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Building a Software Development Workstation

1 points by voodoochilo 15y ago

I'm planing to build a developer workstation (in contrast to a highend gaming or graphics rig) with the following constraints: - minimal power consumption - minimal hardware price - triple display (3 x 1920x1200, 22"-24") - shuttle pc case - 2 internal 3.5" sata drives - DVD drive, internal - 64 bit cpu, 4 cores, 4-8 threads - 16-32 GB ram, - host OS: minimal GNU/Linux (64 bit) - virtual machines for work: Windows XP (32bit), Ubuntu 10.04(32bit) - virtualbox Any experiences with such a setup? Recommendations? Anybody interested in specs when finished?

SlipperySlope 15y ago
I have seven machines in my office. My most recent system build was a year ago when I ordered from NewEgg these principal components: Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler (too big for shuttle case but very, very quiet) $89.99 GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $189.99 XIGMATEK PTI-G4512 thermal grease with gold grade thermal matrix filler particles $9.99 Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 $314.99 Kingston HyperX 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3/4G $183.96 ($45.99 ea) I bought an Antec 300 case, a 1 TB disk drive and USB DVD drive - for OS install - from my local Fry's store. I overclocked the 4-core CPU to 4.2 GHz turbo mode. The motherboard does not support the built-in Intel video, so I used an ATI 5770 board that I bought on eBay for about $120. I am considering upgrading the memory to 32 GB RAM using four 8-GB DIMMs. I run Lubuntu without virtual machines for Java AI software development. I put two monitors on this graphics card. If you use the big Noctua cooler, it blocks one of the PCI-e slots on the motherboard, so you might need an ATI card that supports three monitors, or use a smaller video card for the third monitor. I like the Antec cases because they can stack, have quiet big fans, are easy to open, and assemble/access. I build/upgrade a system about once a year and I am waiting for the 28nm Intel CPUs before upgrading one of my four Antec-based boxes - the three other machines in my office are laptops and not otherwise upgradable. I dedicate the machines for various purposes: (1) primary dual-monitor software development, (2) continuous integration / subversion repository server, (3) windows compatibility, (4) simulated production. The seven machines are networked using Samba. I have monitors, keyboards & mice for each one and have arranged my office to easily observe five monitors so that I do not have to switch virtual desktops on my centrally located software development monitors in order to see notifications - e.g. email.
- voodoochilo 15y ago
  thanx for the specs. sounds like quite a setup. what do you think of matrox triple-head-cards? ...and hell what is the overall power consumption in watts?
  - SlipperySlope 15y ago
    I have a 750 watt PS but typically the system case uses 150-250 watts. I overclocked the CPU turbo-mode only because most of the time my system idles below 2 GHz. Software development also has very low utilization of the video card. I am not familiar with Matrox video cards. I believe certain ATI cards support 3 monitors.

1 points by voodoochilo 15y ago

SlipperySlope 15y ago

I have seven machines in my office. My most recent system build was a year ago when I ordered from NewEgg these principal components: Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler (too big for shuttle case but very, very quiet) $89.99 GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $189.99 XIGMATEK PTI-G4512 thermal grease with gold grade thermal matrix filler particles $9.99 Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 $314.99 Kingston HyperX 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3/4G $183.96 ($45.99 ea) I bought an Antec 300 case, a 1 TB disk drive and USB DVD drive - for OS install - from my local Fry's store. I overclocked the 4-core CPU to 4.2 GHz turbo mode. The motherboard does not support the built-in Intel video, so I used an ATI 5770 board that I bought on eBay for about $120. I am considering upgrading the memory to 32 GB RAM using four 8-GB DIMMs. I run Lubuntu without virtual machines for Java AI software development. I put two monitors on this graphics card. If you use the big Noctua cooler, it blocks one of the PCI-e slots on the motherboard, so you might need an ATI card that supports three monitors, or use a smaller video card for the third monitor. I like the Antec cases because they can stack, have quiet big fans, are easy to open, and assemble/access. I build/upgrade a system about once a year and I am waiting for the 28nm Intel CPUs before upgrading one of my four Antec-based boxes - the three other machines in my office are laptops and not otherwise upgradable. I dedicate the machines for various purposes: (1) primary dual-monitor software development, (2) continuous integration / subversion repository server, (3) windows compatibility, (4) simulated production. The seven machines are networked using Samba. I have monitors, keyboards & mice for each one and have arranged my office to easily observe five monitors so that I do not have to switch virtual desktops on my centrally located software development monitors in order to see notifications - e.g. email.

voodoochilo 15y ago
thanx for the specs. sounds like quite a setup. what do you think of matrox triple-head-cards? ...and hell what is the overall power consumption in watts?
- SlipperySlope 15y ago
  I have a 750 watt PS but typically the system case uses 150-250 watts. I overclocked the CPU turbo-mode only because most of the time my system idles below 2 GHz. Software development also has very low utilization of the video card. I am not familiar with Matrox video cards. I believe certain ATI cards support 3 monitors.