Work PC - $1,500 budget

[pablo2525]

Hi,

Please see the `Additional comments'

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE:

No rush.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT:

0) Run openSUSE 11.x
1) Stable work computer: e-mail, database work
2) Run Oracle/Sybase natively
3) Run SUN VirtualBox VM's

PARTS NOT REQUIRED:

o Keyboard, mouse, speakers
o Display

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS:

I'm only looking for a parts list. I live in a rural area and there's a guy/company down the road who, for a nominal price, will source the parts for me. I'd like to give him my business - even if it costs me a little more.

PARTS PREFERENCES:

o CPU: I7 920
o Graphics: nVidia

OVERCLOCKING:

If it'll affect stability, no.

MONITOR RESOLUTION:

I plan on using my existing 1920x1200 display. And the accompanying PCI-e graphics card from my existing machine.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

I'm not a gamer. I know my personality and it's better that I stay away. This will be a machine I use for work. I currently have a Dell Precision 370 - P4 3.0GHz and my Duo Core 2.4GHz laptop is faster than the desktop. This must change.

Here are the criteria I seek:

o It must be compatible with openSUSE 11.x - this is my native O/S
o quiet
o minimal heat generation
o support at least 4GB of RAM. I'm thinking of possibly going to 8GB.
o at least two internal SATA bays.
o a PCI-e graphics slot for my existing card

I hope the above is sufficient information.

Edit: I've been leaning toward an I7 920 but I can't seem to find proof-positive information whether it's fully functional under Linux.

 

[Proximon]

OpenSUSE hardware compatibility list:
http://en.opensuse.org/OpenSUSE_HCL

ASUS P6T Deluxe works "Out of the box" but it's a more expensive gaming board:

The original is no longer available, but V2 uses the exact same onboard hardware and should work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

Most likely, this means the P6T would work just as well, for less:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365
It does have some different hardware onboard though, so I'm not certain.

 

[xthekidx]

You can get a very stable overclock if you don't try to push it too far, 3.3ghz or so is pretty easy and you wouldn't experience stability problems, just run Prime95 for 24 to 36 hours to make sure its absolutely stable. This CPU cooler will make overclocking easy:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185093&Tpk=scythe%20mugen%202

You have a pretty easy budget to work with to make a really nice PC, so if you don't want to overclock, you could just get a faster i7, like the i7 950 or i7 940 when prices drop on it. The i7 950 is supposed to be released very soon, and will occupy the same price segment as the 940 currently, which will push the 940 down ~$100 or so I would guess...assuming it doesn't go EOL.

 

[pablo2525]

Thank you both for your responses. You've given me some direction. My head was spinning with all the options.

 

[Proximon]

The reason I'm not jumping all over the thread is the whole driver compatibility thing. General parts are easy, but building something that is going to work for your operating systems is not a topic we handle here much.

I may get some time to investigate this more tonight. Any links you have to hardware compatibility lists would help.

 

[pablo2525]

Hi Proximon,

Once again, thank you. Given the links you provided, it gets me going in a particular direction. I'd really like a nice, fast machine to crunch some of my data needs - my customer's actually. (I need integer operations, not floating point). I realize it's kinda "boring"

 

[pablo2525]

I thought I'd post a follow-up. For the MOBO, although it may be more `board' than I need, I'm going with the P6T Deluxe V2. Mostly because someone else has it running on `openSUSE 11.x' and I need it. Thank you Proximon for the HCL link. I very much appreciate it.

 

[pablo2525]

You have a pretty easy budget to work with to make a really nice PC, so if you don't want to overclock, you could just get a faster i7, like the i7 950 or i7 940 when prices drop on it. The i7 950 is supposed to be released very soon, and will occupy the same price segment as the 940 currently, which will push the 940 down ~$100 or so I would guess...assuming it doesn't go EOL.

Thank you for the above tip. It has me now considering the 950. I didn't see it on newegg.ca or newegg.com so it doesn't appear (readily?) available. I've asked my guy to see when it'd be available in Canada.

I feel like a child the day before Christmas! I'll be patient though.

 

[xthekidx]

It hasn't been released yet, its supposed to be released very soon now, like anytime.

 

[Proximon]

Since you have the board worked out, I doubt there's much potential problems left.

Here's a few ideas:

CM Cosmos
Insulated for sound and easy on the eyes, with tons of room.

Noctua CPU cooler
Quiet.

Corsair 650TX
This is more wattage than you need, but it's high quality and quiet. Other PSUs of this quality and quiet will cost you more, even at lower wattage.

XFX 9500GT (fanless)

Mushkin DDR3 6GB
This is expensive RAM that's very fast. You can get by with less probably, but if you really want the speed, here it is.

 

[pablo2525]

Excellent! Thank you very much. I was _just_ looking at graphics cards. Thank you for the other links. Time for more research.

 

[pablo2525]

Howdy,

Since I last wrote, the I7-950 came out and I couldn't resist. My budget is a bit blown but I thought I'd post what my newegg.ca shopping cart looks like and see if there are any changes/recommendations from folks.

o COOLER MASTER COSMOS S RC-1100-KKN1-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail

o Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

o XFX PVT94GZAH2 GeForce 9400 GT 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card - Retail

o CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 ... - Retail

o mushkin 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 998691 - Retail

o Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 120mm SSO CPU Cooler - Retail

o Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80601950 - Retail

o ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

 

[pablo2525]

I wanted to follow up ... I built The Rig today. I quickly installed `openSUSE 11.1' and she's running. I ran a couple of compiles and I peaked some of the CPU's at around 50C. At idle, they're between 27 and 34C.

I'll re-install `openSUSE 11.1' later today and dial the box in like I like it: XFS, dev packages, etc.

A big _thank you_ to Proximon and xthekidx. You made my build super-simple.

I did have a moment where the machine wouldn't start ... it turns out the ATX cable was a bit loose. I re-seated it (still not super positive connection) and bam, she lit up.

Nice and quiet too!