Hey guys, I was out of the loop for the past two years and am trying to decide between these two chips, unless there is reason to delay. I can wait a month if there is something big on the horizon, but otherwise I'd like to make a purchase soon. This machine is for personal use where overclocking and experimentation is not only allowed, but encouraged!
After reviewing my post, this seemed more CPU/OC related so a CPU+motherboard recommendation is what I am looking for.
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
[Current concerns:
I plan to run at least one ubuntu squid proxy VM all the time (serving 5 users), with the host machine assigned to file server, torrenting, and typical workstation roles including frequent research on the web and Office application use. 15 tabs x 4 instances of Firefox minimum always.
My overclocked Sempron 3100+ with 1GB RAM has been put to good use fulfilling the above roles, with slowdowns here and there, but I now find myself without the processing power to do what I want.
Future concerns:
I would like to run several more VMs to observe Windows 2003 to Windows 2008 migration, Exchange, SharePoint, Enterprise Search, and perhaps learn SQL. Basically, this box will be used to test and learn stuff using trial softwares. My PS3 also has trouble with video file playback so I'd like transcode them into streams using TVersity. I'd also like to see what else I can do with extra CPU power since I have gotten used to having so little.]
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread.
[$500-600 for CPU, RAM, motherboard, and video card. If it is not possible to hit around this range, let me know and I will have to do some more thinking. Numbers are for a box without monitors.]
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
[USA]
4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
[Only a preference for good value.]
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
[Re-using DVD-RW drive, case, case fans, Windows XP COA. Maybe the hard drive but I might replace it.]
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
[Yes, sort of. I haven't seen too many threads asking for a VMware box.]
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
[Planning to overclock. (More value!)]
8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
[Would like to build it within two weeks unless there is good reason to wait.]
My main concern is getting good value for my money while slightly exceeding my requirements. Needless to say, I do not like the hourglass and do not want to wait 5-10 minutes because of 100% CPU load. I also would rather not buy more CPU power than I need. This comes from a budget single core chip use; I don't know how much kick a quad core delivers. Will an overclocked e2160 chip with ample ram (4GB?) be slow with several VMs working together, with possibly some more applications active on the host?
So far I tend to keep much of my hardware until the next big thing (replacement), and haven't done much in terms of upgrading machines. But I think my usage pattern might change this year onwards so perhaps I'll get into the frequent tradeups. If there is a motherboard that can stomach new processors a bit longer for a few more dollars, I'll give it some thought. I have no need for onboard RAID (will buy a card for that) or SLI (though I keep in mind that gaming can be done with a drop in video card. )
After reviewing my post, this seemed more CPU/OC related so a CPU+motherboard recommendation is what I am looking for.
1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
[Current concerns:
I plan to run at least one ubuntu squid proxy VM all the time (serving 5 users), with the host machine assigned to file server, torrenting, and typical workstation roles including frequent research on the web and Office application use. 15 tabs x 4 instances of Firefox minimum always.
My overclocked Sempron 3100+ with 1GB RAM has been put to good use fulfilling the above roles, with slowdowns here and there, but I now find myself without the processing power to do what I want.
Future concerns:
I would like to run several more VMs to observe Windows 2003 to Windows 2008 migration, Exchange, SharePoint, Enterprise Search, and perhaps learn SQL. Basically, this box will be used to test and learn stuff using trial softwares. My PS3 also has trouble with video file playback so I'd like transcode them into streams using TVersity. I'd also like to see what else I can do with extra CPU power since I have gotten used to having so little.]
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread.
[$500-600 for CPU, RAM, motherboard, and video card. If it is not possible to hit around this range, let me know and I will have to do some more thinking. Numbers are for a box without monitors.]
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
[USA]
4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc, etc, etc, you get the picture.
[Only a preference for good value.]
5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
[Re-using DVD-RW drive, case, case fans, Windows XP COA. Maybe the hard drive but I might replace it.]
6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
[Yes, sort of. I haven't seen too many threads asking for a VMware box.]
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
[Planning to overclock. (More value!)]
8. WHEN do you plan to build it?
[Would like to build it within two weeks unless there is good reason to wait.]
My main concern is getting good value for my money while slightly exceeding my requirements. Needless to say, I do not like the hourglass and do not want to wait 5-10 minutes because of 100% CPU load. I also would rather not buy more CPU power than I need. This comes from a budget single core chip use; I don't know how much kick a quad core delivers. Will an overclocked e2160 chip with ample ram (4GB?) be slow with several VMs working together, with possibly some more applications active on the host?
So far I tend to keep much of my hardware until the next big thing (replacement), and haven't done much in terms of upgrading machines. But I think my usage pattern might change this year onwards so perhaps I'll get into the frequent tradeups. If there is a motherboard that can stomach new processors a bit longer for a few more dollars, I'll give it some thought. I have no need for onboard RAID (will buy a card for that) or SLI (though I keep in mind that gaming can be done with a drop in video card. )