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1000 Bucks Computer

E

elvan121

n00b
Joined
May 19, 2011
Messages
5
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Mainly Web, Coding (C,Java,PHP, SQL,...), running virtual machines (at least 2) but not as begin, playing HD movies, later also photoshopping and perphas video editing
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
circa 1000 CHF (swiss francs)
3) Where do you live?
Switzerland
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.
CPU, RAM, PSU, HDD, DVD, CPU COOLER
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
GPU, as begin i'll use an'ati XT 1800T with 512mb cache found in the room.
6) Will you be overclocking?
perhaps later if i'll need some extra power in special moment (it won't be a rule for everyday usage)
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
24" Samsung bx2450 and an old 17" Philips 170b4
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
This month/ begin of the next month
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
RAID, USB3, SATA3, SLI, in shoter terms power and scalability
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 x86 & x64(msdnaa license)



I'd like to build to me a new computer which is capable to run without any problem multiple vm (for the moment i think to use win7 as main OS and then Windows Server, Xp and win7 as guests OS. I'll be surely use also Unix (debian used distros) but dunno right now if as vm or native installed.
The main point of use the VM is to have a safe environment to work (coding) and the possibility to practise and improve my own skills with windows server.

I already have a Zalmann GS1000 (bought 3 weeks ago during a discount) and video card (ATI xt1800t) which i'll mostly use for the begin untill i'll begin to do some photo/Video editing.


Whishes list http://www.digitec.ch/?wk=LoIpQdHNmKo:

i7 2600k or i5 2600k (as begin i thought to choose the i7, but then i changed my mind to the i5 2500k)
asus p8z68-v pro
Corsair Vengeance 8gb (2x4gb) ddr3 1600 CL8 1v5
Corsair TX650-v2
2x WD Digital Caviar Black 1TB (as raid 1)
Samsung SH-S223L
Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2



I'm pretty sure to have choosen good things, the only point where i'm not conviced is the CPU: as begin i thought to choose the i7, but then i changed my mind to the i5 2500k.
The main difference between them are(i7 2600k vs i5 2500k):
-8 threads vs 4 theads
-8mb cache vs 6 mb cache
-100 bucks cheaper (309 vs 209)

are those 100 bucks good spent? do i really need an i7 instead of an i5 for playing some vm and do some photo/video editing later?


With my Best regards

Elvan
 
Western digital caviar black does not work in RAID. I'd suggest upgrading to their RAID drives or buying another companies. Its a shame as the blacks are great drives except for this issue.
 
FYI, that wishlist link doesn't work. It's just your shopping cart which no-one can see.

Anyway, If you're doing extensive video editing and doing a lot of multi-threaded coding, then yes the extra $100 for the 2600K is well worth it. Oh and matteos was slightly off: Those WD Black drives are fine for RAID 0 or 1 but not any sort of RAID type where parity is involved such as RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10, etc. However I still wouldn't go with those WD Black drives as you can get the Samsung F3 HD103SJ 1TB drive for less than that WD 1TB Black drive while still getting the same performance.
 
One other thing. How many VMs do you plan on having open at a time? Just one?

If you're planning on more than one or two, you probably want to look at more memory if you're looking to use the VM interactively (rather than just a server in the background).
 
elvan121 said:
mmm the samsung suggested by you is still sata 2, won't be better to buy a sata3?
Click to expand...
Nope. When it comes to regular hard drives, SATA 3 is just a marketing gimmick. As stated earlier, despite the SATA 3 interface of that WD 1TB drive, it's still just as fast, if not slower, than the Samsung drive I posted.
 
the main purpose of use the VM would be:
-coding & working in a safe environment;
-build a network's vm to play with windows server and a client <--- this settings will be used to play and improve my own skills with windows server and also learn coding ax++

at least one vm, 2 vm which one is windows server and the other would be jsut a client.

and what about the ram? would you advise to stick with those corsair or to go for a pair of G.Skill [SNIPER] LV 2x4GB Kit, DDR3-1600, CL9-9-9-24@1.25V ?
as you said i thought to begin with 8gb, i can always increase the memory ;)

and the cpu cooler or psu? they are good?
 
The PSU and cooler are fine unless you really want to push the overclocking. you can get better but they cost more.

i have a few friends who play with loads of VMs and they say that an SSD is almost a must (at least for boot times with auto boot VMs) so you might want to look at that but again $$$$.

as far as ram goes, i would go for cheaper 1600 C9 and just aim to get more or save the money, unless you are planing to OC a lot the more expensive ram is a waste.

as for the CPU i would get the 2500k and spend the extra on an SSD
 
matteos said:
Western digital caviar black does not work in RAID. I'd suggest upgrading to their RAID drives or buying another companies. Its a shame as the blacks are great drives except for this issue.
Click to expand...

That's odd... I'm typing this on my main system which boots off 2x 1TB Western Digital Black in RAID 0.
 
Cobalt35 said:
That's odd... I'm typing this on my main system which boots off 2x 1TB Western Digital Black in RAID 0.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, while those drives may boot up, they will eventually spin themselves down unexpectedly. All of Western Digital's "consumer" desktop (as opposed to enterprise) hard drives made since 2009 suffer from that exact same problem. This causes problems especially in a parity RAID such as RAID 5 (where the controller would detect the array as "Degraded" even though the drives are still "Good"). And this unexpected spindown does affect performance in RAID 0: At times, the data transfers would be significantly slower than normal.

In other words, recent Western Digital desktop drives will perform erratically in RAID 0 and poorly in RAID 5. Unfortunately, Western Digital does not currently offer a hard drive that works well in RAID 0: The desktop drives spin down unexpectedly and take much too long to spin back up while the enterprise drives have no provision whatsoever to disable TLER.
 
Last edited:
E4g1e said:
Unfortunately, while those drives may boot up, they will eventually spin themselves down unexpectedly. All of Western Digital's "consumer" desktop (as opposed to enterprise) hard drives made since 2009 suffer from that exact same problem. This causes problems especially in a parity RAID such as RAID 5 (where the controller would detect the array as "Degraded" even though the drives are still "Good"). And this unexpected spindown does affect performance in RAID 0: At times, the data transfers would be significantly slower than normal.

In other words, recent Western Digital desktop drives will perform erratically in RAID 0 and poorly in RAID 5. Unfortunately, Western Digital does not currently offer a hard drive that works well in RAID 0: The desktop drives spin down unexpectedly and take much too long to spin back up while the enterprise drives have no provision whatsoever to disable TLER.
Click to expand...
Wish I'd known this before I shelled out for the drives :(

Oh well, it's what I get for not researching properly I guess. Which drives would you recommend?
 
hmmm but actually the wd caviar black are tested & reccomended for use as raid 0/1:
Applications



Power computing applications such as multimedia, video and photo editing, and maxed out gaming computers.

Desktop / Consumer RAID Environments - WD Caviar Black Hard Drives are tested and recommended for use in consumer-type RAID applications (RAID-0 / RAID-1).
- Business Critical RAID Environments &#8211; WD Caviar Black Hard Drives are not recommended for and are not warranted for use in RAID environments utilizing Enterprise HBAs and/or expanders and in multi-bay chassis, as they are not designed for, nor tested in, these specific types of RAID applications. For all Business Critical RAID applications, please consider WD&#8217;s Enterprise Hard Drives that are specifically designed with RAID-specific, time-limited error recovery (TLER), are tested extensively in 24x7 RAID applications, and include features like enhanced RAFF technology and thermal extended burn-in testing.
Click to expand...
 
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