Discussion Forums > Technology
Im Building a (Linux) Desktop
criver:
@datora: why not an AMD Phenom II x6? - I think the price is similar but the x6 is really better - example: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+Phenom+II+X6+1090T - compare with http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+Phenom+II+X4+980
Though you can also take a Phenom x6 1050T (the difference between 1090T and 1050T is the clock speed) - it's cheaper and not really different than a 1090T.
I bought a PC for around 700$ - it runs pretty much everything (I can't find a game that lags because of the processor or GPU - the only reason some things lag is because NVIDIA has "really nice" PhysX drivers).
Here's my config:
CPU: AMD Phenom II x6 1090T 3.2Ghz (I think turbo mode was 3.6Ghz)
MB: GA-880GMA-USB3
RAM: 8GB whatever (don't really remember)
GPU: AMD HD6790 1GB DDR5 (I wasn't sure between this one and Nvidia GTX550Ti - http://www.hwcompare.com/9964/geforce-gtx-550-ti-vs-radeon-hd-6790/)
HDD: Western Digital 1TB SATA 3
Case: whatever
datora:
.
First off, OP needs to come back to this topic and give more detailed feedback on what he wants to do. That is necessary to give advice beyond the basic examples already provided.
Beyond that, I suggested the AMD Deneb Black quad cores because they are vastly overpowered for the intended use of the system as I understand it. They are exceptionally stable and will run for years at lowered energy use and temps while still crunching numbers hard.
6x and 8x core CPUs don't do much of anything extra for you right now. Virtually no apps and very little OS support can use those extra cores. They can barely use 4x core CPUs right now. Yes, there is some extra power, but not really anything noticeable. Yes, support for use of those cores is coming along.
That's why I suggested a socket that will take an 8x core a year from now. Come April or June 2013, there will be much more support and use for 6x and 8x cores ... and the price will also drop to ridiculous levels. The 970 & 980 I listed as examples also go on sale regularly; the 980 was available for $125 delivered at newegg last week ... seriously, for that price an unmatched deal.
There is opportunity to shave down the prices I listed once we understand better the system intended here. A $75 mobo, for example, could well be more than enough. A GT 430 nvidea 192-bit GPU w/ 1 GB DDR3 VRAM can be had for $30 ... I know, I just bought one about four weeks ago. It's substantially powerful. Do NOT get a 520; a 430 is superior.
I sketched out general system specs that will have legs, a system that will last for 5 years minimum and (with care) could last up to 10 with very useful capacity in various applications.
As far as the boot drive: DO NOT use that 3 TB WD Green drive as your system drive. Really Bad Idea. You do not want to use that drive to install apps or an OS on. It is not designed for that use, it is designed as a data archive drive. The performance is one issue, but the wear and tear on that drive will put you in danger of early failure.
Reserve it for all your data and get a small, extremely reliable drive for boot. You could go with a Western Digital Caviar Black, like a 500 GB, as a boot drive. Even 2x of them in RAID 0 for performance. But the expense just isn't worth it. Better to consider a 500, 640 or 750 GB Caviar Blue as a secondary data drive dedicated to torrenting activities & still keep the 3 TB for Archive w/ an SSD for boot/apps.
Just because I was using the term "boot drive" doesn't mean that was all that was intended. A "boot drive" is also your main workhorse that you put your performance-gobbling apps on. that's why I suggested a 90 GB to 120 GB. A 120 has enough space to be a dual boot plus all you apps with room left over ... but use the 3 TB to store all your data on. That way you can reformat/replace your "boot drive" whenever you wish and never endanger your data.
Personally, I am uncomfortable torrenting off of a WD Green drive. They just aren't designed for constant read/write access. I know they've improved in the last year, but there are thousands of horror stories of those things failing, and it's usually someone trying to get by on a budget and using them as boot/app drives .. which generate drive failure and 2 or 3 TB of data goes "poof." Then the gnashing of teeth and wailing and pulling of hair begins ...
My torrenting drive, BTW, is a WD Caviar Black 750 GB in a fan-cooled external housing over a USB 2 cable. It pushes over 2 TB of data every 30 days, 24/7 without heating or complaint. But, all the data on that drive is archived onto other drives with the expectation that the 750 will fail at any moment.
kitamesume:
hmmm, how about intel's smart response? the one that uses SSD to cache a harddrive's read/write tasks.
you could pretty much pull it off with a tiny SSD(16-32GB).
though requires a Z68 board if i remember correctly.
datora:
.
How simple is it to install & config under linux? All different distros? How stable? It might be a good possibility, but I have little knowledge about it under a Windows environment and pretty much zero under linux.
Also, 16, 32 & 60 GB SSD are pretty stupid expensive for what you get these days. Generally, 80 - 128 GB is the sweet spot right now for a recent generation SATA III SSD that is highly reliable & stable. I've seen some 60 & 64 GB SSDs going for ~$1/GB, but it's rare, they are often SATA II, and they are also often more unreliable, older tech from a year a go that's getting dumped.
kitamesume:
oh yea i forgot hes prefering linux, well sadly SRT isn't supported on linux, yet.
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