Recommended modding systems?

[bootrocket]

Ok, i got it now. The 15% increase is due to the CPU's clock speed, and not necessarily its intended market (i5, i7, etc) or type of microarchitecture (Haswell, Broadwell, etc). The 4790K has a 4 GHz clock speed out of the box. I'm not sure what it might be safely overclocked to, but for the moment I'm more interested in running a quiet system.

 

This is the Puget custom build I'm leaning toward -- not the fastest, not the slowest, but definitely on the quiet side:

CPU: Intel i7 Quad Core 4790K, 88W / 4.0 GHz

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 4GB

MB: Asus Sabertooth Z97 Mark 2

SSD (main): 1 TB Samsung 840 EVO 2.5 inch (SATA III)

Power: Seasonic x 850W

Cooling: Gelid Tranquillo fans

 

I'm not convinced that one drive is the way to go, or that if I use only one, it should be an SSD. STEP recommends three drives, one SDD for the OS, one SDD for games and an HDD for storage and everything else. I gotta look into that.

[FMod]

Yes, just clock speed. You can overclock the 4690 or 4670K to the same 4GHz manually. Overclocking Haswells past 4GHz gets trickier, they can do a bit more, but, all in all, for a non-enthusiast, 4 is the mark. Other than that the added benefit of i7's hyperthreading is small. It's non-zero, but mostly seen outside of games, e.g. video encoding.

 

Open loop liquid cooling is definitely not for the average user, otherwise you're on the hook when it comes to upgrades. If you can't build a regular air-cooled PC (in the middle of the night after a few drinks with a flashlight and no manuals), you can't rebuild a liquid cooling loop. Closed loop is useless in most cases as it only cools the CPU, which is cooled just as quietly by good air coolers. Not taking into account exotic closed loop video cards.

 

So the quiet dual-GPU option for regular users is 2x970 in a spacious case that allows plenty of room between them. Define XL is the ideal case you'd want for such a system, but Serenity is built in a smaller Define R5, it's good enough though. Replacing the video card is utterly trivial, but installing a second card isn't always, there are some connectors that will be missing.

 

Anyway, unless you plan to go 4K (as in a 4K TV from which you sit no further than its diagonal size), a single card should suffice. Somewhere down the line there will be a more powerful card, or a monster card, or a dual-GPU card, or even a dual-monster card like the Titan Z. Dual-GPU cards are basically two cards in one, so there's no need to fit two. You'll just be less flexible than a custom builder and have to wait longer between upgrade opportunities.

 

 

As to 1 vs 2 SSD, you only need 1. There is no reason to install games and OS on separate physical SSD (but there is on separate physical HDD). Just make sure to partition the drive in two or three. The OS must be on a separate logical drive that doesn't contain too much of value outside of your user folder. This minimizes the losses and the effort should you need to reinstall it. Your PC will come with the OS pre-installed, but they probably can follow a request to put it on e.g. a 240GB partition (possibly even too much room, implies a user who won't be customizing their folders), otherwise you can do it yourself anyway, just need some software.

 

SSD are too small to use as backup drives. For backup, just use an external HDD. Since the saves from a modded game are often useless without that exact game folder (with the exact versions of the exact mods installed in the exact order), there's no point backing up one without the other, and similarly because of that two SSD don't provide added safety from failure.

You only need an internal HDD if you have a lot of data to keep or plan to keep a lot of large files on the PC.

[bootrocket]

Thanks FMod. I'm getting a slightly different purview on the STEP Hardware Guide site, the difference being two or even three drives on the one hand (theirs), or partitioning a single SSD on the other (yours). There is a difference of opinion with respect to either an interior or exterior back-up as well. My current system is more the latter, partitioning with exterior back-up. I believe the other camp's concern rests on system failures -- the more, separate SSD drives the faster one may restore service too a new one.

 

Looks like I've got some homework. Good stuff, FMod. Thank you.