High-End personal Workstation Guidance

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Espresso ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaN0wcr8CPE

I get totally wired, at least 4 nights each week ... I find that a few days off, every week, helps to give the old kidneys a break and resets my tolerance, for the next blast off.

I am on a budget, too. I purchase one pound+ of fresh (dark roast) latin american beans, from my grocer and grind them at "one notch coarser" than espresso grind ...
... I mix that whole bag with a "fresh" large red plastic tub of FOLGER'S BLACK SILK drip coffee and shake all that up vigorously.

I put an un-bleached #4 filter in a plastic #2 cone and fill to the top of the plastic cone (packed!) ... I then cook my 1st meal whilst I dribble roiling water (a bit at a time), ...

I used to use my espresso machine but it only made 4 oz. at a time and was a little bit of a pain to clean.

I also used to fill a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup half full of fine grounds and then fill to the 4 cup line and steep-n-stir (alternately) before pouring the whole mess thru a filter cone ... great joe but too much cleanup.

... It still takes me 15 minutes to brew and clean up, but now I get more than 8 full oz. of pure black tar and just a little cleanup ... (no caraf or other mess ... no vinegar douches, etc ... and no explosions when I forget "pressure status").

... And that 8+oz lasts for 20 hours ... trust that.

... Sometimes, when I'm running low, I get 7-11 (Seven Eleven Corporation) Dark Mountain Roast or Brazillian Dark Roast and add that to the "blend tub" ...

.... At *-bux I say ... "Black-n-Bold Grande Blackeye with a-inch-uh-ice, at the bottom." (Texas Accent).




Is there anything else you would like to know about my personal habits? Lint? Jam?

 


If you say so ...
... I should have mentionned (and, now, I must) ...
Micro-ATX mobos ONLY have/support ONE PCIe 2.0 16x GPU Slot ...
... You would (at least) have to step up to an 890GX UD3 grade mobo (~$150 USD) ... slap TWO 570s in there, and re-assess your power requirements (750Watts, at most)

... Tho ... As I originally said, An i7-950 on a mid-grade mobo, with 12GB of 1600c7 and dual Quadro FX3800s (or 2x 570s) and "all the rest", would put you into the ws game, at around $5K (with those two 25" LCDs), 90GB-SSD and 2TB Internal RAID-0 .

And ... With two fat GPUs ... and RAID? ... Big cooler ... FULL TOWER

 
why RAID? I'm sorry it's so noobish but what's the point? and what's the difference with the numbers proceeding RAID-? What the heck does that mean?

What about a dual CPU dual GPU rig? Would it be pointless to dual CPU if the rendering ran off GPU? or would there be a performance advantage if I were to dual both? Right now that's my big inquiry/ decision to be made. Do i go with dual CPUs and dual GPUs or is that just wasting money? If so, then i need to decide if dual GPUs is a better setup than dual CPUs.
 



You're joking, right? 4 oz.??? You are WAY under-extracting, man. That must taste like black shite. Get a better grinder, go way finer, get the extraction down to about 1.5 oz in 30 seconds (for a double-shot). Should be a deep reddish-brown syrup that leaves a resin-like residue in the cup. Espresso is the sweet nectar of the coffee bean. At 4 oz. You're turning it into something like what comes out of an old tractor crankcase. Think of Johnny Walker. Would you want 4 oz?

I hope you know more about computers than you do about coffee. :kaola:

By the way, why are you recommending the FX1800 now? Just a little earlier you were for the Quadro 4000. What gives?
 
Seriously ... I give up.

Nice article, tho ... Did you read the comments that followed ??

The dual socket ws are "way overkill" ... way!

You know, tho? ... I live in Texas and there are PLENTY of store-front cowboys who own one ton deisel crew cabs with 8 foot beds and 4WD lift kits with winches and goose-neck trailer hitches ... etc. ... ad-nauseum.

They don't own ranches ... they never rode a horse ... they use the dam things to take their kids to school and socker games ... never seen a dirt road ...never even get dusty.

These days? ... A dual socket system is just a white elephant ... sure ... If *YOU* want to buy me one ... I'll sure find a use.

... BTW ... Do you pay your own power bills or does someone else ?

Knock yer-sef out ... and, btw, most of those techs that spec'd those dual proc systems do NOT own one and have never even actually built one ... betcha your lunch money.

... Tho ... As I originally said, An i7-950 on a mid-grade mobo, with 12GB of 1600c7 and dual Quadro FX3800s (or 2x 570s) and "all the rest", would put you into the ws game, at around $5K (with those two 25" LCDs), 90GB-SSD and 2TB Internal RAID-0 .

And ... With two fat GPUs ... and RAID? ... Big cooler ... FULL TOWER


Customer's always right ... look out for that big red button.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pxjnl1yuXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=vuamSKIvhcA


Some folks just need to find out the hard way ... I can live with that.

 
http://blog.renderstream.com/?p=442

okay so I'm sold with the idea that the GPU will be processing the renderings/ visual. Now what does this mean for my build? If the CPU isn't loaded with the weight of this work, can i go with a mid class mobo? Is there any advantage to a single intel Xeon over the i7-950 provoked by Alvin?
 


... oh, ... really ?! ... NOT !!


Look ... All YOU are going to need is 4-to-12 threads, running at better than 3.2GHz and at least 8GB of DDR3 ... or ... 12GB (if X58 3ch) ...

You could go with any proc from (my) Athlon-II x4 (OC'd to 3.6GHZ ... to ... A 12 thread i7 extreme ... Anywhere in there.

Two mid-grade quadros (FX3800) or two FERMI 570/580s.

One more time ...
X58 UD3 mobo (or ASUS at same price)
Core i7-750 (OC'd to 3.8GHz with a Noctua 140mmx120mm push-pull cooler)
12GB DDR3
Two FERMI 570s with as much GDDR/card, as you can get.
A 90GB boot SSD
Two 1920x1200 LCDs of at least 23.5" and a refresh of under 7 ms.
... AND ... ANYTHING else you want to add.

... Oh, yeah ... I gave up trying to save you from yoursef ... never mind.

 
I'm shocked Alvin, You don't even comment on the myth busters awesomeness in that video. And your build you are telling me to do takes their experiment into acknowledgement. Why don't you just bend your almighty boastfulness a little and realize i'm working to help you, and of course, myself out. We need to understand this whole CPU/ GPU thing before we can go ahead and jump into making these big decisions. Your build tells me that the 'idea that the GPU will be processing the renderings/ visuals' is true. Your sarcastic '... oh, ... really ?! ... NOT !!' remark tells me that you have a desire to be understood as the almighty knowledge. Come on man, you keep giving plenty of example builds. I'm into why you are stating such builds as the answer... why do I only need '4-to-12 threads, running at better than 3.2GHz and at least 8GB of DDR3 ... or ... 12GB (if X58 3ch) ...'

I've thought about OCing an Athlon 1075, but I heard OCing workstations was a bad decision since they tend to be less stable. Hence my obsession with bringing the Xeon into the question.
 


And this coming from a guy who asked "what those RAID number-thingys mean." !!!

I really have to admit, this Alvin guy has A LOT of patience.
 
The reason I spend my time on " smoke puff" is because of his enthusiasm and because he reminds me of myself, in that he thinks he actually knows something (ha).

Just so you know, I worked L2 corporate workstation and server issues, for DELL, among many other great jobs, in network and systems support ...

I was literally maintaining and operating SLBM launch systems before you were born.

I sher ain't here to prove anything to YOU.





 
Some typical industrial configs.

The thing is that, you don't really need a dual xeon system unless you are doing complex multi-cam or uncompressed SDI on many layered tracks ... So ... sure ... If you want to rival the output of Fox Sports Network, and you are working on a frantic deadline ... go for the big guns. But if you have time to make sandwiches, during your final renders ... eh ... no reason a 950 with 12GB wouldn't be plenty. Remember that two years from now ... whole new worlds of cheaper solutions (upgrades) will be available.


http://www.videotexsystems.com/product.php?productid=18247&cat=239&page=1

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/707042-REG/B_H_Photo_Rain_Element_Pro_II_Adobe.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/707033-REG/B_H_Photo_Rain_Solstice_Pro_Adobe_Premiere.html


There certainly are PLENTY of Xeon(x2) turnkey CS5 systems out there ...

... I suppose my philosphy differs, in that, I am seeing this investment as VERY TEMPORARY ... and expect you will have MUCH better core-compute options, within the next few years ...

The Core i7 four core and six core procs have 8 and 12 threads, respecively and can clock over 4GHz, on air, without breakin' a sweat. ... Add a serious 12GB of DDR3 to that and you are golden.

The dual socket solution locks you into an expensive base platform ... one that you won't likely want to throw away, any time soon ...
... A socket 1366/X58 (fully tricked), on the other hand, can be re-tasked to do many other great things and you won't be stuck with a huge, expensive, power-guzzling boat anchor ...
... Imagine yourself, two years from now ... having invested in a ws dual socket system and twin procs ... and you are seeing (new gen) notebooks (now) that can run circles around your battleship ws.

It is your money ... your future ... Two years from now, you'll know for sure, if I was full of crap, or not.

 



You, who? Not me, I hope. I never asked you to prove anything. I'm just amazed at how much you have put up with from that jfk guy and still remain civil.

As for me, I never launched any missiles. I'm just an old assembly language programmer from the CP/M days.
 


Well, if you have coded assembly, into a tight space, then you totally get where the bottlenecks truly are ... You know where the obstacles are.

I built an IMSAI and a Heath/Zenith Z-100(S-100 Bus) ... Solder ! ... Before I ever went into the USSS and graduated 1of27 in subsurface electronics, before moving on to FBM training ... I used to convert hex to octal, on the fly, as I keyed in register values, 3 bits at a time.


"Puff" has a point ... there are many dual proc xeons out there, as mainstream CS5 turnkey rigs so, yeah, I can see why he might want some concrete justification (assurance), that X58 would be plenty for an ambitious noob.

You and I have been around long enough to know that much iron will become obsolete, much sooner than he relizes and also that his personal level of proficiency/efficiency/productivity is not likely to justify or to effectively utilize any extra performance which might be gained by doubling his core-compute investment.

... I am patient because he really does remind me of myself and because I hate seeing folks up-sold into a sucking money hole, when all they really wanted was to express and communicate their unique vision, to others.

You don't need a one ton pickup to haul plywood from Home Depot, on weekends.

You DO need a one ton truck to haul a full crew and a two palletes of cynder blocks, 6 days a week.

=sigh=
 


Don't get me started talking about pickup trucks... but BELIEVE me, I know EXACTLY what you're talking about! (My own truck, I've literally pulled the eyes off the front shocks more than once, I've overloaded it so bad).

So, what exactly does my daughter, being a 5th year college kid, need? (rhetorical question) I don't know. How could I? All I do know is she has maxed out what she currently has (laptop) and is constantly frustrated by it.


So, based mainly on what you've written here, AND my own financial restraints, this is what I've come up with:

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950
Item #: N82E16819115211

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813128423

PNY VCGGTX570XPB GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Item #: N82E16814133370

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model
F3-12800CL8T-12GBRM

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic and Mesh Bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Item #: N82E16811119197

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...
Item #: N82E16817139006

2 - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #: N82E16822152185

OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE90G 2.5" 90GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #: N82E16820227611

Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler
Item #: N82E16835608018

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
Item #: N82E16832116758

Arctic Silver AA-1.75G Thermal Compound
Item #: N82E16835100014

Plus misc cables, DVD burner, 19" second monitor, etc.

What do you think? The only thing I think might be controversial is the GPU. I'd appreciate your input.

Thanks.



 


Tears are welling up, in my eyes ... my lower lip is trembling ... and I just passed gas in my space-suit!

That is *THE* most perfect "Sweet-Spot Power-Build" that I have *EVER* seen !!! (crying, now).

Each and every frickin' part ... right down to the sub-model ... absolutely, "from nut-to-butt", the most perfect combination of cost/capability (careful word choice), on the planet ... at this moment.

You could buy 144,000 units, exact, and just sell them to anyone who came to you with any need ... really ... We should call it "The OAK RIDGE CREAM PUFF"!

 
woops ... You would need a second 120mm fan for push-pull, with the 212+ ...
... If you should decide to do that, I can pull the exact part# for the matching fan ... there is only one part that is a perfect CFM/RPM match, and it is not easy to find.

... but the 212+ costs ~$30 and comes with mounting hw for the second fan and also comes with decent paste. (very effective and highly rated ... a good part and a good value (under $40).


So you could save up to $190 without feeling much (if any) pain ... the 2nd spinner is a good idea, tho ... more as an external backup or internal RAID-1 (that should allay any disasterous crash/loss).
 
The closest shave ... Let's get chintzy !!

I have been thinking about the OAK RIDGE CREAM PUFF and your old pick-em-up truck ...

... Now ... unless your dear daughter is editing AVCHD video, regularly ... you might ...

(1) Go with the stock (INTEL retail-boxed) cooler and run at stock-clock speed.
(2) Go with cheaper RAM (one of these kits, maybe two because: ... *more* RAM will make your system faster than "faster RAM".
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226063
(3) Go with TWO of these (F3 @500GB), in RAID-1 (@ $55 each)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181&Tpk=F3%20500GB
(4) *Possibly* shop around for a 930 or a 940 CPU (if more than $20 cheaper).
(5) Go with an alternative PSU that is "adequate" (fingers crossed).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182173
(6) Salvage a DVD(-R) from an older PC

Just some thots ... Going with 6GB of cheapest RAM and the Stock Cooler make a lot of sense, for a student build ... as for the rest? ... meh.

 
Thanks, Alvin. Well, as far as the cooler, I really have no idea. I haven't built a system for several years so I haven't been keeping up on cooler technology. I was just going by what you have been posting. However, I never like to skimp on cooling, plus I plan on shooting for 4 Ghz.

For memory, 3DS Max specifies 8 gig. minimum. 12 seems about right.

And I was planning on RAID-1. I have bought several large external HD's for her over the years for her to back-up to, but she's doing her thesis project now and any data loss is just, you know, not an option.

But what about the GPU? I'm very nervous about using a consumer card. This machine will get ZERO gaming. 3DS Max 2011, AutoCad 2011, CS5, Rhrino 3D, in that order.

I'm pulling the trigger tomorrow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom