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Sandy Bridge i7 build critique below $1200

K

kaztenburg

Junior Member
Hello Guys, thanks for any input you guys can give and please dont pull any punches if you think im making a stupid purchase all input is appreciated.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for - Mainly I want it for practice I need to install server 2008 64 bit and hyper v, I do not care about graphics or gaming. I need to run some virtual machines at least 3 windows 7 32bit, ubuntu, and maybe another server 2008 32 bit

2. What YOUR budget is. - At or around $1200

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from. - USA only

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. Intel fanboy for processor and asus fanboy for motherboard no other preferences

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, have an os, keyboard, mouse, monitor.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads. Yes lots

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds. Default speeds

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.N/A

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?The end of this month 4/30/2011


Here is what I have so far:

MotherBoard - asus P8P67 DELUXE REV 3.0 Price: $244.99
http://www.cpusolutions.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=2366&idcategory=452#details

CPU - Intel core i7-2600k(sandy bridge) Price: $328.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115070

Case - In-Win Android Price: $74.91
http://www.provantage.com/win-develo...d~7INWN0R1.htm

Power Supply - Thermaltake Black Widow 850W Price: $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153106

Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 Price: $84.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231311

Video Card - HIS H467QR1GH Radeon HD 4670 Price: $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161315

Hard Drive - Seagate SV35 Series ST31000526SV 1TB Price: $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148727

DVD Drive - LG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW Price: $19.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827136216

Total price minus shipping and handling = $1018.84

Guys if you think i could save some money somewhere or could get a better product please let me know again I am not going to game. I have also considered just buying a rackmount server but can find none in this price range that will run hyper v. Any input is much appreciated, thanks for taking the time to read this.
 
Up the RAM and add additional hard drives. If running VMs, those are your two most important factors aside from CPU cores and NICs.

Personally, I'd buy two sets of 8GB RAM... though I suppose you could get by with just 8GB, the more you have the better off you'll be.

Also, having multiple drives to store multiple VMs is ideal when not using a massive SCSI RAID config. Even if you threw 2-3 500GB drives instead of the single 1TB drive, your experience with VMing will be much, much better.
 
If you aren't going to game, save some money and:
Intel 2600 $299 no reason to get the K if you will not overclock
ASUS P8H67-M PRO $125 Any features you wanted on the deluxe in particular? Main reason would be for SLI/Crossfire, but if you are not gaming, excessive features.
Antec EarthWatts Green 380W $45 Overkill on your PSU
Samsung F3 1TB $65
2x G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB $160

Total with your other options is just under $800. You could then consider getting a SSD.
 
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I like lulu's recommendations.
I don't think going overkill on the psu is a bad thing, just not as much overkill as you were doing.

Although, you shouldn't just consider getting an SSD.
I've seen a huge difference in VM performance after switching to SSD's.
 
Hello, mvbighead thank you for reading and thank you even more for the reply. I think I am going to up the ram and I just went with the one drive for now because i eventually want to setup raid 5 maybe build my own nas. Thanks again for your reply
 
Hello, LuluTheMonk thank you for reading and thank you for taking the time to post and research the parts thats awesome. I like the Ram I have no need for the heat spreaders with no overclocking, I also like the motherboard I went with the other one from another post, also just went with the k because of a post in another forum but i have decided to go with the regular 2600 instead, you are right why go with the k if im not overclocking the power supply has me a little scared though ive read that the i7 needs at least a 400w thanks again
 
Hello TheTuna Thanks for taking the time to read my post and thanks even more for replying.I like Lulus recommendations to i am modifying my build somewhat to reflect them, i would like to go with ssds but they are so expensive.
 
Power requirements are grossly exaggerated. For example if you scroll down to the power consumption in this link you can see that the GTX 580 only pulls a MAX of 450w this is the most power hungry SINGLE GPU currently available. You will NOT be anywhere close to this. the setup AnandTech is using in this test is this:


CPU: Intel Core i7-920 @ 3.33GHz
Motherboard: Asus Rampage II Extreme
Chipset Drivers: Intel 9.1.1.1015 (Intel)
Hard Disk: OCZ Summit (120GB)
Memory: Patriot Viper DDR3-1333 3 x 2GB (7-7-7-20)

The i7-920 uses more power then the 2600 especially since their i7 is OC'd

You should expect power draw for most tasks to be around 75w and spikes around 200-250w
 
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Hello mnewsham thank you for reading and thank you more for replying so 380W should be sufficient? I went to Thermaltakes power supply calculator and punched in what i had, added some fans and a couple of pci cards they recommended a 280W power supply,that just seems so low to me it seems it should be more you know.
 
Suggestions:

1. Get Intel H67 mobo instead (save ~$100)
2. Use HD3000 instead of Radeon HD4670 (save ~$65)
3. A lower rated PSU such as Antec TP-650 will be sufficient and still good, but don't bother with under 500W PSUs, you need some headroom to reduce heat/noise (save ~$40)
4. add 8GB RAM as mentioned (spend ~$85)
5. SSD, especially if you can fit your active VMs on it. (spend ~$200+, go with Intel)
 
Your CPU has a MAX TDP of 95w your gpu has a TDP of 59w the motherboard, RAM, fans, HDD, ODD, SSD, etc... is another 50w that is a total of 204w lets call it a MAX of 225w that is at FULL load, (never going to happen) 380w should be fine and is even a little bit over kill for what you plan on doing.
 
ALSO if i might add, if you are using linux you would probably want to go with Nvidia as i find AMD linux drivers to be a mess (if they are there at all!)
 
Hey gevorg thanks for reading and thanks for posting, i appreciate your input, i really like the asus boards though, why do you think i should stick with the 8 gigs of ram? Do you think 16 gigs is too much?
 
LuluTheMonk said:
If you aren't going to game, save some money and:
Intel 2600 $299 no reason to get the K if you will not overclock
ASUS P8H67-M PRO $125 Any features you wanted on the deluxe in particular? Main reason would be for SLI/Crossfire, but if you are not gaming, excessive features.
Antec EarthWatts Green 380W $45 Overkill on your PSU
Samsung F3 1TB $65
2x G.Skill DDR3 1333 8GB $160

Total with your other options is just under $800. You could then consider getting a SSD.
Click to expand...

mnewsham said:
Power requirements are grossly exaggerated. For example if you scroll down to the power consumption in this link you can see that the GTX 580 only pulls a MAX of 450w this is the most power hungry SINGLE GPU currently available. You will NOT be anywhere close to this. the setup AnandTech is using in this test is this:


CPU: Intel Core i7-920 @ 3.33GHz
Motherboard: Asus Rampage II Extreme
Chipset Drivers: Intel 9.1.1.1015 (Intel)
Hard Disk: OCZ Summit (120GB)
Memory: Patriot Viper DDR3-1333 3 x 2GB (7-7-7-20)

The i7-920 uses more power then the 2600 especially since their i7 is OC'd

You should expect power draw for most tasks to be around 75w and spikes around 200-250w
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

OP, when you're doing virtualization, RAM is king. 16GB is cheap enough that I see no reason not to do it. I also agree that the suggesting of an H67 motherboard makes sense. You really don't need anything beyond the Sandy Bridge IGP.
 
kaztenburg said:
Hey gevorg thanks for reading and thanks for posting, i appreciate your input, i really like the asus boards though, why do you think i should stick with the 8 gigs of ram? Do you think 16 gigs is too much?
Click to expand...

I meant that you should consider adding 8GB more, for a total of 16GB, like others have mentioned here. 🙂
 
To be honest, sandy bridge is not all it is put out to be... If I where you, I would go with 1366. Then you have the option to upgrade to a 6 core CPU if you ever feel you need it. And also have the capability for more ram if you ever need it as well.
 
muskie32 said:
To be honest, sandy bridge is not all it is put out to be... If I where you, I would go with 1366. Then you have the option to upgrade to a 6 core CPU if you ever feel you need it. And also have the capability for more ram if you ever need it as well.
Click to expand...

1155 will have 6 and 8 core cpu's as well.... (or it is reported to)
 
muskie32 said:
To be honest, sandy bridge is not all it is put out to be... If I where you, I would go with 1366. Then you have the option to upgrade to a 6 core CPU if you ever feel you need it. And also have the capability for more ram if you ever need it as well.
Click to expand...

Ummm, wtf? Have you somehow missed the fact that a 2600K is as fast as an 970 despite having two fewer cores?
 
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