Silent Linux Desktop Workstation

[MountainX]

This will be my 3rd such build, all guided by this forum. I built the first one in 2010 and the 2nd one in 2012. So I'm a bit overdue.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Big spreadsheets, and lots of content creation including audio editing (with Ardour), some image editing, some software development, and a wide variety of stuff. In 2012 most commenters suggested that my build was overkill. It was not. If anything, I wish I had gone for even more performance. This time, I plan to go for the maximum performance I can get within the constraint of silence. Silence is my #1 requirement.

2) What's your budget? Roughly US$3000 not including monitors. Budget is flexible. My company is paying for it.

3) Which country do you live in? US.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? Please see list of parts for my last build below. I want to buy all new parts of similar, but upgraded, specs. It's a workstation. And silent.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Only the UPS, monitors, mouse and keyboard... maybe not even those. Let's say "none."

6) Will you be overclocking? No.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it? I will be driving three monitors. Dell 30" U3011 at 2560 x 1600 resolution.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Start now and complete it in a few weeks or so.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
RAID? NO
Firewire? NO
Crossfire or SLI support? Not sure.
USB 3.0? YES
SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? YES
Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)?
UEFI? I guess I have no choice, right? I'll be running Linux (Ubuntu 64bit version 14.04 and soon 16.04.)

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? N/A

Most important features are:
1. must be dead silent!
2. must be powerful/fast. The current graphics performance is lagging a bit. However, I have to stick with silent (probably passively cooled) video cards.
3. I want more internal storage than my last build. That one had a 2TB drive and a 512 GB SSD.

Here is the parts list for my last (2012) build. I will plan to buy all these items again. I'm looking for similar spec components -- workstation quality, especially the RAM.

• Asus P8B WS LGA1155/ Intel C206/ Quad CrossFireX/ SATA3&USB3.0/ A&2GbE/ ATX Motherboard
• Xeon Qc E3-1230 Processor (Sandy Bridge CPU) LGA1155 (8M Cache, 3.20 GHz)
• 4 x Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) ECC Unbuffered Server Memory Model KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G
• PowerColor Go! Green ATI Radeon HD6750 1 GB DDR5 2DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card AX6750 1GBD5-NS3DHG
• Samsung Spinpoint F4EG 2 TB SATA2 5400rpm 32 MB Hard Drive HD204UI/Z4
• Samsung Spinpoint F4EG 2 TB SATA2 5400rpm 32 MB Hard Drive HD204UI/Z4 (external storage)
• Crucial 512 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT512M4SSD2
• Crucial 64 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT064M4SSD2
• 1 x Seagate STAW3000100 3TB BlackArmor NAS 110 Network Storage
• 1 x LITE-ON Black 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu Ray 3D Feature SATA IHBS112-04 - OEM
• 1 x Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler
• Seasonic 560W 80 Plus Gold ATX 12V/EPS 12V Power Supply - X-560 SS-560KM
• 2 of POWER SAVING BACK-UPS XS 1500
• Ultra 120mm Fan Vibration Dampener 3 Pack
• Nexus Anti-Vibration PC Mounting Kit - 60 components
• Macally USB Slim Keyboard (ICEKEYB)
• Contour Design RollerMouse Free2, Black (since upgraded to a Re:d)
• 3 of Dell UltraSharp U3011 30-inch Widescreen Monitor
• Antec SOLO II Computer Case (Piano black)
• 3 of Scythe Kama Flow 2 120mm x 25mm Fan - 900 RPM w/ Extra Fluid Dynamic Bearing (SP1225FDB12L)
• 3 of Scythe Slip Stream SY1225SL12SL 120mm 500 RPM Fan
• Rosewill RCR-AK-IM5002 USB2.0 75 in 1 internal Card Reader

My sound "card" will be a USB audio interface: probably the Komplete Audio 6. It's tough to find a good USB audio interface with Linux support. I know this one works well. I'll research other options separately, but for now we can assume this device will be my audio interface.


EDIT:
I just read this comment in another thread:

Come back in a few months and ask for advice then because:
1) We'll have more information on which Z170 or H170 mobo are actually good
2) The pricing and availability of the regular Core i7 CPUs should be stabilized by then.
3) DDR4 RAM will be cheaper
4) Less of a price gouging on the Z170 or H170 motherboards.

If that is the general opinion, and if any of that actually applies to me, then I could wait and plan to build at Thanksgiving time (November). However, given that I'll probably be buying a workstation mobo, Xeon CPU and ECC RAM, maybe the above doesn't apply to me. Thoughts?

 

[TheEschaton]

Here's a concept with a rough price estimate attached:

PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Intel Xeon E5-1600 v3 ($578.99 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: ASRock EP2C612D16C-4L ($300.14 @ Mwave)
Video Card: ASUS Radeon R9 380 STRIX-R9380-DC2OC-2GD5-GAMING ($208.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA 1000W 120-G1-1000-VR ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: SAMSUNG 500GB 840 Series MZ-7TD500BW ($92.99 @ Amazon)
Storage #2: SAMSUNG 500GB 840 Series MZ-7TD500BW ($92.99 @ Amazon)
Storage #3: TOSHIBA 3TB DT01ACA300 ($86.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage #4: TOSHIBA 3TB DT01ACA300 ($86.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Primo PH-ES614P_BK ($99.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DXi4 ($63.99 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: COUGAR ATTACK2-3B ($79.99 @ Mwave)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDR-S09XLT ($178.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: AeroCool DS 140mm Black ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan #2: AeroCool DS 140mm Black ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan #3: AeroCool DS 140mm Black ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan #4: AeroCool DS 140mm Black ($19.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2,085.99
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound

PC Hound doesn't allow us to differentiate for ECC RAM yet, so I went out and found some RAM that should be good at about four sticks to start, for 32gb - another 32gb could be added later: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820242020

Similarly, the build is designed so that you can drop in another CPU and/or GPU. I went with AMD GPU both because it was your previous choice and because if you are using LibreOffice's Calc for spreadsheet work you might be able to take advantage of the OpenCL GPU acceleration that is available in that program. The GPU does come with fans, however Asus' Strix fan design is noted as being particularly quiet, and in this case, with all the other active cooling going on, I do not think the fans on the GPU will be noted.

A few final notes:
1. The SSDs are meant to be run in RAID 0, the HDDs in RAID 1.
2. By spec the Aerocool case fans I chose seem great for your purposes, and I know aerocool's a decent brand, but I don't actually know if these fans live up to expectations.
3. The RAM must be registered ECC type in order to use two CPUs.
4. The Blue Ray drive will not have software for playing the latest movies; most of them don't.
5. The keyboard suggested is also chosen for quiet. Get the version with the MX Black key switches - there's no audible click to those (or the Reds, but you risk loudly bottoming out on those a little more). It also had some nice additional keys for macro work, which I am guessing might be helpful on this workstation.
6. I would strongly recommend sticking with this CPU cooler for both CPUs, should you ever get the second CPU as well. Noctua is renowned for quiet, efficient operation, and this cooler in particular was designed with compatibility for workstation boards in particular.

 

[InternationalHat]

I'd say definitely not 840 SSD's and definitely not in raid for a workstation.

 

[TheEschaton]

I'd say definitely not 840 SSD's and definitely not in raid for a workstation.

Oh, what are the problems with the 840s? I had thought they were great drives.

As for the RAID, are you suggesting not to do RAID 0 because of the possibility of drive failure? What's the issue there?

 

[defaultluser]

Oh, what are the problems with the 840s? I had thought they were great drives.

As for the RAID, are you suggesting not to do RAID 0 because of the possibility of drive failure? What's the issue there?

Yes, Raid 0 adds absolutely nothing for SSDs, and increases the possibility of drive failure. Unless you're doing block copies between drives all day long, they'd get the same performace from one larger drive than RAID 0 with two smaller drives.

It's mostly the microsecond-level response time that makes SSDs feel so fast, not so much the throughput. All RAID 0 does is raise the throughput.


And the 840 drives are ancient. Might as well go 850 Pro for a build with this high a budget.

And your prices are wrong for those 500GB 840 Pro drives. PC Hound fucked up and linked the $92 120GB drives, labeled as 500 GB. You always have to double-check automated builders that find parts too good to be true

Here is the actual drive you wanted to include, and it's $440 if you select the 512GB model! It's priced that high because it's discontinued!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NHAF06/?tag=pchound-20

Might as well get the 850 Pro 1TB, which is the same price for twice the space, and much higher performance

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-SATA-Internal-MZ-7KE1T0BW/dp/B00LF10KTE

Also, I'm not sure I'd recommend that case. It didn't score too well in a 550w load comparison test at SPCR (6 cores plus Tonga video card will be in that ballpark). Seems to be built more for watercooling:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1368-page6.html

But I do agree with your CPU, motherboard and ram recommendation. It gives him an opportunity to add 6 more cores if the 6 cores he already has are not enough

Good PSU, that should be plenty even with dual processors.

But I'm not sure about the AMD GPU suggestion. it may be overkill, if MountainX doesn't use a tool that requires GPU acceleration. He could probably get by with his current GPU if that's the case.

 

[MountainX]

Speaking of SPCR review, I just saw this article from last year:

Quiet Liquid Cooled Gaming PC Build Guide | silentpcreview.com
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1437-page1.html

I have never built (or owned) a water cooled PC. Will they run trouble-free for years? My last build from 2012 has never given any trouble and it has rarely been turned off. It just runs and runs and I don't even have to think about it. Are water-cooled PC's that maintenance free?

 

[TheEschaton]

Yes, Raid 0 adds absolutely nothing for SSDs, and increases the possibility of drive failure. Unless you're doing block copies between drives all day long, they'd get the same performace from one larger drive than RAID 0 with two smaller drives.

It's mostly the microsecond-level response time that makes SSDs feel so fast, not so much the throughput. All RAID 0 does is raise the throughput.


And the 840 drives are ancient. Might as well go 850 Pro for a build with this high a budget.

And your prices are wrong for those 500GB 840 Pro drives. PC Hound fucked up and linked the $92 120GB drives, labeled as 500 GB. You always have to double-check automated builders that find parts too good to be true

Here is the actual drive you wanted to include, and it's $440 if you select the 512GB model! It's priced that high because it's discontinued!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NHAF06/?tag=pchound-20

Might as well get the 850 Pro 1TB, which is the same price for twice the space, and much higher performance

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-SATA-Internal-MZ-7KE1T0BW/dp/B00LF10KTE

Also, I'm not sure I'd recommend that case. It didn't score too well in a 550w load comparison test at SPCR (6 cores plus Tonga video card will be in that ballpark):

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1368-page6.html

I actually am worried that the user in question might be doing large copies back and forth, given that he's working with large datasets and multimedia manipulations. given that there's also enough spinner in the system to back it up 100%, I think it's OK to recommend RAID 0 SSD.

That being said, yeah I just used the pricing as a sort of conceptual thing; PC Hound is much too crappy for anything else. It gets it "mostly" right; you have to do the rest of the work yourself, lol. I'm coming to realize that! I come from PCPP, where the builder is usually much better at that sort of accuracy.

Given what you've said, IF we do not go RAID 0, might it be best to opt for a large M.2 drive? The board supports it, anyway.

I do agree about the case issue. The fact that it does have several large, directly exposed fan grates does imply a non-quiet case. Again, PC Hound didn't have other cases that mentioned SSI EEB support, and I was too lazy to go and find one myself, lol. Does the Antec P280 support SSI EEB? Antec mentions XL-ATX, but those are not the same thing; SSI EEB is wider... otherwise I like the design of that case for quiet PC.

 

[MountainX]

But I do agree with your CPU, motherboard and ram recommendation. It gives him an opportunity to add 6 more cores if the 6 cores he already has are not enough

Thanks defaultluser & TheEschaton. Seems like we are getting a consensus on CPU, mobo and RAM.

An ideal case for me would be the Antec Solo II, but I think it could be too small for this build. Another case that interests me is the Silverstone Fortress FT05. I have never used it, just read about it on SPCR.

 

[MountainX]

I actually am worried that the user in question might be doing large copies back and forth, given that he's working with large datasets and multimedia manipulations....

Yes, that is true. However, I am also often copying large files across my LAN (NFS v4 network with gigabit ethernet) and to external drives. Therefore, file copy operations often slow me down anyway.

 

[defaultluser]

Speaking of SPCR review, I just saw this article from last year:

Quiet Liquid Cooled Gaming PC Build Guide | silentpcreview.com
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1437-page1.html

I have never built (or owned) a water cooled PC. Will they run trouble-free for years? My last build from 2012 has never given any trouble and it has rarely been turned off. It just runs and runs and I don't even have to think about it. Are water-cooled PC's that maintenance free?

No custom water cooling is not maintenance free, which is why only the hardcore build them

They're a lot easier to build than they used to be, with many standardized connections and lots of block options to choose from. But you're still basically running a fish tank pump attached to all the piping inside your house, so with that level of complexity you have to assume things WILL go wrong. And even if they don't, you still have to top-off the water due to evaporation, just like a fish tank.

If any part of the system should fail when your PC is cranking away, the least that will happen is it overheats and crashes. The worst that can happen is fried PC components from a water leak. And it's harder to diagnose problems in a water loop.

This is why we recommend air coolers here. The worst thing that can happen is the fan dies and your computer throttles (the heatsink is capable of handling more passive heat than a waterblock). You replace the fan and go on your merry way

Also, since most people don't want to go to the trouble of installing a big external radiator, the noise level is basically the same between air and water. You're just moving the heatsink and fan to the case wall.

 

[TheEschaton]

Thanks defaultluser & TheEschaton. Seems like we are getting a consensus on CPU, mobo and RAM.

An ideal case for me would be the Antec Solo II, but I think it could be too small for this build. Another case that interests me is the Silverstone Fortress FT05. I have never used it, just read about it on SPCR.

It is indeed too small. Here's a weirdie that supports the board and is made by a company that is respected for quiet case design, but I will immediately point out that I'm not sure it will support the coolers I was thinking of, or adequately cool large GPUs placed into it: http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-GD08B-Aluminum-Extended-compatible/dp/B007X8TQYI

 

[TheEschaton]

Yes, that is true. However, I am also often copying large files across my LAN (NFS v4 network with gigabit ethernet) and to external drives. Therefore, file copy operations often slow me down anyway.

You will want to look into NIC teaming and tiered storage cache solutions, like PrimoCache (or linux equivalents, which I presume to be free).

 

[defaultluser]

Yes, that is true. However, I am also often copying large files across my LAN (NFS v4 network with gigabit ethernet) and to external drives. Therefore, file copy operations often slow me down anyway.

Right, you'll get zero improvement from the RAIO 0 SSD throughput if you're limited by the ~100MB/s network copy speed.

Still better to go with one drive!

And I don't think he's notice the difference going m.2 nVME SSD drive. You really have to be doing something bandwidth-intensive like 4k video editing to see any benefit from that.

Also, the link I posted from SPCR showed the Silverstone FT04 Fortress to be a much better case for silence without compromising airflow. So take a look at it. It's huge!

http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Extended-ATX-Aluminum-Computer-FT04B-W/dp/B00DU6RWIE

If you're ever going to upgrade to dual processors, you're going to need a case that size.

You can also try out the Fortress FT05, although it has not been reviewed yet by SPCR. But they have reviewed the Raven, it's smaller cousin, and it's even better than Fortress FT04

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1398-page6.html