kept the one next to it from fitting in properly.

And for the HD 6450 1GB, correct me if Im wrong but that's only 2 monitor outputs right?


Thanks
 
Dapperdan said:
That's awesome thanks for all of that. I dont think Ill be using a SSD, I dont think there would be an advantage to adding one. I dont need a lot of space in all, I use less then 50 gigs for basic use and dont have any other plans to use it for much of anything else.
Click to expand...
Well I'll leave you with two storage options:
$125 - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SSD
$80 - Hitachi 7K1000.D HDS721050DLE630 500GB 7200RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Dapperdan said:
As for the older system, the video cards wouldnt fit next to each other. I could get 2 in but not the 3rd one. The fan housing bumped out to much and kept the one next to it from fitting in properly.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, damn. I thought they would fit. I didn't think the fan housing extruded far enough to impede the other cards. My bad on that.
Dapperdan said:
And for the HD 6450 1GB, correct me if Im wrong but that's only 2 monitor outputs right?
Click to expand...
Yes the regular version only has two outputs. However Sapphire's FLEX tech allows their HD 6450 FLEX to support three displays. Hence why I'm recommending that.

And just to expand a little more as to why the four cards you linked to earlier won't work for you:
- That Jaton card is actually of lesser performance than the card you're using now.
- The Galaxy cards don't actually give you the ability to use 4 independent display outputs. It actually reads and shows all four ports as either one or two giant desktops.
 
My concern with the FLEX is using a VGA Dummy on the HDMI port. I haven't had a chance to try that and it would have to work in order to get the use out of that port. All but one port will use dummy monitors. Thanks
 
Dapperdan said:
My concern with the FLEX is using a VGA Dummy on the HDMI port. I haven't had a chance to try that and it would have to work in order to get the use out of that port. All but one port will use dummy monitors. Thanks
Click to expand...
Fair point. I'm not sure it'll work either.

I'll look around in the meantime for a true single slot video card thats faster than the cards you're using now.

EDIT: Just a few:
$57 - Power AX6570 1GBK3-H Radeon HD 6570 1GB PCI-E Video Card
$107 - XFX HD-675X-ZDFC Radeon HD 6750 1GB PCI-E Video Card
 
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Might just do 3 of those Radeon HD 6750, looks like they would fit without the hassle.
 
They should but then again I thought the same thing with the 9500GTs. However since the mobo I recommended only has three PCI-E x16 ports and those spaced out very well, shouldn't have trouble fitting those cards.
 
This looks like a nice single slot GPU if you aren't too concerned with price

$126 XFX FX-775A-ZNP4 can be found slightly cheaper elsewhere since Newegg is charging shipping
 
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