What do you think of this multi monitor workstation

[toordog]

Hi,

I would like to have opinions about this build setup:

I'm a heavy System Administrator and I need to always multitask. I setuped this desktop to allow 4 monitors multiscreen. It's been years since I last built a computer and I'm a bit outsync with the latest trend and technology.


My Objective are mainly:
- Fast computer for application *no gaming*.
- Open application fast
- Can sustain many applications open without lagging and transfert between ram and CPU to be very efficient to allow application to exchange data as fast as possible.
- Can support efficiently Virtualization (VirtualBox, VMWare server, VMWare workstation) as smoothly as possible.
- I'm targetting as cheap as possible while achieving the objective.


Here is the component I choose:

Motherboard
ASUS P8P67 B3 $189.00
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=63761&vpn=P8P67%20PRO%20REV%203%2E1&manufacture=ASUS

CPU
Intel Core i7-2600 3.40 GHz $299.00
http://www.tigerdirect.ca

RAM
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL 8GB $89.00
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=61213&vpn=F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL&manufacture=G%2ESkill

HDD
Mushkin Chronos 120GB 2.5IN SATA3 Sandforce SF-2281 SSD $159.00 OS
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=62873&vpn=MKNSSDCR120GB&manufacture=Mushkin%20Enhanced&promoid=1373

Seagate Barracuda XT 7200.12 2TB SATA 6.0GB $139.98 STORAGE
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=44639&vpn=ST32000641AS&manufacture=Seagate

Video Card
1x EVGA 01G-P3-1526-KR GeForce GT 520 Video Card - 1GB, DDR3, PCI-Express 2.0 (x16) $60.99
1x EVGA 01G-P3-1526-KR GeForce GT 520 Video Card - 1GB, DDR3, PCI-Express 2.0 (x16) $60.99

Chassis and PSU & Accessories
Corsair Graphite Series 600T ATX Mid-Tower Case $124.00
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=38650&vpn=CMPSU-850HX&manufacture=Corsair

Corsair HX850W 850w Modular Power Supply - Single Rail, 80 Plus Silver $149 http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4668507

Lian Li HD-321 Internal 3.5IN to 2X2.5IN HDD/SSD Mounting Kit 10.99
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=46703&vpn=HD-321&manufacture=LIAN-LI


Total: $1,281.95

 

[ScrewySqrl]

looks good. the 850W PSU is overkill for a pair of 520s.

You should be fine on this build with a 350-450W PSU.

 

[toordog]

looks good. the 850W PSU is overkill for a pair of 520s.

You should be fine on this build with a 300-400W PSU.

I intend to add 2-3 storage drive over time and maybe a better video card if I intend to do gaming later. I was thinking as maybe a WHDI enabled video card.

Total 3x video card *2 small and one bigger*
Total 4-5 HDD in the future


I was looking for review on the PSU and the only one that seems to be very good for a decent price was this 850W. Most Antec had bad review.


But 850W cost much more than lower watt PSU so if you can suggest me a better choice, I'm up to it

 

[ScrewySqrl]

I intend to add 2-3 storage drive over time and maybe a better video card if I intend to do gaming later. I was thinking as maybe a WHDI enabled video card.

Total 3x video card *2 small and one bigger*
Total 4-5 HDD in the future


I was looking for review on the PSU and the only one that seems to be very good for a decent price was this 850W. Most Antec had bad review.


But 850W cost much more than lower watt PSU so if you can suggest me a better choice, I'm up to it

why the mixed GPU? for SLI/Crossfire to work, all cards have to be the same chipset (a GT520 won't SLI with a GTX560ti for example), although a single lesser NVidia card can be used for PhysX.

Assuming you stick with just the pair of 520s for multiple monitors, even with the large number of hard drives, any of these PSU's should be fine:

Antec Earthwatts 380W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033

Xigmatek 400W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817815007

Corsair 430W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

XFX 450W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207018

All of them can drive HD6850/6870 or GTX560/560ti cards at stock values

 

[toordog]

For the GPU, I just been for the cheapest. I didn't plan to use SLI because, I think it support only one monitor when enabled.

Solution that support 4 monitors on one GPU usually start around 350-400$ instead of 130$ for 2x gt520. I didn't lookup much than that for the GPU. If you have a better option, i'm interested.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

it is true that 4 monitors will need 2 GPUs of any sort. but *any* GPU that can SLi/Crossfire will do so. AMD can manage 3 monitors at 5670+ or 6670+, with their very top end (59xx 69xx) able to handle 6 on a single gpu

Nvidia can handle 2 monitors per GPU, with 3 per at top end.

rather than the 2x 520s, I'd suggest 2x HD5670 @ $75 each. combined they'll have about the GPU power of a HD 6870. and would still need only the circa 400W PSUs I recommended above

 

[toordog]

it is true that 4 monitors will need 2 GPUs of any sort. but *any* GPU that can SLi/Crossfire will do so. AMD can manage 3 monitors at 5670+ or 6670+, with their very top end (59xx 69xx) able to handle 6 on a single gpu

Nvidia can handle 2 monitors per GPU, with 3 per at top end.

rather than the 2x 520s, I'd suggest 2x HD5670 @ $75 each. combined they'll have about the GPU power of a HD 6870. and would still need only the circa 400W PSUs I recommended above

HD5670 is ATI right? I don't know if it has improved, but back in time ATI had very big driver issue and glitch in their code. Still back in time, I decided to stick with NVidia chipset and drivers and to avoid ATI.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

will you be running Linux or Windows?

AMD had done a good job with drivers even in Linux lately

 

[toordog]

will you be running Linux or Windows?

AMD had done a good job with drivers even in Linux lately

Probably both. But mainly Windows. I will prefer to emulate Linux which is lighter than the oposite, emulate windows in Linux.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

then no problem with drivers at ALL.