Komputor Kornstruction

[Kornman00]

ATTN Modacity;

So yeah, getting close to me FINALLY leaving goatdamn Germany and one of the things I've had on my TODO list for this event is buying a new computer. Or, more specificly, building one. Let me just throw down the what's what for you:

Time Frame: End of May to beginning of July
Price Range: up to 5,000$




Do-want features:

USB 3.0
64-bit
3+ monitor support (with HDMI hai)
At least 6gb in RAM
At least 5.1 SS card (if anyone has used 7.1 and has some good things to say about it, shoot, might go with a 7.1 card instead)
AT LEAST 2TB in RAID 1 mode (I admit, RAID setups aren't really my area, don't really have to deal with them at work, so if someone more savvy on this has something to say, say away)
Blu-ray burner drive combo
Full tower (unless something smaller offers better shiite)
Custom cooling. Will probably have to figure this and the tower out at the same time
There of course is more that I do want, but those are things which I'm hard-on about. I'm looking to make this my rig for at least the next 4 years (with occasional upgrading of course).

What I was hoping to hear from the community is help in building a tower of this type with expected tech at the Time Frame listed earlier. If you know of some components or new tech coming out, lay it down so I can figure if I can wait to buy it then or be able to upgrade it later if I decide on something lower end.

Usage: I'm of course be mainly using this rig for application (both Windows and 3D platforms) development purposes since I like molesting programming code and such. I'm sure I'll install a PC game every now and then too. It'll probably be powered on most of the week (unless I find myself making sweet love to code in my next line of work, then I probably won't be home that much. Unless I need to poop :haw:) so it has to be up for the test.

Extra credit:

I'm also looking to build a small server to handle such things as Source Control and for server development practice. However, it will probably be based on a Dell OP 630 that I'll probably be getting as a hand-me-down from the gov't. 32-bit of course.

If you people can manage to put me in a price range to not only build a new rig but also a new server (64-bit and all) in around 5,000$ well...you'll be getting extra credit. Not sure what that means just yet, maybe something special for the community, we'll have to see what's in the gag bag come May.


Anyway, any input/help you guys can provide would be great. Keep mind again that I'm looking at a mid-year purchase and thus if a new tech will be out by that time I want to include it and not get trigger happy and buy low-end now!

Any comments on a good decently sized monitor which I can get 3+ (with HDMI/DVI support) of is welcome too. I may not get all 3 at one time but you get the picture.

[rossmum]

embrace the way of the amish and avoid the pain of being reminded daily that nearly all the earth's population is fucking incredibly retarded

[Kornman00]

Or

I can :unsmith: to the fact that there are at least a handful of decent tech members here

like In Her Goat. cool story heh. :goat:

[rossmum]

you should've just pm'd innardgote in the first place, lol

[Heathen]

But there are many other techies. Like me, for instance.

I am all knowing in the ways of technology.

[Cortexian]

I am all knowing in the ways of technology.
From your PC specs:

Motherboard: My Xfire didn't tell me.
:golfclap:

Anyhow, it looks to me like you'll want an Intel/ATI setup because you want (possibly in the future) more than three monitors as well as number crunching power. ATI will handle the multiple monitors leaps-and-bounds better than the Nvidia counterparts, and Intel will destroy most of the AMD processors when it comes to code nom-nomming.

Since you want USB 3.0 though, I'd wait a month and see what the better motherboard manufacturers end up pumping out before building a parts list.

[Heathen]

From your PC specs:

:golfclap:

Anyhow, it looks to me like you'll want an Intel/ATI setup because you want (possibly in the future) more than three monitors as well as number crunching power. ATI will handle the multiple monitors leaps-and-bounds better than the Nvidia counterparts, and Intel will destroy most of the AMD processors when it comes to code nom-nomming.

Since you want USB 3.0 though, I'd wait a month and see what the better motherboard manufacturers end up pumping out before building a parts list.
I've been discovered :[

[paladin]

Ill sell you mine. Its everything you listed. Plus it has 500gb of porn.

[rossmum]

Ill sell you mine. Its everything you listed. Plus it has 500gb of porn.
this sounds like a really good deal

e/ wait. what kind.

[Phopojijo]

... why HDMI? Trying to attach it to an HDTV or a Surround Receiver? If so -- would you want audio to go through the HDMI?

[flibitijibibo]

... why HDMI? Trying to attach it to an HDTV or a Surround Receiver? If so -- would you want audio to go through the HDMI?I sure hope not.

If you can opt for dedicated audio, please do so. Doesn't have to be fiber optic, but even the 3 miniplugs are better than sending it through HDMI.

[Cojafoji]

Do what freelancer said and wait a month or two. If they DO debut it by then, you'll have the upper hand of nabbing one of the first boards with it, and you also might be able to get your hands on one of the new 6 core amds.

[Kornman00]

Yeah, like say, parts won't be bought or built until May/July...

[CrAsHOvErRide]

Transfer your money into Euros and wait a few month for the Dollar to go down even more :V

[Kornman00]

I think I'd have to open with a bank with the germans or wtf/e for that

then theres that fucking VAT shit

fuck that noise

no more taxes, no more mods

free emmzee!

[legionaire45]

Derp.

Hopefully some other people will suggest revisions to this.

Might work on the server later, got to study for environmental science D:

[kid908]

USB 3.0 will limit your choices of chip sets since Intel won't be supporting it until 2011 (IDK why considering they're a co-creator. Something with compatibility or something), hope you were really interested in Intel USB 3.0 products.

[legionaire45]

That's why you buy a PCI-Express 1x USB 3.0 Card.

[jcap]

HDMI is a waste.

Go DisplayPort.

[Amit]

HDMI is a waste.

Go DisplayPort.

Why? Does DisplayPort carry HD audio too?

[AAA]

Oy, Intel and the 2011 bullshit....

Well, mine as well get a 1TB SSD with that price range.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227502

Holy Shit.

Well, there's always the 500GB option: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227474

:gonk: prices...

[Warsaw]

Main Rig


CPU and GPU Combo-Core i7 920 with ASUS Radeon HD5870 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.313365) - $634

GPU No. 2-ASUS Radeon HD5870 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121346) - $410

Motherboard-ASUS P6X58D (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614) - $310

RAM-6GB G.Skill DDR1600 (Get more later if you need it)
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247) - $164

HDD-WD Caviar Black x2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284) - $100 (x2 = $200)

SSD-Corsair Extreme 32GB (you'll want this) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233089)-$150

Case-Antec P183 Sleek n' Sexy (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129061) - $130

PSU-Corsair 850W Modular (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011) - $180 ($170 after MIR)

BD/DVD/CD-Burner-Pioneer Black (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129051) - $220

Speakers - Logitech Z-5500 5.1 (http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-THX-Certified-505-Watt-Digital-Surround/dp/B0002WPSBC) - $326


Total so far: $2724

Now, what do you mean by custom cooling? Uber heatsinks, giant fans, liquid, what? Also, the only reason I picked ASUS for the second GPU was because the combo was also an ASUS. I like brand consistency throughout my build for identical parts, but if it's all the same to you, the Sapphire costs $410 too, as does the XFX. I'm also assuming you will be scavenging some parts from your current build (i.e. CD/DVD drive). I intend to add a blu-ray player as soon as I configure a server and see where the budget stands.

Server Build

AMD-specific

Motherboard-TYAN S2927G2NR-E Thunder n3600B Dual 1207(F) NVIDIA nForce Professional 3600 ATX Dual AMD Opteron Server Motherboard - (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813151098) $300

CPU-AMD Opteron 2427 Istanbul Six-core 2.2GH (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819105255)z - $500 (x2 = $1000)

RAM-2x2GB Crucial DDR2 667 (x2) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148115) - $121 (x2 = $241)



Intel-specific

Motherboard-ASUS Z8NA-D6 (ASMB4-IKVM) Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5500 ATX Dual Intel Xeon 5500 Series Server Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131389) - $310

CPU-Intel Xeon E5520 Nehalem quad-core 2.26GHz (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117185) - $385 (x2 = $770)

RAM-Mushkin Proline 3x2GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333 ECC (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226066) - $189 (x2 = $380)


Platform agnostic

Video Card-Sapphire Radeon HD5750 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102859) - $130 (purely for the Eyefinity...it's cheaper than that Matrox doodad)

HDD-WD Caviar Black 1TB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284)- $100 (x2 = $200)

Case-Antec Titan 650 w/ 650W PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129027) - $195

PSU- Seasonic X750 Gold (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151087) - $180 (Not a Server PSU)



AMD Total with extra PSU: $2246
AMD Total without extra PSU: $2066

Intel Total with extra PSU: $2165
Intel Total without extra PSU: $1985


E: Will continue updating as I add parts, I just don't want to lose the list.

EE: What do you intend to do with the server? This has a very significant impact on what platform I build it on. The Istanbul is best choice if you do a lot of virtualization and Decision Support Databases. The Xeon is better if you want to do webserving, rendering, etc. Thing is, the Xeons that fit into your budget are far less powerful than the X5570 that was compared to the Istanbul, which beat out all the other Xeons.

[Kornman00]

For SSD: I'm holding off on using them for generic file usage until their price ranges aren't like that. So a few more years probably.

Cooling: I guess it really depends on what parts (not to mention case) end up getting placed in it. Just a model which works well for it all while not sounding too much like a jet plane and hopefully equally disappaiting the heat so it doesn't all come out one area and such.

Server: Mostly for server programming code development. Whether that means dedi server applications, general server applications (ie, for Source Control) and some file mangement for archiving purposes (especially for my large videos which really don't get touched). Tho, I may continue to use my external teras for the time being (when I go to build the server; connect them with an eSata cable) as they're still very useful.

I don't think this one will be doing too much rendering wise.

I probably wouldn't be the only one connecting to the server later on. Possibly 3-5 more people.

[Warsaw]

With the Opteron 2427 being such a huge power leap over the Xeon E5520, I don't think you can go wrong with it even if the Xeon architecture is better suited to certain things; the raw power will compensate for that disadvantage. What it really boils down to is whether you want DDR3 in your server or not (and how much RAM you want).

Also, how much storage space do you want in the server? I just trimmed the original storage back from 4TB to 2TB to free up $200 for use in the main rig so I could add in some good speakers (Dell has the same set for $380 if you don't dig Amazon...this set used to be $252 back in 2006, and it hasn't gone down once). For the sake of budget and adding a sound card, I would suggest the Logitech X-540 5.1 set and your pick of sound card (HT Omega or CreAtive X-Fi).

[Kornman00]

2TB would probably be best for the server. I'd just end up using my externals for archiving so 1) they won't have to be on all the time and 2) I can format them for large file storage. One external can be setup for 1TB at RAID1, then I have two LaCie 500GB.

Also I was reading up on PCIe 3.0 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#PCI_Express_3.0) which is due for finalizing in Q2 (Apr, May, Jun). It would probably be worth it in waiting for buying mother boards with support for them right? Though if the spec came out in June, I think it may be a month or two before some (decent) MOBOs come out with them, yes?

[Warsaw]

Yeah, you could do that. I don't think even today's cards saturate PCI-e 2.0 anyways, but I could be wrong. If anything, I'd say get the server now, and then wait for the main rig if you really want PCI-e 3.0. Servers don't require intense graphics performance, so it's not worth waiting for the new spec.

Still, seeing as PCI-e 2.0 cards can run on PCI-e 1.0, I don't see much benefit to waiting for PCI-e 3.0 until we start seeing a lot of video cards in that interface, especially when 2.0 has plenty of breathing room left.

[Kornman00]

UPDATE

Thanks to jcops and Dr@Home I was able to get the parts ordered for a new computer and with a few pointers from my dad I was able to build it pretty much by myself. Yay. So, now for the configuration of the Komputron8000(tm):

OS: Windows XP Pro 64-bit and Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. 1 x ($0.00)
Case: CM690 II (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216&cm_re=CM-690_II-_-11-119-216-_-Product). 1 x ($99.99)
Optical Drive: Pioneer Black BD-RE (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129051). 1 x ($199.95)
Primary Drive: Seagate 500GB Barracuda. 1 x $54.99
Secondary Drive: (2x - RAID1) Western Digital Caviar Black WD2001FASS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136456). 2 x ($209.95)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412). 1 x ($129.99)
CPU: Intel Core i7-860 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214&cm_re=core_i7_860-_-19-115-214-_-Product). 1 x ($199.99)
Primary Monitors: (3x) 23" Dell Monitor (http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfo/peripherals/monitor-dell-p2310h/pd.aspx?refid=monitor-dell-p2310h&s=dfo) with DisplayPort. 3 x ($220.00)
RAM: (2x) G.SKILL Ripjaws Series (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303) 4GB. 2 x ($119.99)
GFX Card: ASUS 5870 EYEFINITY (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121371) 2GB. 1 x ($549.99)
Power Supply: XFX 750W Black Edition (http://xfxforce.com/en-us/products/psu/black-edition/P1-750B-CAG9.aspx). 1 x ($179.99)

Cost: $2607.79 (note: hidden charges included; ie for extra cables, etc)
Plus S&H Charges: $37.87
Plus Tax Charges: $41.91
Total: $2687.57

Note: while some of those links are newegg based, not all parts were ordered from there. Other stores used: ebay, Microcenter, etc.

$2700 sure beats the $5K limit I was putting on myself at the start. This was the first time I had actually sat down and tallied up the cost of this new machine too http://kornnersoftware.com/trillian/xbox7887.gif. Images to be posted soon once I finish doing some postprocessing on the systems.

There are some other parts to the system which I'm re-using from previous setups (ie, external hdds, a 24" Apple Display, etc) but they're not core to the system and weren't recently bought so they weren't included in this list.

[Llama Juice]

You wanted at least 6 GB of RAM, you got 4. You fail.

Start over, build new machine, etc.

[Kornman00]

Read again: 2x. 2x4 = 8GB of ram. You fail.

Start over, go to school.

[Shock120]

UPDATE
Primary Monitors: (3x) 23" Dell Monitor (http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfo/peripherals/monitor-dell-p2310h/pd.aspx?refid=monitor-dell-p2310h&s=dfo) with DisplayPort. 3 x ($220.00)
GFX Card: ASUS 5870 EYEFINITY (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121371) 2GB. 1 x ($549.99)=O
getting 2 more soon? (included your apple one, so make that 2)
what about games? you need games and OS for the software side of the Kornstruction. =D

[king_nothing_]

Why didn't you go for a Bloomfield CPU? :smith:

[Kornman00]

=O
getting 2 more soon? (included your apple one, so make that 2)
what about games? you need games and OS for the software side of the Kornstruction. =D
If I do, they'll have to be displayport monitors because I don't want to buy a fucking active-converter T_T. That GFX card has 6 MiniDP ports, and lets you use 2 of those ports with passively adapted monitor connections (ie, MiniDP-2-DVI cable). After that, you have to actually buy a $150+ box which needs it's own power supply to actually convert the DP signal to DVI, VGA, etc.

With that being the case I'll probably wait for more (and bigger) DP monitors to come out before I invest in the last 2 monitors. I have to use a converter cable (DVI) for one of those dell monitors since I only had two MiniDP-2-DP cables and it seems like finding such a thing is like scouting for a rare pokemon card or some shit (albeit I've only done half assed google searches). So that's my two DVI connections right there.

I'm pretty anal when it comes to PC games. Smug responses to that aside, the only good PC game is a Halo engine PC game :-3. Well and GTA. But mainly Halo. Everything else is pretty much left to my 360.

Why didn't you go for a Bloomfield CPU? :smith:
I'll let jpops-the-top or In-her-goat answer that question. Not sure how much Microcenter is selling the 920s for, but the 860 is 80$ cheaper there than on newegg.

[Kornman00]

15221523152415251526

[Donut]

i read this thread for the first time today. laughed at the comment about transforming your dollars into euros.

and as always, jealous of your nice computer

[leorimolo]

15221523152415251526
Beastly! Nice komputer man, How long does it take to render a halo map?

[jcap]

Wow why the fuck would you install XP on it are you mentally incapacitated or something??????

e: wait what the fuck you have the Windows XP setup but then you show yourself running Vista? Also, wtf Vista??? Also x2, dual boot????????????? Also x3, your cable management sucks!

[Kornman00]

Yis, dual boot. Wxp and W7. RTFU.

As for my cable "management": it was shoot from the hip. It was my first time building a machine from the ground up. Also, there are two or three thick ass power cords coming out of the PSU which I can't remove and have no use for ATM adding to the clutter. Also also, GFX card takes up the entire free length of the case's guts save for about 1/2" so wiring transversal isn't so direct.

Don't have Halos installed yet so IDK the performance of 4-monitor bloodgulch yet

[Syuusuke]

No insane 1TB SSD drives hand-me-downs from the lovvie govie??

[InnerGoat]

lol look at all those fukken monitors

this is you:

http://innergoat.modacity.net/lol/6d17cc5677521ea3f6de67e1a74a3036376d3882.gif

[staticchanger]

Nice system. I like linking 2 or even 3 systems together with something like input director over gigabit. I had like 5 monitors setup like this once (took it all down for college )-:). The best part was I had both a Windows 7 environment, as well as XP (even had ubuntu running on a screen for awhile) and I could still seamlessly navigate between monitors. It was pretty tight for the year or two I had that setup the only downside was not being able to stretch a window across all 5 screens, but who needs that anyway. This setup kept everything nice and compartmentalized, it worked real great for me. I could even combine the processing power of my machines on 3ds with backburner which was the most intensive thing I did any way. Definitely a viable option for anyone wanting to get a butload of monitors, and can afford to spread applications out over multiple systems.

[paladin]

Now you can raid my sever

[Shock120]

Now you can DeKornstruct my serverfix'd lol

Kornman00, the only fail I can think of, is the "Windows Vista" =O , the other things like cable management don't matter, even I'm like that.

Windows XP and Windows 7 are a great combo.

[Kornman00]

Well, Vista has treated me pretty good for the past 4 years on my Macbook (it ran on the bootcamp beta all those years). The only major complaints I ever had for it was it's BS defragmenter and how fucking greedy it got with HDD space when it came to retaining fucking windows update installers (seriously, what the fuck).

I was thinking about making WXP my main development environment, but it's not completely up to date on some of the current tech. Namely GPT and exFAT. WXP64 supports GPT, but 32bit doesn't. WXP can support exFAT but it requires a WU download. Part of the whole having WXP as a "development environment" is it being able to access my resources (read: harddrives).

I'll be using VMware when it comes to WXP32 (just for my Xbox1 environment mostly) and maybe even start to venture into some Linux type stuff. In the end, my WXP64 partition will just be used for legacy usages. Since I'm not running it in a VM, it'll have full access to my GFX card. So older games will be safer and still enjoyable plus I'll be able to test graphical stuff on WXP.

Yeah, the cable (mis)management doesn't really matter since you're not up in your computer's junk everyday (at least the normal computer user isn't). I don't see it conflicting with any future PCI card addons, nor any later drives I might add. It may look ugly, but the case wasn't designed with that specific setup in mind (like a computer you order from Dell would be)

@Goat, I don't see any snails :P


No insane 1TB SSD drives hand-me-downs from the lovvie govie??
Nope, no one that I know of in Germany was using SSDs. And when it comes to the gov't, they'll smash and obliterate any HDDs used in a production computer so no data is ever recoverable from it, even if the machine is Green (Unclassified).

On top of that, they have hand receipts for almost everything (except furniture, which is kind of funny). For example, another civilian IT guy that I worked with had a Buffalo NS (http://www.buffalotech.com/products/network-storage/business/terastation-iii-ts-xlr5-ts-rxlr5/) that he absolutely DID NOT use (or rather couldn't, due to how our Win2008 images were configured by our theater's Signal command). So we had a 2 or 4GB beast just sitting there doing nothing. I asked him if he wanted me to take it off his hands (;p) but it too was on his hand receipt. If it ever came up lost or stolen he'd be responsible for paying back the gov't for it.

[Kornman00]

Fucking hell: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winservergen/thread/c765b671-2845-4d4b-b51d-cb425614a2ee