Recommend desktop computer setup please
I've been out of hardware for a while and a lot of things have changed. I was thinking of getting a laptop to do this but it will be expensive. I generally use a tablet around the house so a laptop would be unnecessary for this.
Basically I want a desktop that I can use for MCSA and Cisco study and labing. I also want to use it for recording music (me and my guitar) and gaming. I would like two or three big monitors. What do you all recommend and where do I get it? Thanks!
Basically I want a desktop that I can use for MCSA and Cisco study and labing. I also want to use it for recording music (me and my guitar) and gaming. I would like two or three big monitors. What do you all recommend and where do I get it? Thanks!
Comments
let me know if you have any more specific questions..
WGU MSISA
Start Date: 10/01/2014 | Complete Date: ASAP
All Courses: LOT2, LYT2 , UVC2, ORA1, VUT2, VLT2 , FNV2 , TFT2 , JIT2 , FMV2, FXT2 , LQT2
I actually had a co worker get a new laptop when it was time to refresh his work laptop. Take the hard drive out drop a SSD in it and told the desktop team to reimage his machine since it was doing something weird. I don't remember the problem but it was something that happened from time to time in that particular environment so it was an easy sell. They never checked the hardware and he was rocking 8 gbs i5 with ssd.
Dell has great monitors, especially for the price. I have one of their older 24"s.
Certs: RHCSA, LFCS: Ubuntu, CNCF CKA, CNCF CKAD | AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, AWS Solutions Architect Pro, AWS Certified Security Specialist, GCP Professional Cloud Architect
Learn: Terraform, Kubernetes, Prometheus & Golang | Improve: Docker, Python Programming
To-do | In Progress | Completed
B.S. Geography - Business Minor
MicroMasters - CyberSecurity
Professional Certificate - IT Project Management
I guess if you want to change out the laundry every time you boot up that's a good thing.
Since this is going to be a multi-purpose rig and you plan on doing some labbing, I wouldn't get less than 16GB of ram. You'll need it. Also as far as motherboards go I like Asrock, Asus and MSI but would really settle for anything that fit my build requirements.
Intel vs AMD really depends. If you look at benchmarks, Intel is clearly the better performer but you have to decide if it's enough to justify the price tag. For me, an AMD FX-83xx was plenty to power my 32GB server.
The following is my build. It is about a year old so prices may not be current. You could leave off the extra HDDs and some other items to lower the total cost.
[TH="align: left"]Type[/TH]
[TH="align: left"]Item[/TH]
[TH="align: left"]Price[/TH]
CPU
AMD FX-8320 3.5GHz 8-Core Processor
Purchased For $153.61
Motherboard
ASRock 970 EXTREME4 ATX AM3+ Motherboard
Purchased For $99.99
Memory
Corsair XMS 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory
Purchased For $249.99
Storage
Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Purchased For $133.99
Storage
Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Purchased For $88.99
Storage
Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Purchased For $88.99
Video Card
XFX Radeon HD 5450 1GB Video Card
Purchased For $29.99
Power Supply
Corsair Builder 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Purchased For $83.24
Keyboard
Logitech Desktop MK120-TAA LOG920004218 Wired Standard Keyboard w/Laser Mouse
Purchased For $14.99
Other
Cooler Master 4 in 3 HDD Module Device - (STB-3T4-E3-GP)
Purchased For $23.99
Other
Rosewill RSV-R4000 Metal Server Chassis (Black)
Purchased For $72.19
Other
Realtek RTL8111C Gigabit PCI Express Ethernet Network Interface Card (NO SOFTWARE)
Purchased For $15.99
Other
Verbatim Store 'n' Stay 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive 97462 (Black)
Purchased For $11.65
Total
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.
$1067.60
Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-10-18 07:48 EDT-0400
WGU MSISA
Start Date: 10/01/2014 | Complete Date: ASAP
All Courses: LOT2, LYT2 , UVC2, ORA1, VUT2, VLT2 , FNV2 , TFT2 , JIT2 , FMV2, FXT2 , LQT2
What software does your company use to reimage?
I would like to be completely done at between $1000 - $1500. I have a four year old 24" dell monitor now. I might look at getting one or two more. Maybe larger if affordable.
Follow my build:
Intel I7 4770k Oc 4.2
Maximus Formula VI
32 GB DDR3 - 1600
Samsung 840 Pro 256
4 x WD VelociRaptor 1TB 10k Raid 5
3 x R290X Video cards
Corsair 900D
3 x Benq XL2720T
Built it last year it cost roughly 7k. Not sure what the pricing would be this year.
I'm going to be replacing the motherboard and the CPU and adding 32GB more of ram and one more 290x next spring.
Connect with me on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipzito
But running BF4 on Ultra at 120+FPS is so much funnnnn.
Connect with me on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipzito
Doubtful this video card would work for gaming. You're going to need something a little more high end. I no longer have the 2 harddrives hooked up to that machines. When I did though, they were not mirrored due to the fact that ESXi doesn't recognize software RAIDs. Not listed though is a LSI Logic SATA SAS Raid Controller Card SAS3041E-HP with 8 or so really low capacity drives I got off craigslist. The 2TB HDDs are connected to my HTPC. The HTPC could very conceivably double as a SAN for shared storage once I get a second host though.
WGU MSISA
Start Date: 10/01/2014 | Complete Date: ASAP
All Courses: LOT2, LYT2 , UVC2, ORA1, VUT2, VLT2 , FNV2 , TFT2 , JIT2 , FMV2, FXT2 , LQT2
Ha I like how you act surprised his budget is < $7k, as if that is a normal amount to spend on a rig.
WGU MSISA
Start Date: 10/01/2014 | Complete Date: ASAP
All Courses: LOT2, LYT2 , UVC2, ORA1, VUT2, VLT2 , FNV2 , TFT2 , JIT2 , FMV2, FXT2 , LQT2
For a good Dell I'd recommend: Dell UltraSharp 24 Monitor - U2412M
It goes on sale freqently. Just last night it was $260
Certs: RHCSA, LFCS: Ubuntu, CNCF CKA, CNCF CKAD | AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, AWS Solutions Architect Pro, AWS Certified Security Specialist, GCP Professional Cloud Architect
Learn: Terraform, Kubernetes, Prometheus & Golang | Improve: Docker, Python Programming
To-do | In Progress | Completed
Well, when you have no life except the goal of expanding your ass print in your computer chair you think everyone else spends as much as you do
Connect with me on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipzito
Ya, I think I got a 1600W it's not that much more to go with a big a$$ PSU.
Connect with me on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipzito
The current company I have no idea, when my co worker swapped drives that company used Altiris.
Hey, to get started quick I just remembered I have a five year old server that has never been used. A former employer that went out of business gave it too me. I was just cleaning out my closet and found it... forgot all about it. It is a Dell PowerEdge T100 with Intel Xeon E3110 Processor, 8GB (DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 2G, 800M, 256X72, 8, 240, 2RX
I would add RAM and load either Server 2012 R2 or ESXi 5.5up1 depending on what virtualization platform you would prefer to get experience in .
Maybe even an extra NIC if you want to divide up your traffic.
WGU MSISA
Start Date: 10/01/2014 | Complete Date: ASAP
All Courses: LOT2, LYT2 , UVC2, ORA1, VUT2, VLT2 , FNV2 , TFT2 , JIT2 , FMV2, FXT2 , LQT2
Connect with me on LinkedIn @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillipzito
Good advice for the labbing part. I could use the free plan for all I would need couldn't I? I will still need a desktop for the other stuff but this could get me started labbing. How does it work... Just upload an image and away you go?
$1250 ASUS ROG G750 Gaming Laptop - i7 4700HQ, 12GB RAM, 1TB HDD, GeForce GTX-860M, 17.3", Windows 8.1 64-Bit
+
$170 SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series - 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC (SSD)
If you go this route, you can even have 2 hard drives in the laptop, play some games, use GNS3, have 12GB of RAM for plenty of VMs (enough for MCSA/MCSE), it can handle 32GB if you want to upgrade later, it supports 3 monitors, you can take it with you, it's within budget.
Just a suggestion.
I have this laptop, and find it great.
I know you asked for a desktop and if you want a desktop then ignore this post.. I just think it would do almost everything you wanted in your original post.
The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent. - Arnold Schwarzenegger
There is 2 hard drive slots in the laptop so you can keep the 1TB and put the 256GB SSD in to the other slot.
If you get this 250GB SSD below then you get software to transfer everything over for you for about the same size and price as the SSD above. Same performance as well.
SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE250LW 2.5" TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) With Notebook Bundle Kit - Newegg.com
The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent. - Arnold Schwarzenegger
I was thinking I'd just reimage it and start over when I got the computer anyway. Is that what you did with yours of was the original image good enough for you to keep as it was when you received it?
The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent. - Arnold Schwarzenegger
Yeah, me too! I am thinking about ordering the laptop as is for now and upgrading to SSD later. Is this a normal price for the laptop or is it a special? How would it handle say the latest COD as is? I'm also curious how long it will last on battery just studying for MCSE/CCENT with VMs running? Thanks!