My latest build..

[DAKSTER]

My latest build, coming up next week.. I want my computer to be smaller and more portable. I'm going to sell the current i7.


The aim.. a full on video cruncher with super fast processing and disk transfer rates. Minimal size, quiet but cool.

I'm not a gamer, so the HD4000 graphics will be more than enough for me. In my exerience if the case cools well then the stock cooler on the 3770K is fine.. I won't be overclocking anyway, the K processor is for the better graphics.

Only the unlocked processors have HD4000, the others only have HD2000 or HD3000 in older K chips... although its pretty good anyway IMO for the extra 30 bucks might as well have the better graphics and the option of overclocking if I get bored one day. If that happens I might consider liquid cooling as well.

I want to stripe a couple of SSDs in RAID0 as my system drive, so I need at least 2 SATA3 + a SATA2 for the burner. I want at least 4 USB3.0 ports for the external drives, and a few USB2.0 for junk like keyboard, printer etc.

I aimed for a budget of a grand, not including the external drives which I already have, or the OS. I have plenty of copies of 7Pro X64 lying around and I am not sold on Windows 8 unless I should happen to buy a touch screen some day.


So this is what I have come up with..


Coolermaster Elite 120 (mini ITX cube, takes ATX power supply) $60

OCZ ZT 650W Modular 80+ PSU $115

Gigabyte GA-Z77N-WiFI (mini ITX) $135

i7-3770K $340

(2x) OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SSD (which will form a 256GB RAID0 system drive.) (=)$260

16GB (2x8GB) G-Skill RipjawsZ DD3-1600 $100

Lite-On BluRay burner $70


Total... $1080


Data drives are 4x 1TB external USB3.0 powered , which I already have. I like these because they don't require an external power supply and are sooo small and portable. I look forward to them coming in bigger than 1TB .

I'm also switching my 24" monitors to a couple of 32" LED TVs, so I will now have 2x 32" and a 47" but not counting that in the build obviously.


Thoughts anyone?

 

[snowy01]

Looks really solid..

great gear. high quality stuff.
What pricing is that from PCCG?
Have you considered the intels or samsung ssds?

 

[DAKSTER]

I buy most of my gear from itsbits.com.au .. he is an online only business but just happens to live not far from me and I have dealt with him almost exclusively for ten years or more so I get to pick up If you call or email him you will get a better deal.. he has an ebay shop as well, but a lot of his stock doesnt show up on either site and his prices always seem to be lower if you call him lol.

I have considered the Intels in particular, but I already have a couple of Vertex 4s in this computer and I have been pretty happy with them. I have a 2600K at the moment, on a crappy H61 MSI board, and its been a pretty good computer. I just want to build one smaller and have a few more USB3.0 ports... with this system I can have 6 instead of the 2 I now have.

The 3770K should be even more impressive than the 2600K (and cooler?), so that and the smaller form factor and the extra USB3.0 are the main reasons for the build. I've been wanting to do a mini ITX for awhile, it fascinates me to be able to put so much bang into such a small package.

Haven't quite decided what I will do with this one yet lol

 

[DAKSTER]

OK so having some second thoughts...

Made a few minor changes.. mostly just moved to a slightly larger form factor for future proofing, but some other noticeable changes too, just for fun. I would have liked an ITX machine just for fun but a mini Tower really does suit my purposes better when it comes down to it.

The Coolermaster Elite 120 (mini ITX cube) $60 is now going to be replaced with a Coolermaster Elite 344 (mini Tower)$65 for better cooling and a bit more leeway with drive space, both internal and external. That and the Elite 120 I was going to use looks like crap..

A better board. I've abandoned the Gigabyte GA-Z77N-WiFI (mini ITX) $135 in favour of the best mATX Z77 board around.. Asus Maximus V Gene $200 This one gives me 4 USB3 ports on the rear, another on the front panel via midboard header, and an extra midboard header for another 2 ports on a front or rear hub. I also get 2 extra SATA3 ports, so 4 instead of 2. Of course since its a mATX board I also get the other extra slots that don't fit on an ITX board, just in case I ever need them.

I have 6x 1TB USB3.0 portable drives ready to plug in for data drives, hence the search for extra USB3.0 ports. I use these because they don't require external power, so small and tidy. I just wish they came in bigger than 1TB. Of course these have the advantage of portability too, any of my data can go anywhere with me, the only thing thats bound to the computer is the OS.

To use the extra SATA ports, I am going to experiment with FOUR OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SSD (since I have score a cheaper price on them and can pick them up for $440 total) set up as a single 512GB RAID0 array for my system drive. I haven't tried striping 4 drives as one volume before, it will be interesting to see how well 4 good SSDs go in a single striped array.

Since I've gone that far, I am doubling the RAM, so now 32GB (4x8GB) G-Skill RipjawsZ DD3-1600 $180 Probably a bit of a wank when it comes down to it, can't see me needing 32GB RAM.. but hey wanking is what I do best so why not?

So that will give me the following system..

Coolermaster Elite 344 Mini Tower
OCZ ZT 650W modular 80+

Asus Maximus V Gene mATX
i7-3770k
4x8 (32GB) Ripjawz DDR3-1600

4x Vertex-4 SSD 128GB (512GB RAID0 system drive) (data drives via USB3.0)

LiteOn BluRay burner

That all adds another $330 so the budget has blown out a little and is now at $1410. Should be a hell of a computer though.. Add a decent graphics card and it would be a huge gamer Maybe later...

 

[Tweetbix]

What GPU you going to go with?
I imagine you will have issues when you try and connect up all 6 external HDD's.
And just out of curiosity do you really need 32GB? Ive got 16GB in my current system and almost never goes over 8GB

 

[DAKSTER]

Using the HD4000 graphics from the i7. I don't need a fancy gpu, the intel graphics handle everything I need just fine. I have the option though, the board and case will allow as big a card as I want. Its just not on my list at the moment.

Why 32G? ummm make it look tidier with all those slots filled? ummm crap I dont know.. because I can Agreed, nothing I do at the moment would ever need more than 8. Just wank factor really.

I don't see any issues with the external HDD's? Mostly they will just be sitting there, you only tend to use a couple at a time transferring or reading files. They all have their own path, I cant see a power issue... not sure what you mean?


I've actually changed my mind now anyway, rearranged some priorities. As much as I want a supercomputer, my budget doesn't stretch that far right now. Other bills have to be paid too

I've reverted to something close to the original plan. Parts are on order, this is how its going to happen. Its all easily upgraded when I want to add more, its only a computer lol..

This is a bit of a compromise now, both with my budget and the parts stocked by my computer guy. The source of the cash means that I have to get all parts in one place, so I am going within what he normally stocks.

H77M-D3H Intel mATX mobo $99
i7-3770K $365
8G Ripjawz DDR3-1600 $50

Coolermaster RC343 case $49

This case only has USB2 front ports, so it will need a couple of USB3, via the mid board headers..

Connectland 3.5" front panel 2x USB3 ports $15

Just a cheap power supply for now, I need one soon for another job, so I will use it for a bit until I am ready to use it on that job and buy a modular for this one then.

Infinity 500W PSU $27.50


The motherboard only has 2 SATA3, so I am back to striping 2 SSDs again for the system drive.

Samsung 840 120G SSD (x2 @ 115) $230

The board only has 2 rear USB3 (plus a bunch of USB2), so not enough for me. I've added a PCI-E card with 4 more.

WellandUP-314C 4 port USB3 PCI-E $28

And a burner of course..

Lite-On BluRay burner $80

Total $948.50

Compromised as it is in some respects, this thing with 8 threads going on a striped SSD array is still going to smash video editing and conversion, which is what I want it to do.

I'll be able to sort collections of music and videos into separate, transportable very fast drives, and move files around quickly and easily. System drive will have the working folders, converted files get saved into externals.

I'll upgrade the power supply and maybe add some more RAM fairly quickly, apart from that I think its going to do the job well and I probably will leave it at that

Liquid cooling is also a high possibility, probably just a simple closed system since the only thing that will really need cooling is the CPU.

If I want to add a GPU later on, there is room in the case for a full length twin slot card and the board supports one. I cant see it happening though.

 

[Tweetbix]

If you need to save money consider getting the 3570k instead of the 3770k, same internal graphics without the extra virtual threads and for $100 less.
Yea, i understand about the memory, that was the main reason i bought 16gb and now found i dont actually need all of it, but its extra head room.
And fair enough about the external HDD's. I just imagined if you had all of them connected at once there would be issues, don't actually know what issues as i generally don't connect any more than 2 external hdds to my computer.
Much prefer internal HDD's/SSD's.
What liquid cooling system you looking at? Don't bother with the H100, go with something like a H80 or similar as its a double thickness rad and the one on the h100 is thinner. Ive got one, and will be going with a custom loop as the H100 for me doesnt cut it enough for the price.

 

[DAKSTER]

I see your point with internal HDD, it used to be my preference too but I have a few basic problems with that. Firstly its not a huge case, more HDD means less airflow and more heat. Secondly I want fast transfers, not enough SATA3 to handle that so the faster solution is a lot of USB3.

Most importantly though, I share my stuff with people, and I often take a hard drive or two with me when I visit people. If its already on an external it just makes it so much easier.

I'll make a little cradle to hang them all in, just to tidy things up.. label them like Movies-Collections, Movies-Loose, Music, Pictures, TV-1, TV-2, etc with a dyno labeller and just grab what I need as I go out the door.

If I run out of room, I still have the option of using the many USB2 ports for overflow too of course. Playback from those will be fine, and if I want to transfer anything its as simple as shuffling drives over to faster ports. All so easy, kinda like having a bunch of hot-swap drive caddies except I can take them and plug them directly into a friends laptop.

I haven't much looked at cooling systems so far. I have the room for a decent size radiator and bigger is always better of course. I will cross that bridge when I come to it, but its probably going to be the one with the biggest fan I can find/fit. I like bigger fans, slower speed means less noise generally.

It will definitely be a sealed system, once its in I don't want to have to mess with it. I'm hoping if I can set it up right as a blow through system, the radiator fan can also act as an extractor fan for the case. That may be sufficient cooling for the entire system and avoid having any other fans except the power supply fan. Silence is another aim for this system.

Definitely sticking with the 3770K, I can make good use of the virtual cores. I run 8 threads regularly with my 2600K, it makes a huge difference to video crunching.

 

[Tweetbix]

In that case if you can find somewhere that sells them, look for the NZXR kraken x40 and x60, both use a 140mm fan instead of the usual 120mm, the x40 being a single and the x60 being a twin.
Ah didn't know that the extra virtual cores were required for the activities you would be doing. I just suggested the I5 if it was going to be a media/file server.

 

[DAKSTER]

Looking at this further.. the case has 3 fan options. A 120mm at the front, 80mm at the back, and 80mm at the side.

Since I only have 2 SSDs within the case, I could remove the HDD cage and easily fit a 120mm radiator in the front in place of the original 120mm fan. Then I could exhaust the air out the front of the case, but not sure I would like that very much.

It still seems to me though, modern boards don't run hot, the only really major heat sources are GPU and CPU, both of which are in one piece of course in this build. The case itself should need minimal cooling if CPU and GPU heat aren't part of the equation?

I might have to find an 80mm setup for the rear instead.. (obviously fitting it to the side panel is no good !) and then remove the front 120mm stock fan. I'm hoping the 80mm radiator fan should provide sufficient flow to cool the rest of the box as well. Then I might consider making a nice custom cradle protruding from the radiator to sit the SSD's close to the fan as well... hmmm I don't know lol