General-purpose workstation build.

jrich7720

Honorable
Dec 19, 2012
17
0
10,510
I've just scrapped a build I had in mind and am going back to the drawing board. I have already purchased a Case Labs STH10 case, a Seasonic Platinum 1000W PSU, and an ASUS x79 Sabertooth motherboard. I'm quite happy with my case and PSU choices, but I've reconsidered the Sabertooth, and have decided to re-sell it and pick up a workstation board.

I had originally intended to build a rig that would be capable as both a gaming rig and a workstation. I have decided though, that what I would have is a gaming rig that could also do some work. And I would probably spend more time playing games than doing work. I've always been a console gamer to this point, and I recently sold all of my PS3 games and have decided I don't want to spend anymore of my life playing video games. I'd now like to build a machine with the pure intent of doing work.

I won't return to college until next August, so as of now the only programs that I know for certain I will need to be able to run are AutoCAD and probably a couple of different Autodesk suites. I will also need to be able to run some camera control software as well as image and video processing software for astrophotography. There is a strong possibility that I will need to run more programs in the future, as well as the likelihood that I will need or want to add hardware. An RME Audio card for guitar recording comes to mind.

Anyways, keeping in mind that I intend to sell off the X79 Sabertooth that I currently have, here's a list of what I now plan to purchase:

Case Labs STH10 - own it

Seasonic Platinum 1000W PSU - own it

ASUS P9X79-E WS motherboard

Intel Xeon E5-2680 v2 Ivy Bridge

AMD R9 290X GPU(x4)

64GB DDR3 1600 ECC Memory

Dual DoubleSight DS-279W or Dell U2713HM

I plan to watercool at least the CPU and GPUs using Aquacomputer products.

I'm probably very willing to be convinced to go with an 8-core Sandy Bridge CPU, such as the E5-2680 or E5-2670. I wouldn't mind saving a few hundred. I'm not really sure what benefits I would enjoy with the Ivy Bridge compared to the Sandy Bridge.

I'm also thinking that maybe some of you will hate my GPU choice, but it's hard to argue with the 290X's price/performance ratio. I'd like to know whether any of you would recommend ECC-enabled GPUs for the type of work that I would be doing. What else would I get out of a W7000 that I won't get from the 290X? I'm assuming the W7000 is ECC-enabled. Also, are ECC-enabled graphics necessary for a computer that already runs ECC RAM?

I still haven't decided which route I want to go with some of the other hardware/software, such as going Windows or open source, for example. I also am not sure what I need to do for storage. I had planned on picking up an SSD for the OS, but that's about all I know. Would I benefit from being able to boot AutoCAD from an SSD? And should it be stored on the the same SSD as the OS?

I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but all I'm really hoping for here is some input on the basic system, at least. Don't be afraid to insult me. Thank you to all who respond!

James
 

FlaveRo

Honorable
Feb 24, 2013
63
0
10,640
First off great build for the sole purpose of a workstation. As for the storage the SSD does make a significant difference in speed. It doesn't matter if you have AutoCAD on the same SSD as the OS. You may benefit from having it on an SSD.
 

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