Quiet PC for Photo editing and Gaming and Oculus Rift

[anilveena]

Hi:

My first post (though I've spent a lot of time reading up). I currently have a very quiet PC (surprisingly, a Dell XPS 8500 with SSD hard drives) and I'm now looking to upgrade. I recently got an Oculus rift DK2 and I decided to use this as an excuse to upgrade my PC set up My main activities are editing of fairly large photos in Light Room and Photoshop (36MP from Nikon D800 with possible HDR etc) and gaming (to a lesser extent than photo editing, I might be doing more of it with the DK2 which needs a minimum of 75fps).

My primary goal is to have a super quiet setup when I'm not doing heavy gaming. I.e., close to zero noise during photo editing and general browsing/video. I'm okay with a little noise during games as I will probably have my headphones on. After a lot of research, I've put together the following list so far - the CPU and GPU might be a little overkill, but I wanted to err on the side of caution.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/anilveena/saved/fmCMnQ

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($249.99 @ Micro Center)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 93.3 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($203.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($334.92 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($399.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card ($579.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2065.83

Any feedback is most welcome.

Thanks!
Anil

[CA_Steve]

Welcome to SPCR.

Lightroom really needs to be updated. It only makes use of physical cores and doesn't use the GPU for any acceleration. So, it's the least of your worries. Photoshop can make use of an i7...and it likes RAM. Don't know if you need 32GB, though. As you have an existing rig, can you state how much RAM you have / how much it's using under a typical workflow and if that workflow is staying the same/changing?

Instead of a single large SSD, you'd get better performance with a couple of them. Use one for OS/apps and the other for scratch disk / local storage.

Are you planning to run the i7 at stock speed? If so, you don't need the K part. If you plan to OC, are you planning to overvolt, too? This'll determine the CPU cooler. For stock, I'd recommend the Scythe Kotetsu (see the SPCR review).

I like the R4. See my signature for a build thread. You may wish to replace the fans.

PSU: based on the decent Superflower Leadex design. Your stressed load is around 300W, so 750W is a little overkill...but the fan won't turn on.

GPU: If you need a GTX 980, then the Asus Strix is nice. I haven't been tracking Oculus for specs. Photoshop just needs a little bit of GPU power for it's display accel. So, gaming drives this.

[anilveena]

Thanks for the reply and the welcome, Steve. Currently I have 16GB and it seems to work okay with my workflow, so I may stay with that (and add 16GB more if needed in the future). As for the SSD, I already have a couple of SSDs (including the 1TB) in my current set up that I will probably just migrate (hopefully I can just install the SSDs in the new set up without a re-format).

CPU: I'm not planning on overclocking and the only reason I picked the K model was because it was the same price as the non-K model. Is it better to get the non-K model for noise considerations? And thanks for the recommendation on the Scythe cooler.

PSU: Any recommendations for a smaller PSU? I might add another 980 down the road (hopefully when they become much cheaper) and it would be nice to not replace the PSU.

I will check out your build thread as well.

Anil

Welcome to SPCR.

Lightroom really needs to be updated. It only makes use of physical cores and doesn't use the GPU for any acceleration. So, it's the least of your worries. Photoshop can make use of an i7...and it likes RAM. Don't know if you need 32GB, though. As you have an existing rig, can you state how much RAM you have / how much it's using under a typical workflow and if that workflow is staying the same/changing?

Instead of a single large SSD, you'd get better performance with a couple of them. Use one for OS/apps and the other for scratch disk / local storage.

Are you planning to run the i7 at stock speed? If so, you don't need the K part. If you plan to OC, are you planning to overvolt, too? This'll determine the CPU cooler. For stock, I'd recommend the Scythe Kotetsu (see the SPCR review).

I like the R4. See my signature for a build thread. You may wish to replace the fans.

PSU: based on the decent Superflower Leadex design. Your stressed load is around 300W, so 750W is a little overkill...but the fan won't turn on.

GPU: If you need a GTX 980, then the Asus Strix is nice. I haven't been tracking Oculus for specs. Photoshop just needs a little bit of GPU power for it's display accel. So, gaming drives this.

[CA_Steve]

CPU: same price? Get the K.

PSU: Actually, $90 is a nice price. If you think you might add another 165W GPU, then stick with the 750W PSU.

Mobo: I forgot to ask....are there specific features you need on this mobo vs some of the less expensive Asus Z97 altenatives?

[anilveena]

Mobo: I forgot to ask....are there specific features you need on this mobo vs some of the less expensive Asus Z97 altenatives?

Actually, no I just picked one that seemed well rated and not exorbitant (like the Formula) - also, tt came up in multiple forum posts. Would you recommend a different one for my requirements (I will probably stick with DDR3 1600MHz RAM, so this MB may be over qualified)?

Anil

[CA_Steve]

Most of the Z97 boards from Asus are getting good customer reviews. The upside to the more expensive boards is: more power phases for better overclocking, more stuff on board (extra SATA controller, etc), better audio components and layout (with possibly better performance...). The downside is: more stuff means higher mono power use, more power phases means higher idle power. <shrugs> You could drop down to the Z97-A if it suits....or up to the -Pro, or the one you've picked. Wander the Asus website and look at the feature sets.

edit: more stuff means higher mono power use -> more stuff means higher mobo power use

[anilveena]

Most of the Z97 boards from Asus are getting good customer reviews. The upside to the more expensive boards is: more power phases for better overclocking, more stuff on board (extra SATA controller, etc), better audio components and layout (with possibly better performance...). The downside is: more stuff means higher mono power use, more power phases means higher idle power. <shrugs> You could drop down to the Z97-A if it suits....or up to the -Pro, or the one you've picked. Wander the Asus website and look at the feature sets.

Cool, thanks!

Anil