24 replies to this topic

[cSand]

So... it looks like I sold my laptop and so I am buying a desktop for the first time in 15 years

I have this stuff selected:

Case: Cheapest one in the store that doesn't like something from Tron
Mobo: Gigabyte Z97x-SLI
Proc: Intel Xeon 1231 V3 (3.4GHz) with Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo cooler
RAM: Adata 16GB XPG v1 (2x8)
GPU: Club3D AMD r9 290 RoyalAce 4GB
SSD: Adata SX900 128GB
HD: 1 TB 7200rpm Western Digital (server class)
Power: XFX Pro Xtr Gold 750w
Other: Wifi card, DVD drive

Now that I've joined the darkside... do you think that 750w will be enough for this setup?

[Oderint dum Metuant]

Xeons are server chips really and sometimes don't play well with gaming albeit rarely Also you have gone for super fast RAM, that really isn't required for gaming, there is little point going past 8GB of 1600MHZ RAM, past 1600MHZ sees really big diminishing returns for what you spend on it.

To your own question though, yes the 750W will be more than enough, you could even drop the wattage a bit.

oh and the new Nvidia cards are out for review, and the 970's are really really good.

Edited by DV McKenna, 19 September 2014 - 02:32 PM.

[cSand]

Ah thank you sir.

I may knock it down to 8GB to save some $$ if I have to but I figure hey, if I can afford it, slap it in there.

The xeon compares almost exactly to an i7 4770.. the only difference is it's 100Mhz slower, doesn't have the HD graphics, supports ECC (non issue for me anyways).. but most importantly is about $60 cheaper

I will press forward with the 750w... I think even if I could go lower I like to overbuild a little so that will do nicely.

Thanks!

*Edit:

Do you think it would be wiser to cut to 8GB of ram, and purchase a more expensive motherboard with the savings?
Keep in mind I'm not looking to overclock this machine or anything like that.

Also, as far as the new nv 970's... been an AMD man for 20 over years.. can't turn green now The price is nice on those though I have to say.

Edited by cSand, 19 September 2014 - 02:45 PM.

[ninjitsu]

There's nothing wrong with running a xeon, they are good processors. I'm running 8 gigs of ADATA xpg 1866 and I'm very happy with it.

[Worm Seraphin]

That build looks familiar, extreme pc in Guelph?
If you are getting that motherboard which supports multiple graphics cards, might as well get a power supply that can too. Not sure on the wattage of that card but even 750w may not run two of them.
If you don't want to go that way then you might save a few bucks with a motherboard supporting only one.

[cSand]

Ahh ok, so I could get a small motherboard eh (I will only be running 1 card). I'm new to choosing motherboards, lol.

Do you know of a good motherboard that runs only 1 card? (Reasonably priced? )

I just chose these parts myself from NCIX (heading to Vancouver on Sunday to go shopping)

Thanks for all the input folks.

Edited by cSand, 19 September 2014 - 03:04 PM.

[Odins Fist]

If you "CHEAP_OUT" on a PSU, you WILL be sorry.....
.
Not a big fan of Xenons... Go with something else.

Edited by Odins Fist, 19 September 2014 - 03:14 PM.

[cSand]

Odins Fist, on 19 September 2014 - 03:12 PM, said:

If you "CHEAP_OUT" on a PSU, you WILL be sorry.....
.
Not a big fan of Xenons... Go with something else.

I agree with statement 1... hence this thread

Not so sure about statement 2.. do you like having the iGPU? I have workhorse servers that have been on 24/7 for 4 years at work with Xeons in em and still going strong

[Worm Seraphin]

I buy from ncix often.
Personally I would go for the 4690k cpu for playing mwo, the hyperthreading in i7/xeon doesnt do much.

[ninjitsu]

Whats up with the irrational dislike of Xeons?

[auniqueid]

why x97 and not x99?
Far more upgradeabiliy if you went wih x99--even if you went with a 5820 chip.

Xeons are fine, I've been running dual xeons for years... they will never fail, and you won' have and stability issues wih them. But theyt're server chips, not consumer, so you're going face the same issues I faced over the years: (1) can't overclock (2) lack latest buss technology --- especially on the x97, you' missing out on m.2 interface and (3) usually can't sli. (3) typically, xeon boards don't have nice things like wifi/blutooth buit in (but some do. Also, xeon boards are usually higher priced than consumer boards.

I just pulled the plug on an x99/5960 setup. Given the quality of curren consumer boards and the power of the new haswell-e's, there's really no compelling reason to go xeon for a consumer sytem.,


Yes, 750 watts is MORE than enough for that setup.

Edited by Jimbobbob, 19 September 2014 - 03:40 PM.

[ninjitsu]

You can run socket 1150 xeons in gaming boards... I'm not sure where you're getting the no SLI info from.

[Worm Seraphin]

Some xeon, like the one he's considering, only have 16 pcie lanes total.

[cSand]

Jimbobbob, on 19 September 2014 - 03:38 PM, said:

why x97 and not x99?
Far more upgradeabiliy if you went wih x99--even if you went with a 5820 chip.

Xeons are fine, I've been running dual xeons for years... they will never fail, and you won' have and stability issues wih them. But theyt're server chips, not consumer, so you're going face the same issues I faced over the years: (1) can't overclock (2) lack latest buss technology --- especially on the x97, you' missing out on m.2 interface and (3) usually can't sli. (3) typically, xeon boards don't have nice things like wifi/blutooth buit in (but some do. Also, xeon boards are usually higher priced than consumer boards.

I just pulled the plug on an x99/5960 setup. Given the quality of curren consumer boards and the power of the new haswell-e's, there's really no compelling reason to go xeon for a consumer sytem.,


Yes, 750 watts is MORE than enough for that setup.

Well, even with a 5820 we're still looking at at least a couple hundo more than I want to spend.. For my purposes (run MWO on Ultra at 60fps ) I'm not worried about overclocking or xfire either... I think some of the z97 boards have m.2 but again... it's not really a selling point for me since I'll not use it. I like the Xeon cause it's like an i7 but without the graphics, which works for me as I will also be editing some music on this thing. I understand that as someone who likes to tweak you will want all the bells and whistles but I'm just going for good, solid performance (at a reasonable price )

Edited by cSand, 19 September 2014 - 03:51 PM.

[cSand]

Worm Seraphin, on 19 September 2014 - 03:49 PM, said:

Some xeon, like the one he's considering, only have 16 pcie lanes total.

What does this mean if I put in my graphics card, and a wifi card?

On intel's site, my Xeon I chose, the i7 4770 and 4790 all have 16 lanes (1x16, 2x8, or 4x4 it seems) total at maximum so how would this affect my MWO experience? (serious question here )

[Worm Seraphin]

Just the question came up of sli not running as well, but not much difference, even running it at x8 instead of full x16 makes little difference at this point. The newer cpus go up to 40 though.
The 4690 is 3.5 vs the xeon 3.4 so should run mwo as fast, and it's $50 cheaper.

Edited by Worm Seraphin, 20 September 2014 - 01:08 AM.

[Egomane]

cSand, on 19 September 2014 - 02:25 PM, said:

Case: Cheapest one in the store that doesn't like something from Tron
Mobo: Gigabyte Z97x-SLI
Proc: Intel Xeon 1231 V3 (3.4GHz) with Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo cooler
RAM: Adata 16GB XPG v1 (2x8)
GPU: Club3D AMD r9 290 RoyalAce 4GB
SSD: Adata SX900 128GB
HD: 1 TB 7200rpm Western Digital (server class)
Power: XFX Pro Xtr Gold 750w
Other: Wifi card, DVD drive

Now that I've joined the darkside... do you think that 750w will be enough for this setup?

I believe it is to much, unless you plan to upgrade to a second GPU at a later time.

Your system can easily run a 500 watt PSU. So maybe go for a lower wattage but higher efficiancy, or better quality (though the selected one is already manufactured by Seasonic and that doesn't get much better).

cSand, on 19 September 2014 - 03:57 PM, said:

On intel's site, my Xeon I chose, the i7 4770 and 4790 all have 16 lanes (1x16, 2x8, or 4x4 it seems) total at maximum so how would this affect my MWO experience? (serious question here )

Not at all! At least not that you would really notice it.

[Tjalf]

There's a nice calculator of Enermax on their official website:

http://www.enermax.outervision.com/

I checked my system afterwards and came to pretty much the same power suppy that I build in on my own estimation. In general, if you don't plan to build in the highest gaming gpu available (like everything below GTX 780 for the 7xx generation of Nvidia), something between 550-and 650W is sufficient.

I for myself own an i5-3570k and a GTX 770 and my 4 years old 550W PSU still has enough power.

[Catamount]

A system with an 80W CPU and a 275W GPU might draw 400W in a very intensive gaming scenario (maybe 350 in a typical scenario with a modern game). It might draw 450 in an artificial stress test. 550-600W is enough to support that just fine if no OCing or Crossfire is planned.

And yes, to satisfy the hardcore maximal efficiency nuts that always crop up here, I know during the most intensive of gaming it might run a little outside of the absolute most efficient power draw percentage, and one might lose a few percent of efficiency and draw a dozen watts more, and one's case and the stuff inside of it might run half a degree celsius hotter, and one might pay for about a dozen kilowatt hours more a year if you game a lot (13, if you draw 12W more, which is a ~3% efficiency loss, and game 3 hours every single day without exception), and therefore pay like $1.20 a year more for electricity (I'm assuming 10c/KwH, that can't be cosmically far off). OP, if saving that dollar is really important, then buy a 650W PSU.

Also, I'd replace that SSD with a Samsung 840 EVO, and, AMD guy talking here, I really would reconsider the GTX 970. It's cheaper and faster than the R9 290.

[cSand]

Hey thanks for all the help guys !

@ Catamount : If they don't have the R9 in stock I want (it's on sale for 359.99) Then I'll be getting the 970 (Will grit my teeth and turn to the green side )

I'll put up pics after I build it tomorrow/Monday

Edited by cSand, 20 September 2014 - 07:44 AM.