Ok, this is more of a kitbash than a homebrew but we will cover that later
Build’s Name: primitivo
Operating System/ Storage Platform: windows 10 pro
CPU: Xeon L5640
Motherboard: HP Z400
Chassis: HP Z400
Drives: Samsung 850 PRO 512GB
RAM: 32GB DDR3-1600 unbuffered ECC (4 * 8GB)
Add-in Cards: EVGA GTX 750TI, Intel X520-DA1
Power Supply: Included with chassis
Other Bits:
Usage Profile: surfing the web, reading this forum, watching netflix.
Ok, so this might normally seem overkill for a web box but you have to consider what I upgraded from. I have been meaning to upgrade my desktop for several years and I finally got around to it. My old system has a Q6600 with 4GB RAM running windows XP. It was a decent machine when I built is in 2009. I am on my fourth video card and third CPU fan. It still has the WD Blue I put in it back then. Smart says it is well past its service life. The kicker is I can't get any decent anti virus for XP any more.
So, I pulled a Z400 out of the test pile and made a few improvements.
First, I replace the dual core CPU that came in it with the lowest power 6 core CPU I could find.
Why 6 cores instead of 4? Why not. Why not a W3690? Actually, I bought one and the benchmarks show it is a lot faster. It also generates a lot more heat. It is in another Z400 in the other room heating that room up. It is also spec'ed at 24GB max. I never tested whether it can do more, and for me, I think I want the memory more than I need the processor speed.
All the specs say a Z400 will only take 24GB RAM but the support folk admit that is only because 8GB sticks weren't around when they tested. It takes them just fine. I will probably add the remaining two to get to 48GB and turn on triple channel mode one of these days.
Then I replace the Quadro that came with it with a 750TI. Why? Again, why not. I had a spare and it is a wonderful card that does not require a PCIe power plug. I don't use it for gaming but it feels a little snappier than the Quadro.
I put the 10GBE card in when I was assembling it just in case I ever want to use it. It is not in use at the moment.
Ok, ok, yall gotta be asking .. Why this much machine just to surf the web and watch Netflix?
Because I am a tab junkie. I can't close em. I find something I want to look at later and leave the tab open. I tried bookmarks but they don't do it for me. I get distracted and jump to a different project and leave the half dozen or so tabs open.
I am also moving from using Firefox to Chrome as my primary browser. Why? Because Firefox is single threaded and a messed up flash page on one tab will hang the browser requiring me to kill it and restart. With Chrome it can take up one of cores for all I care. I got plenty. It can suck up memory for all I care. I got plenty.
I was thinking of stuffing the old hard drive in the box and having VMWare workstation run it but I won't do that now that I have seen the smart data. I will, however, make an image of the hard drive on the NAS and may run that in a VM. Or, I may not.
Anyway, that's my new workstation andI sure am loving being able to click on a link and not be able to brew a cup of coffee before it loads and have to keep task manager open so I can tell when firefox has reached its limit and I need to kill / restart it.
Build’s Name: primitivo
Operating System/ Storage Platform: windows 10 pro
CPU: Xeon L5640
Motherboard: HP Z400
Chassis: HP Z400
Drives: Samsung 850 PRO 512GB
RAM: 32GB DDR3-1600 unbuffered ECC (4 * 8GB)
Add-in Cards: EVGA GTX 750TI, Intel X520-DA1
Power Supply: Included with chassis
Other Bits:
Usage Profile: surfing the web, reading this forum, watching netflix.
Ok, so this might normally seem overkill for a web box but you have to consider what I upgraded from. I have been meaning to upgrade my desktop for several years and I finally got around to it. My old system has a Q6600 with 4GB RAM running windows XP. It was a decent machine when I built is in 2009. I am on my fourth video card and third CPU fan. It still has the WD Blue I put in it back then. Smart says it is well past its service life. The kicker is I can't get any decent anti virus for XP any more.
So, I pulled a Z400 out of the test pile and made a few improvements.
First, I replace the dual core CPU that came in it with the lowest power 6 core CPU I could find.
Why 6 cores instead of 4? Why not. Why not a W3690? Actually, I bought one and the benchmarks show it is a lot faster. It also generates a lot more heat. It is in another Z400 in the other room heating that room up. It is also spec'ed at 24GB max. I never tested whether it can do more, and for me, I think I want the memory more than I need the processor speed.
All the specs say a Z400 will only take 24GB RAM but the support folk admit that is only because 8GB sticks weren't around when they tested. It takes them just fine. I will probably add the remaining two to get to 48GB and turn on triple channel mode one of these days.
Then I replace the Quadro that came with it with a 750TI. Why? Again, why not. I had a spare and it is a wonderful card that does not require a PCIe power plug. I don't use it for gaming but it feels a little snappier than the Quadro.
I put the 10GBE card in when I was assembling it just in case I ever want to use it. It is not in use at the moment.
Ok, ok, yall gotta be asking .. Why this much machine just to surf the web and watch Netflix?
Because I am a tab junkie. I can't close em. I find something I want to look at later and leave the tab open. I tried bookmarks but they don't do it for me. I get distracted and jump to a different project and leave the half dozen or so tabs open.
I am also moving from using Firefox to Chrome as my primary browser. Why? Because Firefox is single threaded and a messed up flash page on one tab will hang the browser requiring me to kill it and restart. With Chrome it can take up one of cores for all I care. I got plenty. It can suck up memory for all I care. I got plenty.
I was thinking of stuffing the old hard drive in the box and having VMWare workstation run it but I won't do that now that I have seen the smart data. I will, however, make an image of the hard drive on the NAS and may run that in a VM. Or, I may not.
Anyway, that's my new workstation andI sure am loving being able to click on a link and not be able to brew a cup of coffee before it loads and have to keep task manager open so I can tell when firefox has reached its limit and I need to kill / restart it.
