Recommendations for new pc for Vista based development?
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I've decided it's time for a new development station and I'm looking for suggestions for components to get the most speed that is reasonably cost effective. Right now I have a p4 3.06ghz dual SATA raptor 74gb raid 0 with 1gb of ram running xp sp2. I typically need to run visual studio, sql server, firebird server, IIS server and then typical browsing email etc. I find it slow for the large multi project solutions I tend to work with in Visual studio. I think I'm more cpu bound than anything else at this point and I'd like to go to a dual processor cpu (if that makes sense for what I do, suggestions very welcome). I'm going to be working on a new wpf project soon (once I learn wpf :) ) and so I figured it's time to go to Vista with a new PC. I prefer to not go with a name brand pc, I'd rather order one from a place that can put in whatever components I spec. I'm thinking my best bet is to start with a Vista compatible system spec'd primarily for gaming as it's probably got the speediest components anyway and then tweak it for development purposes (i.e. probably won't need as expensive of a video card etc). Any suggestions, recommendations, things to avoid etc?
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I've decided it's time for a new development station and I'm looking for suggestions for components to get the most speed that is reasonably cost effective. Right now I have a p4 3.06ghz dual SATA raptor 74gb raid 0 with 1gb of ram running xp sp2. I typically need to run visual studio, sql server, firebird server, IIS server and then typical browsing email etc. I find it slow for the large multi project solutions I tend to work with in Visual studio. I think I'm more cpu bound than anything else at this point and I'd like to go to a dual processor cpu (if that makes sense for what I do, suggestions very welcome). I'm going to be working on a new wpf project soon (once I learn wpf :) ) and so I figured it's time to go to Vista with a new PC. I prefer to not go with a name brand pc, I'd rather order one from a place that can put in whatever components I spec. I'm thinking my best bet is to start with a Vista compatible system spec'd primarily for gaming as it's probably got the speediest components anyway and then tweak it for development purposes (i.e. probably won't need as expensive of a video card etc). Any suggestions, recommendations, things to avoid etc?
I would go with a Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, and 4gb of DDR2/800 memory (memory is king with VS2005, especially with a large number of sub-projects). If you can afford it, get a E6800, but that's REAL pricey ($900 right now?). You don't need name-brand memory either, just get 4gb of the fastest RAM you can afford. Also keep an eye on the motherboard you choose. Some motherboards don't support anything higher than DDR2667 RAM... I've heard the nicest/fastest boards have the nForce 690i chipset (or something like that). I have an Opteron 185 (2.6 ghz) and 2gb of DDR5200 ram, and VS2005 is pretty snappy, bbut if I was getting a new system, I'd do what I described above. Also consider a decent video card - you can get a nVidia 7950 GT2 for less than $300.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
I've decided it's time for a new development station and I'm looking for suggestions for components to get the most speed that is reasonably cost effective. Right now I have a p4 3.06ghz dual SATA raptor 74gb raid 0 with 1gb of ram running xp sp2. I typically need to run visual studio, sql server, firebird server, IIS server and then typical browsing email etc. I find it slow for the large multi project solutions I tend to work with in Visual studio. I think I'm more cpu bound than anything else at this point and I'd like to go to a dual processor cpu (if that makes sense for what I do, suggestions very welcome). I'm going to be working on a new wpf project soon (once I learn wpf :) ) and so I figured it's time to go to Vista with a new PC. I prefer to not go with a name brand pc, I'd rather order one from a place that can put in whatever components I spec. I'm thinking my best bet is to start with a Vista compatible system spec'd primarily for gaming as it's probably got the speediest components anyway and then tweak it for development purposes (i.e. probably won't need as expensive of a video card etc). Any suggestions, recommendations, things to avoid etc?
John has pretty much covered it, I would recomend this however: http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xps_m2010?c=au&cs=audhs1&l=en&s=dhs[^]
Brad Australian - Christian Graus on "Best books for VBscript" A big thick one, so you can whack yourself on the head with it.
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I would go with a Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, and 4gb of DDR2/800 memory (memory is king with VS2005, especially with a large number of sub-projects). If you can afford it, get a E6800, but that's REAL pricey ($900 right now?). You don't need name-brand memory either, just get 4gb of the fastest RAM you can afford. Also keep an eye on the motherboard you choose. Some motherboards don't support anything higher than DDR2667 RAM... I've heard the nicest/fastest boards have the nForce 690i chipset (or something like that). I have an Opteron 185 (2.6 ghz) and 2gb of DDR5200 ram, and VS2005 is pretty snappy, bbut if I was getting a new system, I'd do what I described above. Also consider a decent video card - you can get a nVidia 7950 GT2 for less than $300.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
nForce 690i chipset
something like that. 680i. I just built one for my girlfriend, fast memory, core2 same as you recommended. works nice. :) got her a system better than mine. :)
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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I've decided it's time for a new development station and I'm looking for suggestions for components to get the most speed that is reasonably cost effective. Right now I have a p4 3.06ghz dual SATA raptor 74gb raid 0 with 1gb of ram running xp sp2. I typically need to run visual studio, sql server, firebird server, IIS server and then typical browsing email etc. I find it slow for the large multi project solutions I tend to work with in Visual studio. I think I'm more cpu bound than anything else at this point and I'd like to go to a dual processor cpu (if that makes sense for what I do, suggestions very welcome). I'm going to be working on a new wpf project soon (once I learn wpf :) ) and so I figured it's time to go to Vista with a new PC. I prefer to not go with a name brand pc, I'd rather order one from a place that can put in whatever components I spec. I'm thinking my best bet is to start with a Vista compatible system spec'd primarily for gaming as it's probably got the speediest components anyway and then tweak it for development purposes (i.e. probably won't need as expensive of a video card etc). Any suggestions, recommendations, things to avoid etc?
I've speced dual core, and quad core systems recently, almost all high graphics uses, RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, dual processor or single processor, memory up to 12gig. You name it, I have priced it recently, or have it at work. Including 8800GTX and SLI. They've even slipped me my own direct line of power from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station, but the line still heats up when I power on all 4 of my computers... ;P Pity I have to give up one of the dual core/dual processor RAID systems. oh well... can't have everything right? :rolleyes: don't go below 7600 on graphics, you'll regret it even if you save, you can get good prices on the whole 7000 nVidia series and equivalent ATI because they are last generation. There are some new lower priced 8800 GTS boards coming out soon too. how soon are you hopping to buy? as soon as this conversation ends?
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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I've speced dual core, and quad core systems recently, almost all high graphics uses, RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, dual processor or single processor, memory up to 12gig. You name it, I have priced it recently, or have it at work. Including 8800GTX and SLI. They've even slipped me my own direct line of power from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station, but the line still heats up when I power on all 4 of my computers... ;P Pity I have to give up one of the dual core/dual processor RAID systems. oh well... can't have everything right? :rolleyes: don't go below 7600 on graphics, you'll regret it even if you save, you can get good prices on the whole 7000 nVidia series and equivalent ATI because they are last generation. There are some new lower priced 8800 GTS boards coming out soon too. how soon are you hopping to buy? as soon as this conversation ends?
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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I would go with a Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, and 4gb of DDR2/800 memory (memory is king with VS2005, especially with a large number of sub-projects). If you can afford it, get a E6800, but that's REAL pricey ($900 right now?). You don't need name-brand memory either, just get 4gb of the fastest RAM you can afford. Also keep an eye on the motherboard you choose. Some motherboards don't support anything higher than DDR2667 RAM... I've heard the nicest/fastest boards have the nForce 690i chipset (or something like that). I have an Opteron 185 (2.6 ghz) and 2gb of DDR5200 ram, and VS2005 is pretty snappy, bbut if I was getting a new system, I'd do what I described above. Also consider a decent video card - you can get a nVidia 7950 GT2 for less than $300.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
I've decided it's time for a new development station and I'm looking for suggestions for components to get the most speed that is reasonably cost effective. Right now I have a p4 3.06ghz dual SATA raptor 74gb raid 0 with 1gb of ram running xp sp2. I typically need to run visual studio, sql server, firebird server, IIS server and then typical browsing email etc. I find it slow for the large multi project solutions I tend to work with in Visual studio. I think I'm more cpu bound than anything else at this point and I'd like to go to a dual processor cpu (if that makes sense for what I do, suggestions very welcome). I'm going to be working on a new wpf project soon (once I learn wpf :) ) and so I figured it's time to go to Vista with a new PC. I prefer to not go with a name brand pc, I'd rather order one from a place that can put in whatever components I spec. I'm thinking my best bet is to start with a Vista compatible system spec'd primarily for gaming as it's probably got the speediest components anyway and then tweak it for development purposes (i.e. probably won't need as expensive of a video card etc). Any suggestions, recommendations, things to avoid etc?
Cost was very fair I thought but then I nabbed a $2000 discount. I have a Dell PowerEdge 2900 and have it marked along the lines John dictated. I *LOVE* this thing. John's hardware terms are strict and severe. What I like about the way he plays is that if you do it the way he suggests you should have a machine that will effortlessly scale for 2 years, be fantastic for 3 years and around 4 years you'll still be very productive. I had a bitch of a time getting 3, 22" monitors working but now that I've done it I could easily step someone through it. I'm in hog heaven though. I run the stuff you run and a tad more in some respects. Quite a few virtual sessions, Remote Desktop, Iron Speed Designer, Outlook 2007, OMEA Pro Reader. (The last 2 can be serious resource hogs or were until I upgraded.) Anyway, mine is a quadcore with 4 gigs of ram that can go to 48 and I can have up to 8 hot swappable drives. Currently running RAID0+1 with SAS73 gig drives. If you want me to benchmark anything for you I'd be happy to and you have my word I won't even peak at your code. I'm not even interested in it. One tool I like is Everest Ultimate Edition. I use it to check out my systems and see how they are doing. Everest really likes this one. - Rex
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Cost was very fair I thought but then I nabbed a $2000 discount. I have a Dell PowerEdge 2900 and have it marked along the lines John dictated. I *LOVE* this thing. John's hardware terms are strict and severe. What I like about the way he plays is that if you do it the way he suggests you should have a machine that will effortlessly scale for 2 years, be fantastic for 3 years and around 4 years you'll still be very productive. I had a bitch of a time getting 3, 22" monitors working but now that I've done it I could easily step someone through it. I'm in hog heaven though. I run the stuff you run and a tad more in some respects. Quite a few virtual sessions, Remote Desktop, Iron Speed Designer, Outlook 2007, OMEA Pro Reader. (The last 2 can be serious resource hogs or were until I upgraded.) Anyway, mine is a quadcore with 4 gigs of ram that can go to 48 and I can have up to 8 hot swappable drives. Currently running RAID0+1 with SAS73 gig drives. If you want me to benchmark anything for you I'd be happy to and you have my word I won't even peak at your code. I'm not even interested in it. One tool I like is Everest Ultimate Edition. I use it to check out my systems and see how they are doing. Everest really likes this one. - Rex
Wow, that's quite a system, but quite a bit more than I want to spend and I'm averse to big name brand computers after many years of dealing with them in my previous career and having zero problems with built up systems since then. It looks more like you've spec'd a server than a workstation with that one. Is the quad core getting a work out compared to a dual core?
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I would go with a Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, and 4gb of DDR2/800 memory (memory is king with VS2005, especially with a large number of sub-projects). If you can afford it, get a E6800, but that's REAL pricey ($900 right now?). You don't need name-brand memory either, just get 4gb of the fastest RAM you can afford. Also keep an eye on the motherboard you choose. Some motherboards don't support anything higher than DDR2667 RAM... I've heard the nicest/fastest boards have the nForce 690i chipset (or something like that). I have an Opteron 185 (2.6 ghz) and 2gb of DDR5200 ram, and VS2005 is pretty snappy, bbut if I was getting a new system, I'd do what I described above. Also consider a decent video card - you can get a nVidia 7950 GT2 for less than $300.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
I would go with a Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, and 4gb of DDR2/800 memory (memory is king with VS2005, especially with a large number of sub-projects). If you can afford it, get a E6800, but that's REAL pricey ($900 right now?). You don't need name-brand memory either, just get 4gb of the fastest RAM you can afford. Also keep an eye on the motherboard you choose. Some motherboards don't support anything higher than DDR2667 RAM... I've heard the nicest/fastest boards have the nForce 690i chipset (or something like that). I have an Opteron 185 (2.6 ghz) and 2gb of DDR5200 ram, and VS2005 is pretty snappy, bbut if I was getting a new system, I'd do what I described above. Also consider a decent video card - you can get a nVidia 7950 GT2 for less than $300.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:
I have an Opteron 185 (2.6 ghz)
me too :cool:
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Hi John, I have a question is it right that vista needs to directx10 and if I have geforce 7600 or 7900 I cant run and another question is Motherboard Giga p965 dq6 is become for run vista Thanks
Just because your card isn't a DX10 card doesn't mean you can't run DX10 games. What it means is that you won't be able to see the DX10-specific goodies in the game. It'll be a few more months before we see the 1st DX10 game, and even then, it may not be in your preferred genre...
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
John has pretty much covered it, I would recomend this however: http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xps_m2010?c=au&cs=audhs1&l=en&s=dhs[^]
Brad Australian - Christian Graus on "Best books for VBscript" A big thick one, so you can whack yourself on the head with it.
I would not choose a laptop for your primary dev platform. Not upgradable, battery fire problems, and they cost much more than a comparable desktop.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
Just because your card isn't a DX10 card doesn't mean you can't run DX10 games. What it means is that you won't be able to see the DX10-specific goodies in the game. It'll be a few more months before we see the 1st DX10 game, and even then, it may not be in your preferred genre...
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
I've decided it's time for a new development station and I'm looking for suggestions for components to get the most speed that is reasonably cost effective. Right now I have a p4 3.06ghz dual SATA raptor 74gb raid 0 with 1gb of ram running xp sp2. I typically need to run visual studio, sql server, firebird server, IIS server and then typical browsing email etc. I find it slow for the large multi project solutions I tend to work with in Visual studio. I think I'm more cpu bound than anything else at this point and I'd like to go to a dual processor cpu (if that makes sense for what I do, suggestions very welcome). I'm going to be working on a new wpf project soon (once I learn wpf :) ) and so I figured it's time to go to Vista with a new PC. I prefer to not go with a name brand pc, I'd rather order one from a place that can put in whatever components I spec. I'm thinking my best bet is to start with a Vista compatible system spec'd primarily for gaming as it's probably got the speediest components anyway and then tweak it for development purposes (i.e. probably won't need as expensive of a video card etc). Any suggestions, recommendations, things to avoid etc?
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Well, the same comment applies to Vista. Just because you don't have a DX10 card doesn't mean you can't run Vista - it just means some of the Vista eye-candy won't be available to you...
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
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I didn't either, but it was longshot and Google came through, as usual.:-D
"...a photo album is like Life, but flat and stuck to pages." - Shog9
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Well, the same comment applies to Vista. Just because you don't have a DX10 card doesn't mean you can't run Vista - it just means some of the Vista eye-candy won't be available to you...
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
I would not choose a laptop for your primary dev platform. Not upgradable, battery fire problems, and they cost much more than a comparable desktop.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001