Business CPU Help

[QualSpect]

I am looking to build a new system in the next few weeks and could use some help. I know what I need down to the CPU. As mentioned above this system will be used for business only. I've read everything I can find about the latest and greatest CPU's, but they all seem to miss my purpose. It seems all these articles are written about building a top of the line gaming rig rather than a system intended for business apps. I'd like to build an adequate system, not an overkill monster nor an underpowered machine. So here's what I use my computer for:

I run 5 programs simultaniously:

1. My POP3 Email
2. A web page in IE that streams real time data about several marketing campaigns that I am running. Just a few buttons to run reports and a bunch of plain text
3. Another web page very similar to the one mentioned above. Both of these pages stream data in real time.
4. A rather large Excel spread sheet that displays my financial records. I usually just look these over during the day and make changes during the evening. By this time the two pages above stream very little data.
5. My software based firewall/virus/spyware program

I also download about 4 megs worth of data at night that I need to store on a RAID 5 set up. I rarely run reports on this data, but I do on occasion compile reports that total about half a meg. When I put these reports, spread sheets, together I often sort the data multiple times.

Two other important factors:

I will be running 3 monitors off of 3 video cards. They just display the apps listed above, no games or anything demanding.

I work out of home and would like a system that is somewhat quiet. I've spent a bit of time looking at Pentium M's to keep the noise down, but I'm not sure if these will cut it.

I apologize for the long post, but any and all help is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[endyen]

The PM would do fine, but the price is poor value. An Amd A64 3000+ is fine, actually overkill, but @ $135, it will do nicely. Get a good nforce4 motherboard.
Some of the graphics cards can feed 3 monitors, but 2 cards would be easier. Nothing too fancy.
Dont enable cool and quiet. The fan is more likely to die from lack of use way before it will die from use. They are quiet enough anyhow.

 

[Stimpy]

For a starters you are not multi tasking (from a machine point of view). All of your apps are gui based and require user interaction.
None of them are particularly CPU intensive (4MB file is nothing).
So at any one time the applications may be open and consuming memory but only the foreground application (the one you are using) is consuming any CPU cycles, so you don't need a dual core.
You also don't need the fastest CPU around indeed the apps you mention are mainly network based, so that will be your bottleneck anyway.
What you may need is lots of memory so switching between apps is fast.
You could get away with an AMD Sempron or an Intel Celeron.
I have to put up with an old PIII at work with 512mb of memory with just such tasks

 

[QualSpect]

Thanks guys. I've also seen socket 478 Celeron & Pentium M's, will these work in any 478 board with 400mhz bus? Do you think this may do the trick? Alot cheaper than a 479 board.

 

[liquidpaper007]

sempron 64! w00t extreme cheapnessssss

 

[QualSpect]

Just did some more digging and AMD it is. Athlon seems to be a good buy, but what do I need for what I've mentioned above:

FSB - 800, 1600, 2000?
L2 - 512 or 1 mb
Clock - 1.8 or 2.0

Thanks

 

[endyen]

An A64 3000+ would do fine, actually overkill, but for ~$135 it will do nicely.
Get a good nforce4 board, like the Abit AN8 ultra.
You dont really need 3 graphics cards. Get a midrange PCI-express card, and re-use you best PCI card.