New Workstation Build...Need Help

[TomTom]

Hey everyone,

Since this forum was so much help on my last build, which is working like a dream, I decided to come back for seconds. So here's the deal, my new office mate needs a badass workstation built that will house dual quad-cores, 16GB of RAM, 2 10k RPM HDD's and some more goodies that are listed below.

My question is how do I pick a case for the larger mobo's?

Here's what I have specked out so far:

2x Intel Xeon X5450 Harpertown 3.0GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 771

SUPERMICRO MBD-X7DWA-N Dual LGA 771 Intel 5400 Extended ATX Dual Intel Xeon Server Motherboard

4x Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR2 667

2x Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM 16MB

HIS Hightech H485QT512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16

As you can see I have all the main components except the optical drive, case and power supply. We do not want to rack mount this puppy though so please only pedestal cases. This is pretty much an open budget build so cost is not an issue within reason.

Thanks
Tom

[MaxRat]

Just about any case that uses ATX motherboards will fit and extended ATX board as well...so you should be free to choose the case of your liking...

I would stay with a full ATX size case

[TomTom]

Ok, thanks MaxRat I selected the case below just because it has the highest rating of all full ATX towers on Newegg.

Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

PSU wise now I can go with a regular power supply right, I dont need a server PSU right?

If so I picked this one

CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX 850W

[LeftyAce]

That powersupply is a solid unit. You don't need a Server powersupply.

[Khalil]

This build makes no sense.

Not much benefit from those Raptors and the failure on them is very high. Why 2 Hard drives? are you planning on messing with Raid?
I would get 7200RPM 32MB Cache units for less money and save myself and my friend the headache of unreliable hardware.
Why the ATI 4850 on a workstation? That is a gaming video card.
If he needs professional graphics go with an ATI-100. What operating system is he going to use with this 771 dual socket?
Do you know what Registered FBDIMM means? You need Fully buffered Registered memory.
My advice is have your friend go see a professional who can help him with this build, you are getting yourself into a big mess, workstations and PCs are 2 different ball games.

[TomTom]

Khalil,

We are trying to save some money on this because a system like this professionally built is a lot while we can do it for about $4000 if I build it. This is the reason I came here to get advice.

The idea for the two hard drives is because the software designers specified two 300 Gb 10k rpm drives, I'm just going off their specs. I know I picked a much more capable GPU than I needed but I have never used the software that this machine is going to run and I know it will need to be able to do some pretty nice rendering.

As for the FBDIMM no I did not know that I needed that so thank you for letting me know.

I am open to getting this done professionally if anyone can point me in the right direction and the price tag isn't too high.

Thanks,
Tom

[Khalil]

When I started building dual CPU systems it was a big struggle, luckily I started on a system for myself for my own company, I built and rebuilt 2 servers for my company several times before I offered to build Servers or dual CPU workstations for customers.
That was 5 years ago, I seeked glc's help but the information I was able to get even here on this forum was very limited.
Reason why, it is a huge responsibility to make recommendation when it comes to such expensive hardware, specially when you are dealing with professional data.
The 10,000 RPM hard drive recommended are probably SAS not Raptros. I have a lot of regard for WD but have no use for their Raptor 10k drives, they are a joke. If I tell you I have RMA 30 of them last year it would probably be an under statement.

I will think about this and give you a good idea of what you can do for 4k.
I still need to know what OS and what software is planned for this workstation

[TomTom]

I did make the mistake on the HDD's they are SAS, I just saw 10k rpm and thought Raptor.

The OS is 64-bit XP with SP2 and the software is AdvantEdge 3D.

They used to spec the Dell Precision Workstation 490 MiniTower with dual Xeon X5365's and 16Gb of RAM.

But of course that workstation is no longer made and when we priced this thing out on Dell's website it was like $7200.

This link has the recommended specs that Third Wave Systems suggests.

[Khalil]

Did you figure out a controller for the hard drives in your math?

[TomTom]

No I didn't. I wasn't aware that I needed one until a couple days ago.

What did you think of the specs?

[Khalil]

I don't think you will be able to do it right for 4k

[TomTom]

Well, you have done what many people can't by convincing me that I am in too far over my head right now. I found a local guy who has experience building workstations that we are working with now.

Thanks for your help Khalil!