Hi folks,

For the last year I've been running a Macbook Pro and I love it. However, I just got a real full time job and have been playing with the idea of getting a desktop again.

I do tons have photoshop work and a decent amount video editing and play with virtual servers so I want a machine that will do all of this without breaking a sweat. Plus it would also mean some major bragging rights.

Thus I was wondering if it would be possible to build an 8 core machine. Now I know that apple has the MacPro which would handle all this, but I wanted to see if I could build a better PC for cheaper. I feel like I would have more flexibility with upgrading parts and choosing exactly what I want.

Possible Specs:
-2X Intel Quad Core(I would like AMD but I don't think AMD has a dual socket Motherboard for the Phenoms X4)
-8Gigs of ram
-Radeon HD4870 or 4870X2 or Nvidia GTX 260 (I prefer radon, but heard that Adobe was making some photoshop optimizations using CUDA. I hear there are also some killer video conversion tools that use CUDA as well)
-500GB-1TB Hard Drive

I would really appreciate any recommendations that any of you have.

Cheers,

Well I'm not big on the PS scene, but I'm pretty sure you'll need some SCSI drives or raptor(s).

Tyan boards are the shizzle, maybe Clarke has some input on the whole $$$ Skulltrail phenomenom?


Or maybe an ASUS Z7S with crossfire

Thanks for the tips. Regarding the CPU choices, do I have to go with a Xeon or can I use a Core2 Quad CPU?

They would have to be socket 771. There are non Xeon cores (XTREME!), but these Xeon processors are not that much more expensive than ragu procs (344$ on MB's site for XEON 2.33 1333 12M Quad Harpertown) and come with scads more cache. 8-core boxes are a minority and it costs a bit more for the exclusivity. But hey you can start with just one proc and jam in a bunch of 2GB sticks. 12GB of ram, and 8 cores @ 2.33GHz would be sweet, but less than 3 grand or so including the mobo, hard drives and all the other fun stuff. I dare ya to find a Mac that cheap

You know, I was thinking about it and I wonder if I would be better off getting a really fast quad core processor instead of two slower quad cores.

I mean it is looking like I will have to use buffered memory (ECC?) on these dual socket motherbaords. This would be slower and more $$.

I mean I know it would be great down the road to have the extra processing cores but does anyone know if photoshop and these other applications threaded to really utilize the extra 4 cores? Am I just throwing money down the drain for no reason?

realistically you probably don't need a dual cpu system for all that.
just a regular quad core, 8gb ram, and maybe a pair of 1TB drives in raid1 for security would probably work best for you.

Good to see you back Matt.

As for your planned system I wouldn't bother going dual CPU for it. There's a lot of associated costs and drawbacks with going to a platform that manufacturers assume will be used as a server rather than a work station and it's just not worth it in my opinion.

A fast quad-core, lots of memory and two hard drives in either raid 0 (for speed) or raid 1 (for security) should be what your aiming for. With the money you save you can upgrade sooner on down the road than you would have otherwise if you blew your wad on a dual CPU system.

Q9550
8GB DDR2
Decent P45 based mobo (handles 16GB of memory)
3 TB drives in RAID5 for storage. 2 500GB RADI0 for OS (ICH10R on high end P45's)
GTX280 or HD4870X2

That's how I'd go

Thanks for the tips Nick and Dr.B. Perhaps you're right and I should save some cash and go for a quad core system. I was just thinking today about how the Core i7 chips will be coming out in a few months.

Mind you it probably wouldn't be until next year if I was ever to get one but I think saving some money now will allow me to upgrade sooner and get that Core i7 once the platform has developed and the prices have leveled.

With regards to the P45 motherboard, I notice that there are multiple flavours such as the P45 and P45G. I have been out of the loop with regards to chipsets over the last while. Anything I should keep in mind when choosing?

Thanks again

http://compare.intel.com/pcc/showchart. ... ture=en-US

And you have to be carefull with RAID. Make sure it say's ICH10R in the description and not just ICH10.

Great link, thanks Doc!