100% Stable Office PC $800-1000 - Boss wants me to get a dell blabla

[sephronis]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within two weeks

BUDGET RANGE: 800-1000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: VMWare Workstation / MS Office / Basic IT support

PARTS REQUIRED: Everything

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com but not opposed to giving consideration to others

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel / SATA Components / DVD-DL Writer x 2/

OVERCLOCKING: Never

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080 x 2

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: STABLE / QUIET / Raid 1 / Dual Widescreen 22" Monitors / NO OPEN BOX / Better than a dell

Software: Already have licenses. Nothing needed

 

[shortstuff_mt]

So you need two 22" monitors included in the $800 - $1000 budget? Your post isn't clear since you said "PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Everything".

 

[dndhatcher]

You wont get fired for buying a Dell. If you build it yourself and have problems that may not be the case. Something to consider for a business system.

 

[skittle]

Software/OS?

 

[sephronis]

Updated OP. I looked at getting a t105 or t100 from dell but I think I'd have to upgrade the power supply as it has no extra connectors and aftermarket video cards seem to be a problem. If I was to get a dell which model offers the best mix of stability and speed for my budget?

 

[sephronis]

You wont get fired for buying a Dell. If you build it yourself and have problems that may not be the case. Something to consider for a business system.

I've never had a computer I built die on me. It has just been a long time since I configured on on the low end and was looking for some good opinions and starting points. Usually I go bleeding edge for my personal systems.

Current machine
i7 950 / 12gb ram / SAS Raid 0 / GeForce GTX 295 x2 SLI / Windows 7

 

[shortstuff_mt]

So you don't need an Operating System? I know you said you prefer Intel, but here's an AMD build that includes the OS and comes in just over $900.

Antec Three Hundred + BP430 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129065 $79.95

AMD Athlon II X4 630 Propus 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103704

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128399

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.272136 $204.99 (CPU + motherboard combo)

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL7D-4GBRH - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231276&Tpk=ddr3%201333%20cas%207%20g.skill%204gb $89.99

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181 $54.99

SAMSUNG SH-S223B 22X SATA DVD Burner Black Drive Bulk
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010832&prodlist=celebros $29.99

SAMSUNG SH-S223B 22X SATA DVD Burner Black Drive Bulk
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010832&prodlist=celebros $29.99

ASUS VW224U Black 22" 2ms(GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ HDCP Support 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 5000:1) Built in Speakers - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236050 $169.99 - $20.00 MIR

ASUS VW224U Black 22" 2ms(GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ HDCP Support 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 5000:1) Built in Speakers - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236050 $169.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754 $99.99

Total - $929.87 - $20.00 MIR

If you don't need the OS, you could swap the CPU and motherboard for these.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.270438 (i5 750 + Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD2 combo) $299.99

If you add this low-end GPU with dual DVI your total will be $964.86.

SAPPHIRE 100274L Radeon HD 4350 1GB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $39.99

 

[sephronis]

Thanks for the help shortstuff_mt. I was just stuck on where to start lol!

Any ways I could improve on this? I've been digging through FW for some better deals on monitors.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

You don't need the Arctic Silver since the factory HSF comes with thermal paste already applied. If you just want better paste, check out MX-2. It cools at least as well, doesn't have a cure time, and is non-conductive.

ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Compound - Retail $7.98

 

[sephronis]

How well will that video card push two monitors? Have you personally used those monitors?

 

[runswindows95]

My daily workload is as follows:

Two Firefox Windows with three tabs each
Adobe Reader generally showing a 30MB+ file
VMWare Workstation running Server 2003
Remote Desktop
Eyebeam
Notepad
Excel 2007

I run all this with no problems on a Dell. It's a 2.53Ghz Core2Duo, 4GB of RAM, integrated X4500 graphics running two 22" monitors at 1680X1050, and Vista Business 32-bit. It runs all this for eight hours with no problems. For a work system, even though we are an IT company, we just buy Dells. Why? Cheaper, and someone else can handle replacing the motherboard.

 

[sephronis]

My daily workload is as follows:

Two Firefox Windows with three tabs each
Adobe Reader generally showing a 30MB+ file
VMWare Workstation running Server 2003
Remote Desktop
Eyebeam
Notepad
Excel 2007

I run all this with no problems on a Dell. It's a 2.53Ghz Core2Duo, 4GB of RAM, integrated X4500 graphics running two 22" monitors at 1680X1050, and Vista Business 32-bit. It runs all this for eight hours with no problems. For a work system, even though we are an IT company, we just buy Dells. Why? Cheaper, and someone else can handle replacing the motherboard.

Out of curiosity what is eyebeam?

 

[shortstuff_mt]

It doesn't look like anything you'll be doing will require much graphics muscle at all. The 4350 will drive both monitors just fine for normal office stuff.