Building a Workstation PC

[LordBaino]

I'm trying to build my dad a workstation PC. His main requirements are for it to be very fast (quick boot times, no lag, etc.). It doesn't need a GPU (but a very good CPU to compensate) because there's not going to be any gaming (although I'm trying to convince him to play Portal). What parts would you guys recommend?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

What is being done with this workstation? It is usual for a Workstation to have a GPU for the CAD/CAM/GIS/3D..... rendering.

What budget?

My system here boots in just over ten seconds and we can reduce that to about six seconds with a good M.2 SSD.

 

[Andrei N]

If you go Intel then you can use the dual cores or i3's of the latest Skylake architecture http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+G4400+%40+3.30GHz.
For an AMD build an FM2+ 6 core would be best because of the integrated graphics.
Any budget MB that supports the CPU is fine. I would prefer ASUS or ASrock.
Minimum of 8 GB RAM, Recommended 8 GB RAM, Maximum 8 GB RAM. You don't need more. You can't have good response times with less.
SSD for fast boot but a traditional HDD with 7200 rpm works well on Windows 8.1 or 10. A 7200 HDD will boot Windows 8.1 in ~on newer systems and ~30 seconds on older systems.
Warning: Windows 7 doesn't boot fast even on SSD.
Hope this helps.

 

[DonkeyOatie]

If you go Intel then you can use the dual cores or i3's of the latest Skylake architecture http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+G4400+%40+3.30GHz.
For an AMD build an FM2+ 6 core would be best because of the integrated graphics.
Any budget MB that supports the CPU is fine. I would prefer ASUS or ASrock.
Minimum of 8 GB RAM, Recommended 8 GB RAM, Maximum 8 GB RAM. You don't need more. You can't have good response times with less.
SSD for fast boot but a traditional HDD with 7200 rpm works well on Windows 8.1 or 10. A 7200 HDD will boot Windows 8.1 in ~on newer systems and ~30 seconds on older systems.
Warning: Windows 7 doesn't boot fast even on SSD.
Hope this helps.

Workstations are usually considerably more robust than that. I'd be starting with a hexacore CPU and wondering if ECC were necessary. That's where I think a workstation start, but we need to hear from the OP about what they think.