Build Help - Work PC

[iiNNeX]

Hello everyone,

 

I have had the go ahead from my boss in regards to putting a system together that I can use for work purposes. Here is what I need to be able to do:

 

- Run multiple VMs (6-10) showcasing our reboot to restore software 

- Needs to be able to install/uninstall software reasonably fast and doing so while running the above VMs

- Be reasonably cost effective

 

Now I think I can build the above cheaper than lets say getting a pre-built from Dell/HP and baring in and I don't think I need a powerful GPU so even a GT1030 will be plenty (can prob go even lower or use iGPU depending on CPU choice). In my eyes this pc would need to have small footprint, decent cooling, multi core processor and a good amount of ram (32gb probably). This almost sounds like a Ryzen build, but maybe even i7 8700 non-k could fit the bill.

 

Show me what you have

 

edit: This is what I came up with real quick

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor  (£236.95 @ Aria PC) 
Motherboard: MSI - B350 GAMING PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£77.98 @ Box Limited) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  (£248.99 @ Ebuyer) 
Storage: SanDisk - SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£66.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£36.59 @ Aria PC) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GT 1030 2GB Silent Low Profile Video Card  (£64.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: Phanteks - Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Case  (£47.96 @ Ebuyer) 
Power Supply: be quiet! - Pure Power 10 CM 400W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£52.98 @ Ebuyer) 
Total: £833.42
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-16 15:36 GMT+0000

[brob]

The iGPU should be fine for this since that is what the VM will use.

An NVMe drive for the fastest possible storage.

A lot of different case choices. The Portal is a good looking aluminium case. It is also available in black.

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  (£263.94 @ Aria PC) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler  (£29.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£122.59 @ More Computers) 
Memory: Corsair - Dominator Platinum 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (£290.99 @ Ebuyer) 
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (£194.50 @ Aria PC) 
Case: BitFenix - Portal (White) Mini ITX Tower Case  (£118.33 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: Corsair - SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  (£78.98) 
Total: £1099.32
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-16 15:50 GMT+0000

 

[iiNNeX]

3 minutes ago, brob said:

The iGPU should be fine for this since that is what the VM will use.

An NVMe drive for the fastest possible storage.

A lot of different case choices. The Portal is a good looking aluminium case. It is also available in black.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($310.98 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - C7 40.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($26.99 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($134.89 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: ADATA - 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($334.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($225.10 @ B&H) 
Case: BitFenix - Portal (White) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($108.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: Corsair - SF 450W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  ($89.24 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1231.18
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-16 10:43 EST-0500

Hello there,

 

Unfortunately that build is not available in the UK as a few parts are missing, and is also quite a bit more money than I initially had planned to spend, as the Ryzen system above will most likely be faster in multi tasking while costing quite a bit less. For example the case doesn't have to be beautiful, just small and cool well, NVME would be total overkill for just hosting 6-10 VMs, as normal SSDs are fast enough for deployment of VMs. I am debating if I should go 8700 route or r7 1700, there is quite a premium on top when you add the cost of the board and cpu.

[iiNNeX]

Managed to get slightly smaller footprint and a wifi card in now, with a bigger SSD for similar money as my initial post:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor  (£236.95 @ Aria PC) 
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Pro4 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£69.90 @ More Computers) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  (£248.99 @ Ebuyer) 
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£113.99 @ Aria PC) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GT 1030 2GB Silent Low Profile Video Card  (£64.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: Thermaltake - Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  (£53.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: be quiet! - Pure Power 10 CM 400W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£52.98 @ Ebuyer) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link - TL-WDN4800 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter  (£24.98 @ PC World Business) 
Total: £866.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-16 16:01 GMT+0000

[brob]

42 minutes ago, iiNNeX said:

Hello there,

 

Unfortunately that build is not available in the UK as a few parts are missing, and is also quite a bit more money than I initially had planned to spend, as the Ryzen system above will most likely be faster in multi tasking while costing quite a bit less. For example the case doesn't have to be beautiful, just small and cool well, NVME would be total overkill for just hosting 6-10 VMs, as normal SSDs are fast enough for deployment of VMs. I am debating if I should go 8700 route or r7 1700, there is quite a premium on top when you add the cost of the board and cpu.

Check out my edit.

I doubt the Ryzen will be faster, but only tests with the software will actually determine that. While a Ryzen 7 has a couple more cores, the i7 IPC is significantly higher, as are the turbo clocks. One shouldn't conflate core count and multitasking performance. 

The point of the NVMe drive is to allow for faster loads. Based on the described behavior it seemed to me that faster reads and writes would improve the software's performance. But if you feel it is overill, I would suggest a 500GB or 1TB ssd.

The case choice was based on the presumption that it would be visible to clients. If not, there are several decent and less expensive choices.