Tech Help JohnT's EGO Machine ~ some advice please

Having fixed all of John's computers, and at the request of someone, let me add a few opinions. Sorry if I blow up the budget.

John will not be overcloking his PC. So no need for the bells and whistles. I have a very nice ASUS mobo and don't do it as its just overkill. And the heat issue is not something I want to deal with. And the time to tweak things is not available, not to metion to fix things when they break.

To start with you need a 256 GB M.2 drive as an OS drive. I would split the OS from the data on two separate drives. And it's probably been said, but Samsung is the way to go. In terms of TBW you get something like 300 TBW warranty on a 256 drive. Just the speed of 4x that of regular SSD makes it worth getting.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/455999/950_Pro_256GB_PCIe_Gen_30_M2_Internal_Solid_State_Drive

The whole socket type thing is not something I like right now myself. I have a 1151. I like the 2011 v3. The extra juice in the CPU is nice. But that shouldn't make any difference in this build. Just in terms of future proofing. I would got with the Alpha mobo for the U.2 ports. A little more now, like $50, future proofs it later. And the built in wifi makes a difference.

http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/MAXIMUS-VIII-HERO/specifications/

http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-VIII-HERO-ALPHA/specifications/

For the ram you want to get 2x16 kits. The reason being that in a year the ram will be half the price or less and you can double it. So if he wants to pump it to 64 later he can. And less modules means less heat if he doesn't.

And buy Corsair. I am flexible on most components, but I always buy Corsair RAM. And go higher speed than 2400. I got 2400 because at the time any higher was too expensive. But cheap now. 32 Gigs of 3200 Dominator for 200 bucks is a nice deal.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233894&ignorebbr=1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820236094&ignorebbr=1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233992&ignorebbr=1

Lastly I will say, get a liquid cooler for the CPU. That CPU will run nicely and you can make a pretty quiet system if you have a good liquid cooler. I use a corsair, Zalman was making one I think.

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/hydro-series-h115i-280mm-extreme-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler
 
Buy the best of the best of everything! I can never afford to buy cheap stuff (I hope you understand what I mean).

I've learned something the hard way when it comes to PC Hardware... you ALWAYS get what you pay for. Buy the absolute best Intel motherboard, the most powerful Intel Proccessor, and most expensive video cards and make sure to connect them to your monitors via the displayport (the other ports are limited to 60 frames per second max). The memory, and interface cards should all be top notch. Lastly, the cooling has to be substantial, especially for a system like this. I know I might get some flak for this, but I bought a PC almost 7-8 years ago from Alienware. I overpaid for it, but I got the best of everything on it (the most they had to offer). The only thing I updated since that time has been the video card (to a Titan X), and an SSD drive. It's still a top notch system. Any part you cheap out on will become the bottleneck, and all other components will have to slow down to accommodate for that slow component.

Sometimes, buying the packaged deal is cheaper than buying the individual components. Plus you have one place to go to if something fails.

Binary
 
1010101Binary said:
Buy the best of the best of everything! I can never afford to buy cheap stuff (I hope you understand what I mean).

I've learned something the hard way when it comes to PC Hardware... you ALWAYS get what you pay for. Buy the absolute best Intel motherboard, the most powerful Intel Proccessor, and most expensive video cards
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Lol This ^, not everyone has money to throw at a pc.
There is some truth to your statment Binary but there sweet spot where you can spend decent amount of money and get parts to last a long time.
@JohntMaybe get a water AIO cooler instead of standard air flow cooler
 
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I know Wize, I totally agree with you in many ways, but with computers I really feel this way. In business for example, I buy the highest end HP Proliant servers, as opposed to the more economical Dell line of datacenter servers (you get much more bang for your buck with Dell). I've seen many of my technical brothers from UCLA going to the DataCenter in the middle of the night to fix things, things that HP's Proliant server sensors tell you have gone bad way before they become a critical outage.

When it comes to technology, I always splurge. I definitely understand your point and can agree with it in many respects.
 
1010101Binary said:
I know Wize, I totally agree with you in many ways, but with computers I really feel this way. In business for example, I buy the highest end HP Proliant servers, as opposed to the more economical Dell line of datacenter servers (you get much more bang for your buck with Dell). I've seen many of my technical brothers from UCLA going to the DataCenter in the middle of the night to fix things, things that HP's Proliant server sensors tell you have gone bad way before they become a critical outage.

When it comes to technology, I always splurge. I definitely understand your point and can agree with it in many respects.
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I always tell my friends when they want to buy a camera (Since I work in Broadcast field) that there is always a reason why camera is expensive, and it's because it's better.

Applies to computers as well haha, if you want something that lasts long and performs with no problem spend money on it (After doing research on similarly priced items of course)
 
Out of curiosity, what the heck are you going to do with THREE monitors?? I could barely utilize two when I had two set up.
 
I ran two GTX 970s on my triple monitor setup and was able to max out just about every game and maintain a solid 60 frames. Turning down the anti aliasing and anisotropic filtering helped a lot too.

You can pick up a couple refurbished ones for $199 each on Newegg. I highly recommend Newegg's refurbished program. The word may scare you but everything I've gotten from them, including a motherboard, tower, and two laptops, has almost seemed brand new and they still honor their return policy.

Check them out! $400 for a powerful SLI configuration that still keeps up with modern games at many framerates and resolutions is an absolute steal. Note: This is the current desktop and laptop configuration that I rock today. I find that I won't need to upgrade for a while. :)
 
Wizekraker said:
Lol This ^, not everyone has money to throw at a pc.
There is some truth to your statment Binary but there sweet spot where you can spend decent amount of money and get parts to last a long time.
@JohntMaybe get a water AIO cooler instead of standard air flow cooler
Click to expand...

Can't emphasize "sweet spot" enough. Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's the best. Why buy a GTX 1080 when a 1070 will be more than enough for what the buyer needs for the next 5 years? Or buy the i7-6700K when they can save $100 with the cheaper, but still powerful i5-6600k? I would modify what you said, Binary, by saying know which parts you must prioritize quality over cost, while maximizing price/benefit ratio. Ex. The PSU is the one part most people will skimp on, when they don't realize that cheap $30 can destroy 40x its cost in all the other part it fries when it dies.

@Kelp I dream of having 3 or 4 monitors for stock trading, gaming, twitch streaming, etc. etc.
 
Frank Booth said:
And buy Corsair. I am flexible on most components, but I always buy Corsair RAM. And go higher speed than 2400. I got 2400 because at the time any higher was too expensive. But cheap now. 32 Gigs of 3200 Dominator for 200 bucks is a nice deal.
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I dont deny that Corsair is probably the best parts in many different applications. I just cannot justify spending that amount on RAM. I like the idea of buying 2x16 sticks. But to me.... you could get 2x16 sticks for half that in most other equally as good companies. I've never had ram die on me or be the root cause of performance issues other than lack of memory. To me, its just a status thing to have Dominator ram. My personal opinion. Now if i had 200-400 to drop on ram. Yea id be getting Corsair. I just can see John putting that potential 100-200 somewhere else.

Just so everyone knows... Im not looking to witch hunt on people making opinions on things and I'm pretty sure everyone else isnt looking to make others opinions feel belittled. I just want to show another point of view. You are totally right on every point you hit. Just want to put a poor mans 2 cents out.
 
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Snipeye said:
Can't emphasize "sweet spot" enough. Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's the best. Why buy a GTX 1080 when a 1070 will be more than enough for what the buyer needs for the next 5 years? Or buy the i7-6700K when they can save $100 with the cheaper, but still powerful i5-6600k? I would modify what you said, Binary, by saying know which parts you must prioritize quality over cost, while maximizing price/benefit ratio. Ex. The PSU is the one part most people will skimp on, when they don't realize that cheap $30 can destroy 40x its cost in all the other part it fries when it dies.
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This. When I was younger, I always thought that having the latest and greatest was a must, when building a PC. Now that I'm older, and value my money, I want the most bang for my buck. Just because a video card cost almost $700, doesn't actually mean that it is worth it. The odds of you using the full capability of that card are very. very slim. I could purchase an RX 470, and be more than happy with its performance. Which, their prices should be coming down in the near future, once the GTX 1050's and 1050 TI's are out.

I also cannot agree enough about the PSU. That is one thing you do not want to ever skimp on.
 
This is why three monitors is what you want :

bf4-mmg-dark-photo-test-range.jpg


180 Degree view! Its very immersive, and when you play with three monitors, you'll NEVER go back to one.
 
System looks pretty soild. You know I am all about water cooling. Maybe splurge on a H220X =]????

As far as monitors and GPU.. I would say 86 the triple monitor setup. Get a nice 32" 1440p or 34" ultrawide 1440p monitor and grab a VR headset for the immersion you are seeking with triple head. As far as a GPU, I would look for a clearance 980ti like this one http://www.microcenter.com/product/...uper-Clocked_6GB_Video_Card_w-_ACX_20_Cooling or get a 1070. My 980ti overclocked and water cooled is faster than a founders 1080... but if you are going VR the 10 series has some serious advantages ie the 1070 or higher recommendation. I feel like the 1080 cards will drop in price when the 1080ti launches so I would be hesitant to pony up for one at this stage in the release cycle. I would probably get the 1070/980ti. I am sure a member here would love to buy a gently used 1070/980ti signed by JohnT.

That's my 2 cents. Sorry to be a bit slow to reply. I kept getting sidetracked every time I pulled up this tab lol.
 
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KelpTheGreat said:
Out of curiosity, what the heck are you going to do with THREE monitors?? I could barely utilize two when I had two set up.
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I used to triple-box in EVE Online. AKA, I would run three accounts at once. But I leverage 3 monitors daily. Remote control my management console computer on one, host OS on another, and Netflix/Youtube/etc. on the third. Then there's the rare panoramic game that supports spanning across all three monitors and its... just... awesome.

Snipeye said:
Can't emphasize "sweet spot" enough. Just because it's expensive doesn't mean it's the best. ... Or buy the i7-6700K when they can save $100 with the cheaper, but still powerful i5-6600k?
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The processor is the one area where I may disagree. I favor the "go big on processor" build philosophy where you spend early, and then keep the same processor for the next 6 - 8 years. You upgrade other components as you go along, but your core system stays the same.

Jakemac said:
I've never had ram die on me or be the root cause of performance issues other than lack of memory.
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Count yourself lucky. I've had bad RAM more than a few times, and it is notoriously difficult to diagnose. Don't buy a cheap brand of RAM. :)
 
I am waiting on two boxes. My ROG 1080 will arrive today.

My power supply is not the Zalman. I went with the Corsair Platinum 750W at the annoying demand of HyperPenguin. The deal he found on Newegg was just too hard to pass up. 15% off coupon code with a 20 dollar mail rebate.

Then the rig will be complete. Minus the monitor.
 
JohnT said:
I am waiting on two boxes. My ROG 1080 will arrive today.

My power supply is not the Zalman. I went with the Corsair Platinum 750W at the annoying demand of HyperPenguin. The deal he found on Newegg was just too hard to pass up. 15% off coupon code with a 20 dollar mail rebate.

Then the rig will be complete. Minus the monitor.
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What did you decide on for storage, John? Good choice in the end for PSU though. You'll enjoy that 1080 a lot!
 
The 1080 is a gift from a friend of mine and a client.


If I was buying it I probably would have bought a 1070
 
So far what you have picked out will get you what you want. But the good part about it is that if you are not happy with any particular response of each part, you can change it out and try something better or just different.

Simply put, it is a hands on experience for each person. I cannot tell you what you have is "good" or "not so good", I can only say try it, and if your not happy/ swap it out. :)
 
I don't know how old is this post and if the computer was already built. With my health problems, I haven't been in TS too much. But I'm feeling better now and will be back in the swing of things soon.

Great build. But if your only going to be using the computer for gaming, I would go with 16 gig of RAM. Unless your going to make a RAM Drive for loading up a game faster. Then 32 would be a good route to go. And RAM is definitely cheaper these days. But that's my opinion. For a video card? Definitely a 1070 for it's efficiency and power and if your going to enter in the world of either 1440P or 4k.

But if you still like the 1080P resolution world (1920x1200), it would be a little overkill. But there's nothing wrong with doing your best to future proof your computer as more powerful games submerge.

I'm a heavy overclocker and SLI my cards but my new soon to be build system, I'll opt for a single card only this time as many of the older games and the newer upcoming games will not scale SLI or Crossfire. The gaming world is changing and many times a SLI or Crossfire System will hinder game performance then a single card. But that's a personal preference.

All your build accessories look great. More than enough power for a PSU and a good quality manufacturer as well.

And I'm glad your going with an Asus Motherboard. Not to be bias and I have built very reliable systems using Foxconn and Gigabyte mobo's, but I do like my Asus mobo's.

Anyway, I wish you the best JohnT and I hope to see you in B4 sometime so I can try to take your tags.
 
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