Multi Use System - Virtual Machines, Music, and Media.

[caddyjoe]

Hi all

I have not built a PC since 2006 when i built my core 2 6600 which is still running strong and was looking at boards and quite honestly i am a little confused.

I have a few requirements: I must be able to run several linux/windows/solaris virtual machines on linux, so at least 16 GB of Ram. Another requirement is that I have a NVIDIA quadro FX 580 card but yet would like to run an AMD processor because i dont want to break the bank. Third, I will have this hooked up to 2 22" displays but also a 40" LCD for movies and for learning to play songe through tuxguitar. If the AMD proc is not possible, then so be it.

I guess my real question is, what AMD board support a good bit of RAM and yet also will support my NVIDIA card? I would prefer to keep this reasonably priced, yet i dont mind spending a little more for a good board. I dont need drives, and from waht i am going for i have seen at least 4-6 Sata ports on the boards these days which is fine for me.

 

[Outlander_04]

Any motherboard with a pci-e x16 gfx card slot will run your quaddro fine

Most amd boards have 870 , 880g , or 890 series chip sets . Theres not much performance difference at all and since you wont want to run multiple cards then your cheapest option is a board with an 870 series chip set .
All should support 16 gig of RAM
If you look at gigabyte mb's you will see some of their boards have black sockets . If at all possible buy one of these since it will support future processors that are being released in a few weeks

For a processor ,TODAY, your best choice is probably a Phenom x6 .
Most people would recommend a core for each VM , and that gives you some room to move

 

[caddyjoe]

thanks outlander. I only plan on running one vid card. The Quadro FX has 3 outs. 1 DVI and 2 of the HDMI ports.

 

[Guest]

Milk what you have for now. Bulldozer will be out at the end of the year, and that line-up is supposed to be pretty sweet. If you HAD to do it now, a Phenom II X6 1055T is great on a budget. And newer AMD board should be fine for 16 gigs of memory and supporting that quadro. Although if you don't mind me asking, why do would want to stick with a Quadro FX 580? I mean are you doing pro level stuff and require a Quadro FX family GPU? I mean you could get a GTX 460 or something at that level pretty easily and it wouldn't cost you much. And it would have DX11 compatibility (if your running Windows) and I think it supports newer versions of OpenGL (4.1). It does take a little extra power, but might be worth it for you. But for the record, I like AMD's graphics options. Just sayin'.

 

[caddyjoe]

Milk what you have for now. Bulldozer will be out at the end of the year, and that line-up is supposed to be pretty sweet. If you HAD to do it now, a Phenom II X6 1055T is great on a budget. And newer AMD board should be fine for 16 gigs of memory and supporting that quadro. Although if you don't mind me asking, why do would want to stick with a Quadro FX 580? I mean are you doing pro level stuff and require a Quadro FX family GPU? I mean you could get a GTX 460 or something at that level pretty easily and it wouldn't cost you much. And it would have DX11 compatibility (if your running Windows) and I think it supports newer versions of OpenGL (4.1). It does take a little extra power, but might be worth it for you. But for the record, I like AMD's graphics options. Just sayin'.

Hi, thanks for your input. Perhaps i will wait until Bulldozer comes out. The reason that I am sticking with the Quadro FX is because i am actually working on a project for work at home and I need to test out some things here. I dont run windows and i rarely play games; sometimes i get a bug to do some Play on Linux stuff and fire up an old game but thats really rare. My work is mostly focused on diskless clients, proof of concept along with remote displays. I also like the security stuff so I want the power of virtual machines that i can have a "sandbox" for windows XP machines and infect the heck out of them with malware and see how it works. But, sometimes i also like to watch movies upstairs in this room and just veg out. Not te mention, i play some bass guitar so having tuxguitar displayed on my 40" LCD is way better than squinting when trying to play standing up. Its a goofy situation i know, not exactly something normal; hence why i came to the experts over here.

 

[Guest]

We're not all experts. We're hobbyists. Also, in Linux I would say yeah, stick with what you have for graphics. The Nvidia drivers are much better than the ATI offerings. Especially in Ubuntu 11.04... don't get me started on that!

 

[caddyjoe]

We're not all experts. We're hobbyists. Also, in Linux I would say yeah, stick with what you have for graphics. The Nvidia drivers are much better than the ATI offerings. Especially in Ubuntu 11.04... don't get me started on that!

anytime that someone says dont get me started on that....means they are waiting to rant. :lol:

Maybe i can help you with your ubuntu problem? Or is it just a driver issue?

 

[Outlander_04]

Bulldozer release date is 7 weeks away
June 20th is the official date ... so far

Depending on whether waiting is a good idea or not might be how many VM's you run , and how fast driver get written for the Bulldozer CPU's which have some innovative ways of threading through cores and modules

 

[Guest]

PM sent, Caddyjoe.

Outlander, not sure if that's official data, but I hope your right. AMD has a way of pushing back and pushing back. I really hope your right though. My 1055T system is begging for an upgrade and I was strongly considering a Sandy Bridge platform, but I am a cheapskate (lol). For now I guess I'll just save $$ for a new board and all that. I was hoping I would have more than 7 weeks though!