[Worklog] David's 2015 Folding Rig "lol no sli bridge"

[davidfg4]

Right, so, I have some money to spend and I want to put together a folding rig. Here's my current plan:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($283.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM EDITION ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($296.95 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($133.25 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB HYBRID Video Card (4-Way SLI)  ($714.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB HYBRID Video Card (4-Way SLI)  ($714.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB HYBRID Video Card (4-Way SLI)  ($714.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB HYBRID Video Card (4-Way SLI)  ($714.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Rosewill BLACKHAWK-ULTRA ATX Full Tower Case  ($189.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair AX1500i 1500W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($374.53 @ Amazon)
Total: $4286.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-16 23:58 EST-0500

Power for one year: ~$1000

AMD and Nvidia cards seem to be around the same value, but the 980 Ti outperforms any AMD card.

I would like to keep this in a case to protect it and for easy transportation, as opposed to having an open-air folding rig. Also keeps the noise down. My CPU server is way too loud with its small high-pitched fans and I haven't been able to run it lately.

I was concerned that open coolers and even blower designs would be too hot when stacked together. These hybrid cards should provide excellent cooling and even be pretty quiet. I should be able to put two radiators on top and two in front.
Custom water cooling is not cost effective unless you can show me four water blocks, fittings, tubing, radiators, a pump, and a res for under $400.

Anyone know if either Linux or Windows is better for folding? Linux is cheaper and one opinion I saw online says it even performs better.

Any thoughts, suggestions, comments?

[Talifan9]

....holy crap. don't suppose you'd be interested in buying a essentially brand new 80.9% asic 980ti kingpin? Might be able to squeeze out an extra 100k ppd! :p
Super awesome, though. Too bad it would only work well under folding...

[hiigaran]

Loving that power supply. I might end up using those for my build. Though I see there is also a 1600 watt titanium efficiency unit, so it will be a tough decision.

The RAM looks good. However, you can get this Corsair for a lower price, or this PNY for the same price with lower CAS (all other specs same).

Also, I never realised until now how beautiful a white mobo could look.

[davidfg4]

....holy crap. don't suppose you'd be interested in buying a essentially brand new 80.9% asic 980ti kingpin? Might be able to squeeze out an extra 100k ppd! :p

No thanks. :P

The RAM looks good. However, you can get this Corsair for a lower price, or this PNY for the same price with lower CAS (all other specs same).

Also, I never realised until now how beautiful a white mobo could look.

Sure, I may revisit ram when I go to order.

Color had very little to do with the decision, but at least it will look good. ;)

[BestPony]

Really looking forward to seeing this up and running! I'm concerned about the case though, it's not going to be big enough or have enough airflow unless you plan to mount the GPU radiators externally?

[davidfg4]

Really looking forward to seeing this up and running! I'm concerned about the case though, it's not going to be big enough or have enough airflow unless you plan to mount the GPU radiators externally?

Manual for reference.
Note that this case is extra tall, as it has 10 PCI slots and extra space above the motherboard.
The front of the case has two 140 mm fans behind the front panel, and another two 140 mm fans inside the case just inside the hard drive bays. These two inner fans have a vertical gap between them. This inner location is where I should be able to mount two radiators. The radiators/fans are 120 mm, so I expect it to fit. If they don't then I can just rig one to be inside the hard drive bays where they can "overlap" a bit, but still not use the same air.
The top of the case has two 230 mm fans, so I don't expect any issues mounting two 120mm rads there.
I'm not concerned about the air passing through radiators twice. (Once at the front and once at the top.)
Does this make sense? I would like to make sure everything fits before I order, but I haven't been able to find exact measurements for that case.

[SweetSkies]

Woah, that's quite an impressive build.

As far as which OS to pick, I'd say that simply boils down to personal preference.

This data may be a bit dated but it paints a general picture about the performance of both operating systems. It seems that they both perform rather well, however I'd personally argue that Ubuntu is weighted down with a ton of bloatware and that it isn't the best representation of Linux's performance. This chart doesn't have any benchmarks testing Windows 10 either.

Link to spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...utput=html#

[davidfg4]

Woah, that's quite an impressive build.

As far as which OS to pick, I'd say that simply boils down to personal preference.

This data may be a bit dated but it paints a general picture about the performance of both operating systems. It seems that they both perform rather well, however I'd personally argue that Ubuntu is weighted down with a ton of bloatware and that it isn't the best representation of Linux's performance. This chart doesn't have any benchmarks testing Windows 10 either.

Link to spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...utput=html#

Oh awesome, thanks! I knew about that spreadsheet but had been looking elsewhere for numbers, and that has higher PPD values. Given the difference looks negligible then I'll be using linux.

[davidfg4]

Sneak preview:

[EZM]

Ummm... It appears a challenger is beginning to take form. I'm looking forward to seeing the damage your new system will do.

[BestPony]

This is going to be so awesome!

[davidfg4]

Took a few days, but I got all the cards up and running. Current estimate is 2.1 million PPD total. (Current stats in my sig.) Pics of the rig to come...

[hiigaran]

This is certainly turning out to be a happy new year indeed!

[BestPony]

This is amazing! Are you going to overclock at all? A few extra Mhz on each core will yield quite a nice PPD boost if you're able to provide adequate cooling.

By the way, I have to ask, who's paying your electricity bills? :P

[hiigaran]

Obviously he's running a 12 000 km long cable from my place!