Need a work computer

[dademurphy]

I currently have a Lenovo ideapad Y560 with a core i7 720qm 8GB RAM 256GB Crucial M4 + 1TB hdd in optical bay. I need the ability to run multiple VMs as well as some large programs like photoshop. I also query large SQL databases which I pull down locally to my machine. I need a new laptop or even a small format desktop with capacity for more than 8GB of RAM and preferably an i7. My work budget for the computer is $800 but I can probably finagle some extra cash for more RAM after the initial purchase(PC just needs to have the ability to accept it). I would prefer to run windows 7 ultimate or Windows 8 Pro. Any suggestions?

 

[luciferano]

I doubt that you'd get a good laptop like that for around $800, so a desktop seems like your best option.

Are you looking for a home built or a prebuilt/OEM computer?

 

[luciferano]

If you're looking for a prebuilt, you could consider this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883256015

It has one of the best quad-core i7s, the i7-2600. It has a 500GB hard drive, IDK if that's a problem for you. Windows 7 x64 Pro and it only comes with 4GB of RAM, so that'd need an upgrade.

It supports 16GB of RAM and here is a 16GB kit that you could consider for it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226293

Total for both of them is $720. The computer is a small form factor unit and it even comes with a keyboard and mouse.

 

[bigcyco1]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8H77-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($115.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($43.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $765.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

[luciferano]

Hows this PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($309.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8H77-V ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($115.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec 450W ATX12V Power Supply ($43.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($21.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $736.90
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Does a mid-tower count as small-form factor?

 

[bigcyco1]

Does a mid-tower count as small-form factor?

To me it does guess half to wait and see if other means like a LAN rig or what :lol:

 

[luciferano]

To me it does guess half to wait and see if other means like a lan rig or what :lol:

I thought that it was in reference to a slim-line micro-ATX case, but IDK for sure. Yeah, we'll find out when OP replies

 

[bigcyco1]

I thought that it was in reference to a slim-line micro-ATX case, but IDK for sure. Yeah, we'll find out when OP replies

You might be right IDK either

 

[dademurphy]

Something more along the lines of a slim line micro atx case would be preferable. There isn't really deskspace available for a mid-tower case and I'd prefer to keep out off the floor due to equally limited foot room. For instance, most people in the office use mac minis but most of those people aren't running multiple VMs and photoshop. Ideally would be something close to the size of a mac mini but with at least 16GB RAM if not 32GB. I was thinking something along the lines of a Dell Zino (but not actually a Dell zino because I don't think they're available or powerful enough). I'm not opposed to building.

 

[dademurphy]

Are there any super small cases I could cram some powerful components into if I were to build it myself? What is the smallest I can get?

 

[Isaiah4110]

I currently have a Lenovo ideapad Y560 with a core i7 720qm 8GB RAM 256GB Crucial M4 + 1TB hdd in optical bay. I need the ability to run multiple VMs as well as some large programs like photoshop. I also query large SQL databases which I pull down locally to my machine. I need a new laptop or even a small format desktop with capacity for more than 8GB of RAM and preferably an i7. My work budget for the computer is $800 but I can probably finagle some extra cash for more RAM after the initial purchase(PC just needs to have the ability to accept it). I would prefer to run windows 7 ultimate or Windows 8 Pro. Any suggestions?

How about building yourself one of these guys? The TH build rings in at $780 with only 4 GB of RAM, but that price also includes a wireless keyboard/mouse set and a WiFi card. You should be able to drop the WiFi and keyboard/mouse (knock off about $30 or more) and bump the RAM to 16 GB (assuming prices haven't changed much) without breaking the $800 mark on parts.

The one killer there will be having to purchase Windows 7 (add on another $100).


Ok, maybe that isn't the absolute best fit as it isn't an i7 processor (and that would lead to another price jump), but still close...

 

[Isaiah4110]

If you're looking for a prebuilt, you could consider this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883256015

It has one of the best quad-core i7s, the i7-2600. It has a 500GB hard drive, IDK if that's a problem for you. Windows 7 x64 Pro and it only comes with 4GB of RAM, so that'd need an upgrade.

It supports 16GB of RAM and here is a 16GB kit that you could consider for it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226293

Total for both of them is $720. The computer is a small form factor unit and it even comes with a keyboard and mouse.

We actually just ordered a handful (~30) of those in my office and bumped them up to 8GB (2x4GB). They are very powerful and still have 2 slots free for more RAM.

 

[dademurphy]

How about building yourself one of these guys? The TH build rings in at $780 with only 4 GB of RAM, but that price also includes a wireless keyboard/mouse set and a WiFi card. You should be able to drop the WiFi and keyboard/mouse (knock off about $30 or more) and bump the RAM to 16 GB (assuming prices haven't changed much) without breaking the $800 mark on parts.

The one killer there will be having to purchase Windows 7 (add on another $100).


Ok, maybe that isn't the absolute best fit as it isn't an i7 processor (and that would lead to another price jump), but still close...

I like the look of that and it would certainly solve my space issues. I don't need the wifi card, keyboard/mouse or optical drive so that should leave some room to expand the memory. I didn't look too closely but it looks like the mobo is limited to two slots of RAM but I didn't see if it supported 8GB dimms? Should also be able to upgrade to the i7-2600S if it fits in the budget..

 

[luciferano]

I like the look of that and it would certainly solve my space issues. I don't need the wifi card, keyboard/mouse or optical drive so that should leave some room to expand the memory. I didn't look too closely but it looks like the mobo is limited to two slots of RAM but I didn't see if it supported 8GB dimms? Should also be able to upgrade to the i7-2600S if it fits in the budget..

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k3JI

You could look at this. I don't know what you want for storage, so I didn't include it. It has the smallest case that I could think of and still has a very fast i7-3770, 16GB of RAM (can be upgraded to 32GB), and not much else other than the basics such as an optical disk drive and a decent power supply.

 

[dademurphy]

I guess I should also mention my company is a Microsoft partner and we have a bunch of copies of Windows 7 so I don't need that. We have a usb dvd drive at the office and I think I've used it maybe once so I don't need an optical drive. As far as storage goes - I'd love to have a SSD for OS and a 500GB+ hdd for other storage. I could probably get away with just a 256GB SSD because I have a bunch of extra various sized external hard drives I don't really use for much.

 

[luciferano]

I guess I should also mention my company is a Microsoft partner and we have a bunch of copies of Windows 7 so I don't need that. We have a usb dvd drive at the office and I think I've used it maybe once so I don't need an optical drive. As far as storage goes - I'd love to have a SSD for OS and a 500GB+ hdd for other storage. I could probably get away with just a 256GB SSD because I have a bunch of extra various sized external hard drives I don't really use for much.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k3YX

Adjusted.

 

[Isaiah4110]

I like the look of that and it would certainly solve my space issues. I don't need the wifi card, keyboard/mouse or optical drive so that should leave some room to expand the memory. I didn't look too closely but it looks like the mobo is limited to two slots of RAM but I didn't see if it supported 8GB dimms? Should also be able to upgrade to the i7-2600S if it fits in the budget..

According to the motherboard specs on Intel's website, the MB that Tom's Hardware used in that build does support up to 16GB of RAM.

If we follow the TH build model of using only Amazon and Newegg, here is what I am coming up with for parts/prices:

Loop LP-2150 (CAP08LOOPAIO) for $264.60 + $15.77 S&H (Amazon)
Intel Core i7-2600S for $308.99 (Amazon)
Kingston 16GB DDR3 1333 Model KVR13S9K2/16 for $72.99 (Newegg)
Intel DH61AG Motherboard for $119.99 (Amazon)
Intel HTS1155LP CPU Cooler for $26.47 (Amazon)
Samsung SN-208BB (DVD Burner) for $23.99 + $4.99 S&H (Newegg)
Western Digital Scorpio Black WD5000BPKT 500GB HDD for $70.49 (Amazon)

All told, counting S&H estimates but no tax, this totals $908.28... Pull out the DVD Burner and you are still sitting at $879.30.

In a nutshell, removing the WiFi card, Keyboard/Mouse combo, and the DVD drive covers the upgrade from 4GB to 16 GB of RAM and any cost increases that have occurred since the article was written. What is killing the price here is the $100 jump from the Core i5-2400S (priced at $200.99 on both Amazon and Newegg) to the Core i7-2600S. Drop down to the Core i5 and your are exactly where TH was in the original price from the article. Amazon and Newegg both appear to be pretty competitive (if not the lowest then within a couple dollars of the lowest priced website for each part) so shopping elsewhere is unlikely to shave much more off the total price.

 

[luciferano]

According to the motherboard specs on Intel's website, the MB that Tom's Hardware used in that build does support up to 16GB of RAM.

If we follow the TH build model of using only Amazon and Newegg, here is what I am coming up with for parts/prices:

Loop LP-2150 (CAP08LOOPAIO) for $264.60 + $15.77 S&H (Amazon)
Intel Core i7-2600S for $308.99 (Amazon)
Kingston 16GB DDR3 1333 Model KVR13S9K2/16 for $72.99 (Newegg)
Intel DH61AG Motherboard for $119.99 (Amazon)
Intel HTS1155LP CPU Cooler for $26.47 (Amazon)
Samsung SN-208BB (DVD Burner) for $23.99 + $4.99 S&H (Newegg)
Western Digital Scorpio Black WD5000BPKT 500GB HDD for $70.49 (Amazon)

All told, counting S&H estimates but no tax, this totals $908.28... Pull out the DVD Burner and you are still sitting at $879.30.

In a nutshell, removing the WiFi card, Keyboard/Mouse combo, and the DVD drive covers the upgrade from 4GB to 16 GB of RAM and any cost increases that have occurred since the article was written. What is killing the price here is the $100 jump from the Core i5-2400S (priced at $200.99 on both Amazon and Newegg) to the Core i7-2600S. Drop down to the Core i5 and your are exactly where TH was in the original price from the article. Amazon and Newegg both appear to be pretty competitive (if not the lowest then within a couple dollars of the lowest priced website for each part) so shopping elsewhere is unlikely to shave much more off the total price.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/k3YX
all sellers: $734.46
Newegg only: $723.93, Newegg doesn't carry the case. Using other companies almost fully paid for a $66 case.
Amazon only:$745.95 Amazon doesn't carry the PSU. Using other companies not only paid for the PSU, but also lowered the total price in addition to carrying the PSU.

So, it's not a huge difference, but it's quite noticeable. Newegg would have probably been around $50-75 more expensive, depending on the replacement case's price and the Amazon build would be almost as expensive as that.