Help vmware / gaming rig

[Mr.Dospod]

If you're gonna ask us to build/list a PC for you or seek advice about a build, please answer all of the following questions:

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Vm ware probably 4 at a time 1 gig assigned to each at once, and then gaming on the side (sc2 , wow, diablo3, civilization)

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? 1500-1600

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

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 , video card, case, power supply, optical drive, cooling ..
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
One monitor , keyboard, mouse, external hdd
6) Will you be overclocking?
very lightly if I decide too
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
22" lenovo , will probably pick up a second one for the build.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Whenever I get the pieces all together

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.
just 24gb ram capable incase I need to upgrade, and sli ready

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes , Windows 7 pro 64bit


I prefer intel , but I am open to what amd has to offer.

 

[Dangman]

Please re-answer question 4.

Also, do note that you're basically limited to 16GB of RAM these days with current consumer grade motherboards. There are 8GB RAM sticks out there but they are priced pretty high and there's no guarantee that they'll work in mobos. Even if they state that they have 32GB RAM support.

In addition, what's the max resolution of that 22" monitor?

 

[paperwastage]

if i were you, i'd keep the gaming and virtual machine side separate if possible

currently, 2x4GB RAM(1333-1600) can be had for ~$40 per 2x4, or $20-$30 after rebate if you get the right deal. since you prolly want all 4 sticks to match, $40 times. 8GB DDR3 non-ECC are expensive and hard to find

surprisingly, 1x8GB ECC DDR3 modules are actually cheap, roughly $100 for each. you'll need a xeon cpu and mobo though. Sandy-bridge equivalent CPUs aren't that much more expensive(~$0-$30), but they don't have unlocked multipliers(no overclocking) and motherboards start at $140(desktop sandybridge mobos start at $50)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...on=8GB ddr3&name=8GB&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&name=24GB (3 x 8GB)&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&name=16GB (2 x 8GB)&Order=PRICE&Pagesize=100



im currently running Virtualbox with a few VMs on/off depending on whether I need to use it(2 ubuntu @ 1core 1gb ram, 2 windows @ 1-2core 1-3GB ram). 2500k + DP67DE, 8GB RAM. i like it

 

[Mr.Dospod]

well to be honest 16gb should be way more than enough , I'm going to be virtualizing these boxes for pentesting once I learn more (I just joined my schools cyber defense team , as well as dipping into virtualization in my system admin class).

The monitor has a max resolution of 1920x1080(or whatever it is lol) or 1600x1200 on vga ...

and I may just keep using my g51jx for the gaming its sufficing right now , but I was hoping to just kill 2 birds with one stone by using it as my school laptop, and then having the desktop for vmware and gaming at home....

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Well here is a build to get you started.

$314.99 - Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
$129.99 -MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155
$47.99 x2 - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
$99.99 - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W
$19.99 - SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner 22X
$29.99 - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus

Total before shipping: $690.93

Video card:
$259.99 - XFX HD-695X-CNDC Radeon HD 6950 2GB

Reason for this video card is because it's just as fast, if not faster in some games than the Nvidia 570 GTX but costs less. It will also support adding a second monitor easily.

Since cases are more opinion based due to the looks, here are a list of recommended cases. These case have good cable management, excellent cooling and reasonably priced.
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$110 - NZXT Whisper WHI - 001BK ATX Full Tower Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7FN ATX Case
$120 - Velocity Micro GX2-W Silver Classic Aluminum Case with Side Window
$120 - Fractal Design Arc Mini Tower
$127 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$143 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$150 - Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case


I also didn't notice an internal HDD in your needed parts list or parts you plan to be reusing. So I recommend this HDD if you need one.
$59.99 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB

 

[Mr.Dospod]

wow , I get impressed a little bit more every day I go to hardforum.
Thank you so much for the help, its not every day you see multiple on forums actually respond quickly, and point you to exactly where you need to go.

+1 to the whole hard community

 

[Deleted member 88227]

You are very welcome and thanks for the kind words.