New Work PC

[MrBaker89]

Good Morning people! 

 

I've been asked to put together a new work pc for my boss. He uses a lot of large Excel databases amongst other calculation programs. 

 

His current setup is a Xeon X5660 so it's 6 core 12 threaded cpu, 32GB ECC ram.

 

I was thinking of suggesting an SSD or a m.2 drive? instead of a brand new pc.

 

This is what I've come up with quickly. Looking for some advice is this overkill or not enough?

 

[Augustin]

your boss asked for a new PC and you are NOT building an overkill threadripper? 

[GoldenLag]

does he need ECC? (most likely unnesary)

budget?

any other workloads?

1 hour ago, MrBaker89 said:

I was thinking of suggesting an SSD or a m.2 drive? instead of a brand new pc.

if he doesnt have an SSD, then thats really all that is needed to make a PC feel fresh. 

 

does the mobo have an m.2 slot and is that slot Nvme or just sata?

[MrBaker89]

4 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

does he need ECC? (most likely unnesary)

budget?

any other workloads?

if he doesnt have an SSD, then thats really all that is needed to make a PC feel fresh. 

 

does the mobo have an m.2 slot and is that slot Nvme or just sata?

That was my plan just to stick an SSD in his current one but been told no put together a complete new one....

[Augustin]

1 minute ago, MrBaker89 said:

That was my plan just to stick an SSD in his current one but been told no put together a complete new one....

yea dude its not your money. It might hurt the xmas party budget but that's a good thing right?

[Augustin]

you currently have very expensive (in it's time) server level components and you are working with large datasets. I highly recommend you get him something that will blow his balls (not literally)

[GoldenLag]

4 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

That was my plan just to stick an SSD in his current one but been told no put together a complete new one....

well the 2700x isnt a huge upgrade. 

 

so maybe 3900x or similar?

it all depends on the actual budget. does he want a small formfactor? perhaps with a thunderbolt doc for less cables?

[GoldenLag]

3 minutes ago, Augustin said:

yea dude its not your money. It might hurt the xmas party budget but that's a good thing right?

i dont think he is interested in a 24 core Epyc 7642 CPU for his desktop system, but its not too expencive and possibel if he for some random reason would want that. 

[Augustin]

5 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

i dont think he is interested in a 24 core Epyc 7642 CPU for his desktop system, but its not too expencive and possibel if he for some random reason would want that. 

he totally wants that! what you need to do is find out how much he spent on his current rig. Show him the raw manufacturer numbers (cores, cpu freq, and SSD speed). If he can spend what he spent 10 years ago and get twice the computer, he will think you are the most amazingly talented person on earth. Just make sure it works otherwise it's oscar grouch for you.

Edited September 26, 2019 by Augustin
my english not so clear

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, Augustin said:

he totally wants that! what you need to do is find out how much he spent on his current rig so that you can show him the raw manufacturer numbers (cores, cpu freq, and SSD speed). If he can spend what he spent 10 years ago and get twice the computer, he will think you are the most amazingly talented person on earth. Just make sure it works otherwise it's oscar grouch for you.

he spent about 1200$ on the CPU. so he could just wait for threadripper 3 or a 3950x 16 core. 

 

or just get a 12 core that is allready literally double the corecount. 

 

thats unless he really needs ECC, which i doubt as DDR4 is allredy really good at not having errors. think level1tech had 3 bitflips corrected over a period of 6 months of 100% on-time. and that was with a lot of memmory. he asked intel to provide a scenario where ECC could be useful, and Intel responded they couldnt. 

 

 

 

13 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

That was my plan just to stick an SSD in his current one but been told no put together a complete new one....

how much is he looking to spend? because if we can just re-use his current GPU or get something cheap, you can get a lot for about 1500$. (double Ram, double corecount). if he needs ECC we need to spend extra on the Ram. 

[MrBaker89]

Thanks Guys, 

 

He can't remember how much he paid for his current PC. 

 

I am still torn between Intel and AMD, Personally I think the 3900X would be over kill. I can't foresee a database that will use all 12 cores. 8 core CPU paired with a very fast M.2 NVME drive & 32GB ram would be fine please correct me if I'm wrong. 

 

What GPU should I go for I was thinking along the lines of the Quadro P400??

[GoldenLag]

5 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

What GPU should I go for I was thinking along the lines of the Quadro P400??

does he use anything that needs Pro drivers?

5 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

He can't remember how much he paid for his current PC. 

he probably spent around 1000$ on the CPU and the ECC Ram is not cheap. 

5 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

I am still torn between Intel and AMD, Personally I think the 3900X would be over kill. I can't foresee a database that will use all 12 cores. 8 core CPU paired with a very fast M.2 NVME drive & 32GB ram would be fine please correct me if I'm wrong. 

i mean if you are getting 8 core intel, you might aswell get 12 core AMD. if 6 cores isnt enough. 

 

another thing is networking. is 10 gbit important? does he need 40 gbit?

[MrBaker89]

This is the reply I just got... 

Quote

 

Don’t worry about the budget too much

Don’t go mad but put something reasonable together and then see if I fall over when I see it !

 

 

[GoldenLag]

2 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

This is the reply I just got... 

 

small formfactor, mid-tower or fulltower?

 

your pick

[Augustin]

6 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

unless he really needs ECC,

prob not need ECC for a single user. A single user is not going to rack up the errors that a network-facing server would see. Back in 2010, AMD FX was the only desktop CPU that had a lot of cores and it kinda sucked. This would explain why he is using server level components.

8 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

I can't foresee a database that will use all 12 cores

Bill Gates couldn't see a home PC using more RAM than his peen length.

 

 

What software exactly is this guy using?

 

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, Augustin said:

What software exactly is this guy using?

or more specifically, does any of that software need Pro drivers?

[Augustin]

7 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

Don’t go mad but put something reasonable together and then see if I fall over when I see it !

 

Give him three options. Goldilocks sales: one is too cold, one is too hot, one is just right. End of the day it was his choice not yours so you cannot be blamed!

[MrBaker89]

Just now, GoldenLag said:

does he use anything that needs Pro drivers?

he probably spent around 1000$ on the CPU and the ECC Ram is not cheap. 

i mean if you are getting 8 core intel, you might aswell get 12 core AMD. if 6 cores isnt enough. 

 

another thing is networking. is 10 gbit important? does he need 40 gbit?

 

10 gbit would be more than enough, 

[GoldenLag]

3 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

 

10 gbit would be more than enough, 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($499.99 @ Best Buy) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DXi4 55 CFM CPU Cooler  ($64.95 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard  ($219.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($324.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($109.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card  ($339.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Define Nano S Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($68.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($85.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1714.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-26 07:54 EDT-0400

 

 

ITX option, but only with 1gbit ethernet, but also wifi if that ever was going to be needed. 

 

still, does he need Pro drivers?

[MrBaker89]

2 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($499.99 @ Best Buy) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DXi4 55 CFM CPU Cooler  ($64.95 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard  ($219.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($324.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($109.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card  ($339.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Define Nano S Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($68.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($85.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1714.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-26 07:54 EDT-0400

 

 

ITX option, but only with 1gbit ethernet, but also wifi if that ever was going to be needed. 

 

still, does he need Pro drivers?

Just had a quick look his tower is between mid and full tower size. 

[Augustin]

1 minute ago, GoldenLag said:

ITX option, but only with 1gbit ethernet, but also wifi if that ever was going to be needed. 

 

I like that it was made smaller. I would totally sell that to my boss. Twice the computer in half the size should wow them. I bet the boss' current workstation has screaming OEM delta fans so the cooling options will also please them. I have never heard of that SSD brand. In my country we only get intel, samsung, and companies re-branding toshiba.

[GoldenLag]

6 minutes ago, MrBaker89 said:

Just had a quick look his tower is between mid and full tower size. 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($499.99 @ Best Buy) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DXi4 55 CFM CPU Cooler  ($64.95 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($139.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($139.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($109.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card  ($339.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: be quiet! Silent Base 801 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($166.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($85.99 @ Amazon) 
Wired Network Adapter: Asus XG-C100C PCIe x4 10 Gbit/s Network Adapter  ($96.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1834.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-26 08:04 EDT-0400

 

 

has 10 gig that will use the second 16x slot which uses the Chipset lanes. 

[GoldenLag]

2 minutes ago, Augustin said:

I have never heard of that SSD brand.

its the same SSD as the corsair mp510. dont remember who makes it, but its a very good SSD

[Augustin]

7 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

its the same SSD as the corsair mp510. dont remember who makes it, but its a very good SSD

if the warranty matches then should we really care what they brand themselves? Might depend if you are in a market that gets piracy. That is an actual thing in some parts of the world. Where I live we dont have counterfeit problems, we also only get samsung/intel/toshiba.

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, Augustin said:

if the warranty matches then should we really care what they brand themselves? Might depend if you are in a market that gets piracy. That is an actual thing in some parts of the world. Where I live we dont have counterfeit problems, we also only get samsung/intel/toshiba.

there are only a certain number of people who actually makes SSDs. the rest just put their sticker on it and maybe colors the PCB. 

 

brand really doesnt matter a whole lot providing it is the SSD it is. 

 

also, you arent the OP.