Replacing 2008 desktop. Suggestions?

int0x80

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Jul 5, 2006
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Time for a new desktop build. The main purposes of the box are running 2-3 VMs concurrently, some gaming (L4D2, TF2, HL2, Portal2), and some light A/V editing. Host OSes will be Win7 Ultimate x64 and GNU/Linux. No plans to OC or mod. Budget is currently ~$1000 based on wishlist, but can be bamped for legit reasons. Carrying over from previous desktop are: 640GB WD Blue HDD and a case. Monitors will either be dual 17" Samsung LCD or 22" Acer, which are already owned. Noise is not a concern as it won't out-do what's already coming out of my studio monitors.

Building a little bit for the future in the event I get some more free time and can spend more time gaming on the higher end.

Contents from NewEgg wishlist:
1. ASUS P8P67 Deluxe - $210 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131701
2. Intel Core i7 2600K - $320 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
3. G.SKILL Ripjaws X 8GB DDR3 1600 (x2) for 16GB - $90 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
4. EVGA GeForce GTX 560 - $200 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130661
5. Corsair HX750 - $150 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010

Total: $970

Answers to the Build Help questions:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Running multiple VMs concurrently, gaming (L4D2, TF2, HL2, Portal2), some light A/V editing

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
~$1000 give or take, based on wishlist, but can be bamped for legit reasons

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
USA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
- Motherboard
- CPU+Heatsink
- RAM
- Video card
- PSU

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
640GB WD HDD, and a case

6) Will you be overclocking?
Not planning on it.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
22"? Doesn't really matter.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Before 2012.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
The only one of these I care about is USB 3.0.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, Win7 Ultimate x64
 
I'd recommend the Asus P8Z68-V instead of the P8P67 - the P67 is the older chipset, and Asus seems to have had a lot of issues with those boards:
$169.99 Asus P8Z68-V

If you aren't overclocking, you can save $40 by getting the i7-2600 instead of the K. If you don't need hyperthreading, you can drop down to the i5-2500 or i5-2400 and save another $100.
$279.99 (with $20 promo code) Intel i7-2600

The non-modular Corsair TX750 V2 is about $35 cheaper also, if you don't mind the cables.
$104.99 Corsair TX750 V2 (also has a $20 mail in rebate)
 
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If you're not overclocking only need USB 3.0, you can save even more money by going with a cheaper Z68 board:

$110 - Biostar TZ68A+
$114 - Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3

You can go even cheaper by looking at some H67 boards, but they won't be as (comparatively) feature-packed as one of the above two options.

You should also consider this cheaper RAM option:

$30 - G.Skill Value Series F3-10666CL9D-8GBNT 2x4GB DDR3 1333 CL9 1.5V
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I've made some updates:

1. ASUS P8Z68-V - $170 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131729
2. i7-2600 - $300 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115071
3. G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3 1600 (4 x 4GB) - $85 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231315
4. EVGA GeForce GTX 560 - $200 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130661
5. Corsair TX750 V2 - $105 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139021

Total: $860

I really liked the solid capacitors on the Biostar TZ68A+, but Intel says VT-d doesn't work with that board, which is a deal-breaker for me. Also I went to a 16GB kit from G.SKILL as they guarantee that all the sticks in the kit have been tested and matched together.

What say you?
 
Thanks for the post, Forceman. It seems I may have misunderstood virtualization requirements, and need to research them further. Do you have any links you'd recommend to guide me in my research? Many thanks :)

Specifically, I'm trying to determine whether I even need VT-[cdx] to successfully run a couple VMs concurrently using either VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation in a Linux host OS. It seems like pretty much all Intel CPUs now have VT-x, which steps you down to the hardware instead of just complete emulation in software; and VT-d gives you direct hardware access to more hardware such as NIC, video card, etc. So a VM running on a board + CPU with VT-d is going to have significant and noticeable performance improvements than without VT-d. But I guess I've been running VMs with just VT-x for the past several years, and none of my VMs are used for anything intensive like gaming. So, I probably don't need VT-d it seems.
 
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VT-d is a special feature used by hypervisors like ESXi or Xen. If you need it, you're usually well aware of that. VirtualBox, Virtual PC and VMware Workstation all take advantage of Vt-x - they couldn't use VT-d even if it was available.

Annoyingly, just because you're motherboard and CPU technically support VT-d, that doesn't mean you'll be able to successfully provide direct access to any specific card or device - it can be a trial or lottery to have success (though, there is a good community documenting their successes).
 
A tad overpriced at $208 shipped considering that the faster GTX 560 TI is only $12 more:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130634
I recommend this higher quality PSU instead for not that much more:
$111 - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W PSU

int0x80 said:
When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Before 2012.

That doesn't help us help you. Ok, do note that whatever parts we recommend this month maybe different from parts we recommend next month. There's been occasions where our recommendations changed week from week. So with that in mind, when you're about 2-3 weeks away from buying the parts, bump up this thread with your updated build list to make sure that it's still a solid build list.
 
Thanks for the suggestions; the video card and PSU do sound like better deals. The plan is to make the purchases on either "Black Friday" or "Cyber Monday", hoping that the prices come down or something better comes down to the prices of the components on the current list.
 
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