Building the ultimate computer

[bozilla]

Hi guys,

I want to sell my current workstation and build the best and the fastest PC currently available. I want to have top of the line components, the fastest CPU you can buy that is optimized for applications like Photoshop, 3d studio max, Premier and After Effects Pro, Web design (Flash and Macromedia apps), bunch of ram that is actually usable in applications and is very fast etc. I want a machine that will allow me to run applications almost instantly. Machine is also made for gaming so hit away with top of the line graphics cards as well.

My current machine is dual Xeon 3.6 and even though it is a fast machine I think I can get something even better. Don't forget about the cooling and case and all that (that's my main issue with the machine I have now). I want very quiet machine but insanly fast. I need this for serious work and for me every second counts, no waiting. Also don't forget about RAM amount limitations with the OS and all that. I have 4Gb now but it's not used fully with Windows XP PRO SP2. It uses only 3.7Gb. Suggestion of Windows OS is also desirable.

NOTE: Please guys be realistic and don't go like 4x400Gb hard drives and so on. I want clean lean machine and need advice from you guys.

Thanks a lot.

 

[polski]

i donno a dual xeon is pretty fast...

 

[MVasigh]

Wait for Athlon 64 X2 and GeForce 7800.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Why do people make posts like these? There have been tons of these lately, use the search feature. Hint: Dual or quad opterons.

 

[Bucks]

Hold on to what you have. Dual Xeons are almost top of the line. Wait until there is new hardware available that will actually yield a performance increase from what you have.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

You're fine. Don't waste any more money. Playing catchup will just leave you with an empty pocketbook and a computer that can be outperformed by something cheaper like 6 months later.

 

[dguy6789]

Realistically, how much money do you have? You could get a dual dual-core opteron setup, and load it with 4Gb of ram, and two 74GB raptors in raid 0. Then put in a Geforce 6800 Ultra or 7800.

Besides having a lack of storage, that pc would fly.

 

[theMan]

you dont want raptors. you want some 15k scsi. and seriously. you dont need anything more. wait untill next year when the quad core opterons come out.

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
Why do people make posts like these? There have been tons of these lately, use the search feature. Hint: Dual or quad opterons.

:thumbsup:

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

It's about $8600 for a fully-loaded Mac workstation & 20" cinema display.

 

[ShadowBlade]

well here it is...most of this hardware is available now

gigabyte or dfi or msi nf4 sli mobo
amd a64 x2 4800+ oc'ed to 6000+
phase change cooler
sli'ed 7800 ultras
3+ 2405FPW monitors
as many as you can get of thse: 74GB raptor hard drives in RAID 0 or 5 and
as many as you can get of these: 400GB 7200 hard drives in RAID 0 or 5
install windows server 2k3 (or 2k4 is it comes out) on this and enable DX9 (or DX10 if it comes out)

as many as you can get of these in a cluster:
tyan quad skt-940 server mobo
4x [fastest available dual or quad core opterons](i dont feel like looking up the #s)
32GB of 2-2-2-8 OCZ ram
highest capacity 15kRPM scsi drive

4- 8- or 16- port gigabit network switch

roughly guestimated price: $15000 for one server, one process node (correct term?)
will beat most current international servers in the face, and its for gaming!

 

[redpoints]

i can just picture the fat, zit-faced, 35 year-old nerd masturbating in his parents' basement looking at big numbers of computer specs

sigh...

 

[bozilla]

@redpoints
I hope that you are not trying to describe me with that statement?


@ShadowBlade
about phase change cooling, I found that Prometeia Mach II is the best thing on the market so far, but I can't seem to find how to use that thing on dual CPU configurations. Does this mean I have to buy 2 Mach IIs for both CPUs?

I like the first thing you noted with Dual Athlons X2 and all that.

What is the best OS to use even with the config I have now? I'm using XP Pro SP2 now and it seems to underperfom or it feels like some of the CPU features are not exactly fully used, especially with the amount of ram and how applications only use 2Gb of memory. Any ideas?

 

[Crescent13]

Dual opteron 275 oc'd to 4.0 GHz or more
two quadro fx 4400G's at 2000mhz core, 4000mhz mem or more
liquid helium cooling system
two hundred million of theese.

sorry, not realistic.

ok...

Dual opteron 252's
Two quadro fx 3400's
maybe some cheetaz?

 

[ShadowBlade]

Originally posted by: bozilla
@ShadowBlade
about phase change cooling, I found that Prometeia Mach II is the best thing on the market so far, but I can't seem to find how to use that thing on dual CPU configurations. Does this mean I have to buy 2 Mach IIs for both CPUs?

I like the first thing you noted with Dual Athlons X2 and all that.

What is the best OS to use even with the config I have now? I'm using XP Pro SP2 now and it seems to underperfom or it feels like some of the CPU features are not exactly fully used, especially with the amount of ram and how applications only use 2Gb of memory. Any ideas?

phase change cooling is only because the 4800+ was oc'ed to 6000+ in my description, and the server for the cluster (X2 system) was only one cpu, as far as i know, there are no dual skt-939 mobos

the only step up for your os would be XP x64
i said to install win server because youre supposed to cluster it with the quad quad core opteron system and XP cant cluster

 

[Dubb]

your current xeons are faster than any of the 939 X2 chips for most workstation stuff.

xp64 might help in some areas, but you will still be limited by the 2gb/ application threshold till 64 bit versions of those apps come out (likely still a few years away)

if noise is an issue, look into the cooler master cm-04 passive heatpipe heatsinks for your xeons, ans strap some quiet 80mm fans to them.

but if you really want to upgrade...

tyan k8we
2x opteron 275s
sonictower passive heatsinks
4GB ram (numa)
dual quadro 4400s or 3400s (non sli)
apple 30" cinema
IBM t221
a few of those gigabyte ramdrives (when they come out) -raid 0 or jbod for OS/apps
big HD for backups and data
big ass steel case with tons of 120mm quality fans

 

[JDCentral]

Not worth the upgrade...
If you have 'issues' with your current build, I'd just replace the stuff you have issues with (like the case, and the cooling).
Dual 3.6 Xeons is damn impressive... I'm pretty sure any single-chip solution will be slower in pure processing power (but maybe not in single-threaded apps, which seem to be all that you're running... there's added overhead of managing two CPUs. If you had 2.0 Ghz duelies or even up to 2.8, then I'd recommend an upgrade to a single proc system, but at 3.6 Ghz each, I can't really justify it.)

 

[imported_michaelpatrick33]

Originally posted by: JDCentral
Not worth the upgrade...
If you have 'issues' with your current build, I'd just replace the stuff you have issues with (like the case, and the cooling).
Dual 3.6 Xeons is damn impressive... I'm pretty sure any single-chip solution will be slower in pure processing power (but maybe not in single-threaded apps, which seem to be all that you're running... there's added overhead of managing two CPUs. If you had 2.0 Ghz duelies or even up to 2.8, then I'd recommend an upgrade to a single proc system, but at 3.6 Ghz each, I can't really justify it.)

Dual AMD 275's with SCSI and Quadro's will beat his current system in those multi-threaded applications. Expensive as h#ell though. Like most people have said fix the issues or go with dual 275's if you really need the power.

Windows XP 64bit for full use of over 4 gigs (Of course the programs need to be 64bit as well I believe)

 

[bozilla]

Thanks for your replies guys. I think that my machine is not working properly because of the cooling. I'm using 2 Cooler Master passive heatsinks now and they just couldn't cool down Xeons so I had to mouse 2 80mm fans on them and it still gets hot (close to 70C with heavy processing and gaming). I think that the Lian Li 1200B wasn't really the best choice for a case because of several reasons. Positions of case fans that blow directly on CPUs are not available and the noise is higher because of the small holes all over the place. I just saw a great Lian Li case modded by Koolance with liquid cooling (I believe it's Exos 2 integrated), I might go with that and see how the machine behaves.

Now tell me guys, is it smart for me to install Windows 2003 Server and optimize it as workstation. Will it allow me better memory usage and CPU optimization over Windows XP?

Btw, thanks for all of you guys who responded.