Yet another LGA1151 recommendation request

[Marakai]

Hi,

I've now spent days diving into and researching a fitting refresher for my specific use case and am going in circles, so I thought I'd give up and post here in case a kind soul or two will give some advice. :'(

Here's the bullet point requirements:

• Skylake: mobo, CPU and 32 GB RAM only
• budget less than US$1K/AU$1,500 (wife decreed) - will for now keep much of my old HW in place (SSD, old GPU, case, PSU)
• dual NIC
• NO WiFi
• M.2 slots, though not used yet
• 3 displays, 2560x1440 each
• NO overclocking planned or intended
• looks are not important. the box sits as a footwarmer/cat-buttwarmer below my desk

Main use cases:

• 80% development ("devops") work:
• Windows 10 as host OS
• Visual Studio for Xamarin cross-platform development
• VMware Workstation with multiple hefty VMs (at least 8GB each)
• for example: Linux dev VM with PyCharm, IntelliJ and Docker
• at the same time a Hackintosh VM with XCode, iOS Simulator etc
• Various CI/CD tools, including Bamboo agents, webapps for monitoring yadda yadda
• (right now I have to play musical chairs with bringing apps/VMs up and down, with the missus finally getting annoyed over the cursing and swearing that goes with it D: )
• 20% gaming:
• My biggest gaming days are over, not the least because there's nothing around that gets my attention (too old to have hope for HL3 😉 ), as a result I replay my old favourites from Portal to Civ V to the Mass Effect series.
• Some times the odd logging back into some MMOs (WOW, SWTOR)
• Do plan on checking No Man Sky and Mass Effect 4
• for that my old GTX660 is carrying on, but may have wife get me an update for Chrissie

My first impulse was "just go Xeon E3" and be done with it, but thought that might be too far from the gaming requirements. Also, not sure I can fit that into the budget. I do some playing/coding with GPU-accelerated data processing, so having both CUDA and Intel's iGPU to test with, held me back from following that path.

Argh! I'm in analysis paralysis! Help!

PS: *sigh* just noticed that these questions should probably go into General Hardware, if a kind admin could move it over.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Those are some steep requirements and low budget, so I don't know if you'll find a single machine to meet your needs. I have three suggestions:

1) Keep current PC and add a Xeon server (example) for your apps/VMs.

2) Upgrade to Skylake and offload some apps/VMs to a low-cost, unmanaged VPS (example).

3) All-new Skylake and use current PC as dedicated VM server.

 

[UsandThem]

If you are reusing many of your old components, buy a i7-6700(k), a motherboard, and RAM for $550-$600.

You'll probably need a new power supply ($50-$100) as well, but you didn't list what model it is.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I honestly don't think Skylake (i7 or E3) offers the right combination for those needs; 4C/8T just isn't enough. Something like the 5820K/5930K (6C/12T) or 5960X (8C/16T) would be a better choice, but you'd lose the iGPU.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Actually, looks like the 6, 8, and 10 core i7's (socket 2011-v3) will be launched tomorrow, so that's what I would recommend. It may be sold out for a while, but if you can snag a 6800K anytime soon that's what I would recommend. There will be no iGPU.

 

[Marakai]

Thanks all for the quick replies.

It's just typical how impeccable my timing was with Intel's Broadwell-E announcement. Yet another thing to throw into the muddle...

Just answering suggestions in one fell swoop:

Re: get an extra virtual server

Already have one, for infrastructure services. Running ESX 6 on a whitebox, it's a workhorse here, but not capable of throwing CPU or memory bound tasks at it. Adding another would be a whole extra investment and not solve my desktop limitations.

Re: budget

I've found a couple of good offers in stock, including Newegg who now ship to Australia. For the ASUS Z170-WS mobo, 6700K and 2x16GB I arrive at just a smidgeon under AU$1,500.

As an aside, one reason I'm looking at this moment is the Aussie tax year which ends June 30. If I get (or at least pay for) the items in time I can take the deduction this year. No word from the authorities (read: the missus) so far whether I can *add* that 30% deduction to my budget or not. 😉

Re: Broadwell-E

Yeah that looks like it'd be my best option, but doubtful to a) fit into the budget b) pay for/get in time: right now I can't even find a vendor that has compatible X99 mobos in stock or don't charge an arm and a leg. Then there's the issue of what a freshly released 6800K is going to go for, seeing as Intel will likely want to protect their Skylake investment. :\

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I've found a couple of good offers in stock, including Newegg who now ship to Australia. For the ASUS Z170-WS mobo, 6700K and 2x16GB I arrive at just a smidgeon under AU$1,500.

Given the budget, the 6800K will be ~$100USD more than the 6700K, and the mobo will likely be extra also, so that's out. The 6700K is probably your best choice then, though it doesn't come with a heatsink, so don't forget to price that in.

 

[Marakai]

The first Australian shops now have the 6800K in store. As expected they're about AU$200 more than the 6700K.

Now I'm trying to slog through the list of available mobos for on that has dual NICs... and trawling old AT articles for X99 reviews.

 

[Beer4Me]

With the monitor requirement, I don't see how you're going to build this for less than 1k USD. You're going to need to set aside at least $700 for CPU (i7), mobo, and ram. Leaving you with $300 for 3 x 1440p displays? Not happening. If you can get your wife to approve another $500 USD, you should be fine.

 

[Marakai]

Sadly, you're right. Spent days now, comparing prices - import and local - exchange rates, various combinations.

In the end I did what I should have done first: check with the accountant. (No, a real one, not some term of endearment for the wife 😉. As it turns out, if I buy this month, before end of tax year, a nice little changed tax law for small business (I'm an indie contractor) allows me to take up to AU$20K as a full deduction, instead of 2-3 year depreciation!

With that, I've just about thrown my hands in the air and am going for a near full refresh. Getting the Asus X170 WS, sticking with the 6700K, 32GB RAM - and then throwing in a GTX 1070.

With an assumed price of around AU$799 for the FE (and others won't be much cheaper) I have a quote for AU$2200. Minus my tax rate and I'll still be in the AU$1500 range.

Lo, presto!

Thanks for the advice everybody! With refresh cycles on my systems getting longer and longer, it seems, I just don't pay as much attention beyond keeping up with AT articles.