# Need a long term working station.



## xkm1948 (Apr 2, 2015)

I finally got into my ideal Ph.D program after many years of hard work.  Now I am finally ready to build a new rig from ground up as my major work station/gaming station. My current rig got me through my undergrad years, my post-bachelor years and my Master years. It has been a good ride for almost 7yrs now and I am ready to move on to a new build. 

As this build will probably be around for a long time, I am allocating 2000~2500 dollars for budget. I am looking to get a 5930K build with 32GB of ram. I do a lot of genomic analysis and annotation and most of these programs require a huge amount of RAM and a solid CPU. As for gaming I was hoping to get something good. I definitely want to wait for the upcoming 390 series, while using my old old 5870 in the new rig before getting the new one.

I would prefer a good 24'' or whatever mainstream monitor size they have these days. I would also like recommendation on some good peripherals. After all, monitor+mouse+keyboard are the stuff I work with every single day.

Thanks in advance!


And one more question, will it be worth it sell my current rig to offset some cost? Or will it be too old to get any money back?


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## peche (Apr 2, 2015)

when you mean "long therm" i guess is something like future proof?
with $2000 budget you get something like this:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MmmZD3
includes ecerything.... a decne tvideo card... but it can be easily replaced...


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## WhoDecidedThat (Apr 2, 2015)

Don't sell the system. Keep it as a backup. It's way too old.

Monitor: Well it depends. IPS monitors are all the rage these days. I'd suggest a decent IPS 2560*1440 monitor. If you are ready to wait, we should be getting some 2560*1440 144 Hz monitors. But these will cost 600$ minimum and if you add G-Sync into the mix then almost 800$.

Mouse: Look into Logitech's touch mouse. It's pretty decent if you can get used to it's small size and touch surface.

Keyboard: Any cheap mechanical keyboard will do.


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## peche (Apr 2, 2015)

blanarahul said:


> Don't sell the system. Keep it as a backup. It's way too old.


Put it to crunch!!
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/reg/viewRegister.do?recruiterId=970639


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## xkm1948 (Apr 2, 2015)

I would really prefer a 6 core instead of a 4 core. The differences in genome aligning speed is worth the price difference.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 2, 2015)

blanarahul said:


> Don't sell the system. Keep it as a backup. It's way too old.
> 
> Monitor: Well it depends. IPS monitors are all the rage these days. I'd suggest a decent IPS 2560*1440 monitor. If you are ready to wait, we should be getting some 2560*1440 144 Hz monitors. But these will cost 600$ minimum and if you add G-Sync into the mix then almost 800$.
> 
> ...


 

So a 24'' IPS 144Hz monitor at 2K resolution should be the best? Any thoughts on the rest of system build? Thanks!


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## WhoDecidedThat (Apr 2, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> So a 24'' IPS 144Hz monitor at 2K resolution should be the best? Any thoughts on the rest of system build? Thanks!


Not necessarily 24 inch but yes. Keep in mind the price though. 600-800$ is fairly large portion of your budget. I am not too knowledgeable about the rest of the stuff so just wait for other people to comment or use other forums too to increase the amount of people who can help. People are quite picky about the forums they visit.


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## Caring1 (Apr 3, 2015)

There's two ASUS boards I would select from if I was building a durable W.S. Gaming rig.
http://www.asus.com/au/Motherboards/SABERTOOTH_X99/

http://www.asus.com/au/Motherboards/X99E_WS/
Both are compatible with your choice of Processor.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 3, 2015)

So what's the difference between a rampage extreme and a sabertooth. I had my X38 from ASUS maximus formula. Rock solid quality for the happy 7 yrs it served me.


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## WhoDecidedThat (Apr 3, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> So what's the difference between a rampage extreme and a sabertooth. I had my X38 from ASUS maximus formula. Rock solid quality for the happy 7 yrs it served me.


Sabertooth has more reliability (better capacitors, better MOSFETs, etc.). WS has more features (support for 4 graphics cards, XMP, RAM Overclocking, better RAM power delivery to support overclocking etc.) The WS board is slightly wider than normal ATX boards (0.9 inches).


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## Vayra86 (Apr 3, 2015)

Well your timing is excellent I'd say. X99 is out, DDR4 is available. X99 platform has some extreme differences in price and a lot of motherboards have significant markups that are highly questionable. So I'd look carefully at that and take what you need and nothing more. Solid power delivery I would say is an important factor. Don't get too hung up on one brand or on what you know. MSI, Asus, Gigabyte, Asrock all make good boards. There is no real evidence that the more expensive boards really offer more longevity.

Gigabyte GA-X99 UD4 could be a contender
MSI X99S MPOWER also looks good

Drop an i7 5820K on that, 6 cores and a good overclocker (5930K is very pricy for also being a 6 core)

That should get you going I suppose  I'm at work atm so haven't got time for a full list.


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## peche (Apr 3, 2015)

since your budget is $2K you can look for an i7 5820K and X99 bassed board, DDR4 and sh*t, but at this moment DDR4 has a pretty high price, DDR3 will last many time more, so you should decide about DDR4, x99 and 5th gen i7 bassed system or DDR3, Z97 and 4th gen i7 which is still "Future Proof" enough...

About motherboard with X99 chipset, Ggiabyte's x99 SOC champion its pretty accesible, also is a little bit cheaper compared to other models, 

Regards,


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## WhoDecidedThat (Apr 3, 2015)

peche said:


> at this moment DDR4 has a pretty high price



The difference on a 64 GB (8x 8GB) kit is 100$, which is worth it IMO.

You can also go for the Eizo Foris FG2421 monitor. It has awesome contrast ratio of 5000:1 and it's a 120 Hz monitor. It's a 1920*1080 panel though.


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## krusha03 (Apr 3, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> I finally got into my ideal Ph.D program after many years of hard work.  Now I am finally ready to build a new rig from ground up as my major work station/gaming station. My current rig got me through my undergrad years, my post-bachelor years and my Master years. It has been a good ride for almost 7yrs now and I am ready to move on to a new build.
> 
> As this build will probably be around for a long time, I am allocating 2000~2500 dollars for budget. I am looking to get a 5930K build with 32GB of ram. I do a lot of genomic analysis and annotation and most of these programs require a huge amount of RAM and a solid CPU. As for gaming I was hoping to get something good. I definitely want to wait for the upcoming 390 series, while using my old old 5870 in the new rig before getting the new one.
> 
> ...



You don't need 5930K since the only difference with 5820K are the number of PCI-E lanes. Here is a build for $2200 with the extra $300 you can go for a higher end board, add more storage, a case you like and keyboard + mouse which i cannot recommend.  There is no 144Hz IPS screen at the moment and I am not sure how useful is getting a 144Hz screen without freesync or gsync and amd or nvidia card respectively. If you do more than just gaming on this computer I would choose 60Hz IPS screen over 144Hz TN screen. 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

*CPU:* Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($299.99 @ Micro Center) 
*CPU Cooler:* LEPA AquaChanger 240 103.6 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
*Motherboard:* MSI X99S Gaming 7 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($228.98 @ Newegg) 
*Memory:* Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($297.50 @ Newegg) 
*Storage:* Transcend SSD370 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
*Storage:* Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($82.54 @ Amazon) 
*Video Card:* MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($319.99 @ Newegg) 
*Video Card:* MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($319.99 @ Newegg) 
*Case:* NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.99 @ Micro Center) 
*Power Supply:* XFX XTR 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($84.99 @ NCIX US) 
*Monitor:* BenQ GW2765HT 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($359.10 @ Amazon) 
*Total:* $2218.05
_Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-03 17:02 EDT-0400_


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## WhoDecidedThat (Apr 5, 2015)




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## Bo$$ (Apr 5, 2015)

After just finishing my masters degree, i would recommend two monitors... it REALLY changed the way i worked. I personally use a 27 and a 22, try and get matched sizes if you sit far away, the text size can get a little small.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 5, 2015)

After some review reading. It seems 5820K would be a better choice. I would definitely not go for multi graphic card setup.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 5, 2015)

Bo$$ said:


> After just finishing my masters degree, i would recommend two monitors... it REALLY changed the way i worked. I personally use a 27 and a 22, try and get matched sizes if you sit far away, the text size can get a little small.



I will keep my old samsung 22'' and get a new 27'' IPS screen. 

Thanks for the tips!


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## xkm1948 (Apr 5, 2015)

Since I am not going SLI, this is what I come up with.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/T7F2nQ

I want to use the Fractal Design R5 but it is not available from the part picker list. I am also thinking of getting the ASUS Sabertooth X99 instead of the MSI X99.

I will only get one SSD, while recycle my two old WD Black 2TB into my new rig.


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## Bo$$ (Apr 5, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> I want to use the Fractal Design R5



I have one sitting in the box ready to open, if you need some pictures of specific things I can take them when i open it


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## BiggieShady (Apr 5, 2015)

GTX 970 being so popular and efficient has so much different PCB and power delivery designs - some manufacturers are cutting corners ... I'm not saying that MSI card is bad, but I would rather choose a card with DrMOS integrated circuits used for VRM rather than regular MOSFets ... 

Dat MSI:
 
6 phases with dual channel mosfets are used

a bit more modern design
 
only 4 phases for GPU but Fairchild DrMOS each rated at 50 A, more efficient and cooler

So either they are cutting costs by reducing number of phases or choosing cheaper components while bumping the phase count.


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## Aquinus (Apr 5, 2015)

Bo$$ said:


> After just finishing my masters degree, i would recommend two monitors... it REALLY changed the way i worked. I personally use a 27 and a 22, try and get matched sizes if you sit far away, the text size can get a little small.


I did that for a long time, a 28" with a 22" and the difference in display sizes drove me insane in the long run. I ended up getting all of the same display when I had a chance to upgrade.

I bought three (3) of these when they were 145USD a pop.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009H0XQRS/?tag=tec06d-20


xkm1948 said:


> I would really prefer a 6 core instead of a 4 core. The differences in genome aligning speed is worth the price difference.


What are you doing that requires that kind of horse power? Unless you're doing multi-threaded, real asyncronous programming, or video conversion on a regular basis (every day or every other day?) there really isn't a huge motivation to do this.

If you don't mind me asking, what about your computer now are you unhappy with? While I understand the whole "My computer is old and I want to upgrade" mentality, it's useful knowing weather or not you really need more power because that is a place where you could get a CPU that's a better deal for what you'll be using it for.

I have a degree in Comp Sci, I do threaded and async programming but no so much video conversion and a quad-core still does me fine. So I highly recommend not throwing your money out the window if you really don't need to. I'm just curious what you do that makes a Devils Canyon CPU not be as feasible as a 5820k. You said it yourself, no multi-GPU, so that's a big reason to go skt2011(-3) out the window. DDR4 is still expensive and just as good as DDR3 right now, and the simple fact is that most people who buy skt2011 don't need it.

Side note: Why are all of you people asking him to go skt2011-3 when you don't even know what he uses his tower for or if he has even encountered a bottleneck? Seriously people, stop making the "waste money" recommendation without knowing if he needs it or not.


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## BiggieShady (Apr 5, 2015)

Aquinus said:


> What are you doing that requires that kind of horse power?





xkm1948 said:


> The differences in *genome aligning* speed is worth the price difference.





Aquinus said:


> Seriously people, stop making the "waste money" recommendation without knowing if he needs it or not.



We know


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## Aquinus (Apr 5, 2015)

BiggieShady said:


> We know


I missed that, but the deeper point remains:
Do you know the software is written in a way that can utilize 12 logical cores? That's my point. I suspect the benefit comes from a newer CPU, not more cores as software must be very concurrent to utilize that many logical threads. The argument that "they'll align faster" implies cross-thread or cross-process communication (or a single threaded task,) which would negetively impact concurrent performance. I have a strange feeling that a devil's canyon CPU would be faster than a 6c CPU if it can't use more than 10 logical cores *effectively*, but I could be wrong.

Side note: If you're doing these calculations and you *need* to be right, the OP should probably rather have a Xeon with ECC memory, not an i7.
Second side note: Even protein folding is typically a single-threaded process where multiple jobs are done at once (but they don't talk to each other). This is the only case where I can see the 12 logical cores being useful.


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## BiggieShady (Apr 5, 2015)

Aquinus said:


> Do you know the software is written in a way that can utilize 12 logical cores? That's my point. I suspect the benefit comes from a newer CPU, not more cores as software must be very concurrent to utilize that many logical threads. The argument that "they'll align faster" implies cross-thread or cross-process communication (or a single threaded task,) which would negetively impact concurrent performance. I have a strange feeling that a devil's canyon CPU would be faster than a 6c CPU if it can't use more than 10 logical cores *effectively*, but I could be wrong.



Considering there are many GPU based implementations of sequence alignment algorithms, it means it's probably highly concurrent and probably can use as much cores as you have ... but as you said and it is a good point, one has to be sure before burning money.


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## Caring1 (Apr 5, 2015)

If the program used is anything like crunching, then more cores and more speed is a good thing.
All cores and threads can be utilized concurrently.


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## krusha03 (Apr 5, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> Since I am not going SLI, this is what I come up with.
> 
> http://pcpartpicker.com/p/T7F2nQ
> 
> ...


You will have problems gaming at 1440p with one 970. Do you have problem with water cooling? That AIO is cheaper and probably better than the noctua. 1050W is a overkill for this system even when overclocked. 750W will be enough for even 2 GPUs + overclocked cpu


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## Aquinus (Apr 5, 2015)

Caring1 said:


> If the program used is anything like crunching, then more cores and more speed is a good thing.
> All cores and threads can be utilized concurrently.


That's because it's running more than one task at once. It's not doing one particular task in parallel, it's doing many in parallel when you're crunching. There is a *huge* difference between parallelism with multiple tasks and parallelism with a singular task. Both BOINC and F@H work this way (multiple tasks). The individual work units are almost always single-threaded in nature. Cross-thread and cross-process communication can be a huge bottleneck and isn't conducive to serial workloads.

An analogous example would be a web server. Every request is inherently processed concurrently (in some way,) in relation to other requests, however an individual request will almost never utilize more than 1 core at a time. So while a web server benefits from multiple cores, it's not because one request can use more than 1 core. The same can apply to these kinds of workloads. So if you're working on a very specific piece of data, being able to concurrently process data and share state between processes and/or threads is a very tedious task.

So be careful to compare workloads because it's important to realize that crunching doesn't mean a single WU in BOINC for example can use more than 1 thread, but that fact that you're running 8 WUs at once lets you crunch on 8 logical cores simultaneously. The key is that the WUs don't need to talk to each other to do their job. So don't confuse task-level parallelism with process/thread level parallelism. It's not the 8 cores for 8 tasks problem, it's the 8 cores for 1 task problem.


BiggieShady said:


> Considering there are many GPU based implementations of sequence alignment algorithms, it means it's probably highly concurrent and probably can use as much cores as you have ... but as you said and it is a good point, one has to be sure before burning money.


Oh yeah, it absolutely can be. The question is, does it work that way and how far out can you go until it doesn't scale anymore? Consider for a moment that the OP has a Core 2 CPU which means the IMC is still on the motherboard. Just upgrading to a modern CPU will give him huge benefits from memory bandwidth and latency alone. I just think a Devil's Canyon CPU might be more beneficial if higher clocks yields better results than more cores as most individual parallel tasks don't scale linearly to more cores, it's usually logarithmic. Additionally, if he wanted a Xeon and ECC memory like I suggested before, a skt1150 workstation would cost a lot less than a skt2011-3 Xeon setup. Those CPUs get very expensive, very quickly.


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## krusha03 (Apr 5, 2015)

Aquinus said:


> That's because it's running more than one task at once. It's not doing one particular task in parallel, it's doing many in parallel when you're crunching. There is a *huge* difference between parallelism with multiple tasks and parallelism with a singular task. Both BOINC and F@H work this way. The individual work units are almost always single-threaded in nature. Cross-thread and cross-process communication can be a huge bottleneck and isn't conducive to serial workloads.
> 
> An analogous example would be a web server. Every request is inherently processed concurrently (in some way,) in relation to other requests, however an individual request will almost never utilize more than 1 core at a time. So while a web server benefits from multiple cores, it's not because one request can use more than 1 core. The same can apply to these kinds of workloads. So if you're working on a very specific piece of data, being able to concurrently process data and share state between processes and/or threads is a very tedious task.
> 
> ...



Techpowerup review said they got it up to 4.6Ghz. Not much more can be expected from a 4790K and it runs cooler


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## Aquinus (Apr 5, 2015)

krusha03 said:


> Techpowerup review said they got it up to 4.6Ghz. Not much more can be expected from a 4790K and it runs cooler


I wouldn't pay extra for a platform because it runs cooler. Also cooler is a relative term. The CPU core might be cooler, but the thermal output of a skt2011-3 CPU is going to be higher under full load. Higher temperature only means that for the same frequency, it can't bleed heat away fast enough. The only explanation for this is the soldered head-spreader on skt2011-3 CPUs versus the thermal paste that's used on 1150. It makes sense since skt2011-3 CPUs tend to have much higher TDPs than skt1150. Also, none of this really should have anything to do with choosing.

If ECC really is something the OP might care about (considering you don't want corrupted memory when doing calculations like this,) then going with a Xeon is hands down, the only way to go since you can't get an i7 that supports ECC memory.


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## krusha03 (Apr 5, 2015)

Aquinus said:


> I wouldn't pay extra for a platform because it runs cooler. Also cooler is a relative term. The CPU core might be cooler, but the thermal output of a skt2011-3 CPU is going to be higher under full load. Higher temperature only means that for the same frequency, it can't bleed heat away fast enough. The only explanation for this is the soldered head-spreader on skt2011-3 CPUs versus the thermal paste that's used on 1150. It makes sense since skt2011-3 CPUs tend to have much higher TDPs than skt1150. Also, none of this really should have anything to do with choosing.


You said he will trade cores for speed. I am saying that's not the case. He has the budget and said himself that needs the core. He is doing a PHD in that topic so I guess he know what the program needs and can do.


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## Aquinus (Apr 5, 2015)

krusha03 said:


> You said he will trade cores for speed. I am saying that's not the case. He has the budget and said himself that needs the core. He is doing a PHD in that topic so I guess he know what the program needs and can do.


He said he would like 6 cores, not that he wanted to trade speed for more cores. Also without knowing the software he will be using or if he is writing it himself, I wouldn't be so quick to make those assumptions. It's like saying you need a bunch of memory and a quad-core because you're getting into computer science program. I can tell you that more often than not, people over-estimate what they need for school because they mix "what they need" with the fact that you're getting a shiny new toy as the same time.

All I'm saying is that as a developer, I know how much of a bear it is to develop code that will do one task in multiple threads which is why I bring this up. The simple fact is that the more cores you add, the much more unlikely it is that any given task can take advantage of it.

The simple fact is that if you're analyzing a genome, then you're probably talking about a sequence (or stream if you will) of character or symbols which means you're most likely doing some form of serial processing on the data set, while keeping track of variables as you go through the sequence, which is a serial workload. The work that's being done, simply put, has theoretical limits to how parallel it can run as there comes a point when overhead outweighs speedup. Once again, it depends on the kind of workload. I'm trying to not make that assumption, even more so since the OP hasn't said what his (or her) needs really are.


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## krusha03 (Apr 5, 2015)

Aquinus said:


> He said he would like 6 cores, not that he wanted to trade speed for more cores.


Actually i said:


krusha03 said:


> *You* said he will trade cores for speed. I am saying that's not the case.


Because:


Aquinus said:


> I just think a Devil's Canyon CPU might be more beneficial if higher clocks yields better results than more cores as most individual parallel tasks don't scale linearly to more cores, it's usually logarithmic.


Which i am saying is not true because both of them overclock to about the same point with the 5820K having 2 extra cores and better heat transfer between the silicon and IHS which makes it easier to cool


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## Aquinus (Apr 5, 2015)

krusha03 said:


> Which i am saying is not true because both of them overclock to about the same point with the 5820K having 2 extra cores and better heat transfer between the silicon and IHS which makes it easier to cool


Yeah, but if he's not using the resources, why invest in a platform that will cost more for memory and the motherboard? skt1150 boards are cheaper than skt2011-3 boards and DDR4 is still more expensive than DDR3. I'm not saying that skt2011-3 won't do the job for him, please understand that. Plus, none of this matters if he thinks ECC memory is going to be important, so in all seriousness, I think without the OP telling us more about the kind of software he will be using or if he is writing it himself along with the kind of operating constraints he has to work within (hence the ECC question), we can say maybe this or maybe that until we're blue in the face but the fact of the matter is that we don't have enough information to make a half-decent recommendation on the best hardware for the job.

I personally think that if he's serious, one of those high-clocked E3 Xeons with some ECC memory would be leaps and bounds beyond what he has now and *if more cores are important and they scale to the software he will be using* E5 Xeons are an option but they're expensive for the faster CPUs so it's not worth it unless it really does scale since you would be starting with lower clocked CPUs with more cores. So if more cores really is important to him and the software can use something like up to 64 logical threads, it's a lot cheaper now to do dual 2P 6c E5 Xeons as skt2011-3 on the Xeon side no longer has quad-core parts, they start with 6c/6t Xeons now. Once again, ECC DDR4 isn't exactly cheap, but a 2P platform would be better if the code truly scales and if he wanted to upgrade in the future. Once again, this stuff isn't cheap so we need to know exactly what he needs, what the software can utilize, and how far he would want the upgrade path to be able to go and this hardware (the E5s in particular) isn't exactly conducive to gaming (although that might change with the next version of DX).

I'll say it again though: We can't say what would be best without knowing more.


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## krusha03 (Apr 5, 2015)

Aquinus said:


> Yeah, but if he's not using the resources, why invest in a platform that will cost more for memory and the motherboard? skt1150 boards are cheaper than skt2011-3 boards and DDR4 is still more expensive than DDR3. I'm not saying that skt2011-3 won't do the job for him, please understand that. Plus, none of this matters if he thinks ECC memory is going to be important, so in all seriousness, I think without the OP telling us more about the kind of software he will be using or if he is writing it himself along with the kind of operating constraints he has to work within (hence the ECC question), we can say maybe this or maybe that until we're blue in the face but the fact of the matter is that we don't have enough information to make a half-decent recommendation on the best hardware for the job.
> 
> I personally think that if he's serious, one of those high-clocked E3 Xeons with some ECC memory would be leaps and bounds beyond what he has now and *if more cores are important and they scale to the software he will be using* E5 Xeons are an option but they're expensive for the faster CPUs so it's not worth it unless it really does scale since you would be starting with lower clocked CPUs with more cores. So if more cores really is important to him and the software can use something like up to 64 logical threads, it's a lot cheaper now to do dual 2P 6c E5 Xeons as skt2011-3 on the Xeon side no longer has quad-core parts, they start with 6c/6t Xeons now. Once again, ECC DDR4 isn't exactly cheap, but a 2P platform would be better if the code truly scales and if he wanted to upgrade in the future. Once again, this stuff isn't cheap so we need to know exactly what he needs, what the software can utilize, and how far he would want the upgrade path to be able to go and this hardware isn't exactly conducive to gaming (although that might change with the next version of DX).
> 
> I'll say it again though: We can't say what would be best without knowing more.


Don't get me wrong is not that I dont agree that the OP needs to consider if he really needs the extra cores due to the higher cost involved. I am just saying that an overclocked 5820K wont be slower than a 4790K in single threaded applications and if he has the money and willing to spend it, should go for it


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## xkm1948 (Apr 5, 2015)

Thanks for your concerns about going 2011-v3.  I WANT to do it. I can afford to do it. It is not burning money since it will be future proof and make me happy. Those are all the reasons I need to go 5820k.

Oh and I put that gtx970 there as a price place holder. I would rather go for AMD cards


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## krusha03 (Apr 5, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> Thanks for your concerns about going 2011-v3.  I WANT to do it. I can afford to do it. It is not burning money since it will be future proof and make me happy. Those are all the reasons I need to go 5820k.
> 
> Oh and I put that gtx970 there as a price place holder. I would rather go for AMD cards


Well the R9 390x is coming soon and should be an awesome card but apparently comes with a WC AIO which i am under the impression you don't want


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## xkm1948 (Apr 5, 2015)

krusha03 said:


> Well the R9 390x is coming soon and should be an awesome card but apparently comes with a WC AIO which i am under the impression you don't want



I am open to all options. It is just I have never dealt with water cooling before.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 5, 2015)

Thank you Aquinus again for your concerns. I WANT 5820K. That is FINAL. I do not want anything less, period. If I were to base my build completely on my needs to do work, I wouldn't even post here. Man is allowed to have some fun to reward himself after all the hardwork. 

Plus, Aquinus. We have the the super computer setup over here on campus which employs these hundreds of these 16-core Xeon for pipelining raw genomic data. I leave the most heavy load stuff to these fat nodes on campus. 

And back to original discussion. It would be awesome if you can give me some feedback and pictures on that Fractal Design R5.

Also, what is the difference between a sabertooth and a ROG? The rampage V extreme has built in 11ac wireless which sounds really sweet.


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## krusha03 (Apr 5, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> Thank you Aquinus again for your concerns. I WANT 5820K. That is FINAL. I do not want anything less, period. If I were to base my build completely on my needs to do work, I wouldn't even post here. Man is allowed to have some fun to reward himself after all the hardwork.
> 
> And back to original discussion. It would be awesome if you can give me some feedback and pictures on that Fractal Design R5.


BTW what do you mean the R5 is not available on partpicker? Here you go a build I would do with the R5

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

*CPU:* Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($372.95 @ SuperBiiz) 
*CPU Cooler:* LEPA AquaChanger 240 103.6 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
*Motherboard:* MSI X99S Gaming 7 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($228.98 @ Newegg) 
*Memory:* Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($297.50 @ Newegg) 
*Storage:* Transcend SSD370 512GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($175.99 @ Amazon) 
*Video Card:* MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card  ($319.99 @ Newegg) 
*Case:* Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($117.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
*Power Supply:* XFX XTR 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($84.99 @ NCIX US) 
*Monitor:* BenQ GW2765HT 60Hz 27.0" Monitor  ($359.10 @ Amazon) 
*Total:* $2027.48
_Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-05 16:28 EDT-0400_


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## xkm1948 (Apr 5, 2015)

krusha03 said:


> BTW what do you mean the R5 is not available on partpicker? Here you go a build I would do with the R5
> 
> PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
> 
> ...



That is strange. When I click  "choose chassis" I didn't see any R5 there.

And I am getting some questions here.

1. How good is this LEPA cooler, say in comparison with Noctua D15? Also I have a Noctua C14 cooling my QX9650 right now. Do you think the C14 can handle the new 5820K overclocked?

2. I read that 5820K officially handles up to 2133? So should I go for tighter timing 2133 kits or higher clock 2400 kits?

3. How good is Transcend SSD comparing to Samsung 850EVO? I have a 840Pro in my laptop that that thing is amazing.

4. Is 750Watt really enough? I am thinking of going R9 390X in the future. However I will never go multiple graphic cards.

5. I really need a good recommendation on keyboards. I would love a backlit keyboard.


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## Aquinus (Apr 5, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> Thank you Aquinus again for your concerns. I WANT 5820K. That is FINAL. I do not want anything less, period. If I were to base my build completely on my needs to do work, I wouldn't even post here. Man is allowed to have some fun to reward himself after all the hardwork.
> 
> Plus, Aquinus. We have the the super computer setup over here on campus which employs these hundreds of these 16-core Xeon for pipelining raw genomic data. I leave the most heavy load stuff to these fat nodes on campus.
> 
> ...


I won't dispute that. It's your money and you can do with it what you want. I only suggest that going with the 5820k won't feel any different than a quad core if you have the crunching resources handy on campus as there really is no reason to have a 6 core CPU as no software can truly take advantage of that outside particular use cases. I just want you to be sure that you understand how much more you're paying for skt2011-3 over skt1150. For features that probably won't do you much good, it's quite the mark up. That's all I'm saying.

All in all, if you're doing a lot of this because you want to, the 5820k is a good choice IMHO. Just realize you're paying extra for new technology that's not exactly faster than cheaper alternatives. Having a family, student loans, and new a new car loan, I think carefully about my purchasing decisions so I treat the way I look at building computers in a similar way.


xkm1948 said:


> 2. I read that 5820K officially handles up to 2133? So should I go for tighter timing 2133 kits or higher clock 2400 kits?


It probably would handle well over 3000Mhz memory TBH.


xkm1948 said:


> 3. How good is Transcend SSD comparing to Samsung 850EVO? I have a 840Pro in my laptop that that thing is amazing.


The Samsung is probably faster by benchmark standards, but you probably would notice very little difference in real world usage.


xkm1948 said:


> 4. Is 750Watt really enough? I am thinking of going R9 390X in the future. However I will never go multiple graphic cards.


I don't use more than 550-watts with my rig with two 6870s. Trust me when I say 850-watt is enough for most dual-GPU solutions.


xkm1948 said:


> 5. I really need a good recommendation on keyboards. I would love a backlit keyboard.


I like my Rosewill RK-9100. It's a mechanical keyboard with cherry mx blue switches. This post was typed on it and it's a pleasure to use. It has a heavy duty USB cable, has a USB 2.0 hub built in and has blue back lighting.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 5, 2015)

Aquinus said:


> I won't dispute that. It's your money and you can do with it what you want. I only suggest that going with the 5820k won't feel any different than a quad core if you have the crunching resources handy on campus as there really is no reason to have a 6 core CPU as no software can truly take advantage of that outside particular use cases. I just want you to be sure that you understand how much more you're paying for skt2011-3 over skt1150. For features that probably won't do you much good, it's quite the mark up. That's all I'm saying.
> 
> All in all, if you're doing a lot of this because you want to, the 5820k is a good choice IMHO. Just realize you're paying extra for new technology that's not exactly faster than cheaper alternatives. Having a family, student loans, and new a new car loan, I think carefully about my purchasing decisions so I treat the way I look at building computers in a similar way.



Oh yeah I feel you there with all those loans. Good thing is I got out of my bachelor's degree debt free. Living on ramen and salad was not pleasant at all. I don't have a car any more and I don't plan to have one.  Having a good solid PC as my companion for the next 5~7yrs of PhD life means I lot to me so I would like to invest this much.  I built my current PC back in 2007. Back then I also had lots of people telling me a Core 2 with 4GB of RAM was more than enough for my need. Well I went straight for a Q6600 and 8GB of RAM. Over the years I upgraded to a second hand QX9650 and I cannot be happier with my choice. This old X38 rig has proven to be future proof for the past 7yrs. This is another reason I am shooting for the X99 platform this time around.

Thanks again for your input!


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## krusha03 (Apr 5, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> 1. How good is this LEPA cooler, say in comparison with Noctua D15? Also I have a Noctua C14 cooling my QX9650 right now. Do you think the C14 can handle the new 5820K overclocked?


According to purchase reviews the LEPA is better than the H100 which in turn is better than the D15 with dual fans. Check the review here:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2014/05/01/noctua-nh-d15-review/2


xkm1948 said:


> 2. I read that 5820K officially handles up to 2133? So should I go for tighter timing 2133 kits or higher clock 2400 kits?


In all honesty you will notice little to no performance difference between different ram speed so I would go with what's the cheapest. The 5820K will handle 2400 kits no problem 


xkm1948 said:


> 3. How good is Transcend SSD comparing to Samsung 850EVO? I have a 840Pro in my laptop that that thing is amazing.


You wont notice any performance difference in real world usage, maybe have slower results in benchmarks. The SSD370 is a good value SSD with the best price / GB out there and it's rated at 550TBW vs 150TBW of the samsung so that's a clear win in my world


xkm1948 said:


> 4. Is 750Watt really enough? I am thinking of going R9 390X in the future. However I will never go multiple graphic cards.


Short of maybe a 295x2 you will be able to run any single card out there


xkm1948 said:


> 5. I really need a good recommendation on keyboards. I would love a backlit keyboard.


Can't help you here. never used one


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## Bo$$ (Apr 6, 2015)

Look at the corsair k95. Should be good!


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## xela333 (Apr 6, 2015)

I would recommend the build that krusha03 recommended. 750w is easily enough got that CPU overclocked and a single gpu and then some.

I disagree with him regarding the 970 though, will easily game at 1440p. I'm using a 970 on a 4k screen and gaming easily.

Unless you plan to push the cpu to it's very limits, I would go for the Noctua cooler over water cooling. Will still allow for a decent overclock and will represent less problems in the long run.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 6, 2015)

OK lowered my PSU down to 900~950Watt. This will probably free up some money for me to get a slightly better monitor.

Thanks for the keyboard suggestions!


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## xkm1948 (Apr 6, 2015)

OK quick question. Are these memories any good?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211915&ignorebbr=1

DDR4-2800 and 300 dollars off. It seems like a steal. If these are any good I will place order for these right now.


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## Caring1 (Apr 6, 2015)

ADATA are a good brand, although I'm not sure DDR4 has been out long enough to do any serious testing on any brand.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 6, 2015)

Caring1 said:


> ADATA are a good brand, although I'm not sure DDR4 has been out long enough to do any serious testing on any brand.



So DDR4-2800, 32GB at a price below 300 dollars. Good deal or no?


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## Caring1 (Apr 6, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> So DDR4-2800, 32GB at a price below 300 dollars. Good deal or no?


I would say it is reasonable, it wasn't that long ago DDR3 was around that price or more.


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## krusha03 (Apr 6, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> So DDR4-2800, 32GB at a price below 300 dollars. Good deal or no?



Yeah go for it.



xela333 said:


> I would recommend the build that krusha03 recommended. 750w is easily enough got that CPU overclocked and a single gpu and then some.
> 
> I disagree with him regarding the 970 though, will easily game at 1440p. I'm using a 970 on a 4k screen and gaming easily.
> 
> Unless you plan to push the cpu to it's very limits, I would go for the Noctua cooler over water cooling. Will still allow for a decent overclock and will represent less problems in the long run.



Well it really depends on what you expect. Review sites show a single 970 pulling 25-55 average FPS on 1440p with 4xaa depending on game and 15-30 Fps at 4k and no AA. If that's playable for you then sure. Finally op said that the 970 is just a placeholder atm

Also why would you pay more $$ for a lesser performing air cooler?


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## BiggieShady (Apr 6, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> We have the the super computer setup over here on campus which employs these hundreds of these 16-core Xeon for pipelining raw genomic data.


I see that during your studies you have worked on projects using software which is not GPU accelerated. Now when you are planning for your doctorate, maybe you should make inquiries about what other software you'll be required or encouraged to use, is any of it GPU accelerated, is it CUDA or OpenCL, because it may affect your decision about the GPU.


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## xvi (Apr 8, 2015)

If it's cores you want, why not go with a workstation motherboard and dual Xeons? Overclockability will be rather limited and price will go up if you want something latest and greatest, but us WCG crunchers have been building dual LGA1366 Xeon rigs for inexpensive prices.

I think it depends what your focus is on. If you want to lean towards gaming with the option for simulations, 5930k. If you want to lean towards simulations with the option for gaming, older dual Xeons. If you want both, maybe two builds? Build a cheap dual Xeon rig for simulations and a 4790k (or 4590k) gaming rig? I'unno.

If you're planning on gaming at 1440p, I'd suggest just going for a 290x or the GTX 980. Many will say wait for the 390x (or 980 Ti) and while I agree, it sounds like you want a card now and the only ones that'll do it well are ones packing horsepower. Bumping up to one of those cards will cost though and you may have to scale down one area to provide for this other.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 9, 2015)

I just made purchase of the ADATA 32GB DDR4-2800 kit. At 299.99 it seems to be a really good deal.

I will pick up parts from time to time, I am in no hurry of building the PC up. 390X will definitely be my first choice~


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## xkm1948 (Apr 11, 2015)

I see now Sabertooth has become available on Newegg. Should I still wait for 390X or just go for it now with my old 5870?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132518


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## xvi (Apr 14, 2015)

If that's the board you want, I don't see any reason why you'd wait to get it (unless the price is considerably above MSRP or something). I'd stick with the 5870 for now and swap it out later when the 390x is out. If anything, it'll (hopefully) bump prices down on last-gen things and allow you to get better hardware for the same price.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 17, 2015)

Thanks xvi for your recommendations. Right now I'm debating the choice of monitors. Should I do 2560*1440 or 1920*1080 at 27 inches? I'm shooting for an IPS screen.


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## xvi (Apr 17, 2015)

xkm1948 said:


> Thanks xvi for your recommendations. Right now I'm debating the choice of monitors. Should I do 2560*1440 or 1920*1080 at 27 inches? I'm shooting for an IPS screen.


If you have the budget for a 2560x1440 monitor, then you might as well go for it. The HD 5870 will most likely have trouble keeping frame rates very high in newer games at that resolution (can compensate by lowering graphics quality), but if you're planning on getting a nice new card soon, it shouldn't be an issue for long.

General rule of thumb, if your numbers go up, it means you're having more fun.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 23, 2015)

I just made purchase of the Sabertooth X99 from newegg. They have a 15% off coupon code for me so that brought the motherboard price from $330 to $280 with free shipping. I am wishing this is a good deal. Since I don't see motherboard dropping price that frequently.

Anyway I am getting my components together one at a time. Things bought so far:

1. Curcial MX200 500GB, got them from newegg during a sale at $180
2. ASUS Sabertooth X99, got at $280
3. ADATA 32GB DDR4-2800, got them on sale at $299.

I really wish R9 390X would come out earlier, that would have made my build much easier.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 26, 2015)

Bought the monitor today. 299.99 for a 27'' IPS panel is not that bad. 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=24-009-626


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## xvi (Apr 27, 2015)

That monitor is back up to $350, so I'd say you bought it at just the right time.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 27, 2015)

xvi said:


> That monitor is back up to $350, so I'd say you bought it at just the right time.



I have read some reviews on that monitor. It is definitely not the best, but for 300 bucks and an 2k IPS I have nothing to complain.


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## xkm1948 (Apr 28, 2015)

OK I am still torn on what to order for keyboards and mouse. Is logitech mx master any good?


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## xkm1948 (May 5, 2015)

Finally pulled trigger on the 5820K and Noctua D15. Ain't no point waiting any longer since it seems unlikely for CPU to drop price.

Stuff remained to be purchased:

Fractal Design R5 Black with window
Keyboard---looking at Razer Black Widow or Corsair 600K 
Mouse---looking at logitech master mx


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## MxPhenom 216 (May 5, 2015)

just out of curiosity, this doesn't have much to do with the thread, but what are you getting your Ph.D in?


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## xkm1948 (May 5, 2015)

MxPhenom 216 said:


> just out of curiosity, this doesn't have much to do with the thread, but what are you getting your Ph.D in?



molecular genetics with emphasis on epigenetics, mainly using zebrafish for studying.


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## xkm1948 (May 5, 2015)

And just bought Fractal Design R5 black with window on newegg on sale for 99.99 and free shipping. Waiting out for deal feels great~


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## xkm1948 (May 11, 2015)

All parts except graphic card are purchased. I will start the building on Monday and I will open up a new thread to show case my new build~ Thanks everyone for your kind help!!!


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## xkm1948 (May 16, 2015)

Caring1 said:


> I would say it is reasonable, it wasn't that long ago DDR3 was around that price or more.



Just got my new rig up and running today. Thank you so much Caring1 for suggesting Sabertooth X99. This is an AWESOME board at a great price!!!!

I am still installing updates and fine tuning. Did a quick Pandaseq sequence aligement. For a 27GB RAW sequencing file I got it aligned in 50mins! It used to take at least 8 hours on my old QX9650 with only 8GB of RAM. This feels amazing! I can load almost any raq seq file directly into the 32GB RAM. A big RAM size along with a good SSD surely feels good.


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## brandonwh64 (May 17, 2015)

Please do not double and triple post. Merge all of your posts into one.


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