My Dell workstation is on it's last clock cycles and I am leaning toward building a new rig rather than go with the cookie cutter retail buy. Going with an ASUS board (never had a problem with them for previous builds) but don't know which processor to go with, coming from a XEON. Phenon or Core i series? I haven't used an AMD since the early Athlon days, but have been reading really good reviews of their latest processors. Have read good stuff too about the latest Intel stuff. So which route should I go with? Thinking either AM3 or Core i5. thx.
I would suggest to go with where the wind blows. Currently the wind is in favor of Intel processors. Pick near the top of the line i7-2600k ($320). Or the i5-2500k that is pretty good too. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-2600K+@+3.40GHz Find an ASUS motherboard that supports the chip you select. And go from there to pick other components. The rest of the components are easy and quite generic once you have picked the processor and mobo. If you want to drive multiple monitors, make sure you have adequate PCIe X16 to house your display cards. e.g. needs 3 slots to house 3 x dual-head cards to drive 6 monitors.
2nd that. Either 'K' part currently has the best bang for the buck out there, especially after you overclocked it, which is trivial.
I would never buy another Dell. I know you guys like them but i have had very bad luck with Dell. I still have my old 8300 and use it as a backup but as a primary trading computer my vote is thumbs down to dell. you are better off finding someone to build you what you want.
Agreed. Any vendor that "gives" you a 3 year warranty is flat-out telling you that they're using cheap hardware and have an actuarial expectation of failure on one or more components. Screw that. Lean how to "build" your own computer or find some high school kid and tell him if he builds it for you you'll let him burn it in for a week or two. Either he'll tell you he'll do it for $50 to $100 because your build is too pedestrian or he'll be drooling and do it for free. Here's my CUDA workstation: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=17928906 They'll definately build this one for free...
Check out ibuypower.com If you can build a cheaper cpu then one the can provide do it, but chances are that isnt going to happen. To get free shipping just customize a weekly special that has free shipping to whatever build you want. Also they run some decent sales during holidays such as this one.
My build, minus the 2TB HD & backup software and a Gigabyte UD7 instead of the Asus WS checks in @ $3,248. The price of the motherboards is a wash, but once you add in the $120 for the drive and backup SW you're at $3,368. And, there's also the issue with not knowing which 3GB GTX580 you're getting and no Noctua CPU cooler offered either. So, for 10% more you get less plus a 3-year "limited" warranty. Parts are covered for a year, labor for 3 but, shipping both ways is on you.
I just picked up these parts this evening. I needed to get a new build as the current one has had some issues and until resolved I went for a new setup. (blanked out salesman and store info in pic ) Purchase prices cheaper than sticker prices on boxes. Intel i7 2600k Asus P8p67 Pro 3 Asus ENGT 430 1 gb ddr3 vid cards ( running 6 monitors ) 8 gb Corsiar vengeance ddr3 ( 2x4 ) OCZ 800w P/S OCZ Agility 120gb SSD Sata lll 6 gbps Installing W7 pro 64 OS I will throw it together and post some feedback on the building and running it.
Anyone have recommendations for a quiet case ? Tom's Hardware in an older thread suggests the Antec P183 V3 and the Zalman TNN-500AF, as the fav of many who replied. ( again a few years old ) My main case is an Antec 900 and does what its built to do and that is stay cool. Excellent case but a little quieter would be nice although not top of the priority list. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/238346-28-what-quietest-computer-case