Building a Workstation

[DL126]

Ok guys ...
I've never had a customer that needed as much machine as this guy does.
He's a screen printer / embroiderer.
He may have as many as 6 or more apps running at any given time. (Running dual 22" wide screen monitors)
One of those apps will be Corel Draw, and he may very well have as many as a dozen files open in there at once.
QuickBooks is always open, IE is always open. Excel is always open.

Where he runs into trouble is when he tries to send LARGE files to the printers.
And he'll run multiple files to 2 printers at once.

My idea for him a new machine is as follows ....
1) A professional workstation board (I'd like to stay with Intel or Super Micro here)
2) Core i7 920
3) Win 7 Pro x64
4) AT LEAST 12GB RAM
5) Intel X25 160GB SSD
6) Video (I don't think this is terribly important. But it needs to be a decent one)

Your opinions please ....
Please remember when making your suggestions, with a $3K budget on this rig, it is imperative that it be dependable for a WHILE!
If I have to tell him 2 years from now that he needs more machine .... well ... it won't be a pretty sight.

TIA

[Apoptosis]

12GB of RAM should be plenty for those applications.

Just curious why you are going top of the line on memory and the SSD, but then putting in just a Core i7 920 processor.

Also why a workstation board? If you want Super Micro you have pretty much one choice the SUPERMICRO MBD-C7X58-O. This board runs $250, has no overclocking features, and is hit or miss on memory support. Read the 13 reviews on Newegg and you'll see the board gets fairly bad ratings.

For a single CPU system you would more than likely be better off with a desktop board. The ASUS P6T V2 is a solid board and it works great with 12GB and 18GB of memory as I have one and tested it.

[DL126]

12GB of RAM should be plenty for those applications.

Just curious why you are going top of the line on memory and the SSD, but then putting in just a Core i7 920 processor.

Also why a workstation board? If you want Super Micro you have pretty much one choice the SUPERMICRO MBD-C7X58-O. This board runs $250, has no overclocking features, and is hit or miss on memory support. Read the 13 reviews on Newegg and you'll see the board gets fairly bad ratings.

For a single CPU system you would more than likely be better off with a desktop board. The ASUS P6T V2 is a solid board and it works great with 12GB and 18GB of memory as I have one and tested it.

i7 920 = I can't see justification for the price jump above the 920. His current C2D rarely gets overloaded. It's mainly the RAM & HDD slowing him down.
Workstation Board = No reason really. Just ass/u/med a workstation board was more reliable over the long haul. Super Micro lists several that support the i7 ... http://www.supermicro.com/products/moth ... x.cfm#1366
Asus boards = I have one. It has seemed awfully "twitchy" since I've had it. I've simply never had any "twitches" out of an Intel or Super Micro board. Won't be doing any OC'ing on this machine anyway.

Thanks!

[DaddyRabbit]

I have to agree with Apop. Reliability in motherboards (at least from the biggies) has gone way up recently. I have had great luck with Gigabyte, EVGA has an excellent warranty and support as does XFX (but they are limited to Nforce).

Since gaming and overclocking are out and CPU isn't the issue I would recommend going a P55 route (although the RAM limit might be restricted in the future but by that time something else will be out). I did a quickie on the Egg:

Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128401 - I have been well served by Gigabyte and they are solid boards.

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115215 - Since the C2D isn't stressed this CPU should be fine with the advantage of upgrading to the i7 860 when ready (or spend the extra $80).

Video - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150447 - This should be a good card for your needs.

RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231315 - Man go beyond 6GB and this stuff gets expensive.

SSD - (please note I'm not an expert) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820233085 - More space is better.

Backup HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136313 - Good Drive.


Total = $2,313.95 sans shipping, case, PSU, monitor, KB, mouse etc.

[DL126]

Thanks for the info so far guys.

Interesting note here:
I was in there Saturday watching him work ...
In the screenprinting side of things, there is a RIP program that sits "between" the printer drivers & the physical hardware.
Too complicated to try to explain, but the jist of it is this ... I watched him send ONE file to an Epson 4000 printer & all of a sudden Corel Draw was hogging a full Gig of RAM. (Task Manager)
A few minutes after printing completion, RAM usage dropped back to normal.
Now imagine 3 or 4 of those files at once.

He's running XP Pro x86 with 3GB of RAM now ...
Once he starts printing, "Virtual Memory" errors abound.

What concerns me is this ....
I know him personally, and the more his hardware can handle, the more he will ask it to do.
So eventually, I have no doubt he'll max out whatever this new build turns out to be.
Then he'll bitch at me for spending so much and it still gives problems.
We had a discussion about this, and he assures me he won't. (But he will)