Source
r/buildapcforme•
BugOutBob

~$5000 Home workstation / gaming / some development use

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.

Home computing stuff: e-mail, MS Office, web, Quicken, etc. Gaming... a lot: Civ5, Borderlands1/2, Pillars of Eternity, a lot of strategy type games. Generally no MMOs. I do not frequently play "AAA" titles, but occasionally I will fire up FarCry4 or want to play the latest Battlefield or something and would rather it not suck. Low-end development: I use Oracle Virtual Box to sometimes run 3-5 virtual machines (linux or windows) that I use for simple development or testing purposes. Nothing too high-end, but I will occasionally have multiple VMs compiling and stuff like that.

What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?

Maximum is probably $6K, but I am hoping for less, honestly. I have some flexibility here.

When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

<1 week

What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (Tower/OS/monitor/keyboard/mouse/etc)

Chassis, CPU, OS (Windows 10 Pro), Storage (RAM and bulk), DVD/BluRay, Video Card(s), Sound Card, appropriate cooling.

Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?

US, North Carolina. Microcenter, no, not conveniently.

If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.

Logitech G910 Keyboard, Logitech G502 Mouse, Harmon-Kardon Soundsticks III speakers, 2xHP 2511x monitors typically running in 1920x1080.

Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?

I would rather not.

Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

Currently I have 1x256GB SSD for my OS, 1x1TB Mechanical drive for programs (mostly games) and 2x1TB Mechanical for "stuff". The 1x1TB Mechanical drive is STUFFED and I have spilled over to the 2x1TB for game and other installs. Yes, I have a game-hoarding-problem. So, with that in mind I am thinking 2x1TB SSD in a single striped volume for OS and programs (including games), then 2-4TB Mechanical for "stuff". I also have a home NAS for media files and what-not, so I am not super concerned with data storage. But I defer to you experts. I would also like a Blu-Ray Reader/Burner and a sufficient number of USB ports front and back (2-4 front and 2-4 back).

Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-tower/full-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

Case... eh... tower-ish. Smaller than I have now (25x10x22, shouldn't be difficult). In order of importance: Expand-ability/future proof, Quiet, Cool, Smaller v Larger. Color... generally I don't care. Black/Silver/Metal/whatever is fine Windows (as in to see inside), don't care. Lighting, don't care. Cooling... I am not a big fan of liquid inside my PC, but maybe I am a Luddite. I will defer to you experts, again.

Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?

Yes, please include, Windows 10 Professional.

Extra info or particulars:

Posted Sep 1, 2015, 10:38 PM UTC

434
BramblexD•

Which RAID type are you thinking of for the SSD's?

1
TheCrickler•

He said striped, so that would be RAID 0.

3
TheCrickler•

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i7-5960X 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor$999.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPU CoolerNoctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler$104.75 @ OutletPC
MotherboardASRock Fatal1ty X99X Killer ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard$239.99 @ SuperBiiz
MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 64GB (8 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory$469.99 @ Newegg
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$339.98 @ Best Buy
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$339.98 @ Best Buy
StorageHitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$169.89 @ OutletPC
StorageHitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$169.89 @ OutletPC
Video CardEVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ Video Card (2-Way SLI)$667.99 @ SuperBiiz
Video CardEVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+ Video Card (2-Way SLI)$667.99 @ SuperBiiz
CaseCorsair 750D Airflow Edition ATX Full Tower Case$159.99 @ Newegg
Power SupplyEVGA SuperNOVA P2 1200W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply$219.99 @ NCIX US
Optical DriveLG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer$44.10 @ SuperBiiz
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit)$129.99 @ SuperBiiz
Sound CardAsus Xonar DSX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card$47.25 @ SuperBiiz
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total$4771.76
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-01 20:07 EDT-0400

If you're keen to spend more, I'd recommend a 1440p or 4k monitor. Perhaps even a 144 Hz monitor if you'd prefer that. $300 is plenty for 1440p or 144 Hz, and a 4k monitor is like $500. So you've got something to work with still.

1
kht120•

I would trim the fat by dropping to a EVGA G2 1000W PSU, swapping the 750D for a Define S or R5, removing the sound card, and dropping to 32GB of RAM (which is still plenty for OP's use).

This would give OP a lot more monitor spending money, to the point where he can get an IPS 4K monitor or a 1440p 144Hz.

But otherwise, great build, it's pretty much exactly what I would've done.

1
C4ples•

I agree with you that some of this is not needed, but some of what OP is asking for requires some of it.

I do, however, wholeheartedly agree on the PSU and the case.

I shall elaborate.

Sound card:

  • With the speakers OP is using even a trained ear would have an extremely difficult time discerning the difference between onboard sound, an internal sound card, and an external DAC/amp, simply because they speakers are not capable of delivering the increased-quality sound.

  • This particular sound card is cheap for a reason. It is actually worse than most onboard sound offered on X99 boards. Something like the DX or the STX will actually be an improvement over onboard, but it's still not near the quality than an external DAC/amp will deliver. This is all moot, however, since it's all driving speakers incapable of delivering what a good card is supplying.

RAM:

  • If OP is running compilers on 4-5 VMs at once I would say 6-8GB per VM. Since I highly doubt they'll be doing any intensive tasks while running these, let's say 8GB left over for the physical machine itself. Assuming it will be 8GB/VM you're looking at you've got 40GB for VMs and 8GB for the machine, which brings us neatly to 48GB, or 6 of the 8 slots on the board populated with 8GB sticks. You'll be running in triple-channel this way, but you're really not getting any discernible loss coming from quad-channel, since it's not a huge deal anyway.

  • What they've chosen actually works out to ~$117/16GB. It's cheaper to get either two $90/16GB kits, or even four $100/16GB kits. Not a very good choice on their part.

1
kht120•

There are really good amps for very little money that can deliver power to speakers, like the Schiit Magni 2 Uber.

But great point on the RAM. It's not that expensive, and I guess VMs can get incredibly RAM heavy when there are that many.

1
transam617•

Thought I would take a shot at this build and see how many downvotes it gets.

Honestly, the gaming you are mentioning would be well served with a single 980 ti.

What scares me about your intended usage is the 3-5 virtual machines running. Assuming each would need multiple cores assigned that's 6-10 cores for dual cpu VM's or 9-15 cores for triple cpu VM's. If your development work is for dual cpu, I think this build might better serve the balance between gaming and VM's.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Xeon E5-2640 V3 2.6GHz 8-Core Processor$895.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPUIntel Xeon E5-2640 V3 2.6GHz 8-Core Processor$895.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPU CoolerNZXT Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler$66.60 @ SuperBiiz
CPU CoolerNZXT Kraken X31 69.5 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler$66.60 @ SuperBiiz
MotherboardAsus Z10PE-D16 WS SSI EEB Dual-CPU LGA2011-3 Motherboard$479.99 @ SuperBiiz
MemoryKingston 64GB (4 x 16GB) Registered DDR4-2133 Memory$498.99 @ SuperBiiz
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$339.98 @ Best Buy
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$339.98 @ Best Buy
StorageHitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$169.89 @ OutletPC
StorageHitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$169.89 @ OutletPC
Video CardMSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card$619.99 @ SuperBiiz
CasePhanteks PH-ES614PC_BK ATX Full Tower Case$89.99 @ Amazon
Power SupplyEVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply$111.99 @ SuperBiiz
Optical DriveLG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer$44.10 @ SuperBiiz
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit)$129.99 @ SuperBiiz
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total (before mail-in rebates)$4939.96
Mail-in rebates-$20.00
Total$4919.96
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-01 22:10 EDT-0400

If the VM's can run on a single cpu, then u/TheCrickler has your build.

1
TheCrickler•

This is a very interesting concept. I have no doubt in my mind that either configuration could handle OP's tasks easily. I honestly don't think two CPU's or GPU's are necessary at all. A 5960x and 980 Ti would probably be perfectly fine. Maybe then we could put in a wicked fast Intel 750 PCI-E ssd? Not sure at the moment.

I do think that this would be better from a VMing / rendering perspective, however.

1
transam617•

Well it really all depends on what op is developing on VM's. If its single thread programs, he could get away with a 5820K and a 980 ti. 5 VMs run on a 6 core CPU as well as an 8 core and OP isnt going to develop and run games at the same time... right? Ok if he does then maybe the 5960X makes sense. If the VM programs are multi-threaded (or could be) 16 cores could be really useful.

1
TheCrickler•

Well OP said simple, and that's why I'm thinking any dual CPU arrangement might be a bit overkill. 16 cores could be useful, but that depends on how vital a couple seconds are for OP. This could get pretty specific though, so I'll wait for OP to reply with what programs and projects he'll be working with/on.

1
C4ples•

There are quite a few issues here. It's a matter of spending more on what the OP will be spending more time doing, which sounds like it will be gaming.

  • First and foremost, OP explicitly stated they will be doing a lot of gaming, which a pair of anemic 2.6GHz Xeons will absolutely not help with. You want core speed over core count there.

  • You could just as easily get away with a pair of 2620s for less than half of what the 2640s cost while still giving you a full two cores per VM with two left to the physical CPU while seeing only a very small hit to performance per core. Certainly nothing big enough to justify doubling the budget spent on CPUs.

  • Too much VRAM. 48GB is enough unless you want to be assigning 10GB to each VM, which is most likely overkill. 8GB per VM is already a ton. You'll be running the 48GB in triple-channel, but you're not going to be seeing much of a benefit off that quad-channel anyway.

  • While it won't be insanely slower, ECC RAM will have higher latency than unregistered, non-ECC RAM. Not to mention that for simple compiling jobs ECC is really not necessary.

  • The Deskstars, while good drives, are more expensive than the newer, better PH3s from Toshiba which roll out of the same factory the Deskstars did. A good $25 more expensive per drive.

So while not a bad rendering farm, I don't think it really fits with what they'll be doing.

1
transam617•

It's a matter of spending more on what the OP will be spending more time doing, which sounds like it will be gaming.

I made an assumption that the development work would be best served by the ability to do multi core Virtual Machines with at least 8GB of ram each. For 5 VM's, that's 10 cores and 40 GB not figuring in the host machine. In that scenario, 8 cores (5960X) and 32GB will not get the job done. Your suggestion of twin 6 core Xeons and 48GB is fine, its just that it only leaves 2 cores and 8GB for OP in the above scenario to play games while the VM's are running. As you say, its a lot of money for the extra 4 cores and 16GB ram - and I agree, but for a $5000 budget I wanted to make sure OP didn't have to make any compromises in multitasking.

As for the CPU clock speed effecting gaming, the 2640 turbo's to 3GHz. Its not quite as much as a 4460's 3.0/3.2GHz, but it shouldn't get in the way of a 980ti playing:

Civ5, Borderlands1/2, Pillars of Eternity, a lot of strategy type games. Generally no MMOs. FarCry4 or... the latest Battlefield

And not having it suck.

You are definitely right on the ECC but I couldn't make pcpartpicker give me non-ECC ram. I am not sure this board, or any dual CPU board I could find can use it?

On the PH3's, where do you get the 'better' from? Are they faster or more robustly built? I don't have any data either way, just wanted the chance to add a source for my own education.

Thanks for the tips (and the downvote, I was getting nervous with my build being first up).

1
C4ples•

it only leaves 2 cores and 8GB for OP in the above scenario to play games while the VM's are running

I have a hard time believing they would be playing games while running so many high-intensity VMs, but even so two cores and 8GB is enough for many of the games out now. It's not ideal, but it's enough. Just take a look at how well the G3258 holds its own against higher-cored CPUs.

Granted, it's not limiting itself to much lower clocks than the competing unlocked i5s and i7s.

On the PH3's, where do you get the 'better' from? Are they faster or more robustly built? I don't have any data either way, just wanted the chance to add a source for my own education.

Hanging around r/HomeLab and r/DataHoarder, as much as I hate to use them, the Backblaze statistics since they are a metric, and my own use of them.

1
transam617•

Thanks for the data :)

1
t0shki•

So you basically buy every part twice just so you get to 5000? He said low-end virtualization. If OP is a web-developer for example, he only needs to run various windows versions for Internet Explorer 8-11 perhaps and could get away with any type of consumer configuration. Granted, he didn't say what type of work it is, but this looks like just maxing out the budget, while he probably gets by with 1000-2000. I would much rather recommend a hi-res 21:9 productivity monitor as developer than to buy 2 computers in 1.

-1
C4ples•

CPU - Plenty of power to run what you've outlined for us. I was going to go for a 5820k to save a bunch within the budget, but I figured that would be shorting you a bit too much. One core per VM and the computer itself max is a bit of a stretch. It's still a possibility, though.

CPU Cooler - It's functional and most importantly very, very good for the money. It gives you the same performance as an NH-D15 while a) not looking like shit b) costing about $40 less c) not looking like shit.

Motherboard - The X99S SLI Plus is a couple dollars cheaper and is essentially the exact same motherboard, but I figured I was using a windowed case, so I'd might as well keep it looking pretty. This motherboard gives you everything you need and not much of anything you don't. It is to the X99 motherboards what the UP4 was to the X79s.

Memory - I like how people seem to think only in multiples of 16GB as soon as a budget raises above, say $1,700.

48GB is just enough where you're not wasting anything on RAM you don't need right now while giving you exactly what you need. It gives you 8GB per VM while leaving the machine itself a full 8GB.

You also mentioned the ability to expand in the future. I cannot really see a need to go beyond 64GB, but this absolutely gives you the ability to push right to it. All it takes is another 16GB kit.

Storage - 2TB of SSD space to make up for the 1TB you've maxed, as well as another TB for the future.

Also a 5TB PH3 for general storage. These are fantastic drives which have already begun to prove themselves during the relatively short time they've been on the market. They're the love child of Toshiba's acquisition of Hitachi's drive-manufacturing division, and have shown themselves to be a good successor to HGST drives. It was only $20 more than to 4TB drive, so I figured, "Fuck it. The budget allows for it."

Video Cards - Again, I went with both performance and looks here. They fit the rest of the build's black/white scheme, but they also have a good factory overclock on them, negating the need for you do do any overclocking of your own.

These do run a tad hot, but that's easily solved by adjusting the fan curve which everybody should do every single time they get a new card. Stock fan curves generally don't kick in until the card is already too hot.

Case - Good looks. Good airflow. Good set of features. Good price. I wanted a Define S to cut down on the case size even further, but the optical drive killed that in its infancy. It's still smaller than your last case, though.

Power Supply - This has plenty of headroom for an eventual third card, it has good voltage regulation, good ripple suppression, and is absolutely a solid unit.

Sound Card - This is my main gripe with the system. Onboard sound is honestly good enough for the speakers you're using. If you have plans to upgrade your speakers in the future I would graduate to an external DAC and amp. Unless you're spending $150+ with something like the Zs or STXs you're really not getting that much of an improvement over onboard sound with an internal card.

Case Fans - Black and white to match the existing scheme, but most importantly they have good flow to help bring down those temps of the CPU and GPU a bit more.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i7-5960X 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor$999.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPU CoolerPhanteks PH-TC14PE_BK 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler$69.99 @ Newegg
MotherboardMSI X99S SLI Krait ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard$212.99 @ SuperBiiz
MemoryKingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory$98.43 @ Amazon
MemoryKingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory$98.43 @ Amazon
MemoryKingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory$98.43 @ Amazon
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$343.98 @ Best Buy
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$343.98 @ Best Buy
StorageToshiba 5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$139.99 @ Amazon
Video CardMSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)$664.98 @ Newegg
Video CardMSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)$664.98 @ Newegg
CaseFractal Design Define R5 w/Window (White) ATX Mid Tower Case$115.99 @ SuperBiiz
Power SupplyEVGA SuperNOVA 1300 G2 1300W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply$149.99 @ NCIX US
Optical DriveLG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer$44.10 @ SuperBiiz
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit)$129.99 @ SuperBiiz
Sound CardAsus Xonar DX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card$68.98 @ Newegg
Case FanPhanteks PH-F140SP_BK 82.1 CFM 140mm Fan$14.99 @ Amazon
Case FanPhanteks PH-F140SP_BK 82.1 CFM 140mm Fan$14.99 @ Amazon
Case FanPhanteks PH-F140SP_BK 82.1 CFM 140mm Fan$14.99 @ Amazon
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total (before mail-in rebates)$4340.19
Mail-in rebates-$50.00
Total$4290.19
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-03 04:48 EDT-0400

Alternatively, if this is too heavy into productivity you can easily drop 16GB and the 5960X to a 5930K to shave off a good $550.

1
transam617•

You really think that case would hold three GPU's? I have an R5 and I seriously doubt it could hold more than the two double slot GPU's I have in it now.

If you are going to recommend the drop down from a 5960X, the 5820K is the next logical step. Twin 980 ti's could run at 8x each and not be affected, negating the need for the 5930K. Unless OP really wants that third card to play Battlefield... Or needs a PCIE SSD or three.

1
C4ples•

You really think that case would hold three GPU's? I have an R5 and I seriously doubt it could hold more than the two double slot GPU's I have in it now.

With proper PCIe placement, yes. Thankfully this motherboard has that.

Twin 980 ti's could run at 8x each and not be affected, negating the need for the 5930K

Doing so will block the ability to use the M.2 slot. I'm perfectly fine with the inability to use the sound card, but you'll be taking 24/27 lanes for the GPUs leaving three lanes to the M.2 slot, which needs four. I'd rather that option stay available.

For the sake of furthering your savings you could get a 5820K, but you're cutting yourself off from parts of the motherboard's feature set.

1
transam617•

OK, if OP really wants 3 gpu's...

I am with you on the M.2 slot, I wonder if OP is aware of the SM951's from Samsung. At least one of us should have suggested a 512GB M.2 drive for the OS.

1
C4ples•

They are one of the few people that could probably end up actually using the throughput M.2(M) offers. It's certainly a possibility and is very nearly the same price as a 1TB Evo, so the switch is nice and clean without changing the budget much.

1
ReachTheSky•

I'm seeing a lot of people building some absolutely insane computers here. All fine and dandy, but completely unnecessary IMO. Here's a more sensible approach:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor$554.98 @ SuperBiiz
CPU CoolerNoctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler$104.75 @ OutletPC
MotherboardAsus X99-DELUXE ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard$386.98 @ Newegg
MemoryCrucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory$232.55 @ B&H
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$339.98 @ Best Buy
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$339.98 @ Best Buy
StorageSeagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$62.10 @ SuperBiiz
StorageSeagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$62.10 @ SuperBiiz
StorageSeagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$62.10 @ SuperBiiz
Video CardGigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)$678.99 @ SuperBiiz
Video CardGigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)$678.99 @ SuperBiiz
CaseCorsair 450D ATX Mid Tower Case$127.99 @ Micro Center
Power SupplyEVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply$167.99 @ SuperBiiz
Optical DriveAsus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer$59.99 @ Amazon
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit)$129.99 @ SuperBiiz
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total$3989.46
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-01 21:24 EDT-0400
  • Core i7-5930K

Since you wont be doing anything overly crazy VM wise and mostly gaming, you don't need the octacore CPU. Save yourself $500 and go with the 5930K. The 5820K might work too, but the extra PCIe lanes the 5930K offers might prove to be beneficial for your GPU's. The cooler I threw in is the probably one of the best, if not the best air coolers on the market. It rivals most high-end liquid coolers and is safer/more reliable due to the lack of liquid.

  • 32GB of RAM

That honestly is a lot. I do similar VM work with 3-4 machines running while I photo/video edit and game and 16GB is plenty for me. If you want more, it's an easy purchase later on.

  • 2x 1TB Samsung 850 EVO

Putting these in RAID-0 is absolutely insane. I'm running a similar setup (except 500GB drives) and I love it. The games love it, VMs love it. It's wonderful

  • 3x 2TB Seagate Barracuda's

Put these in a RAID-5. You'll get 4TB of usable storage, speed and fault tolerance. Cant ask for much more than that.

  • 2x Gigabyte G1 980Ti

Not much needs to be said here. They would demolish any and all games at absolute max settings.

  • Corsair Obsidian 450D

I'm a huge fan of Corsair. They not only look very sleek and professional but they work amazingly well. I'm using the 350D because I went with the mATX design (saves lots of desk space!). The 450D is it's bigger brother. Tons of cooling and wire management options here.

  • eVGA Supernova 1000P2

Fully modular to keep everything neat and tidy and 1000 watts of Platinum-certified power.

As far as sound goes, I would just use the onboard audio. I made the mistake of spending $180 on a Xonar Essence sound card because I bought into the hype. I couldn't tell the difference. My Sennheiser HD598's didn't care for it either. I sold it for a little loss and stuck with standard stuff.

-1
t0shki•

All good and sane recommendations, but i wouldn't offer him a second 980ti if he isn't really into gaming that much. Those $700 could be much rather spend on a nice monitor. As developer, especially working with VMs, screen real estate ist much more important than anything else. I know he didn't ask for it, but 1080p has no place on a workstation like that :)

1
ReachTheSky•

You're right and all, but it seems he doesn't get too deep into much of anything. Light gaming and light VM/development work. Some people overinvested into the gaming side and others into the dev side.

You're right though, the 980Ti's in SLI is still overkill. A nice BIG 4K monitor (like the Acer B6 B326HK YMJDPPHZ) would be nice to have.

1
C4ples•

What's the point of the X99-Deluxe? You buy it specifically for overclocking. It offers nothing over the X99-Pro other than the auto-overclock feature for $80 more, and that's still $50 over what you should be spending on a motherboard for somebody not interested in overclocking.

It's cheaper by a good $25 to get two 16GB kits over a single 32GB kit.

Putting your OS into a striped array is- to put it nicely, incredibly risky. If one drive goes you've lost an entire 2TB of data. You absolutely do not need anything more than the drives in JBOD when they're SSDs.

To ease the headache or rebuilding after a failed drive it makes more sense to mirror two slightly larger drives than to put smaller drives into RAID5.

Spending the extra on an 80+ Plat PSU is really not necessary when units which are just as good are available for less with higher wattage. Too, you don't have enough wattage to add a third card, which OP stated was the top priority.

The NH-D15 is as expensive as most dual-120mm CLCs while not performing any better than something like a TC14PE which is $40 cheaper. Too, the NH-D15 looks like shit. Nobody should ever be subjected to looking at that thing. I wouldn't do that to my worst enemies.

1
transam617•

add a third card, which OP stated was the top priority

Where did OP say he wanted three GPU's?

1
C4ples•

In order of importance: Expand-ability/future proof

Read "adding more components".

1
transam617•

You are leaning way farther into that one than I was with my 16 core build. Future proofing in terms of GPU's when you already have SLI isn't 3 way, its replacement cards.

1
ReachTheSky•

What's the point of the X99-Deluxe?

It's a good board with an insane number of USB ports. Not that OP would need all of them, but he did state he uses quite a few of them.

It's cheaper by a good $25 to get two 16GB kits over a single 32GB kit.

True, but two things: We're talking about a $6k budget here and I didn't wanna pull OP's hair over $25. Plus factories tend to pair memory from the same line together in these kits which is good for overall stability - though still probably unnoticeable.

Putting your OS into a striped array is- to put it nicely, incredibly risky.

It is slightly more risky, not incredibly risky. No need to exaggerate - it wont burn OPs house down. Lots of people run striped arrays and more often than not, it's worthwhile. I've been running striped arrays with SSD's and HDDs for nearly a decade. Hard drives are not as flimsy as some folks tend to believe. I've yet to experience a failure, but yes, they sometimes fail. That's a risk we understand. OP does not come across as a total newb and I'm sure he stores the more important media and VM snapshots on his NAS. An OS, some applications and games are easy to reinstall in the UNLIKELY event of an array failure.

Too, you don't have enough wattage to add a third card, which OP stated was the top priority.

I don't see anywhere in the OP where he says that a third GPU is a top priority and why not a platinum-certified PSU? If you have the budget for it, wouldn't you get something that's cool, quiet and efficient?

NH-D15 looks like shit

I agree, it really does. lol. Subjective though. Looks are second to performance, and they perform great with a fantastic warranty from Noctua. I'd otherwise recommend the Hyper 212 EVO for anyone not interested in OC.

1
bored_reddit_user•

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Xeon E5-2697 V3 2.6GHz 14-Core Processor$2539.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPU CoolerCorsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler$89.99 @ Amazon
MotherboardASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard$180.99 @ SuperBiiz
MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-3400 Memory$290.98 @ Newegg
MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-3400 Memory$290.98 @ Newegg
StorageWestern Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$49.50 @ SuperBiiz
StorageWestern Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$49.50 @ SuperBiiz
Video CardSapphire Radeon R9 Fury X 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)$638.99 @ SuperBiiz
Video CardSapphire Radeon R9 Fury X 4GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire)$638.99 @ SuperBiiz
CasePhanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case$99.99 @ Amazon
Power SupplyCorsair AX1500i 1500W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply$400.64 @ Amazon
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total$5270.54
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-01 20:41 EDT-0400
-2
466_Gaming•

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i7-5960X 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor$899.99 @ Micro Center
CPU CoolerCooler Master GeminII M4 58.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler$29.99 @ NCIX US
MotherboardMSI X99S SLI Plus ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard$205.99 @ SuperBiiz
MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory$219.99 @ Newegg
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$339.98 @ Best Buy
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$339.98 @ Best Buy
StorageToshiba 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$119.99 @ Amazon
Video CardAsus GeForce GTX Titan X 12GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)$970.99 @ SuperBiiz
Video CardAsus GeForce GTX Titan X 12GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)$970.99 @ SuperBiiz
CaseCorsair 550D ATX Mid Tower Case$149.99 @ NCIX US
Power SupplyCorsair AX1500i 1500W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply$400.64 @ Amazon
Optical DriveLG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer$44.10 @ SuperBiiz
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit)$129.99 @ SuperBiiz
Sound CardAsus Xonar DSX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card$47.25 @ SuperBiiz
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total$4869.86
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-01 19:22 EDT-0400
-4
TheCrickler•

  • I know he doesn't want to overclock, but that CPU cooler does not do the 5960x any justice.

  • He does not have access to Micro Center, so the CPU is $999 at a minimum

  • He should have at least 64 GB of RAM at this price point

  • He wants two 4 TB HDD's for a RAID setup, and Toshiba is shoddy quality

  • The Titan X is not really good for the money, SLI 980 Ti's is realistically just as good

  • The AX1500i is pretty overkill. The wattage and the efficiency.

You are being downvoted, and I thought I would over some reasoning as to why that is, as is the policy of this sub.

2
466_Gaming•

Toshiba is shoddy quality

You do realise that Toshiba owns WD... right?

Anyway, all your other points are perfectly valid - soz bby - so here's a better build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

TypeItemPrice
CPUIntel Core i7-5960X 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor$999.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPU Coolerbe quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler$122.35 @ Amazon
MotherboardMSI X99A GAMING 7 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard$263.99 @ SuperBiiz
MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory$219.99 @ Newegg
MemoryG.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory$219.99 @ Newegg
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$339.98 @ Best Buy
StorageSamsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive$339.98 @ Best Buy
StorageHitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$169.89 @ OutletPC
StorageHitachi Deskstar NAS 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive$169.89 @ OutletPC
Video CardEVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)$639.99 @ SuperBiiz
Video CardEVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)$639.99 @ SuperBiiz
Casebe quiet! Silent Base 800 ATX Mid Tower Case$129.99 @ NCIX US
Power SupplyEVGA SuperNOVA P2 1200W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply$219.99 @ NCIX US
Optical DriveLG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer$44.10 @ SuperBiiz
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit)$129.99 @ SuperBiiz
Sound CardAsus Xonar DSX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card$47.25 @ SuperBiiz
Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
Total$4697.35
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-01 20:36 EDT-0400

Also, Mr Crickler, I think this is a good time to say this: wtf, you're everywhere, lol. Every time I post a build you're always there too. topkek

0
TheCrickler•

Yup I'm on this sub a lot :p

3