New workstation for dev, light gaming

P

Pixeleet

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Messages
1,145
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Workstation for software/web development, IT admin tasks, 1080p movie watching, and light gaming (e.g. StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3... when they come out)
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1500 (not firm)
3) Where do you live?
Central Illinois
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.
Full build, including screen
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
No reuse, except for speakers
6) Will you be overclocking?
No
7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Single, maybe dual, 22". Needs to support 1080p (1920x1080).
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Jan-Feb
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.
RAID, SLI
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
Yes
11) Other requirements?
CPU - i7, LGA1336
Case - good for cable management without too much modding

I've built computers in the past, but really far in the past. Last build I've done is the one in my sig, so I'm a bit out of touch with the latest techs. I'm looking for two things right now:

  1. Sensible hardware specs for my uses
  2. A good reason (probably in the form of large savings) why I shouldn't just buy a Dell Precision workstation.
Thanks in advance [H]! :D
 
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1) Lets look at your uses:
Software/web development: Not really a special requirement here unless you'll be using multiple VM's? Otherwise, standard common config found throughout GenHard for your budget, and even lower.
IT admin tasks: All you need is PuTTy, right? :p
1080p movie watching: The recommendation for this would be a GPU that can take the load of decoding from the CPU, such as an HD3000 or better ATI card or GeForce 9000/GT200 or better NVIDIA card.
light gaming (e.g. SC2 and D3): On a 22" screen, shouldn't be too high end. I'd assume an HD5770 would do fine for 1680x1050, and even 1080P with such non-GPU-intensive games.

2) Aside from the savings, the main reason would be because of the gaming requirement. Precisions, AFAIK, are only configurable with workstation cards, as in FireGL or Quadro, which are terrible for gaming.

SLI isn't really worth it for a 22" monitor, since a single vidcard could definitely handle such resolutions. Even as an upgrade, you could simply sell the old card and buy a newer gen card that will most likely outperform two older gen cards in SLI/CFX.

This setup would do fine if you don't need HT... adjust as needed...
$320 - COMBO: Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz + GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA1156 SATA600 USB3.0
$140 - XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 [FS]
$95 - COMBO: Antec 300 ATX Mid Tower + Antec NEO ECO 520C 520W 80+ PSU
$94 - G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL [FS] ($5 off code: EMCMNMS45)
$80 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200RPM SATA300 32MB Buffer
$27 - Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B
============
$756 + tax and shipping

I'll leave the monitor suggestion to someone else. A 1080P monitor should definitely fit within your budget, though. If you want to play newer, more GPU intensive games at 1080P, I'd suggest a higher end GPU, though:
$310 - XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5

You may be able to fit an SSD or two into your build if you wanted. Check out my SSD page:
http://ssd.alphaq.org

If you're near a Microcenter, you can get the i5 750 for $150, the i7 920 for $200, and the i7 860 for $230. They may also pricematch newegg, but YMMV.
 
Thanks for the quick reply :D


  1. I was thinking about getting an i7, which supports HT, since there's room for it in my budget. What i7 chip gives the best buy? Also, is it worth waiting for Arrandale for DMI?
  2. I agree with your opinion about just getting one vid card. I'm sure that will suffice for the games I'll play on the PC (I have my x360 for all my real gaming anyway). But since my gaming reqs are so low, would having a Quadro really be all that bad? I play Civ 4 maxed out on a laptop with a Quadra NVS 140m.
  3. After thinking it over, I'll set a requirement for 8GB memory since I will be using VMs.
  4. Would an SSD drive be worth it for the OS + dev apps (VS, Eclipse, Photoshop, etc.)?
 
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1) The cheapest socket LGA1156 CPU that supports HT would be this Xeon:
$240 - Intel Xeon X3440 CPU

2) You're not doing any 3D work so no need whatsoever for a Quadro card. Considering your needs, you're better off with a consumer grade card.

4) Yes
 
I read some about the differences between i5 and i7, as well as 1156 and 1366. I have enough money in the budget for i7, so that kinda boots out the i5. And given my spending habits and uses, I can't justify the need for 1366, plus the extra turbo on the 1156 is far more likely to help me than me purchasing a second high-end vid card for SLI.

Given that I'll probably by buying the i7-860, what's a good mainboard/memory for it?


Thanks in advance again [H]

EDIT: I just flipped through some reviews of LGA1156 boards, and the Intel DP55KG is catching my eye. From what I've read over the years, Intel has a knack for boring stability, and that's what I need when it comes to this workstation. With light gaming requirements and a history of little-to-no overclocking passion, this may be the board?
 
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Haven't heard too much about that mobo. But Intel does have that history. Oh, if you had checked the specs on the Xeon CPU I linked to earlier, you would have seen that the Xeon is only 266Mhz slower than the i7 860 yet costs $50 less. I can guarantee that you won't notice a difference between the two CPUs. So I recommend going with cheaper Xeon.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Also, I may dual-boot Linux on this machine, so I'm leaning towards a nVidia card, perhaps the GTS 250, which would be comparable to the ATI HD 5750. Thoughts? The reason I'm favoring nVidia here is because, afaik, ATI doesn't support hardware acceleration for 1080p/x264 content in Linux. Nvidia does: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDPAU
 
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go for it. I also agree with the Xeon, unless you're near a microcenter (in which case the 860 would be $10 cheaper).
 
Right now, I have the i7 920 and Intel DX58SO priced at $430, while the i7 860 and Intel DP55KG is... also $430. I'd jump on the i7 920, but the Anandtech review placed the i7 860 ahead, taking into account the higher stock clockspeed and better turbo. Now I know the lga1336 has a better upgrade path, but I can't see myself upgrading to the $1000+ i9 six core within the life of this motherboard.

On the other hand, I do plan on adding an extra ati hd 5850 to the setup maybe 6mo down the road. So this branches a couple questions:

1) Would the 2x 5850 be bottlednecked by the lga1156 since it can only do 8x/8x?
1a) If it is, then I'll get the lga1336, no questions asked.
1b) If not, then maybe I'll get the lga1156 instead. Not a hardcore gamer anyway. But since the prices are so close... I could get the lga1336 and upgrade the i7 920 1yr down the road (in hopes of better turbo and obviously higher clockspeeds). According to the vibe I get on [H], people believe the lga1156 will have a much shorter upgrade path (same thing I felt between s754 and s939 a couple years ago).
2) Is the Antec CP-850 sufficient for 2x 5850?

I hope this isn't too complicated :)

EDIT: To add more fuel to the fire, I noticed the i7 930 is coming out in Feb 2010. I can possibly wait until then, since I won't be buying this until mid-Jan anyways. That would definitely seal the deal vs. the 860, but something seems disappointing about waiting for the diff between the 920 and 930. So I guess another question is, given my timeline, is it worth the wait?
 
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1) Haven't seen any difinitive proof showing an actual bottleneck with x8/x8
2) It should be but I don't recommend buying it at all since you can get the significantly better quality as well as higher amperaged Seasonic M12D 850W PSU for the same price.

Nope, the i7 930 is not worth the wait. It's only 133Mhz faster than the i7 920. Thats a very very small difference that no one will ever notice in real world apps and games.

The cheapest consumer quad-core LGA 1366 CPU is the i7 920. So you can't exactly upgrade to it. In addition, yes the first i9 CPU will cost $1000. But what many people forget is that Intel has always released the new generation of their CPUs at the $1000 price point first and then the cheaper mid-range models later on. Just take a look at the releases for Intel's Core 2 Duo and their Core i7 line of CPUs and you can see that quite clearly.
 
Danny Bui said:
2) It should be but I don't recommend buying it at all since you can get the significantly better quality as well as higher amperaged Seasonic M12D 850W PSU for the same price.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about the M12D over the Antec, but I'm leaning towards the Antec for two reasons:

  1. I noticed a fair amount of quality-control issues with DOA units. This kinda worries me about the Seasonic.
  2. The Antec will most likely be bundled with the P183 on Newegg (i.e. discount) when the CP-850 comes back in stock. Saving $30-40 will really push me towards the Antec PSU.
Danny Bui said:
Nope, the i7 930 is not worth the wait. It's only 133Mhz faster than the i7 920. Thats a very very small difference that no one will ever notice in real world apps and games.
Click to expand...

I read a couple things on the tubes that made me more confident of your answer:

  1. The Turbo has not been upgraded on the i7 930
  2. Microcenter may not have the same great discount for when the i7 930 is released, even though the retail price of the two is the same.
  3. Getting a X58+i7 920 combo, then waiting until Westmere is probably the safest option, given the similarity of prices between i7 860 and i7 920, that will also give the best upgrade routes.
 
Pixeleet said:
I was thinking about the M12D over the Antec, but I'm leaning towards the Antec for two reasons:

  1. I noticed a fair amount of quality-control issues with DOA units. This kinda worries me about the Seasonic.
  2. The Antec will most likely be bundled with the P183 on Newegg (i.e. discount) when the CP-850 comes back in stock. Saving $30-40 will really push me towards the Antec PSU.
Click to expand...

1) To be fair, those who have trouble tend to comment and post significantly more than those who don't have trouble with a product
2) Understandable. Just make sure thta the discount is at least $35 (preferably more) since I can think of a few $100 to $110 PSUs that are better choices than the CP-850.
 
At $140, I'll take the M12D. At $115 (provantage), I'll take the CP-850 iff I can get a P183 for $50, lol (same price I paid for my previous performance one cases... P180B and P182, before I sold them). The drawback of the CP-850 is its form factor: SFH (SoeFfinHuge)... oh no, wait, its CPX, sorry.
 
enginurd said:
The drawback of the CP-850 is its form factor: SFH (SoeFfinHuge)... oh no, wait, its CPX, sorry.
Click to expand...

This is true, but then again, it was meant to work with the case I'm planning to buy anyways. I realize this screws over flexibility in changing cases w/o replacing the PSU at the same time, but it all falls back to how great the discount on the combo is gonna be.

How does the OCZ Gold 6GB compare against the Ripjaws? They have the same timings, but the MIR with the OCZ makes it hard to look at the Ripjaws.
 
I'd go for lower voltage sticks for better compatibility and more headroom. Intel specified max overvoltage for DDR3 on Core i5/i7 is 1.65v, and the JEDEC standard is 1.5v.

$150 - G.Skill 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ

If you're going for 12GB, just get 3 sets of the 4GB ripjaw kit:
$94 - G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3-1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL [FS] ($5 off code: EMCMNMS45)

Those OCZ's are false advertising, as far as I'm concerned. They claim to be low voltage but are HIGHER than the standard DDR3 voltage -- highly untrustworthy practice, IMO. However, they may work perfectly fine for you if you want them.

As far as rebates go, they're never guaranteed, so I never purchase anything based on its after MIR price unless I'm completely comfortable with its pre-rebate price.
 
Whew. After all that I think I might have my parts list. I changed some items after reading more reviews on the tubes.

Processor: Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor ($199.99)
Motherboard: EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard ($269.99)
Memory: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ ($149.99)
Video: XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 (Cypress Pro) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card w/ATI Eyefinity ($309.99)
HDD: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive ($84.99)
CD/DVD: LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 24X DVD-R SATA Black 24X DVD Writer LightScribe Support ($33.99)
Case: Antec P183 Black Aluminum / Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ($139.99)
PSU: SeaSonic M12D SS-850 850W ATX12V V2.3/EPS12V V2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply ($139.99)
HSF: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7 compatible RR-B10-212P-G1 120mm ($28.83)

That brings the total to $1,328.92 (less S&H and some taxes)

This is slightly above my original budget, so maybe I can trade the H50-1 for the CM Hyper 212 Plus ($28.83), or the M12D for the Antec CP-850 ($115.45). Besides that, I'm pretty happy with this build.

But saying that, I'm sure [H] still sees something else to tweak... so have at it :)
 
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Do you live near a Fry's? I ask because they're selling the Corsair H50 for $50 IIRC.
 
Danny Bui said:
Do you live near a Fry's? I ask because they're selling the Corsair H50 for $50 IIRC.
Click to expand...

Going to Fry's is a bit of a roadtrip for me (nearest one is 2 hours away). I think I'd spend that much money on the petrol just to get there. Thanks for the heads up though.
 
Danny Bui said:
Do you live near a Fry's? I ask because they're selling the Corsair H50 for $50 IIRC.
Click to expand...

heh, many of the stores didn't have them in stock, from what I saw on the monitor when I asked. Nor did they have the 212+, which was on sale for $15 (the three fry's within driving distance for me started friday with 0 or 1 in stock - gfg).
 
I'm going to slightly change my build. I may swap out the Corsair H50-1 for the CM Hyper 212 Plus. I feel like I'm paying an extra $50 for more novelty and not really better temperatures. Besides, I don't see myself OC'ing for quite some time.

Secondly, I'm changing my motherboard to the E758-A1 instead of the E757-TR. I realize it costs $50 extra, but only the A1 has lifetime warranty. With those two changes, the build price stays the same, but I buy a little bit more piece of mind.

I'll change the post above to reflect this in case anyone else is following this thread.
 
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