Build Advice Needed

[Mordynak]

Hi all. Looking to order some bits soon to build a new PC. Current one is getting on a bit now.

Here's what I've been looking at.
http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/9c...165055dd6ddd68

I mainly use my PC for work, lots of large multi layered photoshop documents, 3d apps and various stuff all running at the same time. Use it for a lot of programming also. I do plan to overclock, if only a little, and only really the CPU. But not hugely bothered about overclocking.

I already have an OS for the thing, keyboard, mouse and headset also. Plus I will be using my existing nvidia 760 EVGA card.

I've not added a CPU cooler or storage drive to the build but both will be needed of course.

I think with the current build, the main two areas that could be cheaper are the MOBO and PSU. But I'm not sure about them. Budget is around £1000-£1200. But ideally as cheap as possible.

As for the screen, 1920x1200 is a must. Its just so much nicer. Those 80 lines make a big difference. I'd also like to go for an IPS panel. Simply because they look a lot better. Half decent speakers would be nice but not a must at all.

Most of all it needs to be pretty quiet. At the minute I'm using a Coolermaster Cosmos S with the standard fan setup. My other PC is in a Fractal R4, its about the same temp across the board an makes next to no noise.

Right, well I think that's everything.
Thanks for paying attention and thanks in advance for the help.

Cheers everyone!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If you are not bothered about overclock,then you can get an IB Xeon E3 1230 V2 or Haswell Xeon E3 1230 V3.

These are the Core i7 3770 and Core i7 4770 with the IGP removed.

IB based CPU

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...tio-69w-retail
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...tio-69w-retail
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...vi-d-micro-atx

Haswell based CPU

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...che-80w-retail
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...dvi-d-hdmi-atx

You can then get a quiet cooler for the CPU.

I would get this SSD:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/240gb...-250mb-s-write

[D1DM]

I would say the MAXIMUS VI is very expensive if you're "not hugely bothered about overclocking". I would suggest checking out ASRock Z87 Extreme6, ASUS MAXIMUS VI Hero, ASUS Sabertooth Z87, MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING, and see if any of them offer all the features you want/need for a cheaper price.

I would suggest this as a cheaper alternative PSU, which is very quiet for a unit with an always-on fan:
Enermax Revolution87+ 650W £92
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-...i-xfire-eps-12

[Mordynak]

If you are not bothered about overclock,then you can get an IB Xeon E3 1230 V2 or Haswell Xeon E3 1230 V3.

These are the Core i7 3770 and Core i7 4770 with the IGP removed.

IB based CPU

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...tio-69w-retail
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...tio-69w-retail
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...vi-d-micro-atx

Haswell based CPU

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...che-80w-retail
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigab...dvi-d-hdmi-atx

You can then get a quiet cooler for the CPU.

I would get this SSD:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/240gb...-250mb-s-write

Looking through all the Xeon's, and it looks as though the price vs performance is about the same as normal haswells. Without the option for overclocking however. I'd rather have the ability to overclock than buy something for about the same price with lower standard clock speeds and no option for overclocking. Unless I'm missing something important?

Any particular reason for that SSD?

I would say the MAXIMUS VI is very expensive if you're "not hugely bothered about overclocking". I would suggest checking out ASRock Z87 Extreme6, ASUS MAXIMUS VI Hero, ASUS Sabertooth Z87, MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING, and see if any of them offer all the features you want/need for a cheaper price.

I would suggest this as a cheaper alternative PSU, which is very quiet for a unit with an always-on fan:
Enermax Revolution87+ 650W £92
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w-...i-xfire-eps-12

Gone for the Maximus Hero. Also, that PSU seems to be very good from the reviews I've read.

This is what I've got so far.
http://www.scan.co.uk/savedbasket/50...d85baed0e4dbf9
Added a 2TB HDD for data. Not fussed about this being super fast.

Any recommendations for a CPU cooler? I was thinking about this as I have the V1 cooling my Q6600 and its been very good as far as i can tell. Overclocked from 2.4 to 3GHz for as long as I've had it. Don't want to pay silly amounts for a cooler. Unless I can be convinced otherwise.

Thanks for all the help so far ! Much appreciated

[D1DM]

How about one of the following?
Scythe Mugen 4 £38
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/scyth...oler-scmg-4000

Thermalright Macho120 Rev A £31
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/therm...1-amd-am2-am2p

Both should fit in the R4 (which has a CPU cooler height limit of 170mm, according to the manufacturer's website, last time I checked). Both are fairly good performers and known for being quiet (fans capable of spinning below 1000RPM).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Looking through all the Xeon's, and it looks as though the price vs performance is about the same as normal haswells. Without the option for overclocking however. I'd rather have the ability to overclock than buy something for about the same price with lower standard clock speeds and no option for overclocking. Unless I'm missing something important?

Any particular reason for that SSD?

No they are not.

The Core i7 4770 is around £225:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...tio-84w-retail

The Xeon E3 1230 V2 is £185:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...che-80w-retail

Thats a £40 for an IGP that you will not be using. The 100MHZ to 200MHZ difference is not going to mean anything plus the Xeon E3 CPUs tend to be lower TDP too and easier to cool.

The Xeon E3 1230 V2 is £52 cheaper than the Core i7 3770 and is easier to cool.

So you pay,£40 to £52 more for the non-overclockable Core i7 CPUs.

If you want to overclocked you need a K series CPU:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...tio-84w-retail

That is £70 more for a Core i7 4770K over a Xeon E3 1230 V3,and £82 more for a Core i7 3770K over a Xeon E3 1230 V2.

Also,if you are not going to overclock,you are just throwing your money away. The option for something you might never use is just wasting money.

Then add the cost of a reasonable Z77 or Z87 motherboard and a cooler,and its easily £100+ or more.

IB and Haswell run hot when overclocked and need decent cooling.

Also,the SSD is a decent MLC drive and has things such as RAIN for added redundancy.

Edit!!

So lets sum up:
1.)You spend £70 to £82 more for the CPU if you get a K series Core i7 over a Xeon E3.
2.)That motherboard you want is nearly £150 more than the H87 motherboard I listed.
3.)You need a decent cooler if overclocking.

So easily £250 added to the cost of the build??

For what??

Perhaps another 20% to 30% extra speed if you are lucky?? With Turbo the CPUs won't be running at base clockspeeds most of the time.

Plus people have to delid their CPUs if they want to get higher overclocks.

If you want to spend that money spend it on:
1.)Maybe more RAM.
2.)Maybe even spending more on the monitor if you are really doing high end photo work.
3.)A calibration device for your monitor.

If you don't have the latter now,you should be getting one(or at least borrowing one),if you are serious about editing photographs.

[MrJim]

I mainly use my PC for work, lots of large multi layered photoshop documents, 3d apps and various stuff all running at the same time. Use it for a lot of programming also. I do plan to overclock, if only a little, and only really the CPU. But not hugely bothered about overclocking.

If you're using your PC for work purposes, I personally wouldn't bother with overclocking. By its nature, overclocking can easily introduce some instability into a system, & if your PC is your livelihood, I don't think it's worth the extra hassle, expense, & potential down-time. Bear in mind that a lot of motherboards automatically use a form of 'overclocking' once an XMP profile is used (Asus call it 'multi-core enhancement'...don't know about other brands), which runs all four cores at their maximum turbo frequency; overclocking over & above that will only get you a relatively small incremental increase in performance, especially so on Haswell due to heat issues.