Spec me: A workstation for running Virtual Machines and Portal 2!

LordSplodge · 14 Apr 2011 at 10:19

Hi,

I've been out of the PC market for a while. Essentially I need to build a workstation for running virtual machines in VMware. Probably around 4 or 5 servers.

I also like to game from time to time and would like to be able to run Portal 2 (and other new games) at a decent resolution. I doubt I'd get high settings at my display's native 2560 x 1440 but 1920 x 1080 would be nice.

Budget is around £800 and I don't need a display and I don't want AMD. Ideally I would like a smart looking case (like a Mac Pro) and for the machine to be quiet as it is going in my study and I don't want whirring fan noise when I am studying. Also need Mini DisplayPort out.

I am willing to sacrifice on gaming performance to gain more grunt for the VM's. I can also upgrade the GPU later.

Suggestions please o' experts of t' build.

EDIT: Don't need OS as I have Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.

Stelly · 14 Apr 2011 at 10:28

need to stop skip readin...

Stelly

Stelly · 14 Apr 2011 at 10:46

What ya think?

Stelly

hellarda · 14 Apr 2011 at 10:50

Stelly said:
snip

What ya think?

Stelly

wouldnt a 2600k be better for VM's as it has the hyperthreading?

also maybe 16gb RAM?

just suggestions

ali

Semple · 14 Apr 2011 at 10:53

hellarda said:
wouldnt a 2600k be better for VM's as it has the hyperthreading?

also maybe 16gb RAM?

just suggestions

ali

I'd agree with that. You could sacrifice that graphics card and go for a cheaper one and put the remaining money with the CPU and RAM.

LordSplodge · 14 Apr 2011 at 10:55

Stelly said:
What ya think?

Stelly

8GB isn't enough RAM. I have that in my iMac and trust me it isn't enough for what I need to do...

hellarda said:
wouldnt a 2600k be better for VM's as it has the hyperthreading?

also maybe 16gb RAM?

just suggestions

ali

16GB of RAM is what I was thinking (although if I had the money it would be 24GB)

Like I said I can sacrifice GPU power if needs be.

Disco Boy · 14 Apr 2011 at 11:12

hellarda said:
wouldnt a 2600k be better for VM's as it has the hyperthreading?

also maybe 16gb RAM?

just suggestions

ali

Do VMs support hyperthreading? I thought they needed proper cores. If that is the case (which I think it is, in a thread which I can't find someone was banging on about how he need as many cores as possible for VMs) then an AMD hex core setup may be worth considering.

hellarda · 14 Apr 2011 at 11:14

Disco Boy said:
Do VMs support hyperthreading? I thought they needed proper cores. If that is the case (which I think it is, in a thread which I can't find someone was banging on about how he need as many cores as possible for VMs) then an AMD hex core setup may be worth considering.

dunno, was just throwing something out there....

mmm i would say that, but he doesn't want amd.... :/

what are you running the VM's on?

LordSplodge · 14 Apr 2011 at 11:15

Disco Boy said:
Do VMs support hyperthreading? I thought they needed proper cores. If that is the case (which I think it is, in a thread which I can't find someone was banging on about how he need as many cores as possible for VMs) then an AMD hex core setup may be worth considering.

They do and isn't the performance of AMD a long way behind SandyBridge?

Disco Boy · 14 Apr 2011 at 11:17

LordSplodge said:
They do and isn't the performance of AMD a long way behind SandyBridge?

They are behind yes, so if they support hyperthreading then there's no point in going AMD I don't think. If they don't hyperthread then two extra cores may be an advantage.

LordSplodge · 14 Apr 2011 at 11:17

hellarda said:
dunno, was just throwing something out there....

mmm i would say that, but he doesn't want amd.... :/

what are you running the VM's on?

VMware Workstation probably. Oh and I'm not totally adverse to AMD it's just my last few builds have been AMD and I've heard SandyBridge performs a lot better than anything from AMD

hellarda · 14 Apr 2011 at 11:20

LordSplodge said:
VMware Workstation probably. Oh and I'm not totally adverse to AMD it's just my last few builds have been AMD and I've heard SandyBridge performs a lot better than anything from AMD

fair enough, i was only agreeing with AMD if they didnt support hyperthreading.

although I am running VMware workstation with a windows *cough*8*cough* build on it, and 4 2008 r2's running as DC's and Failover cluster.

this all runs on a 3.5ghz athlon II x4 645 with 8gb ram

Stelly · 14 Apr 2011 at 11:24

Better?

Stelly

LordSplodge · 14 Apr 2011 at 11:29

hellarda said:
although I am running VMware workstation with a windows *cough*8*cough* build on it, and 4 2008 r2's running as DC's and Failover cluster.

this all runs on a 3.5ghz athlon II x4 645 with 8gb ram

I will be running Exchange 2010 SP1, SharePoint 2010 and SQL Server 2008 R2 so 8GB won't cut it. I have 380GB of RAM available at work (a cluster with 76GB of RAM per server) so even 16Gb won't feel like much headroom!

Stelly said:
Better?

Stelly

Not bad at all. Thanks. What's the ASUS board like? I heard that Gigabyte is where it is at. Am I wrong?

Stelly · 14 Apr 2011 at 11:50

LordSplodge said:
Not bad at all. Thanks. What's the ASUS board like? I heard that Gigabyte is where it is at. Am I wrong?

Asus are rock solid as usual, no complaints, I think they are on par with Gigabyte.

Stelly

Hagar · 14 Apr 2011 at 12:47

Needs GPU and optical drive added.

Intel hexcore with HT, 12Gb DDR3 1 Tb disk. £800 incl.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Intel Core i7 970 3.20GHz (Gulftown) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £449.99
(£374.99) £449.99
(£374.99)
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard £152.99
(£127.49) £152.99
(£127.49)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £43.99
(£36.66) £43.99
(£36.66)
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W Power Supply £42.98
(£35.82) £42.98
(£35.82)
Antec 100 One Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case - Black £39.98
(£33.32) £39.98
(£33.32)
GeIL 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz VALUE PLUS Triple Channel (GVP36GB1333C9TC) £35.99
(£29.99) £71.98
(£59.98)
Sub Total : £668.26
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £136.15
Total : £816.91

Disco Boy · 14 Apr 2011 at 13:07

Don't think that the case is quite what he wants, and I'm sure it's capable (just) but I don't know many people who would be happy using that PSU for that job.

Hagar · 14 Apr 2011 at 13:25

'Tis a tight budget for what he wants. A 450-500W PSU is suitable for the task unless a hefty GPU is added. The case could be improved upon for looks if not function, I tend to buy high spec cases second hand as they can be bought much cheaper. The proposed CPU, ram, mobo are the right spec for the OP's main task of multiple VM.

LordSplodge · 14 Apr 2011 at 13:32

Disco Boy said:
Don't think that the case is quite what he wants, and I'm sure it's capable (just) but I don't know many people who would be happy using that PSU for that job.

Trouble is the case has to fit into a very traditional looking Victorian style study. I have an iMac in there and it doesn't look out of place. A gaming case with lots of bloo fans won't fit!

I've been bitten by a cheap PSU in the past

nkata said:
'Tis a tight budget for what he wants. A 450-500W PSU is suitable for the task unless a hefty GPU is added. The case could be improved upon for looks if not function, I tend to buy high spec cases second hand as they can be bought much cheaper. The proposed CPU, ram, mobo are the right spec for the OP's main task of multiple VM.

I know it is tight - that's why I'm building it myself. If I had my way I'd have just ponied up for a Mac Pro 6-Core with 16GB of RAM. Alas I need to spend monies on the car and the house so can't justify that spend. At least if I get the core of a PC right I can add extra stuff later.

Not sure that going for Socket 1366 is best in the long term... Nice CPU though.

Nvidiot · 14 Apr 2011 at 13:39

My only suggestion is this case - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-161-AN&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=160 its just an improved 300.