Looking for workstation advice

R

Roscowgo

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 12, 2009
Messages
429
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc.
Office work, with the caveat that this user tends to wind up with a blue million processes running in the background. antivirus, picture software, blackberry software, etc etc.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included? Unsure, say around 900?
3) Where do you live?
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific. I have some spare cases laying around. And he has a decent monitor, so everything But that.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model. just the case. and monitor
6) Will you be overclocking? No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have? 22" at the moment.
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Unsure again, he's just starting to look because his abused laptop is rebelling.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc. no need for firewire or SLI/Cross, raid possibly if I can talk him into a mirror.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? Yep


I'm thinking of a budget i7 build, not because he actually uses it enough to warrant an i7, but because he abuses it enough. At last check I think he had some ridiculous 150 processes running on one of the ultraportable lenovos. And thats after he's started trimming down. Telling the gadjet ridden CEO that he's a goober and should have an abacus at max isn't a good idea. Which is what I'd like to do.

So I'm thinking the i7 2.66 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
a 6gb ram kit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231223
some random cd/dvd burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106327
2 of the 750 gb wd drives (if I can talk him into a mirror) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136359
pc power and cooling ps http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703017
el-cheep 4650 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131133
and this board to tie it all together. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128375


I'm sure it's way overkill, but I really can't stress enough that he doesn't have any sense when it comes to taking care of his box. And I'd rather have something that will run all his crap with room to spare so I don't have to go finger around on it every other day.

I don't know about those 2 drives. Don't the wds drop out of the array unless they're the raid editions?
 
Those drives will be fine, and they dont drop from the array.
What you are thinking of is the TLER issue.

This only occurs on non-RE drives when used in a RAID5 or similar RAID level that uses parity.
Mirrors and striping it does not matter.

Why the 750s?
If you want something a lil faster I would go with the WD6401AALS or the WD6400AAKS.
If you think they will need more space then I'd go with the WD 1tb
 
The 750s just seemed like a good deal. I don't really need screaming fast, and a ferrett with a flash drive zip tied to it would be about the same speed as his current mess. He doesn't do anything that requires super fast seek times or the like.

Thanks for the info on the drives, I knew I had seen the complaints here and there, but didn't realize it was a parity/striping thing.
 
Yea go with the 640's if you can spare the 90Gb

They are almost the same price, and they will be faster. I have several of them and I highly reccommend them.
 
i7 really shines to me as a multitasking processor so I think you will be pleased in that regard. In any given time on my home machine I have 2 mmo's up and alt tabbed bot grinding, several web browsers, a music player, Avira, Steam, mIRC, and usually a more graphics intensive game like Fallout 3, etc. The active window hasn't even shown a slowdown yet regardless of how much I load it up. You didn't list your location, but if you live near a microcenter you can save $80 on the i7 chip as well.
 
Stupid question, but why not consider a pre-built Dell or HP? Since this system is going to be used in a professional setting, should anything bad happens, you're on the hook for fixing it.
 
tiraides said:
Stupid question, but why not consider a pre-built Dell or HP? Since this system is going to be used in a professional setting, should anything bad happens, you're on the hook for fixing it.
Click to expand...

You can't buy a pre-built Dell or HP with a nice i7, multiple hard drives and lots of RAM for less than $1000. But you can build one.

And from the sounds of it, he is probably an IT person for this company so, regardless, he will be on the hook for fixing it.
 
He's a rather...Special case. And yep, I'll be on the hook no matter if Dell or whoevers name is branded on the case. Since he Is receptive to the built outta chunks gambit, but wants something tiny to minimize desk space. (I suppose he just Has to have room for the 2 separate multi function printers sitting within 2 feet of each other. NM not a user rant forum)

So I hunted up a micro ATX board The ASUS rampage II, I know, way overkill, but its supposed to do the 1333 stuff without fiddling. The Gskill ram I picked out is on the approved list, as is the processor.

Now I'm looking at m-ATX cases. The Matx slim cases on newegg would be perfect if they took a normal sized PSU, I'm leery of those 200w.... things though. Anyone know of one with a Good PSU already in it, or one that will fit a third party supply? The matx desktops seem to go from just a tad too big to mid tower range in a hurry.
 
Your build seems to be overkill with what you want to do. I would just grab whatever 3mb core2duo you can find and build around that.

Also, press him on the raid. Basically for an extra $70 you don't have to worry about HD failure. Any important computer I build I always throw down the for extra drive.

Edit:

Also don't forget a case. I really like Centurion 5's. Old but really good for the money.
 
I'm looking for overkill. I want 5-6 years out of this box. At least. You almost have to have it for him because of the massive load of junk he runs constantly. I think his sad little laptop has something like 150 processes running on it.


What is looking like my final build for him.
CPU 2.66 i7, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
MB asus rampageII, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131371
RAM 6gb gskill 1333, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131371
HD 2x wd 750, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136359
PSU massive overkill..don't care. I like overkill in the power dept. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703015
dvd burner, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106327
cheap video card, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131133
3 sata cables, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812123131
And a cheap case that seems small enough to not take up much room, but still take a standard sized power supply. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121091

956.88

Again, I know it's overkill, but I'm trying to stay ahead of the curve of abuse. I'm hoping that if I provide a comparatively cheap build that still has plenty of performance, I won't get saddled with, "It takes me 15 minutes to open my outlook 2012". As it is right now he's always gone for the absolute cheapest machine and then proceeded to flog it to death. Usually towing me along into duct taping the mess he makes back together. Maybe I should order him a dead horse.
 
Here's what i got for ya. Changed the PSU to the Corsair there's a combo with the dvd burner makes it the same price as the pc power and cooling you had but it has 4a more on the 12v rail. Upped the ram to the 1600 gskill set. changed to 2 1tb WD FALS drives. Changed the case to one that is the same size but won't cost you $22 in shipping like the one you linked. I think thats about it.


$109.98 - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM + CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail
$279.99 - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
$169.99 - MSI X58M LGA 1366 Intel X58 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$119.99 - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ - Retail
$32.99 - ASUS EAH4350 SILENT/DI/512MD2(LP) Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFire Supported Low Profile Ready ... - Retail
$189.98 ($94.99 x2) - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
$44.99 - COOLER MASTER Elite 341 RC-341C-KKN1-GP Black Steel MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Total = $954.06 shipped
 
bigwooly said:
Here's what i got for ya. Changed the PSU to the Corsair there's a combo with the dvd burner makes it the same price as the pc power and cooling you had but it has 4a more on the 12v rail. Upped the ram to the 1600 gskill set. changed to 2 1tb WD FALS drives. Changed the case to one that is the same size but won't cost you $22 in shipping like the one you linked. I think thats about it.


$109.98 - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM + CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ... - Retail
$279.99 - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601920 - Retail
$169.99 - MSI X58M LGA 1366 Intel X58 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$119.99 - G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ - Retail
$32.99 - ASUS EAH4350 SILENT/DI/512MD2(LP) Radeon HD 4350 512MB 64-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFire Supported Low Profile Ready ... - Retail
$189.98 ($94.99 x2) - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - OEM
$44.99 - COOLER MASTER Elite 341 RC-341C-KKN1-GP Black Steel MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Total = $954.06 shipped
Click to expand...

That doesn't suck, neither does the HP down below, though I could only get the HP down to 1209 with 2 500's in raid1.


Maybe I should present him with a 2500$ gaming build then steal the parts.:p Oh yeah boss, I'm gonna have to er.... Test that 295. Here's an etch a sketch in the meantime.

Thanks to all, I'll show him both and see what he wants to do.
 
Roscowgo said:
I'm looking for overkill. I want 5-6 years out of this box. At least. You almost have to have it for him because of the massive load of junk he runs constantly. I think his sad little laptop has something like 150 processes running on it.

...

Again, I know it's overkill, but I'm trying to stay ahead of the curve of abuse. I'm hoping that if I provide a comparatively cheap build that still has plenty of performance, I won't get saddled with, "It takes me 15 minutes to open my outlook 2012". As it is right now he's always gone for the absolute cheapest machine and then proceeded to flog it to death. Usually towing me along into duct taping the mess he makes back together. Maybe I should order him a dead horse.
Click to expand...

I know EXACTLY how you feel. The CEO of the non-profit I work for is notorious for killing electronics. She just insists on abusing them and then getting all upset when I have to send it back to HP for service. She has gone through 4 smartphones in the past 8 months. She finally got an iPhone and a $3000 MacBook Pro (on the company buck) and she seems to be happy for now. I just hope Apple's support is good like HP's.
 
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