visual800
Active Member
my reference to China is covering ANYTHING not made in the US, a fault of mine not to be taken literally. Just easier to say China these days it seems.
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Help me build/spec a computer for my home based business please.
- Thread starter JETsignworks
- Start date
my reference to China is covering ANYTHING not made in the US, a fault of mine not to be taken literally. Just easier to say China these days it seems.
SightLine
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I try to stay out of these anymore.... but I'll chime in once. The systems Signburst builds as well as true Professional workstations from Dell (their Precision line), HP, and IBM are in a totally different class than any "off the shelf" consumer systems. As Casey has mentions they are built with components that meet a far great stringent standard of quality and reliability. His example of hard drives is a good one - take 2 near identical Seagate drives and compare their consumer drives specifications, warranty, predicted MTBF (mean time before failure) and see what you find. The enterprise class drives are rated for often double the life with double the warranty. Manufacturers of chips and other components use a system called "binning" to determine capabilities and qualities of items. Higher binned processors for example might be capable of crazy overclocking but they are not specified as an enthusiast processor, they are configured internally and coded as a Xeon model processor instead. The parts that are still good workable parts (might not have quite the long term reliability or capabilities) and make up the majority of the parts made are still used but sold as the primary consumer line products while the premium top shelf parts are sold at a higher price point with better warranties and life ratings due to their premium qualities. These are the parts that are generally used in professional and enterprise class computers. Professional workstations are also very carefully engineered for optimal cooling, all the parts are very carefully and meticulously tested together to be 100% certain that there are no compatibility issues, etc. ECC memory - another plus. If there is some random software error or memory error - ECC memory corrects it and you never know any different. Standard ram, well your program probably just froze, maybe crashed, maybe Windows blue screened, etc....
Building your own system.... well that compatibility testing is you putting the parts together and hoping for the best when you hit that power button and when you start loading software onto the system. Did you really look at the specs of that cooling fan you picked out for the computer you are building to see what type of bearing it uses, its CFM rating, its noise rating, and what its amperage draw on the system board will be? Really? I thought so.... Don't get me wrong. I've built hundreds of systems over the years too. Most with no problems. But I'm not going to kid myself thinking that they have the proven research, time, effort, component selection, etc of a true professional workstation like what Signburst is going to build or like a Dell Precision does. The uptime on one of the Precisions here is over a year now, who care if it can reboot in less than 30 seconds if it has not rebooted in over a year? Granted that one is the dedicated RIP that is not used for web or anything else (its firewalled on a dedicated private subnet) so it has little need for Windows updates or anything like that. Even my main design station which I do keep reasonably updated will generally only get rebooted maybe once in a month when some big Windows updates require it.
Building your own system.... well that compatibility testing is you putting the parts together and hoping for the best when you hit that power button and when you start loading software onto the system. Did you really look at the specs of that cooling fan you picked out for the computer you are building to see what type of bearing it uses, its CFM rating, its noise rating, and what its amperage draw on the system board will be? Really? I thought so.... Don't get me wrong. I've built hundreds of systems over the years too. Most with no problems. But I'm not going to kid myself thinking that they have the proven research, time, effort, component selection, etc of a true professional workstation like what Signburst is going to build or like a Dell Precision does. The uptime on one of the Precisions here is over a year now, who care if it can reboot in less than 30 seconds if it has not rebooted in over a year? Granted that one is the dedicated RIP that is not used for web or anything else (its firewalled on a dedicated private subnet) so it has little need for Windows updates or anything like that. Even my main design station which I do keep reasonably updated will generally only get rebooted maybe once in a month when some big Windows updates require it.
rjssigns
Active Member
My two cents: Buy local. We have our whoopa$$ systems built by a local company.
We get to sit down and discuss what we need and they build it. Best part is their systems come with a 3 year no questions asked warranty. Only had to use it once in close to 15 years because of a CD/DVD drive issue.
Nothing against Casey as it sounds like he's got a lock on top drawer systems. I'm just saying to buy local. If something horrible happens its a 15 minute drive from my shop and I won't get a bill.
As much as humanely possible buy everything that makes you money from a local source. Can't stress this point enough. I have an ultra expensive horror story regarding this very thing.
We get to sit down and discuss what we need and they build it. Best part is their systems come with a 3 year no questions asked warranty. Only had to use it once in close to 15 years because of a CD/DVD drive issue.
Nothing against Casey as it sounds like he's got a lock on top drawer systems. I'm just saying to buy local. If something horrible happens its a 15 minute drive from my shop and I won't get a bill.
As much as humanely possible buy everything that makes you money from a local source. Can't stress this point enough. I have an ultra expensive horror story regarding this very thing.
JETsignworks
New Member
Thank you everyone so far for the discussion. Definitely enough information and suggestions to put together a nice business computer.
CentralSigns
New Member
A high end gaming Laptop does the trick for me. I bought Asus Republic of Gamers laptop and its been the best purchase we made in years. We bought the best one they made, You could also buy an Alienware laptop as they are a bit more money for the same thing. Don't be cheap buy the best they sell. Your probably looking at 3-4 grand
JETsignworks
New Member
My wife was talking to a friend about what we are doing, and he highly suggested this computer. I don't have any experience with Mac's, so I am a little hesitant.
Any thoughts ?
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FE087LL/A/refurbished-215-inch-imac-29ghz-quad-core-Intel-Core-i5
If you don't want to click the link, here is a brief summary:
21.5 iMac
2.9Ghz
Turbo boost up to 3.6Ghz
8GB (two 4GB) memory
1TB hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 1GB video memory
refurbished price is $1269
new price is $1499
Any thoughts ?
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FE087LL/A/refurbished-215-inch-imac-29ghz-quad-core-Intel-Core-i5
If you don't want to click the link, here is a brief summary:
21.5 iMac
2.9Ghz
Turbo boost up to 3.6Ghz
8GB (two 4GB) memory
1TB hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M with 1GB video memory
refurbished price is $1269
new price is $1499
JETsignworks
New Member
Lol, I really don't however, other than the suggestion presented by Pat (tigerdirect) , most that I am finding are in the same ballpark.
Perhaps they are in the same price range, but with the one I specked you get an i7 vs an i5, a solid state drive plus a 4 terrabyte drive vs a 1 terrabyte drive, 16 gigs of 1866 ram vs 8 gigs not specified the speed, a giant quiet case, an 850 watt power supply etc... You must be able to see the difference?
Are you a Mac user? Do you want to go Mac?
Are you a Mac user? Do you want to go Mac?
JETsignworks
New Member
Certainly I can see the difference.
No, I am not a Mac user. This guy was so adamant about going the Mac route, that I thought I would consider it. I don't necessarily want to go Mac, but not opposed to it.
JETsignworks
New Member
heyskull
New Member
I have just bought Four second user machines which are:-
[h=1]HP Elite 8100 Desktop Core i7 Quad Core 2.80GHz 500GB HD 8GB DVD-RW Win 7 pro 64 bit[/h]Then I have up specced them with 240gb SSD and 1Tb graphics cards.
New 24" Monitors, Keyboards and Mice.
Some of them I have tagged a second monitor to them from the previous machines, which makes them even more useful.
They are lightning fast and really quiet.
We have a server system so I have plenty storage already (16TB) so the extra 500GB Drive on each computer is a bonus.
My total bill for all four comes in just over $2000 after taxes for everything!!
Brilliant machines as I have used the previous HP Compaqs before and they are built to last.
The last computers I think were bought 4 years ago and I probably can still get $600 - $800 for them so the upgrade for all of them has been for peanuts.....well almost!
Don't put of second user machines especially Hi spec commercial machines as they are not built down to a budget and last well.
SC
[h=1]HP Elite 8100 Desktop Core i7 Quad Core 2.80GHz 500GB HD 8GB DVD-RW Win 7 pro 64 bit[/h]Then I have up specced them with 240gb SSD and 1Tb graphics cards.
New 24" Monitors, Keyboards and Mice.
Some of them I have tagged a second monitor to them from the previous machines, which makes them even more useful.
They are lightning fast and really quiet.
We have a server system so I have plenty storage already (16TB) so the extra 500GB Drive on each computer is a bonus.
My total bill for all four comes in just over $2000 after taxes for everything!!
Brilliant machines as I have used the previous HP Compaqs before and they are built to last.
The last computers I think were bought 4 years ago and I probably can still get $600 - $800 for them so the upgrade for all of them has been for peanuts.....well almost!
Don't put of second user machines especially Hi spec commercial machines as they are not built down to a budget and last well.
SC
Attachments
There are tons of machines like that out there, if you know where to look. Sometimes you roll the dice and get burned, but it can be worth the risk if the hardware meets your needs. I find that the HP and Dell machines are not repaired as cheaply because you have to buy their proprietary parts and the form factors are not standardized. It is not a deal breaker but will result in higher money outlay at some point down the line if plan to keep the machine running. The biggest advantage of custom PCs is the repairability and upgradability since the form factors have been standardized for so long. It's not for everyone, but I like Signburst's approach where you don't have to be a whiz kid guru to have the advantages of custom machines. There is no wrong approach, but the OPs budget makes him a candidate for a used HP or Dell workstation if he wants to get some horsepower.
visual800
Active Member
if you are not a mac guy and you dont care to be then dont go that route.
you have had a good bit of suggestions on here to go by
The guy above posting the "high end" HPs
I suggested the dell xps systems with i5 or i7 run you bout $500-750 per comp
signburst offered his services
and of course we now have the Macs entering the arena
You are going to do what you are going to do. At least you are talking to guys that are sharing their own expertise on what runs their programs
you have had a good bit of suggestions on here to go by
The guy above posting the "high end" HPs
I suggested the dell xps systems with i5 or i7 run you bout $500-750 per comp
signburst offered his services
and of course we now have the Macs entering the arena
You are going to do what you are going to do. At least you are talking to guys that are sharing their own expertise on what runs their programs