New Dev Machine

[newbi3]

With my new job as a software developer I am quickly out growing my current machine and its time to build a new one. I need for very heavy development use running multiple instances of Visual Studio, SQL Managment console, virtual machines, and what ever side project I am working on at the time. Also it would be nice to be able to use the same PC for Elder Scrolls Online with the highest settings. Below is a part list that I have come up with. Anything that you would change or also recommend?

mother board: MSI Z87-GD65

ram: corsair vengance 32gb

gpu: evga gtx770

gpu: evga gtx770

cpu: intel i7 4770k

power supply: 1000watt xion 1000p14f

heat sink: cooler master n520

case: nztx guardian black

ssd: Samsung 840 evo 500gb

ssd: Samsung 840 evo 500gb

regular hard: drive 1tb wd blue

monitor: asus vn247h-p 24inch

monitor: asus vn247h-p 24inch

OS: Windows 8.1 pro (got to use it for work :/)

I have a budget of $3,000 for this build and I will be re-using some monitors that I have already for this PC.

What am I missing that I should add or what should I change?

[madhak]

Go for RED or BLACK WD HDD line,BLUE and GREEN have cheaper bearing and make noise and don't last as long (2.5year in average from my experience)... BLUE and GREEN are a waste of money (and potentially data), especially that you seem to be able to afford the better line.

If you can source them (I couldnt) go for the PRO line of Samsung SSD, the EVO series REQUIRE the use of their magician software or they don't run as well from my experience. I personnaly prefer the OCZ Vertex4 but they are hard to find localy nowaday...

Edited March 18, 2014 by madhak

[newbi3]

I'll definitely get the WD Black series hdd and I'll keep an eye out for some other SSD thanks for the input!

[cooper]

Recommendation for samsung pro seconded. Used it in a video editing box for my parents (aged 67, my mom rocks). The EVO uses cheaper, slower ram (the chips aren't synchronous or something).

Unless you want to overclock, go with the i7 4770S which idles at a lower speed (less heat & noise) but turbo's on to the same level and is a few bob cheaper to boot iirc.

Get a bigger regular hd. I'm very happy with the 2 and 3 gb seagates. Plenty fast (and when you need fast, just use the SSDs) and silent. If you have low storage requirements or external storage readily available, leave out that hd.

The memory type is insignificant just the amount matters. Saw a test just yesterday where they tested memory and the bottom line was to fill all 4 banks with near-identical modules. Speed and timings don't do much on an Intel platform (helps AMD tremendously, though) so go with the value ram of a name brand.

I'd get a faster single GPU rather than 2 medium speed. Leaves a little headroom and single gpu systems tend to have less issues. Plus, quieter and, again, less heat.

Finally, I don't know that PSU brand. The wattage seems high for the build. That video editing box which had a 6-core socket 2011 i7 and a 780 from iChill had a 600w platinum psu by Seasonic. Ran without issue.

Edited March 18, 2014 by Cooper

[cooper]

Alternative for the SSD could be the brand new Crucial/Micron M550 SSDs. Their performance is slightly less than the Samsung Pro, much better than the Samsung Evo and the price is on par with the Evo.

(Dutch) review of that drive with plenty of self-explanatory graphs: http://nl.hardware.info/reviews/5295/4/crucial-m550-256gb-en-512gb-review-nieuwe-marvell-generatie-iometer-4k-random-readwrite

And here is that review about memory: http://tweakers.net/reviews/3330/3/de-grote-tweakers-geheugentest-meer-is-beter.html and their conclusion is that you're best off with 2 strips of identical and sufficient size. You could also use 4 strips, but they feel the energy drawn by the additional memory is too high a price to pay for near-invisible performance gains in all but the most select applications. YMMV. The speed of the memory has only slight effect and on the Intel platform they measured 9% performance gain overall in 3D Mark Cloud Gate when set goes from 1333 to 2133 (they had to relax the timings to achieve the rate). Going from 1600 to 2133 it's just under 4%.

I'd recommend you take either 2x16GB or 4x8GB of a name-brand.

I see I thought you had the 4-core i7 but that 4770K is a 6-core part. Getting the S version would be a noticable downgrade in an important area and you're better off ignoring that advice.

[newbi3]

The memory will be 1600 and the reason why i went with a power supply with such high watts is for upgrading but like you said it is kind of over kill. I do still want some wiggle room and I haven't heard of that brand ethier so I am thinking about this one instead

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Series-80PLUS-Gold-Certified-Supply/dp/B00EB7UITQ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1395240922&sr=8-5&keywords=750w+power+supply

[cooper]

My favourite review site gave that Corsair powersupply a Gold award citing its high efficiency, low ripple and modest pricepoint for an 80Plus Gold PSU so I'd say you're on to something there. In their review after 20 minutes at a 500W load the fan still didn't kick in so there's a good chance the noise will be kept in check to boot.

[Guest spazi]

Personally i would go for radeon cards instead. Mostly due to better performance when using hashcat.

But if gaming is what you look for, then I understand going for nvidia cards :)

You better post pics! :D

[newbi3]

I'd like to see some bench marks comparing the two with hash cat as well as skyrim.. I do like using hashcat....

[cooper]

Here's one for Skyrim comparing both AMD and nVidia cards.

Here's Tom's Hardware comparing OpenCL performance, which favors AMD since OpenCL is an open standard and nVidia doesn't like those.

And here's Tom's Hardware comparing CUDA performance of NVidia cards. This review includes the GTX580 which is PC2 in the performance table of HashCat. Maybe you can extrapolate a little from there.