[NewBuild] Home Workstation

[jaide]

Hi All,

New to the forum. Wanted to get some feedback on my current setup. I wanted to get a powerful CPU that could handle virtualization and double as a home-based workstation for my day-to-day activities. After looking at some online manufacturers I decided to build a system.

Please provide any and all feedback

PC Case ($79.99) - COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black Computer Case
Power Supply ($109.99) - COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M700 RS-700-AMBA-D3 700W Power Supply
MotherBoard ($119.99) - ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 ATX AMD Motherboard
CPU ($118.99) - AMD Athlon II X4 645 3.1GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
RAID Controller ($149.99) - HighPoint RocketRAID 2680 PCI-Express x4 Eight-Port SATA and SAS RAID Controller Card
Hard Drives ($69.99) - Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Video ($159.99) - ATI FireGL V3600 100-505507 Workstation Video Card

The system comes in around $800, closer to $1000 with memory upgrade.

Thanks

 

[mosox]

Why do you need that RAID Controller, how many drives will you use?

Combo
GIGABYTE GA-880GA-UD3H + AMD Athlon II X4 645
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.572359
For the HDD get Samsung Spinpoint F3.
What RAM do you have?

 

[jaide]

If possible, 3 HDs in a RAID5 configuration. I need storage space and resiliency. The ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 supports 16 GB RAM - I plan to max it out.

16GB RAM Crucial
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=M4A88TD-V%20EVO/USB3

 

[mosox]

Well, you will need a backup anyway because nothing in RAID is fail-safe and you can use a free app for that
http://www.thesofthelp.com/2010/08/5-best-free-backup-software-for-windows.html
http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/26/the-10-best-windows-backup-software-programs/
If you ditch the RAID you can get a Phenom II X6 in your budget and bigger HDDs, including the backup one.

 

[clarkjd]

I would suggest changing your PSU to this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC

It is more highly rated than the Coolermaster and has 50 more watts at the same price... (actually $10 cheaper if you take the mail-in rebate)

 

[jaide]

How can I tell if the MoBo/CPU combo support 64bit & virtualization?

 

[clarkjd]

All Athlon II CPU's support 64-bit.

 

[mosox]

This one is more than enough even if you add a video card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094&cm_re=seasonic_520-_-17-151-094-_-Product
All Athlon II and Phenom II have VT.

 

[jaide]

Mosox - what product is that? That link doesn't load for me - product not found.

Thanks

 

[mosox]

SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W

 

[jaide]

So after haggling and trying to mix-n-match different components here's what I'm planning on ordering to build:

COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131646

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

AMD Athlon II X4 645 Propus 3.1GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX645WFGMBOX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103885

ATI 100-505507 FireGL V3600 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Workstation Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814195048

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel ...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

16GB RAM Crucial for ASUS Mobo
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=M4A88TD-V%20EVO/USB3

All above come in around $1000 give-or-take.

 

[mosox]

The PSU is way overkill, get a better CPU instead. That Seasonic is fine and you have room to spare. That video card needs only 50W. a Phenom II X4/X6 125W, HDD, blah blah blah, even a 400W PSU is fine.

Very good cheaper cases
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147153&Tpk=rosewill%20challenger
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066&cm_re=antec_300-_-11-129-066-_-Product

Get another HDD for the OS if you can
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181
Or another 1T, not much more expensive. Or you can leave that for later.

 

[jaide]

CPU upgrade -

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849

Maybe a SSD drive -

Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148348&cm_re=ssd_128gb-_-20-148-348-_-Product

 

[mosox]

The 1100T is better and cheaper but you can get the cheaper 1055T or 1075T as well.

Here's a comparison between the cheapest 6 core and the 1100T, the last one is maybe 10% faster.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/147?vs=203

A better graphics card instead of that SSD, check out this:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/quadrofx-firepro.html

 

[clarkjd]

If you are not going to overclock, then the stock heat sink and fan will be sufficient.