Home Forums Discussions General Discussion Sandeep's Hardware Recommendations

Although hard drives are more expensive, ECC RAM Prices have dropped significantly. Not enough to offset the hard drive prices but better nonetheless.

I agree, some programs do need the pagefile (Photoshop for example), so in that case it would be a bad idea to remove it. But that's why I also mentioned resizing....500MB (or so) vs 16GB goes a long way in a small SSD.

I Idle at 8GB so I need it. When I start turning on my VM's, things get real haha. Most office computers I've seen have like 80GB hard drives with not even 20GBs used so who knows, they might not even have to turn it off. The main things that take space are media files which most offices don't have on their computers.

But I do agree that hibernation can be disabled. It's also a safety mechanism in a way too. If the power goes out, computer can just hibernate (assuming you have UPS) instead of having to save all files and then shutting down or worse a forced shutdown where you lose all of your open documents.

Another thing. I'd probably only get 4GB of RAM per staff computer, my staff isn't tech savvy enough to be utilizing that much RAM. I do have one staff member that is above average when it comes to this stuff, so he'll probably get 8GB.

Except when you can get 2 X 4GBs of RAM for $79, it makes it tempting to install it and not have to worry about it for the life of the computer.

Totally agree. Too add to this, random global events can affect prices (as seen with the Thailand floods and higher mechanical HD prices) so you might as well get it cheap if you can.

2x4GB is 42 dolalrs in the specifications. 4x4GB would be around 79. Amazon has a good deal 16GB for $79 or you can buy 2 kits on newegg for ~80.
Amazon Deal: http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-PC3-10666-1333MHz-Processors-CMX16GX3M4A1333C9/dp/B0054KPK9C Someone bought them all...
Same thing on Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233190
Or Patriot Gamer Series: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220613 (59.99 after MIR)

8GB per computer is just 20 bucks more/computer. I guess so.

Server Recommendations have been posted.

Newegg has their own tutorials: It's basically the same except ours is a little less complex since we don't install graphics cards.
Newegg TV: How To Build a Computer - Part 1 ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw
Newegg TV: How To Build a Computer - Part 2 ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls
Newegg TV: How To Build a Computer - Part 3 ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok

You can skip part one as it explains how to pick the components. Part 2 is where the actual building starts. He does 2 builds pretty quickly. Part 3 is installing windows. (Put in disc, keep pressing next, wait).

Again, great post, but I would recommend using WD Blue hard drives. Go at least with green or black.

And, wrong on OCZ. Best for performance, but I would go with Intel for quality and TRIM support and its toolbox. Plus, it's Intel. Crucial has the name also. OCZ's support is not as good. They do fly though.

If you want Word to open up without watching the Add-Ins, e.g. instantaneously. and reboots (once I clocked under 9.2 seconds) and never having to defrag, get an SSD. You will never go back. Just make sure it is either 120 or 240 and SATA III. If you really want to beat Sandeep and I (go with an SSD PCIe card, but make sure it is bootable.

I personally can vouch that Sandeep has purchased all of those configurations, but he did go with redundant power supplies as his video games drown out the 50 dbs.

I'm confused ha. To whom are you replying? I don't think anyone "dissed" OCZ ha. But let me give it a try.

OCZ and Crucial M4 Exchange blows on performance. Remember that chart I sent you? M4 was better for random 4k reads. While OCZ had better sequential transfer speeds (which only matters if you're transferring large files). High random 4k Reads, will give you the fast feeling when opening programs or booting up. Hence, I went with Crucial. Also, the Micron controller seems to be evading many of the issues of the Sandforce Controller; user reviews for the crucial drives tend to be the highest on every site. Intel and Crucial have the most reliable SSDs imo. Intel is just a little too pricey compared to my beloved Crucial M4s.

Also, about the hard drives. I'd have to advise against green drives as boot drives. They tend to be low RPM and have high access times. In other words, not good for a green drive to be used with an operating system. You'll notice some slow down compared to a blue or black drive. The WD Black drives are the best of the three, but they are pricier too. Another major incentive to get the black drives would be that WD Dropped the 5 year warranty on all of their Blue and Green drives down to 3 years. WD Black drives are the only ones with 5 year warranties now.

Remember it this way (Black=Best Performance, Blue=Balanced Performance and Power Consumption, Green=Low Power, Storage Drives).

I only put a redundant PSU in my server. No reason to put it in a desktop computer. The noise would drive me crazy as I sleep with my computer on. You'd be better off just keeping a spare in case of emergency. I do like fan noise though, I can't sleep without hearing a computer fan anymore. In case you were wondering, in my personal comp, I have a Corsair HX850 to power my crossfire HD6950s Twin Frozr IIIs, 5 hard drives, M4 128GB, 2600k overclocked to 4.8 GHz, (and other "fun" stuff). Graphics cards use a lot of power. I also use a UPS on my desktop. The CybperPOwer 1500PFCLCD.

So I'm thinking of making videos of me building the high configurations (Just got the MU payment). Another video (which I think will save everyone here hours/days) is how to deploy Windows 7 using a WDS server. Essentially, you install everything you need (drivers, Amazing Charts, programs, Microsoft Office, etc.), then make an image of that comp and deploy it to the rest of the computers. It'll be easier if they use the same hardware. Also, if a computer breaks or if you need to add a workstation, it'll take less than an hour to install a new one.
I can make a server video if anyone in the LA area wants/needs a new server. I can build it and we can record the video for the rest of the board. (It's basically the same with a few extra steps when you get to installing the OS, loading the RAID Card Driver and whatnot).

Sandeep, I think you need to read my post again. I totally criticized OCZ except for performance, which I disagree with you on. But, I said that Intel and Crucial were better. Think you're staying up way too late building computers. lol

I would never buy a WD Blue. I know. Bought too many of them. Fortunately, WD replaced them. I only use Black. But, I would use a green over a blue any day.

Why did you criticize OCZ out of the blue though lol? Who was wrong about it? (I'm not seeing it right now lol.) Considering my recent replies range from 12AM - 7AM, you're probably right haha.

Really? I've found greens to be less reliable. User reviews were pretty bad in the early generation.

Correction to my post above. Western Digital dropped all the warranties from 3 years to 2 years (NOT 5 years to 3 years) on WD Blue and Green Drives (with the exception of certain retail packages). WD Blacks still have 5 year warranties. http://support.wdc.com/warranty/policy.asp