Help and advice appreciated for Folding

[Tip]

Hi,

I know about computers but very little about the latest and top of the range stuff.
I have been left some money by someone who died of cancer and would like to spend some of it on a desktop that will run the Folding @ Home software most of the time when I'm not using it for games.

An example of what I have looked at is this:

Case: InWIN G7 BRUSHED EFFECT DARK GREY CASE
Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4770k (3.5GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard: ASUS® MAXIMUS VI GENE: RoG, PCI-e 3.0, SATA 3.0, USB3.0, THX
Memory (RAM): 8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: 3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 780 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk: 1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive: 4x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ROM
Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling: CoolerMaster Seidon 120M High Performance CPU Cooler (£39)
Sound Card: ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

plus other bits for £1,430 inc VAT.

I don't want/need a fancy flashing case with lots of external drive bays.
Have chosen i7 processor and 780Ti gpu as fastest for processing Folding work and would expect that they are more than enough for the games I play (eg Tomb Raider, not into CoD, BF4 type games).

In the future I might add a second 780Ti when prices have dropped so case, motherboard, power all need that taken into consideration please.
I have no real idea about the merits of the various motherboards on offer or the cooling options.
Don't plan on running it at maximum power 24*7 but would prefer if it wasn't too noisy (but I'm not after silence either).

Do you have any recommendations on better configurations please ?
If you need any more info please ask.

Thanks for your time, Tip.

 

[keynes]

are you planning to overclock your cpu? To add a 2nd GTX 780 ti you need to upgrade your PSU.

 

[Tip]

No, I don't think I will overclock the cpu. Would go for Gigabytes overclocked 780Ti though.

Also, had seen Six Core i7's previously in the options but it seems I started from the wrong place this time.
Have seen someone else post with an i7 Six Core Processor Extreme i7-4960X (3.6GHz) 15MB Cache and whilst a bit more expensive I assume having 6 cores will increase Folding ability by a fair bit ? (Not needed for the games I know).

Am I looking at an 850W or a 1050W PSU ?

 

[Tip]

Okay, think this is what I will go with unless anyone can see any issues...

Case: InWIN G7 BRUSHED EFFECT DARK GREY CASE
Processor (CPU): Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-4770k (3.5GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard: ASUS® Z87-A: ATX, USB2.0, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE
Memory (RAM): 8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: 3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 780 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk: 1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive: 4x BLU-RAY ROM DRIVE, 16x DVD ROM
Power Supply: CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR
Processor Cooling: Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Sound Card: ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking: 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options: MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable: 1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System: Genuine Windows 8.1 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
DVD Recovery Media: Windows 8.1 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software: NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus: NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty: 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Decided against the 6 core i7 as the money saved will go towards a second 780Ti when they have come down in price.
Upgraded the PSU to cope when the second GPU is put in.

Any opinions please ?

 

[keynes]

an i7-4770 (non-k) if you are not overclocking your cpu and a caviar black as the main drive since it is faster than the standard drive

 

[Tip]

Thanks for the comments.

Will change the drive but I thought the increase from 3.4 to 3.5GHz was worth the extra £20 or so even if I never overclock it ?

 

[keynes]

Thanks for the comments.

Will change the drive but I thought the increase from 3.4 to 3.5GHz was worth the extra £20 or so even if I never overclock it ?

£20 for 0.1ghz? I doubt you will notice the difference even on cpu intensive tasks, both CPUs will go up to 3.9ghz with turbo boost enable.

 

[Tip]

It was more for the Folding than anything else, that little bit extra power over say 2 years constant running would only be £10 a year.