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Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added)

CL01
Grafter
Posts: 67
Registered: ‎03-04-2014

Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added)

This is my plan for a build that I will be completing some time this year. I would like to hear your opinions. I would like to get into streaming and YouTube and this dual machine setup will allow me to do that.The first PC is the main PC. It will be handling the gameplay and the video editing. The second PC is a weaker PC. It will handle the video recording thanks to my Elgato Game Capture HD but will also handle some light gaming either at school game clubs or LAN parties.
FIRST PC:
CPU | Intel Xeon E3-1230 V3 3.3GHz Quad-Core | £185.94
I chose to go with a Xeon CPU for 2 reasons. Price and features. The price of this CPU may seem to many as being over the top to say the least but for me, this is a bargain. It (apparently) performs as good as an i7 4770 but costs ~£50 cheaper. It also doesn't have unnecessary features like onboard graphics. It also will supposedly last longer with it being a workstation class CPU.
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing | £24.97
This is not a necessary item. I chose it for 3 reasons. performance, looks and importance in a possible future upgrade. First, performance. This is the best price to performance cooler on the market, it even beats some liquid cooling options. This would be of great importance if I was to swap the CPU to an overclockable CPU. It also looks absolutely amazing. It looks a darn site better than the standard CPU cooler supplied by Intel.
Motherboard | MSI H87-G43 GAMING ATX LGA1150 | £93.77
The motherboard is the most worrying thing about the build. I don't have any solid information that this motherboard and the CPU are compatible. But if it is, the great looks, vast ammount of features and price work well for me.
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 | £58.18
I intend to use this PC for video editing. Therefore, I will need to have good RAM. This kit won't be enough but it will do for now and adding more RAM is not the hardest job in the world.
Storage | Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" SSD | £90.00
This is a place where there will be a lot of chopping and changing. I may swap this out for a lower capacity SSD but who knows, When I build it I might find a 1TB SSD on the street. However, If I am going to use an SSD, It will be a Samsung SSD that I use. they have great read and write speeds. I know that there are better options but this is an option that i'm happy with.
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM | £40.39
This was a pretty basic choice for me. I knew that I had to get a high capacity HDD but there were so many to choose from. A quick search on my old choice (a Seagate Barracuda) found many different problems and bad reviews. This was a recommended replacement so i chose this instead. Simple.
Video Card | Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB WINDFORCE | £239.98
The GPU is another area that will be likely to change. However, I would be hard pushed to find something better than this. I have always liked AMD in the graphics department since the HD6670 which I am using at the moment. It has not failed me many times and when it has it has been because I was pushing the card to hard. The R9 290 is a beast of a card and will hopefully run all of my games at high FPS and high graphical settings.  The extra VRAM will help when/if I add a second monitor for random web-pages such as crafting recipes for The Escapists or if I get into streaming/YouTube.
Power Supply | EVGA 650W ATX12V / EPS12V | £63.31
The PSU is an area which I don't want to scimp on but don't want to blow my budget. I used a power usage calculator to decide what kind of PSU I would watt (get it ;D) I didn't really care about the yellow grille on the top of the PSU as it would be face down in the case and I can cover any other parts that look ugly like wires and PSU shroud. It is 80+ gold so it will be very reliable and hopefully won't power down in a place of high importance.
Optical Drive | Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Write | £10.46
A DVD/CD drive is not necessary these days. OS can be installed on a USB flash drive, we have spotify for music. I just wanted it as piece of mind that I won't just loose all the 2 CDs I have collected over my life xD. It will help me in cases where my friends and I want to watch a movie.
OS | I haven't decided  Roll_eyes
Monitor | BenQ RL2455HM 24.0" |  £131.09
I'm not to bothered about IPS panels. I won't be looking at the screen from side on or anything like that so I would much rather have a better response time instead. The shroud looks nice and if I don't buy a stand, The stand looks very good aswell.
Fans And Fan Controller | See below
Case Fan Corsair Air Series AF140 Red 66.4 CFM 140mm £9.77
Corsair SP120 57.2 CFM 120mm £8.39
Corsair SP120 57.2 CFM 120mm £8.39
Corsair SP120 57.2 CFM 120mm £8.39
Corsair SP120 57.2 CFM 120mm £8.39
Fan Controller NZXT Sentry Mix 2 Fan Controller £23.87
i chose all these fans and the fan controller because I want to have full control of my cooling and I want my PC to look real cool/nice. The fans will light up the components really well and will provide sufficient cooling for my PC. I may swap them out for white lights instead of red, i'll see how it goes.
Custom | Red LED Light Strip | £8.00
This is something that is just for looks. I just want to make sure that my PC looks good and that people can actually see the components.
SECOND PC:
CPU | Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core | £78.79
This is a pretty weak CPU. I'm not expecting it to do much. If I can get a few years of server hosting, video recording and LAN gaming out of it I will be extremely happy. Nothing simultaneous but one thing at a time.
Motherboard | MSI H81I Mini ITX LGA1150 | £47.13
The motherboard is my main money saving area. I am not bothered about wifi as i will be using a wired connection and if I am to use a wireless connection I have some USB wireless dongles at laying round.
Memory | Patriot Signature 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 | £43.54
This is the cheapest stuff I could find on partpicker, it doesn't need to look good or anything like that. Just barebones working is  what I need.
Storage | Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" SSD | £90.00
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM | £35.94

It's just the same config as last time. I need the SSD for the quick read and write speeds for video recording and I need the 1TB HHD for video storage. Once it has been uploaded, I can just delete it and free up that space on the SSD/HDD.
Case | Cooler Master HAF Stacker 935 ATX Full Tower | £122.00
This is the secret of the build. I will be building the main PC in the 925 section (the big bit) and the weaker PC in the 915R (smaller top bit.) I will rearrange the case so that the smaller section is on the bottom. which will be better for cable management and will make it look nicer overall. I will need to buy a front IO for the smaller PC which is not included in the price. It should be €9.95.
Power Supply | Corsair 430W ATX12V | £46.50
Not much to say about the PSU. It is a very neat looking PSU and if I remember rightly is semi-modular which will help with cable management.
Optical Drive | Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer | £10.46
Same as last time.
Monitor | BenQ RL2455HM 24.0" | £131.09
I plan to build the smaller PC first and then build the other PC second. This will help with budgeting. I have decided to buy one monitor at a time so that I have a 2 monitor setup by the time that I get the second PC, I have the two monitor setup it can power. I will then use the TV as the display for the smaller PC which I may mount over the top of my setup at an angle or I may mount it at the side or just put it on a wall and then have it connected like the chrome cast method or with HDMI cables at the floor of my room.
Case Fan | Zalman ZM-F2RL 92mm | £5.99
Literally the first red light fan that I could find that fitted the 915R.
Peripherals or the gaming PC are in my signature. I will use an old wireless keyboard and mouse that  have for the other PC.
17 REPLIES 17
picbits
Rising Star
Posts: 3,432
Thanks: 23
Registered: ‎18-01-2013

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added soon)

I run an E3-1220 on my server. It is a very capable processor and flies through things like video processing.
The other upside is that it is extremely energy efficient and the whole machine idles at around 30 watts.
Can't give much advice on the rest though.
shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
Thanks: 3,769
Fixes: 65
Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added soon)

Haven`t got a clue, what you are on about...!... but... my son-in-law would.... he has built two or three BIG computers for his on-line war games... and constantly trying to "improve" them.... his machines are as big as a travel suitcase with wheels and pull along handle that would only just go into the boot of a taxi !...
his machines are watercooled, and have strobe lighting including the keyboard  ... looks like these...
#
http://cdn.overclock.net/5/5d/5d97efca_DSC_0022.jpeg

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/8610/img1605au3.jpg
some people have made them fit on the wall, (like a BIG TV )... and another guy has one as a complete DeskTOP !....
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/20/dutchman-integrates-a-4-5ghz-water-cooled-rig-into-his-d3sk/
My son-in-law, is a landscape gardener,... and has never had any electronic background.... he gets all the bits and pieces together.... then within about a week, he has a new machine up and running ! ! ! ...
amazing...
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added soon)

according to this http://www.msi.com/support/mb/H87-G43-GAMING.html#support-cpu the motherboard supports the cpu
CL01
Grafter
Posts: 67
Registered: ‎03-04-2014

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added soon)

Thanks Oldjim for checking, I couldn't seem to find it anywhere.
@shutter those look amazing. The desk one was especially cool. My PC will look something like the first image link Smiley
@DomS thats good to know that it should fly through video editing. The efficiency should please my dad Smiley I'll finish typing the second pc specs and add links to the pcs on partpicker then I'll have to get some sleep.
rongtw
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 6,973
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Registered: ‎01-12-2010

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added soon)

Shutter some nice ones there , would love the perspex case Smiley
this is mine  Wink
http://s1361.photobucket.com/user/ronwillsher/media/PC/DSCF0555_zps35e78e39.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1
Asus ROG Hero Vii Z97 , Intel i5 4690k ,ROG Asus Strix 1070,
samsung 850evo 250gig , WD black 2 TB . Asus Phoebus sound ,
16 gig Avexir ram 2400 , water cooling Corsair H100i gtx ,
Corsair 750HXI Psu , Phanteks Enthoo pro case .
shutter
Community Veteran
Posts: 22,206
Thanks: 3,769
Fixes: 65
Registered: ‎06-11-2007

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added soon)

If you want some cool (!) ideas,,,, just google image search for "water cooled pc"    some really amazing stuff ....
Me?  I stick with my Dell 15" laptop.... and my Hannspree 10" laptop....  ! ! ! ...
CL01
Grafter
Posts: 67
Registered: ‎03-04-2014

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added)

very nice PC rongtw. i dont think I will be watercooling with this build. There isn't a point really. The i3 and xeon are not overclockable and I would have the 212 EVO to handle it if I did get an overclockable CPU but thanks for the inspiration shutter.
CL01
Grafter
Posts: 67
Registered: ‎03-04-2014

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added)

what are the specs of your PC rongtw if you dont mind me asking.
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
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Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added)

As a matter of interest I was going to go for an i5 on my next build but the small extra cost of the Xeon is appealing when compared to an i7
rongtw
Seasoned Hero
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Registered: ‎01-12-2010

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added)

Epicambo121   Wink
specs are on my forum sig under my post  Cool must admit to being chuffed with my build .
PS your choice of parts should be fine for your build  Wink
Asus ROG Hero Vii Z97 , Intel i5 4690k ,ROG Asus Strix 1070,
samsung 850evo 250gig , WD black 2 TB . Asus Phoebus sound ,
16 gig Avexir ram 2400 , water cooling Corsair H100i gtx ,
Corsair 750HXI Psu , Phanteks Enthoo pro case .
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added)

Some nice looking toys here. I have an i7 silent PC with a Dell U2712HM (DisplayPort) for my desktop machine and the one I use for 'work' is a 24 core Dell T420 with 32GB RAM.
CL01
Grafter
Posts: 67
Registered: ‎03-04-2014

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added)

*facepalm* should have seen that rongtw. That sounds awesome mook. My PC probably won't be silent but it should have good cooling. I'll try not to overclock the GPU too hard. The fan controller will help we though to get the best balance of cooling and noise levels.
Mav
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 22,371
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Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added)

I don't see the point of all the strobes, neons or fluescent lights that seem to abound these days.
I want my PC to be fast, functional and reasonably quiet but I am not too concerned about the latter. I prefer belt and braces than bells and whistles.
I have an FX 6100 which is excellent but not overclocked with 16GB RAM. The MB is the M5V99X with a Radion 6770 graphics board. Couldn't see the point of spending more on graphics as I'm not a gamer and GPU rendering can be a bit hit or miss and causes more problems that it's worth.  It's now coming up for 3 years old but I am certain it's good enough for another 18-24 months. If I ever get into 4K editing then I'd have to upgrade but I can't see that happening in the foreseeable future!

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CL01
Grafter
Posts: 67
Registered: ‎03-04-2014

Re: Opinions on my next double build (Second PC added)

I agree with the fast and functional but I also want mine to look good. This PC could be a real help in the future and I want to celebrate its awesomeness by making it look good. I don't want to go over the top but I do want people to see it and for it to look cool. I will be using a HD6670 in the smaller PC and it is what I am using at the moment. Do you have the DDR5 or DDR3 version? I have the DDR3 version and I think I have a bottleneck with the CPU or it may just be the GPU but the performance is less than optimal.