High end Desktop for Business...

meathman 007 · 22 Jun 2008 at 14:59

Hi guys, just looking for some advice. Im planning to get a new desktop for my business next week. The primary use for this pc will be a lot of rendering work with the software package Camtasia:
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp

Other uses include storage of a large amount of date - avi video files etc, maintainence of a heavily flash based website and general media related activities.
It will probobly be used to run dual Dell 2407 monitors.

This is the current spec im looking at:

PROCESSOR

Dual Intel Xeon E5420 (2.50GHz,1333FSB,2x6MB,Quad Core)

OPERATING SYSTEM

English Windows Vista Business 64Bit to Windows XP Professional X64Bit (Downgrade) with media

MEMORY

8GB DDR2 667 Quad Channel FBD Memory (8x1GB)

GRAPHICS CARD

512MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro FX 1700 (MRGA14L), Dual Monitor DVI or VGA Graphics Card

HARD DRIVE

750GB (7,200rpm) SATA II Hard Drive

2ND HARD DRIVE

Additional 80GB (10,000rpm) Hard Drive with 16MB DataBurst Cache™

3RD HARD DRIVE

Additional 320GB (7,200 rpm) SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive with NCQ and 16MB DataBurst Cache™

OPTICAL DRIVE

16X DVD+/-RW + 16X DVD-ROM

RAID CONNECTIVITY C3 -

All SATA drives, Non-RAID, 3 drive total configuration

Price - Subtotal € 2,491.00 - excluding VAT

Few questions:

1. With the 64 bit windows xp, will all of the 8gb of ram be useable?

2. Does all general pc applications function with the 64 bit os?

3. Will i notice a huge increase in performance by having dual intel xeon processors?

Any other advice and general comments about the system appreciated

Btw, im not trying to advertise a competitor by posting this thread, the only reason im considering going with this particular company is because we need next day business support and they are quite good here in Ireland.

semi-pro waster · 22 Jun 2008 at 15:16

1. A 64 bit OS would allow you to use all the 8gb of Ram.

2. Many applications have 64 bit versions but some you would have to run in compatability mode or they simply may not work even I suppose. Check the packages you use most often to see if they have 64 bit versions.

3. I don't know what Camtasia does with multiple cores so dual Xeons might be overkill, however you can of course run several different programs at once on the various cores, in some cases you can run multiple instances of the same program.

meathman 007 · 23 Jun 2008 at 00:05

thanks semi-pro. Could you elaborate a bit more on how compatibility mode works..... i.e if some application i regularly use dosnt work on xp 64 bit - can i still run it on the pc using this compatibility mode?

Secondly, how easy is it to set up a dual boot xp 64 bit and vista 64 bit. I think it will be xp 64 bit that will be installed from the factory and ill have the vista disk as part of the package.....

semi-pro waster · 23 Jun 2008 at 07:40

The quick Microsoft guide to compatability mode, in effect you get Windows to 'emulate' an earlier version which will hopefully fool it into working correctly. It isn't 100% but better than nothing.

I'm not too sure about how difficult the dual booting is, maybe have a look in either the Windows & Other Software sub-forum or the Hard Drive subforum to check for the answer.

Aod · 23 Jun 2008 at 08:45

semi-pro waster said:
The quick Microsoft guide to compatability mode, in effect you get Windows to 'emulate' an earlier version which will hopefully fool it into working correctly. It isn't 100% but better than nothing.

I'm not too sure about how difficult the dual booting is, maybe have a look in either the Windows & Other Software sub-forum or the Hard Drive subforum to check for the answer.

thats not really true. i use 64 bit XP as my main OS and all 32 bit programs run exactly as they would were i running normal 32 bit windows. understandably, 64-bit programs run very well.

really, the only disadvantage with XP-64 is that very old programs that use 16 bit code won't run at all.

meathman 007 · 23 Jun 2008 at 15:19

so in summary having a 64 bit xp system comes with a lot of benefits and not many drawbacks?

1. This pc will be used from my home office for a few months at least. Is there any way of installing a high end consumer graphics card for gaming in addition to the graphic card that comes with the system?

Will i notice much of a performance increase by installing my programs on the 10,000 rpm hardrive?

Heres some more specs for the workstation:

Slots
1 PCI-e x8 slot wired as x4
2 PCI-e x16 Gen 2 graphics slots
3 PCI-X 64bit/100MHz slots with support for 3.3v or universal cards
1 PCI 32bit/33Mhz slot

Bays
4 internal 3.5" hard disk drive bays
3 external 5.25" optical bays, one of which can accommodate a fifth SATA HDD
1 external 3.5" flex bay for floppy or media card reader

Intel® 5400 Chipset

Wattage 980W 80%+ efficiency

Vir · 23 Jun 2008 at 16:22

1. Why downgrade from Vista to XP, I don't get that?
2. I'd go with an Intel Xeon X3350 and a 775 socket based P35/P45 (maybe x38) chipset motherboard
3. Get that 800Mhz 4-4-4-12 or 1066Mhz 5-5-5-18 memory instead of 667Mhz
4. If you work a lot with big Avi files and want that extra boost go with 2x 320gb HD's in Raid 0 instead of one 750GB.
5. What about PSU? For a strong system like that you need a good PSU.

EDIT:

Oh you already have the motherboard...

didn't notice

meathman 007 · 23 Jun 2008 at 16:47

thanks Vir

1. I hate Vista and i am going to try and avoid ever having to use it, i am quite happy with XP

2. Intel Xeon X3350 is not an option on the configuration page - will dual e5420 give me serious performance?

3. To get 800mhz memory i need to upgrade the processor so it has 1600 fsb - eg:

Intel Xeon X5482 with riser (3.20GHz,1600FSB,2x6MB,Quad Core)

8GB, 800MHz, ECC Memory (8x1GB)

But that costs about €600 more than the original configuration and I only get a single CPU.....

4. Yea good idea about the hardrive, will do that

5. PSU is 950w - good enough?

Thanks for the advice

semi-pro waster · 23 Jun 2008 at 18:08

3. Sorry, not quite following here, if you upgrade the Ram why do you need to upgrade the CPU? If the Ram is faster than the CPU (at stock) then it will simply underclock unless Xeons and ECC Ram do something very odd togetehr.

5. It does depend slightly who makes the PSU but since you are buying a pre-built then you aren't likely to have much of an option in it. The bundled PSUs are normally pretty good from that company though so I wouldn't worry too much.