Need advice on Ubuntu build with Virtualbox Windows 7

[virtualhelp]

I'm going to build a new box that will boot in Ubuntu. But there are a few applications that I will still need to run in Windows, so I will run a virtualbox guest Windows 7 on the system to handle those.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: In the next 2 months

BUDGET RANGE: $1500-$2000

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Ubuntu 64 bit OS, Virtualbox running Windows 7 64 bit, Statistical analysis of large datasets (stata MP), Web surfing, E-mail, etc.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.ca

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada

PARTS PREFERENCES: Intel CPU, NVidia Graphics card

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1280x1024

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Particularly concerned about virtualization working correctly with Linux host and Windows 7 guest system using Virtualbox

I have created specs for 2 systems with almost identical pricing and am curious on thoughts to go one way or another, and also any recommendations for substitutions.

System 1 (P55)
-------------------
Asus® P7P55D-E
Intel® Core™ i7-860
NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTS 250 512MB GDDR3 w/ PhysX
8GB Kingston HyperX Dual-Channel DDR3-1333MHz Low Latency
1.0TB Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 7200rpm 32MB Cache

System 2 (X58)
-------------------
Gigabyte® X58 (GA-X58A-UD3R)
Intel® Core® i7-930
NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTS 250 512MB GDDR3 w/ PhysX
6GB Kingston HyperX Triple-Channel DDR3-1600MHz Low Latency
1.0TB Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 7200rpm 32MB Cache

Would you with System 1 or System 2 for the purposes I am planning? Any compatibility issues you can think of with Ubuntu host and Windows 7 64-bit Guest running under Virtualbox?

I appreciate your thoughts!

 

[stevo56]

I run Windows 7 64 bit VirtualBox with Ubuntu 64bit on an AMD phenom 965 so I can't really comment on the setups you have above.

However I have found that VirtualBox doesn't appear to like overclocking. At stock speed Windows 7 runs fine and does everything that I ask, but any overclocking and VirtualBox can hang up. So I run at stock speed, which isn't a problem for me.

I do like to have lots of ram up my sleeve so I have 8gb. I have had Windows XP running with 1gb and Windows 7 with 2gb at the same time without problems. The software packages I was using (AmiBroker & TradeSim) only seem to use 1 core at a time. These packages can be very CPU intensive, but I can set an "optimise" running for several hours and still use Ubuntu without any noticeable slowdown in performance.

I am very happy with the setup that I have, although a couple of more cores on the processor would be interesting!

stevo

 

[virtualhelp]

That is a really helpful tip about the overclocking. I think I can certainly do fine at stock speed as well, and will avoid the overclocking as the CPU should be plenty fast for my applications as is.

I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on the X58 vs. P55? Will X58 create compatibility problems?