03-22-2013, 02:53 AM
Hello guys and gals, I know there are some awesome techies lurking around here. If any of y'alls can give me a secondary glance in case there's any glaring incompatibility or problems, I'd really appreciate it.
I am planning to buy a custom workstation PC, it's going to be a photoshop running machine. I'm having them assemble it because for approx 50$, they can do a hell of a lot better job than I can.
From the reviews I've read they do a clean and neat job hardware wise (cable management etc), and software wise they don't install crapware\bloatware. Their build quality seems to be on par with high end name brand PC workstation I've seen.
This will be an extremely limited innernets\wifi connected machine. Think Battlestar Galactica, staffed by a N. Korean IT department. Facebooking and Twittering? AW HELL NAW!!111
Here is the near finalized spec list. Prices are in Canadian dollars.
-Processors (CPUs): Intel Core i7 3820 Quad Core 10MB 3.6GHZ Hyperthreading LGA2011 Processor No HSF
$319.79
(Pretty much finalized on this one. i7 quad core is the sweet spot at this time. 6-8core is face first hard smackage in the diminishing return wall for my use. Reviews I read on this CPU says it's a good but no frills i7 quad core. Which is exactly what I'm looking for.)
-CPU Heatsinks: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366/1155/1156/2011 120mm 1 $34.98
(I'm going with air cooler instead of a liquid cooling system. This particular model seems to have good reviews, though I'm open to other suggestions if anyone out there have some experience on a reliable air cooler for workstation\heavy 24/7 duty rig.)
-Motherboards: ASUS P9X79 WS ATX LGA2011 X79 DDR3 6PCI-E16 SATA3 USB3.0 SLI CrossFireX Audio Motherboard 1 $366.81
-DDR3 Desktop Memory: G.SKILL RipjawsX F3-1866C10Q-32GXL 32GB 4X8GB DDR3-1866 CL10 240PIN 1.5V Quad Channel Memory Kit
2 $531.96
(Total RAM=64 gig. Photoshop CS6 loves RAM like a starving man in a pie eating contest. 64 gig is the current sweet spot for my use, though I am taking a calculated risk of using two 32 kit =64, not a factory tested 64 gig kit. But since an 'official' factory tested 64 gig kit is also close to a thousand bucks plus, I am going with the calculated risk option.
Open to suggestions based on experience on the brand of RAM though. The G. Skill Ripjaws seems to have good reviews on compatibility and stability, originally I chose the G.Skill Sniper but the price went up on those.)
-Computer Cases: Antec P280 XL-ATX Tower Case Black 3X5.25 2X2.5 6X3.5IN 2X120MM Top 1X120MM Rear Front USB3.0 No PSU
$116.30
-Video Cards: ASUS GeForce GTX 650 Direct Cu 1058MHZ 1GB 5.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI D-Sub HDCP PCI-E DX11 Video Card
$134.99
(Workstation but no Quadro card?! LOLWUT? Since this will be a 95% Photoshop machine, no need for a Quadro\Firepro IMO.)
-Power Supplies: Seasonic Platinum 660W ATX 12V 24PIN Active PFC 80PLUS Platinum Fully Modular DC to DC Power Supply
$149.99
-Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64Bit DVD SP1 OEM
$129.98
-Hard Drives: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 64MB Cache 7200RPM 3.5in SATA Internal Hard Drive OEM
$194.30
-Solid State Drives:
SSD Intel 520 Series 120GB 2.5IN SSD MLC 25nm SATA3 Solid State Disk Drive Retail W/ Mounting Bracket
$190.80
-CD & DVD Drives ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black 1 $20.93
-Assembly Options PC Assembly And Testing with 1 Year Limited warranty $44.93
-Fans & Cooling Antec TrueQuiet 120MM Case Fan W/ Silicone Mount & Adjustable Switch 8.9-19.9DBA 2 $24.35
Total damage approx $2261.00
Bits and bobs:
-Monitor: Already have.
-Keyboards\mouse: If compatible, my 10 years old wired Microsoft KB&M OEM combo. If not, I will splurge on a wired MS or Logitech 15-20$ brown box combo. The real work input for this machine is a drawing tablet anyway. A good, wired, and cheap KB is for the shortcut key combos. Gaming keyboard, nice mechanicals, are dollars needlessly wasted for what this machine is purposed for.
-Speakers: same reasoning as above. Onboard sound and tested with speakers I already have to see that everything is functioning ok. But I'm not Danny Elfman here.
This machine will have to serve for at least 5 years, (screw that trend of 3 years lifecycle, it's getting ridiculous) if not longer. Hence stuffing it to the gills with maxed out RAM. With the way I use my machines, I probably will not do any upgrading. Any 'upgrading' will be deferred for as long as possible until it's just cheaper to buy a new rig, and the current one re-purposed\recycled.
Anything I overlooked or missed? The purchase of this Battlestar will hopefully be done in 2 weeks time or less, set up and battle ready by the end of this month. Thanks guys and gals.
I am planning to buy a custom workstation PC, it's going to be a photoshop running machine. I'm having them assemble it because for approx 50$, they can do a hell of a lot better job than I can.
From the reviews I've read they do a clean and neat job hardware wise (cable management etc), and software wise they don't install crapware\bloatware. Their build quality seems to be on par with high end name brand PC workstation I've seen.
This will be an extremely limited innernets\wifi connected machine. Think Battlestar Galactica, staffed by a N. Korean IT department. Facebooking and Twittering? AW HELL NAW!!111
Here is the near finalized spec list. Prices are in Canadian dollars.
-Processors (CPUs): Intel Core i7 3820 Quad Core 10MB 3.6GHZ Hyperthreading LGA2011 Processor No HSF
$319.79
(Pretty much finalized on this one. i7 quad core is the sweet spot at this time. 6-8core is face first hard smackage in the diminishing return wall for my use. Reviews I read on this CPU says it's a good but no frills i7 quad core. Which is exactly what I'm looking for.)
-CPU Heatsinks: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366/1155/1156/2011 120mm 1 $34.98
(I'm going with air cooler instead of a liquid cooling system. This particular model seems to have good reviews, though I'm open to other suggestions if anyone out there have some experience on a reliable air cooler for workstation\heavy 24/7 duty rig.)
-Motherboards: ASUS P9X79 WS ATX LGA2011 X79 DDR3 6PCI-E16 SATA3 USB3.0 SLI CrossFireX Audio Motherboard 1 $366.81
-DDR3 Desktop Memory: G.SKILL RipjawsX F3-1866C10Q-32GXL 32GB 4X8GB DDR3-1866 CL10 240PIN 1.5V Quad Channel Memory Kit
2 $531.96
(Total RAM=64 gig. Photoshop CS6 loves RAM like a starving man in a pie eating contest. 64 gig is the current sweet spot for my use, though I am taking a calculated risk of using two 32 kit =64, not a factory tested 64 gig kit. But since an 'official' factory tested 64 gig kit is also close to a thousand bucks plus, I am going with the calculated risk option.
Open to suggestions based on experience on the brand of RAM though. The G. Skill Ripjaws seems to have good reviews on compatibility and stability, originally I chose the G.Skill Sniper but the price went up on those.)
-Computer Cases: Antec P280 XL-ATX Tower Case Black 3X5.25 2X2.5 6X3.5IN 2X120MM Top 1X120MM Rear Front USB3.0 No PSU
$116.30
-Video Cards: ASUS GeForce GTX 650 Direct Cu 1058MHZ 1GB 5.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI D-Sub HDCP PCI-E DX11 Video Card
$134.99
(Workstation but no Quadro card?! LOLWUT? Since this will be a 95% Photoshop machine, no need for a Quadro\Firepro IMO.)
-Power Supplies: Seasonic Platinum 660W ATX 12V 24PIN Active PFC 80PLUS Platinum Fully Modular DC to DC Power Supply
$149.99
-Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64Bit DVD SP1 OEM
$129.98
-Hard Drives: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 64MB Cache 7200RPM 3.5in SATA Internal Hard Drive OEM
$194.30
-Solid State Drives:
SSD Intel 520 Series 120GB 2.5IN SSD MLC 25nm SATA3 Solid State Disk Drive Retail W/ Mounting Bracket
$190.80
-CD & DVD Drives ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black 1 $20.93
-Assembly Options PC Assembly And Testing with 1 Year Limited warranty $44.93
-Fans & Cooling Antec TrueQuiet 120MM Case Fan W/ Silicone Mount & Adjustable Switch 8.9-19.9DBA 2 $24.35
Total damage approx $2261.00
Bits and bobs:
-Monitor: Already have.
-Keyboards\mouse: If compatible, my 10 years old wired Microsoft KB&M OEM combo. If not, I will splurge on a wired MS or Logitech 15-20$ brown box combo. The real work input for this machine is a drawing tablet anyway. A good, wired, and cheap KB is for the shortcut key combos. Gaming keyboard, nice mechanicals, are dollars needlessly wasted for what this machine is purposed for.
-Speakers: same reasoning as above. Onboard sound and tested with speakers I already have to see that everything is functioning ok. But I'm not Danny Elfman here.
This machine will have to serve for at least 5 years, (screw that trend of 3 years lifecycle, it's getting ridiculous) if not longer. Hence stuffing it to the gills with maxed out RAM. With the way I use my machines, I probably will not do any upgrading. Any 'upgrading' will be deferred for as long as possible until it's just cheaper to buy a new rig, and the current one re-purposed\recycled.
Anything I overlooked or missed? The purchase of this Battlestar will hopefully be done in 2 weeks time or less, set up and battle ready by the end of this month. Thanks guys and gals.