Hey all, Going to build a new PC around the i7-5960X - however, most of the reviews I can find about which motherboards / ram / etc to get focus around gaming. The computer will be mostly used for video encoding and photoshop/lightroom work so wondering if it's worth getting the Asus X99 Deluxe or something else? I'd like to be able to overclock it as video encoding is noticeably quicker with higher clock speeds I'd like to have at least 32GB of RAM - current system has 16GB and Lightroom6 can easily eat all of that with merging RAW files and multiple edits in a library. I'd like to use one of the new NVMe SSDs for main storage - photos and videos loading off an SSD is always a nice to have and it reduces the cable mess if they're plugged into the PCIe bus (So maybe the Intel 750?) Thinking a Samsung EVO for the main OS drive? unless you can have multiple NVMe PCIe SSDs without issue? I don't really game so a reasonable graphics card is probably the most I need.. but no idea what that would be these days? Cooling - thinking about the Corsair H110 range of coolers so the computer will be quiet for most of the time unless under heavy load Case - *shrug* something that'll fit it all PSU - Again - no idea about this, Don't even know what kind of PSU is needed for such a high clocking CPU with many cores (reviews recommend a 1,000w psu but they're usually in builds that have many GPUs) Any help would be appreciated!
X99 Deluxe sales were over 50% of the total market from launch and through Q1 this year (I don't know beyond that). The bottom line - a lot of buyers means a lot of known bugs will have worked out and a lot of DDR4 kits will be qualified. The WS line is pretty heavily spec'd too, and if it's cores you want and you're willing to drop $1k on a processor why not look at entry-level Xeon? (depends on budget I suppose) You can get 4x8GB DIMM kits - 4 DIMM is better than 8 and you can still drop in another 4 later. The 750 PCIE is nice but expensive. SM951-NVMe in M.2 is often the preferred choice, but honestly in single client workloads you'll not see soooooo much difference on NVMe vs ACHI. There's also a load more NVME 2.5" drives based on the coming out soon too with U.2 connector based on Phison and Marvell controllers. Buying a 750 and not using it as your OS/program disk seems a bit of a waste tbh. Just partition it off into two if you go that route. 5960Xs overclocked can draw some heavy current so you'll need a decent but not excessive PSU and cooler. Match the AiO cooler to the case. The fan controllers on the ASUS X99 stuff is very good - I have the R5E and they're all PWM with grouped fan curve control. I use the CM Siedon 240M in an old HAFX with the 5960X - does the job for a mid-range 240mm rad, although it really does make my right arm hot when on full chat for a while. At least I know it's working! Where's the case going - floor, desk? Personally I want an In Win 805: tempered glass sides are sexy-as, but my system sites on the floor so it's not worth it. Most people go for Corsair due to availability and matching their coolers.
Bindi - thanks for the feedback! Reason for the 5960 is i can get a good deal on it so thought I may as well get it while I can! (Current set up that I'm upgrading from is a dual X5560? xeon box on an intel s500svn? (can't check as not at home) - but it's old and cranky. I'd rather go single CPU as I'm hoping it'll be easier to manage with cooling, power draw etc.. :/ 4x8GB - any recommendations on brands? Something like this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-177-CR ok? I was thinking of maybe getting a smaller 750 for the OS and a larger 750 for photos - but I'm more than happy to modify that idea -- maybe a small (250GB) 750 for the OS and then something else for the images? Are they just as fast as the Intels? Does the Deluxe have a U.2 connector by any chance? Does it do much? PSU wise - any recommendations - Seasonic still good? How do you mean match the AiO to the case? Are there some issues with putting in an H110 into some cases? Case will go on the floor next to desk (so will not be seen really) - I don't mind what case it is so long as it can fit stuff in and not cut my hands off (oh and is quiet!)
i'm in the process of a very similar build; delayed for a couple of weeks for Amazon to get the 5930K in stock (i can't afford the extra for the 5960X)... ...&, having looked at all of the different options, i'm 99% sure that i'll pick up with the same board (well, the U3.1 version) - though i'll have to buy the extra Thunderbolt card for my needs, which is the only disappointing element about it from my perspective. it doesn't have a U.2 connector - which is double the speed of SATA Express/4x pcie lanes & is NVME compatible - however it's quite unlikely that there will be anything much at the consumer end that will use this, at least in the short term, as the focus appears to be on M.2 & pcie SSDs. Looking at memory, as there's going to be a reasonable amount of video editing where memory speeds will make a difference for my usage (this is about reducing very long encoding times by a small percentage -> saving time), the best price to performance ratio that i could find was going with 3000Mhz CL15 g.Skill stuff... ...& this gives 4 different kits for roughly £175 delivered. [Edit] Sorry, a complete cock up there, the link should have been https://skinflint.co.uk/?fs=G.Skill+32gb+3000+cl15+&in= & the price ~£200-215. (the listed prices don't include shipping to the UK & the Amazon pricing on the red RJ4 kit is incorrect) & whilst there shouldn't be any issue anyway, the g.Skill kits have been tested with the board by g.Skill.
PocketDemon - thanks that's good info to have - does Memory speed make that much of a difference for encoding // photo editing? Now it's just case and PSU to pick I guess
Yeah, there's some things that are cheaper to buy from Germany for no apparent reason... Well, naturally the Mehrwertsteuer is only 19% vs VAT at 20%, but the difference can be significantly higher... ...so always worth a look imho. Now, with video, what you're looking at is knocking off a couple of percent time-wise (or, conversely, adding on a couple of percent in fps) with video encoding &/or transcoding... ...so it's all about whether that kind of difference will have a meaningful effect on your workflow to justify the extra expense vs a bog standard kit. Well, if it's only occasional short LQ videos OR it's HQ long ones but you're not sat there kicking your heels to move onto the next task whilst it runs through then it's really not worth the extra. Yeah, so for myself then it's worth paying the extra - not necessarily on a day to day basis, but as there's periods where, not only am i having to do bunches of long ish HQ encodes, but also outputting them separately into a few different formats (obviously on top of the digitising/editing/etc time where the memory speed effectively won't matter)... ...& it's then that the total time adds up & so getting everything done asap matters. To generalise this somewhat, obviously this is all assuming that there's not some major bottleneck somewhere else... ...though you're clearly looking at a buying very decent processor & SSD(s)... ...& i assume that you're getting/have got a decent gfx card that's Premiere compatible; assuming you're both using Premiere & have a reasonably up to date version of course. Similarly, naturally i'm also looking at a fairly decent processor (though lower spec than you're planning d.t. money), have SSDs (i've also got 4x 300GB 15K7s that, keeping them otherwise empty & setting a separate source & destination, previously haven't been a bottleneck) &, as i'm waiting for Pascal before upgrading again, will be using an original Titan for now. For Photoshop though, the only thing that i can think of where there could be a meaningful difference is if you were batch processing loads of files with a variety of effects - as the loading/processing/saving process for an image is usually very different from video. Cases really aren't my thing - as i prefer functional ones that'll last than the latest fashions; so i have an old Lian Li PC-A71 that i bought 7.5-8 years ago & still looks effectively like new, a 24 bay server case that's ugly but naturally holds bunches of drives, plus the standard case that the Gen8 MS comes with. PSU-wise for the last years i've just bought Corsair HX or, more recently for myself, AX ones (the normal, not i versions) - though that's simply habit rather than being an expert on PSUs... ...but unless you're doing something very different from my build (ie multiple &/or dual GPU &/or much older gfx cards), a half-decent 750W should be more than fine - though i do like my 860W AX.
> The Sabertooth X99 should come with an M.2 to U.2 adapter (check before buy), but not DLX. Buy the 750 PCIE card rather than 2.5" SSD as it's more convenient. DLX comes with two M.2 spaces: one PCIE card to M.2 adapter and another onboard. I'd go either Sam 950 EVO 2.5" 500GB or Sam SM951 M.2. 256GB > Crucial mem will be fine - Micron ICs are good. 2400CL16 not that fast though (if you care). > I haven't looked at PSUs in years tbh. Personally I'd still go Seasonic on brand recognition as they've always been great. Out of two X-series PSUs one lasted 5 years and another still going 7 years on. But I could be 5 years out of date on trends. > My older HAFX can't easily support AIOs. I was given a Thermaltake 360 rad - can't support it. The bigger AIOs obviously better cooling/lower fan speeds. Most support 240s though. If you're getting a GPU with AIO (now or future) on it that's a position to consider too.
if it's a binary choice between a pcie & current model U.2 then i agree... ...however if, like me, you've got enough in the way of SSDs already, i'd be tempted to hold off for 6 months or so until there's more choice on the consumer level before buying in... ...&, for video editing & photoshop, it's not that you exactly *need* the fastest SSDs. Not that Micron ics aren't decent of course, but it's not exactly the case that Hynix & Samsung, as the other big two, are shonky... ...well, if nothing else, brands that use each of them are all shown within the QVL for the Deluxe - http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA2011/X99-DELUXE/X99_Series_DRAM_QVL_20150821.pdf Tbh, if a 32GB 2400 kit would suffice then i'd just go for the cheapest one from a reasonable brand as there's almost zero chance of any incompatibility - which atm 'appears' to be the Kingston HX424C15FBK4/32 (aka HyperX Fury), runs at CL15 (so it's a little faster than the CL16 stuff) & uses Hynix ics... ...& the best price for that appears to be eBuyer at £146.62. it's when you get into faster speeds (whilst maintaining timings) that you may want to be a bit more choosy... ...though as i can't find anything cheaper than g.Skill (who also use Hynix) for 3000MHz CL15, the last couple of kits i bought were also g.Skill & were/are great & they're on the QVL, then it would seem a little strange to pay more for Micron. i can't remember who makes the normal HX PSU (my 1000W one is still going strong over 7 years on btw), but aren't the normal AX Corsairs made by Seasonic?
Yea I'd just buy an M.2 and be done with it. U.2 is far too much fuss and Intel 750s are too expensive compared to the upcoming Phison/Marvell versions that should be out before year end. DDR4 prices aren't dropping much anymore afaik.
One thing I can tell you straight off the bat, avoid the GIGABYTE X99 GAMING 5P. It has some serious, serious coil whine when you put a 5960X under load. The sample I have is only at 1.3 volts and 4.3 GHz (the max it'll give, it's a **** chip) and it whines like a pig under heavy load. So much so that it sounds like it's going to pop. I'm about to begin my review on this motherboard but this is a major, major downer in my books.
Shame there's no extra 4-pin EPS on that 5P. Pulling 1.3V@4.3 must be some serious wattage, which will push them hard. Try pairing with another PSU or even straight to wall socket not multi-way lead if you can too, just to check it's not a ripple thing.
It's crazy loud. The PSU is the only one I have which can handle the load unfortunately. I've never heard a motherboard make this amount of noise and I've pushed some serious volts through high power drawing chips. I'll give it a try, though. Thanks for the suggestion.
Thanks for all the comments guys! As I understand it: * basically any good Seasonic PSU should do? * I should probable not get the Intel NVMe SSD as it's silly expensive (Samsung just released the 950 Pro NVMe SSD -- a good alternative?) * RAM - Any 32GB (4*8 GB sticks) should work - do most have the XMP profile for overclocking? * Case - still no idea what to do about this - any recommendations that can fit a couple of CD drives, a couple of HDD (and SSD), and the H110i (or similar) in?
Seasonic are *a* brand that have a decent rep, but not the only one - & my comment back at Bindibadgi was simply a factual thing. i've just checked back & my 1000W HX was apparently made by CWT - & at least back when i bought it, these were better rated than the Seasonics - which Corsair only used in the sub-750W HX PSUs. The 950 has only been announced today (i didn't expect it to be this quick) - not out until October - so as you'd have to wait anyway then i'd wait & see what AnandTech have to say when it's reviewed. All choice of course, but as with memory then you need to decide whether your usage justifies the extra speed for the extra cost vs SATA; esp at a time when there's still a dearth of competition & so the prices are going to be high. At lower speeds - 2133 & 2400, any memory should be fine... ...& you should be able to buy it in whatever quantity is cheapest to get the 4 sticks you need & get it working rather than it being necessary to buy a quad kit. With higher spec memory, you're better off with a quad kit - & i couldn't swear to you that there aren't brands who don't bin as well as others... g.Skill certainly do, hence another factor in my personal chose - & perhaps looking at the QVL list for whatever speed your going for might give you some indication of the better brands. Then, if you're asking whether they come with a XMP to run at the stated speeds, rather than 2133, then yes, they all should do... ...but if you're asking about running faster than the stated speeds, no.
$200 for 256GB is a good price considering the performance you're going to get. AFAIcan tell from the brief scans of news posts it's basically the OEM SM951 repackaged into a consumer product. You're spending $$ on top-end PC, go for a drive the matches. I would be very surprised if it's not superb a few of the top SSD guys I talk to seem very stoked about it.
PocketDemon Fair play on PSUs -- will check back in a couple of days with a full list of hardware -- hopefully I pick one that isn't terrible! Good to know that a 750w ish one is all that I'll need. Happy to wait until Oct for the Samsung if it'll make much of a difference -- not in a major rush to buy this set up -- just soon would be good! As for RAM speeds - does it come into the CPU OC at all? If not really then I'm more than happy to get the cheaper sets than the super amazing gaming RAM etc Bindi - again - don't mind waiting for the Samsung SSD -- or get the Intel one *shrug* -- both will work.. right!
Again, this is unless you're looking at multiple GPUs - or, potentially, a very old one that's uber inefficient. i'm still not entirely sure what your usage is that will materially gain from spending the extra for either m.2 SSD... ...& if knocking off a couple of % on encoding/transcoding times isn't worth spending an extra ~£50 on memory then...? Well, assuming that you had a bit of multitasking going on (re the PS %age), i can't quite see how saving a very tiny amount of time on, say, applying some filters to a very large image, so that it's pushing data from & to the scratch disk, will justify spending the extra for either SSD... [NB from recollection PS' memory usage is 70% by default, & can be increased to 85% on most setups unless you've got all the world of programs open - so are you working with images that will need to use the scratch disk?] ...whilst 'if' you're working heavily with RAW 4K video, where there conceivably 'might' be a reason for >6Gb/s (& it's obviously a highly sequential i/o), you'd get far more capacity for your money with pair of SSDs in R0 - & naturally the memory speed would be slowing the encoding/transcoding down. [NB the odd batch task i have, which i've mentioned in discussing how increasing the cores 'might' make 2x SSDs the bottleneck in another thread, is with 100s of GBs of audio at a time (& not with Audition), & you've not suggested any tasks like this for your own usage. Whilst i'll need to test this, my gut is telling me that, with 6 cores/12 threads (& hopefully at least a 4.6 o/c) then it'll still fall on the CPU being the bottleneck.] Yeah, i do appreciate that there's something cool about having 'the best' (& my initial thought with the 950 was some version of 'oooh, shiny' or 'my precious' or 'wants, wants, WANTS!' or something like that), but if you're doing things within a budget then any extra cost also has got to be justified; which is why you've made the decision you have about the RAM speed... ...& i've had to make the decision i have about only going for the 5930K processor, as i can't justify an extra couple of hundred pounds - when there's better things i can put my budget towards for me; like the board we both seem to be looking at, as it's not cheap, & getting a Thunderbolt card & higher spec memory & some new w/cing fittings & whatnot. So anyway, the reason for waiting for the 950 is that *if* you are convinced that m.2 is the route to go down, irrespective of whether or not it'll make a material difference to your usage, unless Samsung have done something very odd (hence waiting for the reviews) then it'll be *much* better than the intel. if you're only looking at o/cing the CPU using the multiplier then it'll make no odds. if, instead, you're also going to be increasing the BCLK &/or BCLK straps, you're likely to find that you need to underclock or overclock the memory slightly at whatever speed you buy - & whether it can do the latter will be about stability. Naturally there is some headroom though, & providing it's a half decent brand, so the memory's binned sensibly, there should be no real issues. Oh, & as far as it being 'super amazing gaming RAM', gaming would be one of the more pointless reasons for getting faster memory - as it'll make no difference whatsoever. indeed a better reason would be simply to 'show off'.
Motherboard : Asus X99-Deluxe £330 CPU : Intel I7-5960x £830 RAM : 32GB Hyper-X DDR4 £160 PSU : Seasonic X750 £115 OS Disk : Samsung SM951 256GB NVMe m.2 £125 (or the new one they just released?) Scratch Disk : Intel 750 1.2TB NVMe PCIe £800 (or - something else? about 512GB/1TB would be good for storing current photo work) CPU cooler : Corsair H110i AIO (Don't see a reason to get the GTX version?) £100 Graphics Card : nVidia GTX 960 £190 (No idea about gfx cards - I've got 3x24" 1920x1200 (all DVI) so I think this one will work with adaptors?) Case : Still have no idea!! Any recommendations? (It has to take optical drives though) Does that look sensible?
