1st desktop in 8 years

[yotano211]

I have been a 100% laptop person for the past 8 years. I game on laptops and do my ebay business on a separate business only 14incher.

I finally want a desktop, I am kinda tired of gaming laptops and their huge prices for upgrades. The laptop in my system specs tab is what I play on.

My budget is around $2k, but I will need everything, including a monitor and keyboard. I can use a spare 480gb ssd in the junk box for a OS HD and I have 2 or 3 2tb laptop HDs. Can laptop HDs be used on desktops?

I am looking at a x99 build with a 5820k processor. That way I can run Bionc and play games, and other things.
The monitor I am looking at are in the 1440 resolution area, I kinda dont want a 1080 monitor.

I dont mind buying used computer parts, but I want the PSU and graphics new. I dont want to cheap out on those. So any idea....

 

[Ebo]

Look at the tread "building my x99 system", then remove the stuff you allready have.

You can use both your old SSD and also laptop Hd's, then look at what pricetag you end up with.

You could save a bit more money looking at Asrock, MSI or Gigabyte for a midend X99 motherboard, since the difference in preformance is so small and more comes down to features.

Goodluck looking arround for some new cool stuff

 

[micropage7]

so start from what you want? only gaming? all the best, all around (like for gaming and for business?)

and you gonna buy online or from local shops?

 

[PLAfiller]

Whatever you buy, I only have one advice: GO SMALL! . Apart from specific occasions, I don't see the point in a standard ATX/ EATX MB these days. For 2000 dollars (PC+monitor+all inclusive) you can build an awesome micro ATX, mini-ITX RIG and save some space at home IMHO.

 

[yotano211]

Whatever you buy, I only have one advice: GO SMALL! . Apart from specific occasions, I don't see the point in a standard ATX/ EATX MB these days. For 2000 dollars (PC+monitor+all inclusive) you can build an awesome micro ATX, mini-ITX RIG and save some space at home IMHO.

I will try to go small, I found have found 1 small x99 small motherboard, the rest are full size motherboards. Sorry, I am not upto date on size terms yet.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Whatever you buy, I only have one advice: GO SMALL! . Apart from specific occasions, I don't see the point in a standard ATX/ EATX MB these days. For 2000 dollars (PC+monitor+all inclusive) you can build an awesome micro ATX, mini-ITX RIG and save some space at home IMHO.

And for some totally opposite advice, go ATX, LOL! The reason is smaller boards always seem to have dropped some slots or not have as many SATA connections as I want. I like lots of slots and connections. But that's just my preference. ATX can be built in a very reasonably sized Fractal Define R4 or R5.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

So, idiot's guide to building a system is relatively easy.

2000 - 120 (OS)
1880 - 400 (CPU)
1480 - 0 (OS drive)
1480 - 0 (storage drives from laptop)
1480 - 100 (decent approximately 700 watt gold rated psu)
1380 -350 (single gtx 970 gpu)
1030 - 200 (basic custom water cooling loop, or very high end AIO water cooler for the CPU)
830 - 150 (this point is debatable, but a decent case is always in the eye of the beholder)
680 - 160 (16 GB of RAM, in a quad channel configuration)
520 - 140 (decent 1920x1080 resolution monitor)
380 - 75 (Decent mechanical keyboard)
305 - 200 (motherboard, atx form factor)
105 (fudge factor for cabling, variable pricing, etc...)


Assuming the above build, your only real issue is the VRAM hungry games, that may show the flaw of a 970 GPU. These are minimized by having only a single 1920x1080 monitor. Assuming you were ambitious, you could squeeze the case price down, settle for a much cheaper keyboard (that's easy to upgrade later), and settle for a cheaper cooler (less overclocking potential) to improve that $105 factor to about $200. Assuming that the fudge factor was upped to $200, the 970 could be replaced by a 980, which is a definite upgrade. Additionally, AMD is announcing their new cards in about a month. Assuming you can wait the Nvidea cards may drop in price. or AMD might release a superior card.



As far as what others have said, you need to know about common board sizes. I'll list them from largest to smallest, noting their intricacies:
e-ATX: Largest common form factor. You get a lot of real estate, but have to be careful in choosing cases that will fit this monster.
ATX: The most common board size. It's generally the point where value is king, so you'll get more for your money at this size (again, generally speaking)
Micro-ATX: Smallest size that x99 boards get. The tradeoff for a smaller size is generally far fewer expansion slots, less RAM slots, or a mixture of both. With the decrease in PCI-e lanes for the 5820, this form factor would only be held back by a pricing premium for the size.
Mini-ITX: Smallest common board size. This is generally for embedded systems, and won't support a gaming system.



All of this said, why are you focusing on x99 and the 5820? Yes, crunching will be better with more cores. The issue is that more cores are generally useless for gaming. The relative price premium of DDR4 RAM, more limited selection of socket 2011-v3 boards, and more aggressive cooling requirements of having six cores may not suit your purposes as much as plowing that money back into other things. I'd personally recommend going back to a Devil's Canyon CPU, DDR3, and plow all the saved money into either a second monitor, larger monitor, or a pair of 970 GPUs in crossfire. BOINC is a noteworthy endeavor, but handicapping your gaming rig to make it a cruncher is generally not something I'd recommend.

 

[GhostRyder]

I have been a 100% laptop person for the past 8 years. I game on laptops and do my ebay business on a separate business only 14incher.

I finally want a desktop, I am kinda tired of gaming laptops and their huge prices for upgrades. The laptop in my system specs tab is what I play on.

My budget is around $2k, but I will need everything, including a monitor and keyboard. I can use a spare 480gb ssd in the junk box for a OS HD and I have 2 or 3 2tb laptop HDs. Can laptop HDs be used on desktops?

I am looking at a x99 build with a 5820k processor. That way I can run Bionc and play games, and other things.
The monitor I am looking at are in the 1440 resolution area, I kinda dont want a 1080 monitor.

I dont mind buying used computer parts, but I want the PSU and graphics new. I dont want to cheap out on those. So any idea....

Yes, you can use laptop HDDs I have done it many times. Here is a couple suggestions based on what your stating:

No HDD's are being suggested since you have them already!

For an X99 build:
NZXT Phantom Case (Kinda Just a place holder that will hold what I suggested, case if your taste so pick the one you like!)
Combo Deal: i7 5820K and Gigabyte UD3 X99 Motherboard
16gb DDR4 2133 Gskill Kit
Rosewill Photon 850Watt Gold+
R9 290X Sapphire Tri-X
Corsair H100i CPU Cooler
Windows 8.1
Razer Blackwidow Keyboard
Razer Naga Mouse
Acer XG270HU 1440p 144hz FreeSync
Total: $2111.38 (Shipped)

This first build is mostly a based on your want of an X99 setup. I decided to go a bit high on the peripherals which can be knocked down a couple of notches for other components depending on what you want. For instance you can get the Corsair Mouse and Keyboard combo and save over $100 dollars, you can get a less expensive 1440p 60hz monitor (Though I through this one in for the FreeSync which is great for gaming. I have used this exact monitor a bit) and save another $1-$200, and then focus on adding another GPU or similar (Heck you can swap to a pair of GTX 970's or a single GTX 980 then).

This was just one I see based on your budget and trying to maximize for use later/expansion and just my suggestion.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

That way I can run Bionc

I dare you to drop in an E5-2699 V3. Make that a double dare. I won't double dog you, because that just isn't right.
Edit: You get 3 times the number of cores for only 5 watts more. It'll pay for itself over time, right?

 

[peche]

and

I am looking at a x99 build with a 5820k processor. That way I can run Bionc and play games, and other things.
The monitor I am looking at are in the 1440 resolution area, I kinda dont want a 1080 monitor.

I dont mind buying used computer parts, but I want the PSU and graphics new. I dont want to cheap out on those. So any idea....

well not only only X99 & i75820K can handle the things you want to do,
thats the marvelous workd of i7's, even an Ivybridge unlocked i7 can hand your things for several years,

you have $2K for a complete build, welll thats a pretty peny you can get pretty interesting build incluiding display.
Take a look:
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Peche/saved/#view=wGkRsY

also 3ple 1920 display will change your mind, pretty useful for multitasking, working and craps...

 

[yotano211]

So, idiot's guide to building a system is relatively easy.

2000 - 120 (OS)
1880 - 400 (CPU)
1480 - 0 (OS drive)
1480 - 0 (storage drives from laptop)
1480 - 100 (decent approximately 700 watt gold rated psu)
1380 -350 (single gtx 970 gpu)
1030 - 200 (basic custom water cooling loop, or very high end AIO water cooler for the CPU)
830 - 150 (this point is debatable, but a decent case is always in the eye of the beholder)
680 - 160 (16 GB of RAM, in a quad channel configuration)
520 - 140 (decent 1920x1080 resolution monitor)
380 - 75 (Decent mechanical keyboard)
305 - 200 (motherboard, atx form factor)
105 (fudge factor for cabling, variable pricing, etc...)


Assuming the above build, your only real issue is the VRAM hungry games, that may show the flaw of a 970 GPU. These are minimized by having only a single 1920x1080 monitor. Assuming you were ambitious, you could squeeze the case price down, settle for a much cheaper keyboard (that's easy to upgrade later), and settle for a cheaper cooler (less overclocking potential) to improve that $105 factor to about $200. Assuming that the fudge factor was upped to $200, the 970 could be replaced by a 980, which is a definite upgrade. Additionally, AMD is announcing their new cards in about a month. Assuming you can wait the Nvidea cards may drop in price. or AMD might release a superior card.



As far as what others have said, you need to know about common board sizes. I'll list them from largest to smallest, noting their intricacies:
e-ATX: Largest common form factor. You get a lot of real estate, but have to be careful in choosing cases that will fit this monster.
ATX: The most common board size. It's generally the point where value is king, so you'll get more for your money at this size (again, generally speaking)
Micro-ATX: Smallest size that x99 boards get. The tradeoff for a smaller size is generally far fewer expansion slots, less RAM slots, or a mixture of both. With the decrease in PCI-e lanes for the 5820, this form factor would only be held back by a pricing premium for the size.
Mini-ITX: Smallest common board size. This is generally for embedded systems, and won't support a gaming system.



All of this said, why are you focusing on x99 and the 5820? Yes, crunching will be better with more cores. The issue is that more cores are generally useless for gaming. The relative price premium of DDR4 RAM, more limited selection of socket 2011-v3 boards, and more aggressive cooling requirements of having six cores may not suit your purposes as much as plowing that money back into other things. I'd personally recommend going back to a Devil's Canyon CPU, DDR3, and plow all the saved money into either a second monitor, larger monitor, or a pair of 970 GPUs in crossfire. BOINC is a noteworthy endeavor, but handicapping your gaming rig to make it a cruncher is generally not something I'd recommend.

I wanted something in the top end but not brake the bank. I have no debt, house full paid off, last student loan payment was 6 months ago. I guess I wanted a build desktop to say congrats on the last student loan payment.

Can a 750 PSU have enough power to run 970 sli.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

I wanted something in the top end but not brake the bank. I have no debt, house full paid off, last student loan payment was 6 months ago. I guess I wanted a build desktop to say congrats on the last student loan payment.

Can a 750 PSU have enough power to run 970 sli.

Take it from a 3930k buyer, more expensive is not generally better. These CPUs only shine whenever you've got a highly threaded load (or VMs), so gaming isn't benefited by the extra oomph of the enthusiast platform.


This said, Nvidea recommends a 500 watt PSU, with a stated card power of 145w. Assuming that those figures are accurate, and fudging system usage, you've got 500 W + 145 W = 645 W = 92% loading on a 700 W power supply. That's a bit on the higher end, but 145 W are only used at full loading (http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-970/specifications). It'd be a bit of a push on the system, but I don't see why it isn't possible to do this with only mild overclocking. Heck, that CPU will only likely ever experience minor loading while gaming (crunching is a different story, but as long as the OC is very mild it should not be an issue).

 

[Potatoking]

This said, Nvidea recommends a 500 watt PSU, with a stated card power of 145w. Assuming that those figures are accurate, and fudging system usage, you've got 500 W + 145 W = 645 W = 92% loading on a 700 W power supply. That's a bit on the higher end, but 145 W are only used at full loading (http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-970/specifications). It'd be a bit of a push on the system, but I don't see why it isn't possible to do this with only mild overclocking. Heck, that CPU will only likely ever experience minor loading while gaming (crunching is a different story, but as long as the OC is very mild it should not be an issue).

What?
500W recomendation is just so they are safe if people got crappy PSU.
you need 200W max for highly overcloked card and and the same for cpu.
450W PSU will pover any single GPU system.
Please watch this video:

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

well, there are tons of ways to build a Micro-ATX PC & mini-ITX PC. only thing is to look at the parts & their features. my main rig is an mATX build that pretty much capable of playing almost all games at Very High settings on 1080p with respectable frame rate. For an ITX build, however, you won't be able to add an external sound card unless you buy a USB sound card, which is no problem. So here is my sample build for an ITX system & see if it's worth your fancy.

CPU: Intel Devil's Canyon Core i5-4690K
Motherboard: AsRock Z97E-ITX/ac
RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury 16GB 1.8GHz DDR3 (2 x 8GB kit)
VGA: 2 options - a.) EVGA GeForce GTX970 SC ACX 4GD5 or b.) AMD Radeon R9 290 4GD5 + Corsair HG10 A1 Bracket Kit
Cooling: Corsair Hydro H75 AIO Cooler Kit + another H75 for R9 290
Storage: Seagate SSHD Desktop 1.0TB 3.5in Hybrid Drive (8GB NAND as cache) + Samsung 850 Evo 120GB 2.5in SSD
PSU: Corsair RM 550W Modular 80+ Gold
Casing: Bitfenix Prodigy SFF ITX Cube
Monitor: ASUS VX239H 23in FHD LED AH-IPS
Peripherals: to your likings or have spares to use.
ODD: LiteON Internal DVD Multi-Combo

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

What?
500W recomendation is just so they are safe if people got crappy PSU.
you need 200W max for highly overcloked card and and the same for cpu.
450W PSU will pover any single GPU system.
Please watch this video:

Perhaps you should learn to read, prior to posting something.

The asked question was whether a 750 W power supply will allow for an x99 system and a pair of 970s in SLI. Reread post 11 if you are having trouble finding it.


My response was what Nvidea recommends. That is based upon 500 W for the system+GPU, and another 145 W for a second GPU. While it isn't an exact response (primarily because the Nvidea recommended specs are very cautious), that does not change my answer. The system might experience instability if highly overclocked, but is unlikely to experience any instability as cited.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

for me usually I'll add another 50W or so while choosing a really decent PSU to ensure reliability & stability regardless of single or dual GPU setup.

 

[GhostRyder]

I wanted something in the top end but not brake the bank. I have no debt, house full paid off, last student loan payment was 6 months ago. I guess I wanted a build desktop to say congrats on the last student loan payment.

Can a 750 PSU have enough power to run 970 sli.

Yes, you could even get away with a goo 650watt if you want to do SLI 970's.

 

[yotano211]

1st part picked up PSU

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8591633&sku=JOR-102030766

Micocenter has a sweet deal on 5820k for 299.99, I might drive the 4 hours to the nearest one next week. I might have to drive to California anyways, coming from Las Vegas.

 

[Nic Hanagan]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Zt32GX or http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xGkczy if ya a nvidia fan boi which ever but no hard drives as you mention you already have both mechanical and ssd types

 

[yotano211]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Zt32GX or http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xGkczy if ya a nvidia fan boi which ever but no hard drives as you mention you already have both mechanical and ssd types

No I am not a nvidia "fanboi". But from my experince with laptop graphics cards, nvidia are better with their drivers. When I had a laptop with 7970m xfire, I had nothing but issues with the drivers. I will be reusing my laptops 2 2tbs HDs and a SSD.

 

[Nic Hanagan]

No probs then just use the nvidia list I myself am a nvidia fan boi only because of the start up screen on my tv is out with and AMD not nvidia I don't know why just always has been on the plus side later on you could add another 970 and not have to change the PSU

 

[yotano211]

No probs then just use the nvidia list I myself am a nvidia fan boi only because of the start up screen on my tv is out with and AMD not nvidia I don't know why just always has been on the plus side later on you could add another 970 and not have to change the PSU

I dont understand what you are writing about. What about your TV....

 

[Nic Hanagan]

Lol sorry my computer is a htpc/gaming pc hybrid it runs through my hd tv (as in my tv is my monitor) but on boot up (I have an AMD 7950) the picture stays to the right side only showing up half the boot up screen or bios before it logs onto windows (presuming this is when the AMD drivers kick in) this did not happen when I used to own a gtx 260 sp216. The nvidia card showed the whole screen from the start, but I digress sorry. The second (nvidia) solution would be more practical on several points for your situation firstly newer architecture than any AMD current offering, more efficient which in turn means cooler you'll already have enough heat to deal with in regards to that 5820k and thirdly you'll be able to add a second one in the future and still have plenty of juice in that psu where as you'd need a more powerful psu to run 2 high end AMD cards.

 

[Ebo]

Lol sorry my computer is a htpc/gaming pc hybrid it runs through my hd tv (as in my tv is my monitor) but on boot up (I have an AMD 7950) the picture stays to the right side only showing up half the boot up screen or bios before it logs onto windows (presuming this is when the AMD drivers kick in) this did not happen when I used to own a gtx 260 sp216. The nvidia card showed the whole screen from the start, but I digress sorry. The second (nvidia) solution would be more practical on several points for your situation firstly newer architecture than any AMD current offering, more efficient which in turn means cooler you'll already have enough heat to deal with in regards to that 5820k and thirdly you'll be able to add a second one in the future and still have plenty of juice in that psu where as you'd need a more powerful psu to run 2 high end AMD cards.

1. highend Haswell E dosent come with stockcooler in the box, only the CPU. So you have to buy a cooler good enough anyway which means heat is no problem.

2. If OP had invested in AMD's topline now, the R9 290X/290 with an aftermarket cooler from Asus, MSI, Gigabyte or Sapphire then heat is no problem at all again.

I get my OCed R9 290 up on 77 degrees celcius/170.6 F on air running Heaven benchmark 4.0, I think thats quite okay, and its wisper quiet doing that.

I had until 1 month ago, a 700 Watt PSU from Cougar and it could run my system with an extra R9 290 in xfire without any problem(borrowed it from my buddy just to see if it could). I got hit by the hardware bug and upgraded my PSU, so the system is more than ready for 2xR9 390X( or thats the plan if wife agrees)

 

[Nic Hanagan]

1) your theory is wrong all electrical components produce waste heat it has to go somewhere even watercooling it.

2) the original op has a budget, you void warranty when removing coolers so aftermarket coolers add expense and also devoid warranty and adds time to the build

3) a 700w psu will with 1 290x will be cutting close only leaving around 130odd watts or so leeway so if op would want to buy another 290x it would be 150w short or recommendation as such I feel that your point of having a 700w to be able to do crossfire at a later date is dangerous.

Just my thoughts.

Just re-read your post and see what you mean by utilising a non-reference cooling design so point 2 of mine is non-valid but they still produce more heat and use more power than a nvidia equivalent.