Times have changed since my first personal computer. My last PC was a HP Compaq Evo W6OOO with 2 Intel Xeon processor's 2.0 GHZ, 512-KB cache and 1 gigabyte of ram and a 16 gigabyte SCSI disk drive. I purchase this workstation off Ebay in 2004 with 2 years of HP warranty left for $500.00. I was in heaven.
My new unit is home assembled because the Workstation I was wanting was a HP Z8OO but was over $3,000.00. Well I am close to retirement and wanted a new workstation. Here is what I settled for and saved almost half the cost.
Antec Case & Antec Power Supply $289.97
Disk Drive 2 TB $149.99
Disk Drives 2 500 GB SATA III $119.98
CPU Intel i7 6 core $569.99
Motherboard Intel DX58SO2 $254.99
Memory Kingston DDR3 24 GB $189.91
Video Card GeForce GTX 460 $153.55
Windows 7 Ultimate Full Version $123.99
Total $1,852.37
What is amazing to me is the changes in 7 years. This workstation has 24 times the memory and 6 times the processors. I have 24 gigabytes of ram and 6 processors but with Hyper-Threading I have 12 processors. My video card has 1 gigabyte of ram and processor runs close to 1 gigahertz. WOW!
Antec P193 V3
Disk Drive 2 TB $149.99
Disk Drives 2 500 GB SATA III $119.98
CPU Intel i7 6 core $569.99
Motherboard Intel DX58SO2 $254.99
Memory Kingston DDR3 24 GB $189.91
Video Card GeForce GTX 460 $153.55
Windows 7 Ultimate Full Version $123.99
Total $1,852.37
What is amazing to me is the changes in 7 years. This workstation has 24 times the memory and 6 times the processors. I have 24 gigabytes of ram and 6 processors but with Hyper-Threading I have 12 processors. My video card has 1 gigabyte of ram and processor runs close to 1 gigahertz. WOW!
Antec P193 V3
Antec HCG-750
Intel Core i7-970 Processor 3.20 GHz 12 MB Cache Socket LGA1366
Intel LGA1366/Intel X58/DDR3/CrossFireX&SLI/SATA3&USB3.0/A&2GbE/ATX Motherboard, Retail BOXDX58SO2
Sony Blue-Ray 5300s
Qty 2 Western Digital Caviar Black 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD5002AALX I will setup Raid 0 and for my data drive Qty 1 Western Digital WD2002FAEX Caviar Black 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive
EVGA 01G-P3-1366-TR GeForce GTX 460 SE PCI Express 2.0 1GB Graphics Card. I am starting with only 1 card but could add 3 if I was a gamer.
I am patiently waiting for all of the package to arrive. I let you know If I have problems. I plan to name this workstation "Tom's little Ferrari"
How’s your little Ferrari doing, Tom? I think you did a great job in breaking down the parts rather than buying a single CPU. Aside from saving money, upgrading is much easier when you got custom parts. But of course, more research has to be done if you’re buying the parts one by one. Well, I think you did your homework well.
ReplyDeleteI worked with this unit for a long time before I got it to be smooth. I made some mistakes, one was memory. Memory on Intel mother board was spec at 1600 MHz but I did not read the CPU SPEC. I called Intel and they told me that they did not have a processor that would support 1600 MHz memory. I had to replace the memory with the correct speed 1066 MHz. Next I updated on a regular basis the drivers & Bios etc. at the Intel site. My mother board has a quirk in cool weather that I have to reset a few times to get to boot (when room temperature is about 70 degrees F). The disk drives I am using are the 3 year warranty Western Digital WD2002FAEX Caviar Black 6 GB SATA however the 6 GB controller on my mother board always has errors so I run 3 GB. I have replaced the motherboard under Intel warranty but the problems still exists. I am not happy with Intel with those errors. I have 2 ICY Dock Disk Trays that makes it easy to have multiple OS machine. I started with Windows 7, xp x32 & xp x64 and decided to only go with xp x32 & Windows 7 x64. This unit is really fast with a x64 OS running that is why I name this workstation Ferrari. Lol I need to build a Linux OS but have been to busy to get it done. The Sony Blue Ray Burner OEM has errors a lot when writing DVD media. My Microsoft keyboard “K” key stopped working and it was out of warranty. Lol I have scanned about 1800 to 2000 35mm film photos and that has worked to satisfaction.
DeleteI guess I am happy but this is the last unit I will build. Next time will buy over the counter lol.
Antec Case & Antec Power Supply $289.97
Blue Ray Burner OEM $109.42
Disk Drive 2 TB $139.00
Disk Drive 2 TB $149.99
Disk Drives $54.99 each $109.98
Disk Drives $59.99 each $119.98
ICY Dock Disk Tray $57.98
Inte CPU $569.99
Intel Motherboard $254.99 $254.99
Logitech Speaker System $79.99
Memory 24 GB $138.06
Memory 24 GB $189.91
Microsoft Keyboard $15.97
Microsoft Keyboard $15.97
Monitor Stand $31.36
Mother Board Fan power cables $12.93
NEC EA242WM-BK $382.30
Plustek Opticfilm 7600I Ai $520.15
USB Floopy Drive $87.00
Video Card $153.55
Windows 7 Ultimate Full Version $123.99
Total $3,552.48