Need Advice on a $2,000 Desktop

[stevem326]

I'm trying to build an ultra-fast desktop PC. I?d like something that boots up really fast, shuts down really fast, moves/deletes/renames/finds files really fast. I'll mainly just be using MS Office software for college projects. No gaming or video editing. No music. Just a workstation that I can make run as fast as possible. I?ll also have a 1.5 Mbps DSL connection on this rig.

So, the question is what mix of components would be best to accomplish this? My budget is $2,000. I was thinking about starting with a 15K SCSI HD and working out from there. But I?m also thinking it might be better to focus on the processor and RAM and go with a 10K or 7,200 SATA drive. What is the biggest bottleneck to speed when it comes to workstations? Should I throw the most money at the fastest CPU? The best RAM? The fastest HD? A high-end mobo? I?m not talking gaming, video editing, or music files?just a plain old workstation for Office applications and a DSL connection. What do I need to focus on if speed is the top priority?

I realize this is kind of a broad question, so you don?t need to waste time creating a huge response for me. Maybe you could just tell me what order I should focus on. Like maybe rate the most important components if speed is the main goal (HD, CPU, RAM or CPU, RAM, HD, etc). If you want to suggest all the components of an entire system that?s great too, but don?t feel like you have to because I know that?s a lot of work.

Thanks a lot for any advice.

 

[fishmonger12]

uh... last time i checked you don't need a workstation to run office apps. that's what's called a desktop. a workstation is a pc that's specialized for a particular high requirement usage (CAD, databases, etc.) office apps doesn't fall into one of those categories. the speed increase from a 1000$ machine to a 2000$ machine for office apps is going to be +/- 5%.

anyways, with that being said, i would probably shoot for an amd 3500+ or intel equivalent, as that probably suits your price range at the moment. if you are willing to overclock shoot for a 3200+ or 3000+. i would probably get onboard video, seeing how you are not playing games. i would probably get a 15k scsi drive as your boot disk... ramwise a gig is the most you will need for your uses.... i don't know what else to say. i guess with the 1k that's left you could get a big monitor or something...