$3k Workstation Rig. How does it look so far?

[FeelRealGood]

This will be primarily for 3D animation and post production work (Adobe AE, PS, Premiere). I'm looking at spending somewhere between $3k-$3500. I already have an unused license for Win7, several monitors, keyboards, mouse so those are a non-issue as of now. All other peripherals can wait.

Here is my set up so far. More questions at the bottom...

Motherboard
$439 - Intel S5520SC

Processors
$780 - 2 x Intel Xeon E5620 2.4GHz Quad Core 80w

RAM
$280 - Kingston 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1333 Server Memory SR x4 w/TS Model KVR1333D3S4R9SK3/12G

Video Card
$739 - PNY VCQ4000-PB Quadro 4000 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Workstation Video Card

Hard Drive
$250 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Cooling
$180 - 2 x Corsair H50 Cooling OR the Corsair H70.

Case
$229 - Silverstone Raven RV01


My main concerns:
1) Are all my parts compatible?
2) Will two water cooling radiators fit in this case? H50 and H70 are retailing at the same price, but the H70 looks larger and is suppose to give better cooling. Again, would TWO H70s work in this case?
3) I figure I need a decent PSU. At least 1000w? Anyone have a recommendation of one that will fit this case?
4) Is my RAM configuration the best route? Would it be better to do a fewer sticks of RAM but larger size? (i.e. 3 x 8gb vs. 6 x 3gb) I understand 3x8gb will allow upgrading for the future, but what would be the best set up for the present?

EDIT: I've begun to realize that the case and cooling system might be an issue together. The radiator is 120mm while the two intake fans are 180mm on the Raven 01. Is there a way to step down the fan to 120mm? Would something like this be my answer?

[Sourtop]

That motherboard uses socket 2011. The CPU you picked is socket 1366. You need an LGA 2011 CPU for that motherboard.

That motherboard uses quad channel memory. Meaning you have to buy memory in groups of 4 - not 3.

A high quality 650 W PSU will do you fine. You could probably get away with less.

Why the after-market coolers?

With your budget you should get the WD Caviar Black 64 MB cache 6.0 Gb/s (ie. SATA 3 instead of the SATA 2 you picked).

EDIT: Actually I'm completely confused as to why it says the CPU type is for the 1366 Xeons while the socket is the 2011.

I have no idea where to really start with a workstation build. AMD might offer better options than Intel for this.

[jdeb]

Post number 14

Dream Build?

[FeelRealGood]

Originally Posted by Sourtop That motherboard uses socket 2011. The CPU you picked is socket 1366. You need an LGA 2011 CPU for that motherboard. That motherboard uses quad channel memory. Meaning you have to buy memory in groups of 4 - not 3. A high quality 650 W PSU will do you fine. You could probably get away with less. Why the after-market coolers? With your budget you should get the WD Caviar Black 64 MB cache 6.0 Gb/s (ie. SATA 3 instead of the SATA 2 you picked). EDIT: Actually I'm completely confused as to why it says the CPU type is for the 1366 Xeons while the socket is the 2011. I have no idea where to really start with a workstation build. AMD might offer better options than Intel for this.

Thanks for the reply. I'm somewhat confused now that I see Newegg labeling the motherboard as a socket 2011. According to the Intel website, it shows the same server board as an LGA 1366 and lists the E5506 as compatible. Maybe I have the wrong board on Newegg. I'll have to search around.

So after doing a little more research, if the board is a LGA1366, then it supports triple channel memory. Therefore 6 x 4gb should work for this build to get a full 24gb of memory.

As far as a water cooling system, I have a few reasons for wanting it. The most personal, I've always wanted to build a w/c system and now I get my chance. Plus, it'll be in a small apartment so keeping noise and heat down would be great.

I think you're right about a SATAIII hard drive. I settled on a SATAII simply because I couldn't find any information on the board supporting the newer 6gb SATA support. After looking around I found one site that allows the SATAIII on this particular board.

Still looking into a good PSU. Likely an Antec at this point. Thanks again for the response.

[FeelRealGood]

Originally Posted by jdeb Post number 14 Dream Build?

Thanks for the reference. I kind of had my heart set on building an Intel. Not to be stubborn, it's just my personal preference. Also, wanted to go with Nvidia based card since it supports the CUDA technology which makes editing 4k footage breeze.

I'm looking into the PSU listed. I've never heard of SeaSonic. Decent brand?

EDIT: Alright. I've been doing more and more research on motherboards. I was already hesitant to go with the Intel S5520SC motherboard to start with. I've had a past (yet brief) history with it and was frustrated by it. Reading more reviews, I see there are other problems that might rear it's head. I'm looking more towards Asus dual xeon boards. Here is one I'm looking at, though I think it might be overkill and doesn't support SATAIII.

[Sourtop]

SeaSonic make excellant PSUs. Corsair's high-end PSUs are made by Seasonic if I remember that correctly. An Antec Earthwatts 650 W or Corsair TX 650 would be great. With your budget I would highly suggest a modular power supply too.

For server boards I think Tyan would be a better choice over Intel. Also, for the memory, you need to look at the motherboard's memory channels and not what the CPU socket normally takes. The 1366 boards might be triple channel, but those 2011 boards are very clearly quad channel.

It seems you can use 1366 CPUs in the 2011 server motherboards, but from what I've been reading Intel is going to be releasing their 2011 Xeon CPUs somewhat soon. So if you're not deadset on buying this thing now you should wait until then.

You're also going to want SATA 3. With the amount of money you're pumping into this build you're not going to want old and out-dated technology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGA_2011

From the looks of those server CPUs you're going to want to wait.

[FeelRealGood]

Grrr. I always get logged out and lose my posts.

Thanks for the reply, Sourtop. I've realized how close I am to the new Xeon chipset, but unfortunately this build needs to have been down a month ago. I'm running behind so I have to make due with what's out.

As I see it, I have two options at hand:

A dual Xeon 5620's setup. (8 cores / 12 threads @ 2.4ghz) With this I'll have 24gb of RAM (6 x 4gb)

A single processor i7-3930k (6 cores / 10 threads @ 3.2ghz) With the money saved I'll be able to get 32gb of RAM (4 x 8gb)....or I can get twice the RAM at a slower speed: 64gb (8 x 8gb).

Again, this computer's intended purpose will be for 3D rendering and editing. I've heard it either way for workstations: more cores/threads better vs more RAM. Anyone got an opinion on which setup to go with?
Thanks again all for being patient with me!