Hey there; 'working on a new Photoshop/Lightroom system. I'm comfy messing with drives and peripherals, but this was to be my first ground-up build. I was looking forward to the challenge.
Then I tried sorting the MBs on Newegg by rating; there are very few five-eggs, and when things suck, they really suck. I realized I've never had to rely much on an "ordinary" PC, except this laptop; they were all GSA or academic workstation class. Even my current build is a monster Xeon Precision 670 bought off E-bay (for work training with the CAD Quadro inside).
I thought a server/Xeon board might be a notch up in quality, but at Newegg, even Tyans get pegged. I don't need everything top notch, nothing overclocked or LNG-cooled, but I do want reliable. Build, test, fire-up-and-forget. I don't want the thing to quit four months from now, catch fire, or any of the craziness I'm reading that I thought should put some people out of business.
Are the workstation MBs at places like Newegg really any better? Does "reliable" mean checked first as part of a system build, whereas all us DIY'ers get the fodder? Is my best bet to rip off an MB from another used workstation, or do I have unrealistic expectations for an $800 system budget (no monitor)?
Thanks, Chris in VA
Then I tried sorting the MBs on Newegg by rating; there are very few five-eggs, and when things suck, they really suck. I realized I've never had to rely much on an "ordinary" PC, except this laptop; they were all GSA or academic workstation class. Even my current build is a monster Xeon Precision 670 bought off E-bay (for work training with the CAD Quadro inside).
I thought a server/Xeon board might be a notch up in quality, but at Newegg, even Tyans get pegged. I don't need everything top notch, nothing overclocked or LNG-cooled, but I do want reliable. Build, test, fire-up-and-forget. I don't want the thing to quit four months from now, catch fire, or any of the craziness I'm reading that I thought should put some people out of business.
Are the workstation MBs at places like Newegg really any better? Does "reliable" mean checked first as part of a system build, whereas all us DIY'ers get the fodder? Is my best bet to rip off an MB from another used workstation, or do I have unrealistic expectations for an $800 system budget (no monitor)?
Thanks, Chris in VA