Greetings Fellow Servinators and Work Stationators,
Mid-summer 2016 I decided to build a faster, more powerful desk-top computer for general use and [very] light gaming (MS Flight Simulator X). I wanted a system that would not have much, if any, lag and enough CPU horsepower that I wouldn't have any need to upgrade for years, if ever. Being an old retired guy, that might be a goal that might be obtainable.
The new system would be replacing an AMD-FX-8320e (8 cores sharing 4 math processors).
I shopped around and found this web site with all the info I could ask for.
My 35 years of IT told me that I needed to use SSD "drives" to reduce the I/O bottlenecks and enough memory that I could stop any v-mem paging. CPU speed was important, but spreading the load across a LOT of CPU cores would be about as effective. I found an article about building a 32-core "monster" for the cost of a few dinners. I finished my research and developed my shopping list based on the info available in the STH forums.
So the system list went like this:
. ASRock Rack EP2C602-4L/D16
. 2 x Xeon E5-2670 Procs
. 2 x Supermicro CPU heatsink/fan assbly
. 32gb memory (8 x 4gb sticks)
. EVGA SuperNova 850B2
. 2 x Samsung 250gb EVO SSDs
. nVidia GTX 970 video card
. Corsair something or the other case
. A couple of large spinner hard drives
. A couple of cheapo standard DVD drives
. A gaggle of case fans randomly installed in the case
. Windows 7 Ultimate
. An AULA lighted keyboard (did I say I was an old guy and the lighted kb is nice?)
. An audio card and a USB expansion card
I already owned a 27" ASUS monitor and some crappy little speakers.
I think that covers the basics.
I've been building systems for myself, my family and friends for 20 years so this was not my first rodeo. But there were't too many challenges. The first ASRock motherboard proved to be defective. Newegg took care of that quickly. The rest of the system went together without too many bloody knuckles or special requests for divine intervention.
Set-up was straightforward, defaults were not too far off of what I wanted.
Windoze 7 loaded OK, drivers went in, the relevant MS updates installed. Disabled the pagefile since there is plenty of memory. Added HWiNFO64 to keep an eye on everything.
Shortly after the build (timeline unavailable) the keyboard and mouse would momentarily lock up for a few seconds, keyboard light would indicate a connectivity problem. (KB and mouse plugged into the MB USB ports.) Seemed like the USB drivers for input devices were crashing and needed to be reloaded. I have gone through all the usual procedures for deinstalling the old drivers and installing the fresh ones, but the problem persists. Not a lot, but at random times maybe three of four times an hour and only when typing in a browser window, Chrome or Firefox. Could it be an issue (one of many) with Adobe Flash or Java?
Otherwise, the system meets my expectations. Never a lag, never a software issue except as noted above. Fast. Multi-tasks great. Runs cool. Yes, it seems to be a monster of a workstation.
Thanks to Patrick and the members of these forums for the help and direction on this system development. Their contribution was important to my success.
Subsequent to the build noted above, I decided to try an Intel S2600CP2J build with a pair of E5-2665 procs and 64gb (8 x 8gb) of faster memory and a sized-down GTX 750Ti and some "old" SSDs I had laying around. It is also a monster and at least as fast as the ASRock / E5-2670 system.
IMO, these older server systems are very well-suited for standard desktop use for those demanding more CPU power and multi-tasking capability.
I have not used W10 in any systems recently. I did load a couple of different distos of Linux Mint with good success, but I don't have the flexibility of W7 or the knowledge depth of Linux to meet my needs.
Thank you for your assistance. I will try to hang around and lend what little assistance I can to others.
Bill
Mid-summer 2016 I decided to build a faster, more powerful desk-top computer for general use and [very] light gaming (MS Flight Simulator X). I wanted a system that would not have much, if any, lag and enough CPU horsepower that I wouldn't have any need to upgrade for years, if ever. Being an old retired guy, that might be a goal that might be obtainable.
The new system would be replacing an AMD-FX-8320e (8 cores sharing 4 math processors).
I shopped around and found this web site with all the info I could ask for.
My 35 years of IT told me that I needed to use SSD "drives" to reduce the I/O bottlenecks and enough memory that I could stop any v-mem paging. CPU speed was important, but spreading the load across a LOT of CPU cores would be about as effective. I found an article about building a 32-core "monster" for the cost of a few dinners. I finished my research and developed my shopping list based on the info available in the STH forums.
So the system list went like this:
. ASRock Rack EP2C602-4L/D16
. 2 x Xeon E5-2670 Procs
. 2 x Supermicro CPU heatsink/fan assbly
. 32gb memory (8 x 4gb sticks)
. EVGA SuperNova 850B2
. 2 x Samsung 250gb EVO SSDs
. nVidia GTX 970 video card
. Corsair something or the other case
. A couple of large spinner hard drives
. A couple of cheapo standard DVD drives
. A gaggle of case fans randomly installed in the case
. Windows 7 Ultimate
. An AULA lighted keyboard (did I say I was an old guy and the lighted kb is nice?)
. An audio card and a USB expansion card
I already owned a 27" ASUS monitor and some crappy little speakers.
I think that covers the basics.
I've been building systems for myself, my family and friends for 20 years so this was not my first rodeo. But there were't too many challenges. The first ASRock motherboard proved to be defective. Newegg took care of that quickly. The rest of the system went together without too many bloody knuckles or special requests for divine intervention.
Set-up was straightforward, defaults were not too far off of what I wanted.
Windoze 7 loaded OK, drivers went in, the relevant MS updates installed. Disabled the pagefile since there is plenty of memory. Added HWiNFO64 to keep an eye on everything.
Shortly after the build (timeline unavailable) the keyboard and mouse would momentarily lock up for a few seconds, keyboard light would indicate a connectivity problem. (KB and mouse plugged into the MB USB ports.) Seemed like the USB drivers for input devices were crashing and needed to be reloaded. I have gone through all the usual procedures for deinstalling the old drivers and installing the fresh ones, but the problem persists. Not a lot, but at random times maybe three of four times an hour and only when typing in a browser window, Chrome or Firefox. Could it be an issue (one of many) with Adobe Flash or Java?
Otherwise, the system meets my expectations. Never a lag, never a software issue except as noted above. Fast. Multi-tasks great. Runs cool. Yes, it seems to be a monster of a workstation.
Thanks to Patrick and the members of these forums for the help and direction on this system development. Their contribution was important to my success.
Subsequent to the build noted above, I decided to try an Intel S2600CP2J build with a pair of E5-2665 procs and 64gb (8 x 8gb) of faster memory and a sized-down GTX 750Ti and some "old" SSDs I had laying around. It is also a monster and at least as fast as the ASRock / E5-2670 system.
IMO, these older server systems are very well-suited for standard desktop use for those demanding more CPU power and multi-tasking capability.
I have not used W10 in any systems recently. I did load a couple of different distos of Linux Mint with good success, but I don't have the flexibility of W7 or the knowledge depth of Linux to meet my needs.
Thank you for your assistance. I will try to hang around and lend what little assistance I can to others.
Bill
