Office/Server

[Brodie1310]

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: Before the end of January


Budget Range: (e.g.: 300-400) $1200-$1500 **AUD**

Additional Comments: I'm going to put this up higher to put some background information in. I'm looking to build my grandma a new computer as well as server. She uses her current PC to do a lot of word processing, emails and a bit of graphic design and dreamweaver work. She is coming from an old Pentium PC with 2 GB of RAM. She also has a server, which is even older running a Pentium and <1 GB RAM (Says 896MB) and Server 2003. It is only used for her event management program which needs to run on a server, however this may be going to the cloud within the next year. I came up with the idea that instead of buying a new server, I could build her a workstation and virtualize her server inside it. If this is an extremely bad idea please let me know, but from my research I can take a snapshot of her current server and dedicate a NIC to it so from the outside it would look like nothing has changed.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Office tasks, many emails, little graphics processing. Host server software


Are you buying a monitor: No


Parts to Upgrade: Everything from scratch, all other parts ancient


Do you need to buy OS: Yes. Win7x64 Pro is being leaned towards


Preferred Website(s) for Parts: PCCG (Australian site) I understand prices are different here, so feel free to just reccomend parts and I can research price.


Location: City, State/Region, Country - Canberra, ACT, Australia


Parts Preferences: any


Overclocking: No


SLI or Crossfire:No


Your Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: All stated above.


The build I'm leaning towards currently:

Case: CoolerMaster Elite 430 Black with window
Mobo: ASUS P8Q77-M Motherboard (Thinking this is a bad idea)
CPU: Intel Xeon E3 1230 V2 (Designed to be left on?)
PSU: Antec TruePower TP-650 650W
RAM: Corsair Vengeance CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3
NIC: Intel Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter PCIe (To seperate server and workstation traffic, on seperate LANS)
SSD: Intel 520 Series 120GB SSD
HDD: 2x Western Digital WD Black 1TB WD1002FAEX (In RAID 1, redundancy is critical. Although backups are performed nightly)
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64bit with SP1 OEM
GPU: ***UNSURE*** Gigabyte Radeon HD7750 2GB Overclocked (Entirely for dual monitor usage if required)


Thanks

 

[DarkSable]

Wait, a Xeon? I'd probably go with an i7, cheaper motherboard, and no graphics card - that way you save money both ways, using the onboard video and a more-than-powerful processor.

You also need no more than, say, a 500w (reliable, but you already know that) power supply, and that's being generous.

Just curious, why the NIC? Do you anticipate a bottleneck?

Oh, and I'd get a vertex 4 over an intel 520 - it's king of the value market right now.

 

[Brodie1310]

Cheers for your reply! The NIC's so I can virtualize the server, and keep it on a seperate LAN. Current Setup is Internet -> Router -> Server/Second router -> PC's

 

[AMD Radeon]

Wait, a Xeon? I'd probably go with an i7, cheaper motherboard, and no graphics card - that way you save money both ways, using the onboard video and a more-than-powerful processor.

You also need no more than, say, a 500w (reliable, but you already know that) power supply, and that's being generous.

Just curious, why the NIC? Do you anticipate a bottleneck?

Oh, and I'd get a vertex 4 over an intel 520 - it's king of the value market right now.

no no no, that xeon is for regular 1155 bord, just re-check that manufacturer's mobo already supported this cpu. 4 core 8 threads for about 200 usd, that is i7 with i5 price sweet pick

 

[Brodie1310]

https://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=wish_lists&wlcId=127548&action=wish_lists

I'll update this as I get more suggestions. I changed the PSU and removed the GPU, can I confirm I can still use dual monitors with just onboard?

The xeon was because I was under the impression they handle running 24x7 better, would an i7 handle this just as well? This particular xeon was in the same price range as many i7s even cheaper in some cases.

EDIT: Also the particular site I plan on using doesn't have the vertex's. I'd rather buy all from them as there reputable and have a good warranty process.

 

[Brodie1310]

Hi All,

Planning on buying this tomorrow.
https://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=wish_lists&wlcId=127548&action=wish_lists

Thankfully thanks to some last minute research I have discovered I will indeed need a graphics card, I have no clue with these and it's my understandng even a low end card should suffice. That said I do need one that has either 2x VGA OR 2xDVI OR 1 of each. The monitors being used will not have displayport or HDMI.

Also any last minute advice on this virtualization?

 

[manofchalk]

Looks to be a good build.

This card should do. 2GB on a 7750 is kind of pointless, but its the same price as a 1GB so why not.
Gigabyte HD7750 2GB. $99
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1352&products_id=21733

I can vouch for PC Case Gears service, had a couple of good dealings with them. Really good RMA support, replaced the bad item on the spot.

 

[Brodie1310]

Cheers for that, looks perfect!

Yeah I've only ever bought through PCCG before, so I don't have anything to compare to but they've been great to me!