New Gaming/CUDA build

[black0ut]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Gaming and CUDA development.

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

Let's say $2.5k for everything, flexible.

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

US, SF Bay area

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.

CPU, MOBO, MEM, STORAGE, VID CARD, CASE, PSU, MONITOR, KEYBOARD, MOUSE


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

None.


6) Will you be overclocking?

Yes.

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

Part of what I want to buy, but planning on a 27'' 2560x1440

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

In approximately one month.

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.

Onboard video might be convenient, but isn't necessary. Would like to have at least two 16x pcie slots for future gpu expansion.

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

No, will be sticking ubuntu on this.

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Here's my current list:

CPU: i7-4790K - $175
MOBO: ? - $200
MEM: CRUCIAL BALLISTIX SPORT 16GB - $150
STORAGE1: SAMSUNG 840 EVO 250GB SSD - $140
STORAGE2: SEAGATE 2TB ST2000DM001 - $85
VIDEO CARD: 780ti - $750 - maybe $500 off classifieds
VIDEO CARD 2: something that will play dota2 maxed, preferably nvidia because drivers are a pain, but whatever
CASE: CORSAIR 230T - $70
PSU: SEASONIC SSR-550RM - $90 (probably more juice needed with 2nd video card)
MONITOR: QNIX QX2710 - $350
KEYBOARD: REALFORCE 87U SILENT - $275
MOUSE: G400S - $45
HSF: ?

Cpu I can get from a friend with employee discount. Mobo not really sure what to get. I'm pretty set on the input devices. Also need the 780ti for cuda dev, will probably add another 780ti in a few months but can wait to upgrade the psu until then. Don't really care about the case, just needs to be functional. Need a main ssd, then a storage disk until I can set up a NAS. Need 16GB RAM for dev, probably will expand to 32GB or 64GB in a few months when I add the second 780ti, but I can worry about that later.

Pretty much just need feedback on motherboard, second video card, psu, hsf if necessary for ocing, and if anything else seems out of place. Thanks!

 

[Dangman]

Go for the Asus Z97-A or the ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer motherboards. You haven't really said anything where a higher-end motherboard would be justified for purchase.

As for the PSU, the Seasonic 550W is on the light side for 780Ti SLI. Just spend the extra cash now for a higher-end PSU to handle your 780TI plans:
$140 - Seasonic X750 Gold 750W Modular PSU

Yes you need a 3rd party HSF for overclocking. I recommend this:
$50 - Cooler Master Seidon 120V Liquid Cooling System

RAM wise, do note that the LGA 1150 limits you to 32GB of RAM max. Just a heads up if you were actually serious about 64GB of RAM. You'll have to go with Intel's socket 2011 platform if you want to use 64GB of RAM.

With all of that said, just what kind of CUDA developtment are you doing?

 

[black0ut]

Yeah was eyeing z97.

Reason I don't mind leaving off the PSU upgrade is I'll probably reuse this PSU for another build (nas, htpc, etc.). 550w is sufficient for single 780ti + oced 4790k, right?

Any reason you suggest a h2o cooler instead of typical air cooler? never dealt with h2o, and always stuck with cm/noctua/etc and was fine.

yeah, i've only needed 32gb before, and if I need 64GB it'll probably be because of quad 780ti so I'll need to do a whole new build anyways.

neural net training for now.

edit: haha, just noticed you have a cm hyper 212+ on a 4770k. any reasons you didn't get the seidon?

 

[Dangman]

Reason I don't mind leaving off the PSU upgrade is I'll probably reuse this PSU for another build (nas, htpc, etc.). 550w is sufficient for single 780ti + oced 4790k, right?

Yes 550W is enough. But it might be a tad overkill for future NAS or HTPC builds.

Any reason you suggest a h2o cooler instead of typical air cooler? never dealt with h2o, and always stuck with cm/noctua/etc and was fine.

Because in terms of price to performance, the $50 Seidon 120V is the best choice overall since it can cool better than the $80 Noctua NH-D14 as seen in this review:
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2744&page=5

edit: haha, just noticed you have a cm hyper 212+ on a 4770k. any reasons you didn't get the seidon?

In 2010, I bought the 212+ to use with my current AMD PC at the time. In 2014, I upgraded to a new Intel PC and decided to just reuse the 212+ with the new Intel PC to save some money. If I didn't have the 212+, I definitely would have gone with the Seidon 120V albeit paired with a quieter fan.

 

[black0ut]

i'm sure i can find a good use for the 550w psu

seikon it is then.

any suggestions on decent midrange card for gaming, assuming the 780ti will be used for long running cuda programs in the background? want to play at 2560x1440 maxed settings 60fps, but games that aren't as demanding like dota2, dark souls 2, civ 5, etc.

 

[Dangman]

i'm sure i can find a good use for the 550w psu

seikon it is then.

any suggestions on decent midrange card for gaming, assuming the 780ti will be used for long running cuda programs in the background? want to play at 2560x1440 maxed settings 60fps, but games that aren't as demanding like dota2, dark souls 2, civ 5, etc.

R9 280X at a minimum or the R9 290 if you can swing it

 

[black0ut]

sounds good, thanks for the help