hamidp Posted September 20, 2008 Share Posted September 20, 2008 Hello all, I'm looking to build something to replace my Macbook for my dev machine. What I care about: Speed: I don't want to see beachballs while running Photoshop/Illustrator/Eclipse/Textmate/etc Noise: Something Mac Pro quiet would be perfect Support: I want it to work as painlessly as possible with a dual 24" display config in both Ubuntu and Mac OS X. I plan to start off with Ubuntu and if I don't like that, install OS X. Reliability: I plan to leave it on 24/7. I don't care very much about gaming, although I don't mind spending an extra $50 to get a better video card. I've put together a system after reading the HCL and these forums and I THINK that all of this should work fine but I am not sure. Newegg wishlist. Questions: - What's a really good, quiet, very minimalist case? I don't care very much about ports (2 USB should do) and don't need firewire. Something as minimalist as the Lian-li case in the wishlist would be perfect. Something smaller would be perfect so that I can keep it on my desk. - Motherboard. Can't seem to find anything that says "This is the PERFECT motherboard." - CPU: Q9300 vs Q9400 vs Q9550. I'd like a quad-core because sometimes I need to do some number crunching. Which one is the best for the money/runs the coolest? - Video card: Something that will work out of the box with a dual display on both Ubuntu/OS X, and that can drive 2x24" nicely. I don't care about games right now, although I don't mind paying a little bit extra for something that can run games just in case I want to play some. - Display: What's the best 24" LCD under $400? I already have Dell 2407FPW that I will be using as my primary display. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaaseyRacer Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 Speed: OSX loves RAM the more the better, for a dual core machine 4GB is minimum for smooth functional results with minimal beach balling. Also RAM is super cheap right now. Noise. My stock E8500 cooling is very quiet, as quiet as a MacPro. However, if you really want a quiet system, the Antec Sonata is a great case for building silent PCs. Plus it is fairly minimalist, looks like a PC case and does not have lights and window, and it is affordable for a case that comes with a good power supply and it specifically built to be quiet. Support: HD2600XT comes in a fanless version that will be silent, many noisy PCs are that way because of small and loud graphics cooling. Compatibility: The most supported board on this forum is a gigabyte P35. However, there are many others, most are slightly dated at this point. P45 support is getting better. If you want something new the GA-EP45-DS3R is becoming a better choice. My set up is pretty nice as there are installers for the board drivers. For graphics cards, the 8800GT is by far the most supported card on this forum. Anything NVIDIA is well supported in OSX86. Display: Samsung 245BW is the best for the money. Reliability... Read the specs of my sig, I only restart my computer for updates. I have been running it straight for over a week with my updated install (Boot 132/DFE). No hiccups hang ups or BS. I run Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Dreamweaver 12 hours a day. I do not run Windows, this is my primary computer. I back everything up to a cloned drive everyday, which you should do regardless. I am very happy with the reliability. The only thing I would change, is I should have gone with 8GB of RAM when I bought this, but I did not know how well it was going to work, until I got it up and running. Also I would swap out my graphics card for an 8800GT just because the support is so much better than for the X1900GT. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamidp Posted September 21, 2008 Author Share Posted September 21, 2008 ... Thanks for the reply. I've created a new wishlist based on your recommendations, and my further research: wishlist. I chose a Lian Li case because I like the way it looks, and this one is apparently super silent. I also found a fanless card that seems to be exactly what I need, and from what I've read the 8600GT is very well supported. I think I'll go with 4GB of RAM for now, and then I can always get another 4 GB (purposely did 2x2GB) if I need it, which I don't think I will. For the processor I think I am setting on the Q9400, which seems to be the most value for the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaaseyRacer Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 My only comments are on the DVD drive and the Hard drive. DVD drive is IDE, you will not have the best support with that. Get a SATA one, I highly recommend the Pioneer DVR-216DBK drive, works well, fast, quiet, and is working with iLife. I like the Terabyte hard drive idea, but personally I would do two separate hard drives unless you are very comfortable with partitioning the drive. Woot has (referb) 500gb drives for $50 (i personally do not do referb hard drives even though I know they only use the cast casing). 640GB drives are the best deal right now. About $90 a piece for a Seagate with 32MB of cache, and they are faster than the 1TB drives. P.S. The Q9400 is a kick ass processor, and should be awesome. Look into getting more RAM in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamidp Posted September 21, 2008 Author Share Posted September 21, 2008 My only comments are on the DVD drive and the Hard drive. DVD drive is IDE, you will not have the best support with that. Get a SATA one, I highly recommend the Pioneer DVR-216DBK drive, works well, fast, quiet, and is working with iLife. I like the Terabyte hard drive idea, but personally I would do two separate hard drives unless you are very comfortable with partitioning the drive. Woot has (referb) 500gb drives for $50 (i personally do not do referb hard drives even though I know they only use the cast casing). 640GB drives are the best deal right now. About $90 a piece for a Seagate with 32MB of cache, and they are faster than the 1TB drives. P.S. The Q9400 is a kick ass processor, and should be awesome. Look into getting more RAM in the near future. Thanks for the advice. I downgraded to a single 640GB hard disk since I don't really need the 1TB and this is half the price. I think I'll add the RAM and HD as I need it. I've changed the DVD drive too, thanks for catching that. I am about to bite the bullet on that (now updated) wishlist with a Q9400 and the silent card. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaaseyRacer Posted September 21, 2008 Share Posted September 21, 2008 One last thing. Will that power supply work with the board? The processor requires 2x 4pin connectors. I have not seen may power supplies under 700W have that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamidp Posted September 22, 2008 Author Share Posted September 22, 2008 One last thing. Will that power supply work with the board? The processor requires 2x 4pin connectors. I have not seen may power supplies under 700W have that. I can't find any information that says that it requires 2 of those... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaaseyRacer Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dailyKaos Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Some motherboards have a plastic bar that goes over four of the pins (atleast my P35 Neo2-FR does). I'm really interested in how this turns out as I'm looking at about the same except Q9300 and 8Gb of that same RAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamidp Posted September 22, 2008 Author Share Posted September 22, 2008 Touche. I cancelled the order and placed a new one with a PSU that has a 8-pin connector because I didn't want to risk it, ALTHOUGH apparently it can also work with just a single 4-pin. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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