[Herts] Soul of a new machine

[Malcolm Smith]

On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 04:03:28PM +0100, nicolas wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Just thought I would post my musings on my new development machine. 
> Comments very welcome!

I've been away, but my 0.02p...


> Requirements
> ------------
> 
> Development box primary OS Ubuntu running :-
> Eclipse - Android Development
> VirtualBox - For Hackintosh/iPhone Development, legacy XP, etc
> One 24inch 1920*1200 to start, but others to follow.. 

1920*1200 are scandalously hard to find and often expensive. It does my head
in, as I need one to go between two 1024*1280 panels in portrait (and need to
match the dpi as close as possible). If you are not planning this, consider
1920*1080 as they are cheap as chips now.


> High performance, with at least some future proofing, not a gaming or media
> machine.
> Not to noisy(!)

http://www.silentpcreview.com/


> Outline Specification
> ---------------------
> 
> Processor
> Intel i5-2600K

I don't buy Intel so have no idea.


> Cooler 
> Considering just using the stock Intel cooler. Other options

...are probably always going to be better if they fit in the case (check!).


> if over
> clocking would be
> http://www.ebuyer.com/176157-arctic-cooling-freezer-7-pro-rev-2-socket-775-1
> 156-1155-1366-ac-frz-7pr2
> http://www.ebuyer.com/271186-be-quiet-dark-rock-advanced-c1-socket-775-1155-
> 1156-1366-am2-darkrock-advanced-c1
> 
> Motherboard
> Z68 chip set
> Asus or Gigabyte? Any thoughts?

My Asus AMD board is awesome. Gigabyte are also highly regarded.


> Case
> Antec or Fractal?
> http://www.ebuyer.com/143854-antec-300-three-hundred-case-0761345-08300-3
> http://www.ebuyer.com/236437-fractal-design-define-r3-black-pearl-case-fd-ca
> -def-r3-bl

Again, read reviews at SPCR if you want quiet.


> PSU
> http://www.ebuyer.com/159920-antec-truepower-new-650w-modular-psu-0761345-07
> 660-9

SPCR...


> SSD
> As I don't need a great amount of space.
> http://www.ebuyer.com/268244-ocz-120gb-agility-3-ssd-sata-iii-read-525mb-s-w
> rite-500mb-s-agt3-25sat3-120g
> Not really sure of Cosair over ocz. OCZ, from what I read have a reputation
> for speedy firmware updates. But perhaps they need them more? Who knows! 

The Sandforce drives (OCZ, Corsair, etc.) still feel a bit risky to me after
many failures and problems, although I do want a cheaper one in my studio PC
soon for the amazing performance with the compressible data (.wav) I work with.
Prices are slowly falling and I may soon consider a 120GB OCZ Solid 3 if its
price falls to where it should be: lower than the (better) Agility 3 which
exceeds my needs but is strangely cheaper (probably due to sales volume).
Check prices at Scan and Aria too...

As a safe bet, I just ordered a 64GB Crucial m4 to replace a dead OS drive.
Still one of the cheapest decent SSDs and new firmware has further improved
performance:

http://www.anandtech.com/tag/storage


> Graphics
> Integral(!) to start with, until I have sorted out two more screens. Then
> perhaps ATI 6850 to give a couple more screens and some gaming if really
> needed  

Remember that with Eyefinity, one screen of three probably needs to be
DP, but these are getting cheaper now.


Good luck and bring it along to play with!
-- 
Malcolm
http://www.thesmith.org.uk/     Personal site of unfathomable depths
http://www.secretbass.org.uk/   Drum circle in deepest Hertfordshire
http://www.drummingisfun.co.uk/ African drumming workshops+performances