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[TheOMan]

I'm cross-posting this from the Gaming PC thread on the Gaming side. Any help that anybody could provide would be appreciated!


My apologies upfront if I'm asking an ignorant question here - I tried to read all of the older posts to ensure I at least have a grasp on how things operate in this thread. I've been out of the PC market for quite some time, so any help here would be great appreciated.

I configured the following at Lenovo as I need a new workstation - something that is a bit of an all-rounder. My budget is up to around 5K CAD.

Intel Xeon E5-1650 v3 Processor (15MB Cache, 3.50GHz) 
Windows 10 Pro 64 
Windows 10 Pro 64 English 
32GB DDR4 2133MHz ECC RDIMM 
NVIDIA Quadro K2200 4GB (DVI+2DP) 
2 x Display Port to HDMI Dongle 
DVI to VGA Dongle 
Sound Blaster Z Audio Card 
Intel Integrated Controller 
Yes 
2.5" 256GB SATA Solid State Drive (OPAL) 
2TB+8GB Hybrid Hard Drive, 3.5", SATA 
Rambo8 DVD Burner/CD-RW SATA 
Blu-ray with bus encryption 
9 in 1 Media Card Reader 
ThinkServer 10Gbps Ethernet X540-T2 Server Adapter by Intel 
eSATA Rear I/O 
USB Full Keyboard - English 
Lenovo USB Optical Wheel Mouse 
LineCord - US 
Tower 490W 90% Power 
Publication - English 
Key Lock Kit With Unique Key 
3 Year On-site 
ThinkVision T2224z 21.5" WVA FHD LED LCD Monitor - Webcam, USB Hub, VOIP Capable 
Microsoft® Office Professional 2016 Activation Card 
Accessories 
Lenovo Gaming Mechanical Keyboard 
Lenovo Gaming Mouse Mat 
ThinkPad Precision Wireless Mouse - Midnight Black 
Lenovo HDMI to VGA Monitor Adapter

This came out to about 4100 CAD before tax. Is this a good buy? A good configuration? Can I do better for the budget?

 

[xxracerxx]

I mean, is it a workstation or is it for gaming? What is the work you will be doing on this PC?

 

[TheOMan]

I mean, is it a workstation or is it for gaming? What is the work you will be doing on this PC?

Primary use will be running multiple virtual machines and application development. Some gaming would be a nice to have. Just looking for an all rounder that will last a few years.

 

[XenogearsX]

Looks more like a white box server than a workstation..kinda overkill

 

[zeshakag]

If you will be conducting actual work and running multiple vm those are fine specs. However there's gotta be a cheaper way to get that configuration, like Amazon or Newegg.

 

[maeh2k]

Looks like a powerful machine. Don't think you can really go wrong with that base configuraiton.

You could consider getting a bigger SSD. With more SSD space you could store the VMs directly on an SSD.

I would go with a different display. 21.5" FHD doesn't seem like enough for that machine.
Have a look at e.g. a 27" Dell Ultrasharp.

 

[cameron]

The Quadro K2200 is like a 4GB version of the GTX 750 Ti. Unless you're using CAD type software that needs certified hardware with high precision like the Quadro, you may be better off choosing the cheapest gpu configuration and adding a better performance per value video card after. Otherwise you're inflating the config price for no good reason.

And I don't know about the Xeon cpu and ECC ram either. That's like server grade equipment. As noted by XenogearsX, seems like overkill. Instead of Xeon, a cheaper i7 may be sufficient for whatever hardware-assisted virtualization requirements. Maybe devs in a similar line of work can chime in.

 

[TheOMan]

If you will be conducting actual work and running multiple vm those are fine specs. However there's gotta be a cheaper way to get that configuration, like Amazon or Newegg.

Not sure how I would go about doing that on Amazon or NewEgg, but I'll take a look - thanks!

Looks like a powerful machine. Don't think you can really go wrong with that base configuraiton.

You could consider getting a bigger SSD. With more SSD space you could store the VMs directly on an SSD.

I would go with a different display. 21.5" FHD doesn't seem like enough for that machine.
Have a look at e.g. a 27" Dell Ultrasharp.

Yeah, I actually need more than one display, I'll take a look at the Ultrasharp.

I was thinking about the SSD space as well. Unfortunately the largest OPAL drives they had available were 480gb.

Looks more like a white box server than a workstation..kinda overkill

The Quadro K2200 is like a 4GB version of the GTX 750 Ti. Unless you're using CAD type software that needs certified hardware with high precision like the Quadro, you may be better off choosing the cheapest gpu configuration and adding a better performance per value video card after. Otherwise you're inflating the config price for no good reason.

And I don't know about the Xeon cpu and ECC ram either. That's like server grade equipment. As noted by XenogearsX, seems like overkill. Instead of Xeon, a cheaper i7 may be sufficient for whatever hardware-assisted virtualization requirements. Maybe devs in a similar line of work can chime in.

Good to know - I'll see if I can swap out the Quadro and spend that money elsewhere.

I'll also try to doing a build with an i7, but they don't offer them in their workstation line, so I'll have to go to a different starting model.

 

[TheOMan]

ThinkStation P300 Tower 30AH
	
	Intel Core i7-4790 Processor (8MB Cache, up tp 4.0GHz)
	Windows 8.1 Pro 64
	Tower with Intel C226, 280W 85%
	8GB PC3 1600MHz uDIMM
	8GB PC3 1600MHz uDIMM
	8GB PC3 1600MHz UDIMM
	8GB PC3 1600MHz uDIMM
	NVIDIA NVS510 (mini DPx4) HP - 2GB
	None
	480GB Solid State Drive, 2.5", SATA, 6Gb/s, OPAL
	Rambo8 DVD Burner/CD-RW SATA Windows 8.1
	Integrated Ethernet
	No Ethernet
	3 Year On-site


	Microsoft® Office Professional 2016 Activation Card		 $432.24	 $432.24	


        Lenovo Gaming Mechanical Keyboard		 $113.04	 $113.04	


	Lenovo Gaming Mouse Mat		 $8.07	 $8.07	


		
	
	Subtotal:	$2,904.15*

This config doesn't include a monitor and that is best i7 they offer in this line. I'll try one of their home PC lines next to see if there are some better options. I'm also noticing it doesn't have an ethernet option, must be an oversight in the configuration chooser. Weird.