New Haswell Build - Would appreciate some input as has been a few years!

[SledgeNZ]

Hi All,

About to remove the guts of my current setup to re-use elsewhere and replace with some shiny new components. The current setup is an i7-930, 12gb ram, NVidia GTX 460, on-board sound, 6x3TB hdd in various raid, 1 x 256gb Intel 520 SSD for O\S, 30" Dell 2560x1600 monitor, Noctua CPU cooler, Corsair 800 obsidian case.

My day to day focus is for a development box. I run any number of virtual machines running various versions of MS servers. I also occasionally game (COD \ BF \ Crysis) and use the machine as an HTPC connected to an AV receiver and HD projector.

My other concern is to make this a bit more silent than the current build.

The new build I've narrowed down is:

Ignore the case as the old setup is going into it.

Main reasoning is:

Memory - Should I aim for something faster? Starting off with 16gb and will add another 16gb if need be.

Sound card - I'm currently using optical out to the AV receiver. Will I get any benefit by using a sound card if I'm just passing through the signal?

PSU - For the new build it's overkill but I'm after silence. It's also powering 7 hdd's and gives me the ability to run 2 GPU's down the line.

CPU Cooler - This is meant to be quiet, my current cooler is the loudest part of my current build.

GPU - I'll be looking to replace my 30" dell eventually with a 4k screen when prices come down so want something that will easily drive this and play games at a decent rate (I tend to run games windowed on the 30" or full screen on the projector). Needs to be NVidia.

MOBO - Currently have a gigabyte and has been very stable. This model also has 8 x sata ports which are needed and supports SLI.

Thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

*S

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

Why are you going with dual channel kit? As far as I know all Intel's support quad-channel.

 

As far as some people want to believe, you do not need an soundcard. The chips on the mobos these days support excelent audio themselves already. Unless you really are an audiophile.

 

If you want something quiet for your build as an cooler go for an H80i (if you do not plan to watercool your GPU(s))

 

What are you planing to do with your build in the first place? Imho DC is a bit overkill for most of the stuff. Even 4770k is a bit too much if you do not do a lot of coding etc.

[tsupersonic]

I'm a big fan of the Fractal Design Define R4 - excellent case for a quiet build. 

 

Faster RAM is better, but it gets expensive and doesn't really make a huge difference in day to day performance. For you, sounds like quantity matters over speed. I can't see DDR3 prices going down anytime soon with DDR4 around the corner. Dual channel kit is fine, as you say you want 32 GB in the future. 

 

I would stick with onboard audio. It works well for most people's need. 

 

GTX 780 is a good choice, but 4K will be very demanding especially in gaming situations...

 

CPU cooler - stick with Noctua. This company makes excellent products that are very efficient and quiet. Noctua case fans are excellent also (but pricey). 

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

Why are you going with dual channel kit? As far as I know all Intel's support quad-channel.

 

As far as some people want to believe, you do not need an soundcard. The chips on the mobos these days support excelent audio themselves already. Unless you really are an audiophile.

 

If you want something quiet for your build as an cooler go for an H80i (if you do not plan to watercool your GPU(s))

 

What are you planing to do with your build in the first place? Imho DC is a bit overkill for most of the stuff. Even 4770k is a bit too much if you do not do a lot of coding etc.

only the 2011 socket intel chips support quad channel. The 1150 socket doesnt.

 

I also agree about the H80i. i use this one and it's fantastic.

 

also agree about the sound card. i switched to onboard audio last year and it's been fine. no need for a sound card these days.

 

OP - you might want to get faster RAM if youre going to overclock. Otherwise that ram is fine.

[Andre S. Veteran]

Memory - Should I aim for something faster? Starting off with 16gb and will add another 16gb if need be.

Yes. Get DDR3-1866mhz. See http://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-haswell/10

 

Sound card - I'm currently using optical out to the AV receiver. Will I get any benefit by using a sound card if I'm just passing through the signal?

No. It's a digital output. Spend your money elsewhere.

 

CPU Cooler - This is meant to be quiet, my current cooler is the loudest part of my current build.

I'm surprised about that seeing as it's a Noctua - what model is it?

 

GPU - I'll be looking to replace my 30" dell eventually with a 4k screen when prices come down so want something that will easily drive this and play games at a decent rate (I tend to run games windowed on the 30" or full screen on the projector). Needs to be NVidia.

The most "4k-proof" GPUs right now are AMDs (they have more memory), but even then, framerates are not great in current-gen titles at high settings. At the kind of low framerate we'll likely be stuck with for a while, I'd make sure the monitor supports either FreeSync or GSync (when they start making them in 6-12 months), because gaming at sub-60fps implies either tearing or VSync judder, both of which are pretty terrible. If I was you, I'd buy a cheaper video card now that does the job, and upgrade it when I actually do get a 4k monitor, by that time there might be much faster options. Forget about a GTX 780 doing well at 4k - even 2 GTX 780 Tis in SLI aren't great.

[sialivi]

One of the biggest reasons most current graphicscards choke at what you call "4K" (it's not 4K, that's a cinema standard which is 4096x2160. The consumer version is called UHD-1 and is 3840x2160) is insufficient VRAM. 3GB simply isn't enough for that resolution. A 6GB card, like the Asus Strix GTX 780 6GB, will fare much better and has the added benifit of having a fan that stops spinning at temperatures below 65C.

 

Like others have already recommended above, I too am a big fan of Fractal Designs Define R4 case and Corsairs water coolers.

 

I would avoid using optical (S/PDIF) for audio, since it doesn't support DTS-HD, TrueHD and Multichannel PCM, all which are supported by HDMI.

[SledgeNZ]

Thanks for all the excellent feedback.

I'm not going to overclock.

Ok, in two minds now on Sound card as conflicting reports on spdif. Might have to revisit this and look at audio via HDMI (Which works with my current setup) but hadn't read into this enough to make an informed decision.

Will drop the GPU down a few levels as happy enough with playing windowed on the 30" so no point trying to future proof. Once prices become affordable for 4k panels will look at a newer GPU then.

The memory article is a good read and explains what I should be aiming for, thanks for that.

The current cpu cooler is the Noctua NH-D14 Dual Radiator. May have to look at something a bit more passive. I find it pretty noisy but I do have the corsair obsidian 700D case (Not 800) which has venting at the top which is right next to my desk. I'll stick with this case as happy with it and it's going to be easy to change parts.