myrti wants to buy a real PC :o

Hi guys,

now that Diablo3 is finally being released, I want a PC that is able to play it. I'm not much of a gamer, so if it's running it's fine. I don't necessarily need all details set to maximum in the game. I just want it to run smoothely on some setting, but since I'm more or less buying the PC for the game it should do at least that. I don't expect to be playing any other game any time soon, so there's not really a need to cater to the possibility of future games. (except diablo 4, but that probably won't be til 2020 or 2030 )
Other than that, I would like to be able to run multiple virtual machines at once to be able to dabble into malware analysis. Apart that I only do the usual browsing, chatting and the occasional photo editing (but no video editing). (I currently have a dual-core 2.4GHz, 4Gb RAM, intel chip graphics laptop that already fullfills all my basic needs except for running Diablo3 due to the graphics chip. The PC should be an upgrade, compared to the laptop.. but since the laptop is from 2008, I think that's probably a given)

I have normal hard drives (2TB) which are currently in use as external drives, but will/could be incorporated into the PC given the space. I am considering getting a smaller SSD for the OS, depending on what you recommend. I also have a sound system at home, which I would hook up to the PC, so there's no need for speakers.
I am using a Samsung SyncMaster 2443 as screen at work, which I like a lot and would like to use at home too, I had a look around but it seems it's no longer available, so something comparable would be great.

I would like the PC to be quite silent, I know this is a price factor, but I would be willing to pay extra to make it more silent.

All hardware needs to be linux/ubuntu compatible, as this is my main OS and I use Windows only for gaming. (If Diablo3 can be installed through Wine, possibly not even that)

This is my first desktop PC, so I need to buy all the peripherals, such as mouse and keyboard, too. I don't really have a preference over custom-built vs retail, I have assembled a PC before and would be able to do it again. I'm in europe, so I can't use newegg, etc... But you can always link me to the hardware there and I'll find myself a shop on this side of the world that can sell it to me. Basically I'm asking what would be good specs for what I want to do, because I haven't got a clue. Does anything meeting the hardware specs for D3 also meet my "many VM's"-request? I would suspect that more RAM would be needed than the minimum given for D3, but what about the power of the CPU?

These are the requirements for D3:

Fully-updated Windows® XP/Vista/7 with DirectX 9.0cIntel
Pentium® D 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 4400+ (or better)
NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800 GT or ATI Radeon™ X1950 Pro (or better)
1 GB RAM (with Windows XP)or 1.5 GB RAM (with Vista or Windows 7)
12 GB available Hard Drive space,
DVD-ROM drive (for retail disc versions only)
Broadband Internet connection
Video settings reaching a minimum resolution of 1024x768

I have an external DVD-drive, so that one isn't strictly necessary.


My budget for the new computer is:
As expensive as necessary, but as cheap as possible. I guess the real hard limit is 1000$, but cheaper would be better. I have a valid Win7 license, so that doesn't factor in the price.

What are the primary uses for this computer (IE: mail, web browsing, programming, games, etc)?

Primary is browsing really and the occasional programming, but nothing too hard core.

What software do you intend on using on the computer?

Diablo3, Virtualbox, kde-apps. (I won't be running D3 in Virtualbox though. )

Do you tend to have a lot of programs running at the same time, or do you close every program when you are done using it?

Yes. Eg Virtualbox, Firefox, Thunderbird, IRC, Instant messengers, etc...

regards myrti

If I make a suggestion do I get a free pass when I get to your exercise? I Mean after all, you admittedly said you were real tough on trainees and a fair exchange is no robbery


Respectfully Submitted,
STC1 :prayinghands:

Try This may want to upgrade graphics card but there are different options and styles for this model if you don't want to build a system yourself

Hi,

the link to dell is not working for me.. it's showing a 404. And I can give you a pass on sophex2 only.

Maybe because it's the America website? I didn't think that was possible but I guess that is some filtering system in place because of the monetary value. Anyway it's an XPS8500 of many different types and dimensions so It might be something you may want to look at on their European website.

And I can give you a pass on sophex2 only.

Thanks for nothing

Seriously, check it out, XPS 8500 you might like it

btw here, the starting price w/o monitor is $749.00 USD with i5 core, windows 7 home premium 64bit, 8gb ram, 1TB HD, comes with wired mouse and keyboard, XPS 8500, Black Chassis w/19:1 media card reader, and DVD drive. i7 is $899.99 starting price

Hi,

I had a quick look and, sure enough, it is offered on the German Dell site too.. I'm not sure I like the site though. I've been unable to find out what's in the PC except for the CPU and the amount of RAM (but not even what RAM) is in there. Who made the RAM sticks? Who provided the drive? I have a very bad track record with Western Digital for example, they tend to fail exactly a week after warranty expired, so I wouldn't really want another hard drive from them. Besides they have a lot of stuff included in the price I don't need, eg the hard drives, the DVD drive and the Win7 license and I can't remove any of it.

regards myrti

Oh, Well when you buy any computer from a site, they will come with pre-installed software and hardware, there should be a button on the page that allows you to customize your system but I don't know if you can change what HD manufacturer is put into the system build. As for RAM, it's hard to say what the RAM manufacturer is because I have Dell Ram sticks on all of my systems accept for the desktop that I added more RAM to. I went with four 1GB sticks that I ordered from CrucialdotCom. I have two deskstops from Dell along with two lapdtops (I just purchased the second one from dell last month and wifey is fit to be tied, she's trying to make me enter a 12 step program for electronics addiction ) and I haven't had any issues with any of them save a virus here or there and one power supply that blew during an electrical storm and subsequent blackout and that desktop is 8 years old and still going strong(XPS400)

Hi,

I would like to know the specs, simply to know what I'm buying.. At the moment I'd feel I'm buying the cat in the bag... I don't know what's inside that case really. No mention of MoBo or Power supply.. nor of the sound card, etc... (I'm assuming they're in there... but). There's also no mention of what the maximum amount of RAM is the MoBo can handle, nor the amounts of RAM slots or the maximum size one RAM stick may have. They don't mention how much room I have to upgrade to more power demanding hardware with the included power supply.
It's not so much that I don't like the system, but more that I feel I don't know what the system actually is.

The "customize" they have raelly is a misnomer.. by "customizing" they mean "adding virus protection" or MS Office.. It's got nothing to do with the system itself... I thought, it meant you could remove the selected hard drive or switch the OS from Win7 to "none", etc...

regards myrti

Hi myrti,

Here is a list of parts I put together. I think it would be great for you. ;)

• AMD FX-8120 Zambezi 3.1GHz Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core Desktop Processor FD8120FRGUBOX - $174.99
• ASUS Sabertooth 990FX AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS - $184.99
• G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model - $59.99
• EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1563-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - $249.99
• OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-60G 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $69.99
• OCZ Fatal1ty 750W Modular Gaming 80Plus Bronze Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom - $99.99
• Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Now: $69.99
• LITE-ON DVD Burner - $17.99

Total $927.92 (does not include tax)

I don't know if this helps but try this link myrti


if the link doesn't work, I copied and pasted these tech specs. for the various models that the XPS offers. the top of the line model has 16GB ram

Operating System
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate

Form Factor
Mini Tower

Processor
Intel Quad Core i5 3450 Ivy Bridge
Intel Quad Core i7 3770 Ivy Bridge QC

Chipset
Intel "Panther Point" H77
Graphics
Nvidia GeForce GT 620 1GB
AMD Radeon HD 7570 1 GB
AMD Radeon HD 7770 2GB
AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB

Audio
Integrated 7.1 Surround
DIMM Slots
4 DIMM Slots

Memory
4GB DDR3 1600MHz
8GB DDR3 1600MHz
12GB DDR3 1600MHz
16GB DDR3 1600MHz

Hard Drives
1TB4 3.5" 7200RPM HDD
2TB4 3.5" 7200RPM HDD
3TB4 3.5" 7200RPM HDD
2TB4 + 32GB mSATA SSD(SRT)
3TB4 + 32GB mSATA SSD(SRT)
2TB4 + 256GB mSATA SSD
3TB4 + 256GB mSATA SSD
Optical Disc Drive
DVDRW
BD-Combo
BD-RE
TV Tuner
None
Wired
10/100/1000 Gigabit
Media Card reader
19:1
WiDi
Optional Wi-Di
Bluetooth
BT 4.0 with Wi-Fi card
Keyboard & Mouse
No KB and Mouse option
Jasper – Base wired KB
Jasper MM - Base wired MM KB
Burgundy – Upsell Wireless KB and Mouse

Ports
REAR: (2) USB 3.0, (4) USB 2.0, Audio Jacks, RJ-45, VGA, HDMI
Front: (2) USB 3.0, MCR
Top: (2) USB 2.0 (One Powershare) Microphone, Headphones

Power Supply
460W
Preliminary Dimensions & Starting weight
Available from Engineering on 2012/2/27
Color Options
Black (Retail)
White (Online)
Bright Chrome trim

Wireless
WLAN combo card (802.11n + BT 4.0)

Regulatory and Environmental Compliance
Product Safety, EMC and Environmental Datasheets
Dell Regulatory Compliance Home Page
Dell and the Environment

couple of urls to look at regarding intel panther point h77

http://www.tomshardware.com/s/intel-panther-point-h77/

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%20600093976%20600315499&IsNodeId=1&name=Intel%20H77&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=181aypiy89tpn

Learn more about the Intel BOXDH77DF
Model

Brand
Intel

Model
BOXDH77DF

Supported CPU

CPU Socket Type
LGA 1155

CPU Type
Core i7 / i5 / i3 (LGA1155)

Chipsets

North Bridge
Intel H77

Memory

Number of Memory Slots
4×240pin

Memory Standard
DDR3 1600/1333/1066
Note: DDR3 1600 MHz DIMMs are only supported by 3rd generation Intel Core processor family processors

Maximum Memory Supported
16GB

Channel Supported
Dual Channel

Expansion Slots

PCI Express 3.0 x16
1

Mini Card Slots
1 x PCI Express Full-/Half-Mini Card slot with support for mSATA

Storage Devices

SATA 3Gb/s
2

SATA 6Gb/s
2 x SATA 6Gb/s

Onboard Audio

Audio Chipset
Realtek ALC898

Audio Channels
8 Channels

Onboard LAN

LAN Chipset
Intel 82579V

Max LAN Speed
10/100/1000Mbps

Rear Panel Ports

Video Ports
DVI

HDMI
1 x HDMI

DisplayPort
1 x DisplayPort

USB 1.1/2.0
4 x USB 2.0

USB 3.0
2 x USB 3.0

IEEE 1394
1 x IEEE 1394a

eSATA
1 x eSATA 3Gb/s

S/PDIF Out
1 x Optical

Audio Ports
5 Ports

Internal I/O Connectors

Onboard USB
2 x USB 3.0 + 6 x USB 2.0

Onboard 1394
1 x 1394a

Physical Spec

Form Factor
Mini ITX

Dimensions
6.7" x 6.7"

Power Pin
24 Pin

hope this answers some of your questions

Hi, Myrti , I'm going to move this from Buying New to Building...you'll get a few more ideas over there .

Louis

Hi,

@Sani-T-Capt
Yes, that helps already.. Though it still isn't what I would expect technical details to show, there's a definite lack of technical

@thisisu
I'll take a closer look tomorrow morning, as it is getting somewhat late.. From a first look though, it might be a bit on the expensive side, as the screen isn't included yet. I'm guessing that would add 200-300$ to the balance?

@hamluis
Thanks! I wasn't sure where to put it, as both forums seemed to fit.

regards myrti

myrti, you're gonna want something fairly stout ie

Intel Sandy Bridge processor (i7) (good new Ivy Bridge just came out so Sandy Prices should be down)

at least 16GB of RAM (Ram is cheap buy it up while you can or are building)

^those are just for your many many many VM's

1 DVD Drive

1 Bluray drive (you might as well get one if you can afford it, not saying its the wave of the future but...)


Quick run down of parts:

CPU Intel i7 2600 Sandy Bridge $295

Mobo ASUS P8Z68 Motherboard $125 (2x SATA 6gbps, USB3.0, 32 GB RAM Capacity)

RAM Corsair 16 GB (2x8GB) RAM kit DDR3 PC1333 $110

Graphics Radeon HD6850 $140
Hard Drives: Figure $150 for a 2TB traditional HDD (not sure how much space you would need/want)

Case: Antec ONE $50 or Antec 300 Two $70 I've seen both in person and they are very similar (I dont think the ONE has filters, both support USB3 on the face plate, and fastenerless, aka: screwless, drive mounting)
PSU Corsair Enthusitest 650w i7 Compatible PSU $110
Optical Drive: DVD Burners run about $20

Wow, not sure how I managed that but it comes out to $1000 even, with the Antec ONE case


There's a lot of room for fudging too (8 vs 16 GB of RAM, a Radeon HD6770 will play D3 very well, probably could get by with even less but I wont suggest it, PSU is a high end model, picked because the ratings on NE are amazing for a PSU, less HDD Capacity = less $.

You know where to find me (chat about 20.30 GMT and thereafter), for what its worth, Legion and Dan run i7's, I run AMD but I think with multiple VM's you'd be better off with intel (I have no idea what AMD is currently doing other then baiting me with rumors of an on-time Piledriver release, yeah, right, and Bulldozer is a let down compared to the i7)


And see there you are doing that "cute" thing

btw you'll have to send me your D3 username, mine is very guessable.

myrti, you're gonna want something fairly stout ie

Intel Sandy Bridge processor (i7) (good new Ivy Bridge just came out so Sandy Prices should be down)

at least 16GB of RAM (Ram is cheap buy it up while you can or are building)

^those are just for your many many many VM's

1 DVD Drive

1 Bluray drive (you might as well get one if you can afford it, not saying its the wave of the future but...)


Quick run down of parts:

CPU Intel i7 2600 Sandy Bridge $295

Mobo ASUS P8Z68 Motherboard $125 (2x SATA 6gbps, USB3.0, 32 GB RAM Capacity)

RAM Corsair 16 GB (2x8GB) RAM kit DDR3 PC1333 $110

Graphics Radeon HD6850 $140
Hard Drives: Figure $150 for a 2TB traditional HDD (not sure how much space you would need/want)

Case: Antec ONE $50 or Antec 300 Two $70 I've seen both in person and they are very similar (I dont think the ONE has filters, both support USB3 on the face plate, and fastenerless, aka: screwless, drive mounting)
PSU Corsair Enthusitest 650w i7 Compatible PSU $110
Optical Drive: DVD Burners run about $20

Wow, not sure how I managed that but it comes out to $1000 even, with the Antec ONE case


There's a lot of room for fudging too (8 vs 16 GB of RAM, a Radeon HD6770 will play D3 very well, probably could get by with even less but I wont suggest it, PSU is a high end model, picked because the ratings on NE are amazing for a PSU, less HDD Capacity = less $.

You know where to find me (chat about 20.30 GMT and thereafter), for what its worth, Legion and Dan run i7's, I run AMD but I think with multiple VM's you'd be better off with intel (I have no idea what AMD is currently doing other then baiting me with rumors of an on-time Piledriver release, yeah, right, and Bulldozer is a let down compared to the i7)


And see there you are doing that "cute" thing

btw you'll have to send me your D3 username, mine is very guessable.

You might want to add a silent aftermarket cooler and some silent fans like Scythe Gentle Typhoon, the reason for that choice of fan is because it doesn't have to spin as fast to produce lots of CFM.