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View Full Version : Project Blackbird - $3000 Workstation



srlMW
04-05-2016, 09:56 PM
Just bought this PC for editing HD video and images, I use adobe products which is why I went with the 970 because CUDA. All the parts should be ready within a few days and then I'll set off on building it! I live in Australia which is why the prices are higher than what you'd normally see. Bought my parts from UMART as it's just 15 minutes from me. What do you guys think of Project Blackbird? Oh, I've called it that since the case is sleek and it's powerful inside. :stirthepot:

1 ASUS PCE-N15 WLAN PCI-Express N300 LP @$23.69
2 Western Digital Blue 1TB (RAID0) SATA3 HDD 64M Caviar Blue WD10EZEX @$142.14
1 Cooler Master Hyper 212X CPU Cooler @$53.56
1 Logitech G602 Wireless Gaming Mouse @$66.95
1 eVGA 220-G2-0750-XR 750W G2 80+ Gold Full Modular Power Supply @$163.77
1 Intel Core i7 5820K Haswell-E 6-Core LGA 2011-3 3.3GHz CPU Processor @$575.77
1 MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4GB Video Card @$513.97
1 Asus X99-A M.2X4, 1 x SATA Express port, 8 x SATA 6Gb/s port, 6 x USB 3.0, ATX @$444.96
1 Fractal Design Define R5 USB3.0 Mid Tower Case Black @$174.07
1 LG GP60NB50 SLIM PORTABLE EXTERNAL DVD-RW DRIVE, USB2.0 8X DVD,24X CD WRITE @$30.90
1 Samsung 250GB SSD 850 EVO @$132.87
1 BenQ BL2420PT 23.8inch WQHD LED Monitor @$410.97
1 Microsoft Windows 10 Home 32bit/64bit USB Flash Drive @$143.17
1 G.Skill 32G (4x8G) F4-2400C15Q-32GNT PC4-19200 / DDR4 2400 Mhz @$231.75
1 Corsair Raptor Series K30 Gaming Keyboard new version @$77.25
1 Western Digital My Book 2TB @$169


Total $3254.79

KeepBotting
04-05-2016, 10:08 PM
1 Microsoft Windows 10 Home 32bit/64bit USB Flash Drive @$143.17


c'mon, who pays for Windows? :p

maven
04-05-2016, 10:34 PM
A $450 motherboard and only one monitor? You've got a crazy build man :stirthepot:

tls
04-06-2016, 12:06 AM
You got ripped off on the memory, power supply, cpu cooler and case

theholyone
04-06-2016, 01:10 AM
unless you're rolling in the money, like keepbotting said, why pay for windows?

Lipcot
04-06-2016, 01:14 AM
c'mon, who pays for Windows? :p

140 USD for windows daf*ck, is it that expensive?

Why did you get such a beast motherboard? i dont know much about PC components but it seems to me its a bit too much isnt it?

dat memory though you got really ripped off... Check this out (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233886&cm_re=ddr_4_32gb-_-20-233-886-_-Product) And this... (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232091&cm_re=ddr_4_32gb-_-20-232-091-_-Product)

Woah men, that cpu cooler is 30 bucks. Hope you dont mind overpaying stuff

PD: Really nice pc you got there bruh :)

srlMW
04-06-2016, 01:42 AM
You got ripped off on the memory, power supply, cpu cooler and case

Not quite sure how? Are you talking in terms of price or component?


unless you're rolling in the money, like keepbotting said, why pay for windows?
c'mon, who pays for Windows? :p

Never even crossed my mind... I thinks it because I'm using this machine for work so I needed the reassurance of 100% stability.


A $450 motherboard and only one monitor? You've got a crazy build man :stirthepot:

Thanks, plan on adding more screens later since my budget denied it at this time. As for LGA-2011-3 boards, they are on the more expensive side, cheapest boards around $350.


140 USD for windows daf*ck, is it that expensive?

Why did you get such a beast motherboard? i dont know much about PC components but it seems to me its a bit too much isnt it?

dat memory though you got really ripped off... Check this out (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233886&cm_re=ddr_4_32gb-_-20-233-886-_-Product) And this... (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232091&cm_re=ddr_4_32gb-_-20-232-091-_-Product)

Woah men, that cpu cooler is 30 bucks. Hope you dont mind overpaying stuff

PD: Really nice pc you got there bruh :)

I think I understand the confusion now, all this is in AUD, sucks I know. The motherboard is on the lower end of LGA-2011-3 pricing, $350 being bottom... This board doesn't even include native wifi, Bluetooth or Ethernet but they can be added with spare change. Also, not sure what the links are as my tablet isn't letting me view them but I assume they're for USD? The ram I purchased is practically the cheapest 32GB 2400Mhz you can get, keeping in mind it doesn't even have those 'important' heat sinks ;). Same AUD USD confusion on the cooler as well. Thanks for the compliment!

I appreciate that you guys took the time to look at my PC, hopefully the pricing is cleared up now and more questions or feedback are welcomed! :)

acow
04-06-2016, 02:35 AM
I feel smart for assuming it's in AUD.
What's your current internet connection (speedtest.net) to servers in australia? & how about NA/Europe? (just curious)

srlMW
04-06-2016, 07:55 AM
I feel smart for assuming it's in AUD.
What's your current internet connection (speedtest.net) to servers in australia? & how about NA/Europe? (just curious)

With the new house I get just under 8 Mbs up / 1Mbs down(AUS) and 4 Mbs up / 1Mbs down(CA), although we don't have NBN in the area yet... NBN will be 100/40.
Got an notification that my order is ready to be picked up, going to pick it up tomorrow and begin the building process! :biggrin:

J J
04-06-2016, 09:31 AM
Looks like it's going to be a beast of a PC. I would have made some different component choices though. I can't justify spending 1000$ on just a motherboard and CPU. But that's what you need to pay if you want to get one of the best cpu and mobo available.

For editing video I would probably buy a 21:9 monitor so you can preview in 16:9 in the top right of your screen and have the left and bottom available for everything else. 3440*1440p monitors are pretty insane, but very pricy.

Anyways, I'm sure you'll enjoy your build!

Home
04-06-2016, 09:44 AM
You can get Win 10 Retail keys from EBay / Aliexpress > 10 Usd

KeepBotting
04-06-2016, 05:14 PM
Never even crossed my mind... I thinks it because I'm using this machine for work so I needed the reassurance of 100% stability.

Heh, I'd trust the pirates over Microsoft any day, even for stability.

You could also install a cracked Windows 7 -> upgrade to legit Windows 10.

Harrier
04-06-2016, 05:21 PM
Heh, I'd trust the pirates over Microsoft any day, even for stability.

You could also install a cracked Windows 7 -> upgrade to legit Windows 10.
what on earth have you been smoking?

J0rdeh
04-06-2016, 08:25 PM
Nice build, any pictures? Absolutely love the R5 cases.

KeepBotting
04-07-2016, 02:17 AM
what on earth have you been smoking?

elaborate, please...?

DAZ loader is foolproof, KMS emulation is nearly so. Any halfway decent release will have Windows Genuine Advantage updates blacklisted. It's as stable as it gets, I've been using pirated versions of Windows in personal and (non-critical) production environments for years, not a single one of them has ever gone belly-up in any way, including deactivation.

So to recap: legit Windows, bound by Microsoft's DRM. Constantly bombarded with Windows Genuine Advantage-related updates and the dreaded "Get Windows 10" update that installs nagware and places an icon (GWX.exe) in your taskbar. Will upgrade automatically to Windows 10 if Windows Update settings are permissive enough, this means it will change your entire operating system without your express permission. Some applications may not support Windows 10, the update process is also known to fail and leave the computer in an unusable state. Known incompatibilities with certain (MSI) hardware resulting in persistent BSODs.

Cracked Windows: outside of the Microsoft DRM ecosystem. Retains access to updates, sans ones that are harmful/malicious. Minimizes the amount of damage Microsoft can do to your system without your knowledge/consent. Sometimes contains useful tweaks, pre-installed software/updates, skins/themes, yadda yadda but "untouched" copies are more prevalent.

On the off-chance you were referring to my latter comment, I'm pretty sure that pirated 7 -> legit 10 is still possible, correct me if I'm wrong.

srlMW
04-07-2016, 12:16 PM
Definitely will enjoy it and I would of bought a bigger screen but my budget really wasn't going to stretch to those lengths.

I picked all the parts up today and will be building it tomorrow because I was out this afternoon. I've found some really good tutorials from Newegg on YT so hopefully my building process is as smooth as theirs! Do you guys have any words of advice or favourite tutorials because I'd love to know about them!

Lucidity
04-07-2016, 12:45 PM
Definitely will enjoy it and I would of bought a bigger screen but my budget really wasn't going to stretch to those lengths.

I picked all the parts up today and will be building it tomorrow because I was out this afternoon. I've found some really good tutorials from Newegg on YT so hopefully my building process is as smooth as theirs! Do you guys have any words of advice or favourite tutorials because I'd love to know about them!

Make sure your cable management is good. It only causes problems later on from my experience.

Citrus
04-07-2016, 01:12 PM
I picked all the parts up today and will be building it tomorrow because I was out this afternoon. I've found some really good tutorials from Newegg on YT so hopefully my building process is as smooth as theirs! Do you guys have any words of advice or favourite tutorials because I'd love to know about them!

If you've never installed a CPU cooler before, applying the thermal paste can be an issue. I used way too much the first time and made a huge mess. A small blob in the center is all you need.
Other than that, it's pretty straightforward. You kind of just screw/plug everything in.

theholyone
04-07-2016, 01:19 PM
wait, you didn't get the store to mount your CPU + fan + motherboard together?
thats ballsy.... unless they don't offer that service where you live,
all the computers i've built i've had them mount those 3 things, because let's face it if you screw up anything else its not a big deal, but you screw the cpu up and you're fucked.

- broke a pin whilst trying to mount an AMD cpu, luckily they repaired it for free XD

srlMW
04-08-2016, 09:08 PM
Took four hours yesterday to install the SSD, mobo, CPU and PSU, the cpu socket levers required extreme force to lock down which held me back until I called tech... Today, I'll be doing the GPU, wifi pci and HDDs which should be a breeze, after that I'll install the software and drivers plus stress test the machine. I'm glad I chose to build this myself, even through the stressful parts because it's helped me better myself and learn a lot.

TL;DR - Soon you'll call me thatguywhobuiltadesktophimselfeventhoughitwashisfi rstandsucceeded ;)

Lucidity
04-09-2016, 02:41 AM
Took four hours yesterday to install the SSD, mobo, CPU and PSU, the cpu socket levers required extreme force to lock down which held me back until I called tech... Today, I'll be doing the GPU, wifi pci and HDDs which should be a breeze, after that I'll install the software and drivers plus stress test the machine. I'm glad I chose to build this myself, even through the stressful parts because it's helped me better myself and learn a lot.

TL;DR - Soon you'll call me thatguywhobuiltadesktophimselfeventhoughitwashisfi rstandsucceeded ;)

Take some pictures.

acow
04-09-2016, 02:53 AM
looking forward to pics
@thatguywhobuiltadesktophimselfeventhoughitwashisf irstandsucceeded;

e: that spacing is spooky

tls
04-09-2016, 05:22 AM
err. Putting together parts is pretty trivial. Like congrats, but I taught my 12 year old nephew how to do it...it's not like you have to solder parts in anymore.

srlMW
04-10-2016, 09:37 PM
Well... I must have done something right because I'm posting this from Blackbird. The thing runs like a beast, played civ 5 on max setting with 60FPS! Been downloading everything, do you guys have any must have programs? Thanks for the tips guys and pictures will be coming soon.

PS- Cable management was a breeze with the R5 although not that I would have lazed out if it wasn't :)

maven
04-10-2016, 09:42 PM
Well... I must have done something right because I'm posting this from Blackbird. The thing runs like a beast, played civ 5 on max setting with 60FPS! Been downloading everything, do you guys have any must have programs? Thanks for the tips guys and pictures will be coming soon.

PS- Cable management was a breeze with the R5 although not that I would have lazed out if it wasn't :)

Nice man. Gotta love that fresh install feel. For installing stuff I'd recommend this: https://ninite.com/

slayer12bot
04-29-2016, 10:01 PM
I have been putting together my rig for years since I can remember. The constant back and forth of incremental upgrades, you kind of forget how much your really spending! Really nice looking setup, any plans on 4k gaming?

Lucidity
05-04-2016, 01:26 AM
Any pictures??

srlMW
05-04-2016, 08:45 AM
I've been meaning to take some but it's under my desk in terrible lighting with the cords going through the desk so it's a hassle to move... If you don't mind them not being HQ I'll take a few tonight and upload them?

srlMW
05-05-2016, 11:44 AM
Pictures --> http://imgur.com/a/dAg9x

Parts again --> http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/g8kh6h

Lucidity
05-05-2016, 03:09 PM
Pictures --> http://imgur.com/a/dAg9x

Parts again --> http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/g8kh6h

Cheers looks amazing

slind
05-11-2016, 09:05 AM
STRIX-GTX980TI-DC3OC-6GD5-GAMING goes for 600$ and it gives 20% more power. Not sure why you decided for this GPU. Windows 10 supports Autodesk and Adobe but not best plugins to use them with. I think you could easily save 500$ by completing yourself.

uRLost
05-22-2016, 05:04 PM
Not a bad build, looks pretty good. What's your OC at?

badez
05-31-2016, 10:40 AM
Did you make any changes with the suggestions on this thread? Looking at rebuilding myself...

carpediembr
09-26-2016, 05:34 AM
You can get Win 10 Retail keys from EBay / Aliexpress > 10 Usd

thats the same thing as downloading a cracker from piratebay tbh.

J0rdeh
06-04-2017, 10:35 PM
Love that case so much, if I didn't decide to go with an Mini ITX case/motherboard combo I definitely would of went for that one.

R0b0t1
06-22-2017, 07:46 AM
I purchased a copy of Windows because stealing isn't right. I upgraded 8.1 Pro to 10 Pro, 8.1 Pro was a lot cheaper than the prices quoted in this thread.