Building an i7 build for work

[BobTheMystic]

Hey all. I am currently building a small build server/workstation for work and I would like your collective opinions on the build. Our budget is about $700, give or take, the system I have here is roughly $775.

 

The system will be used for nightly builds (C# mostly, ~10,000 lines of code), software development (~2-3 open IDEs), research, word processing, simple image editing and internet radio (Yay Pandora).

 

Given our current budget, are these the best "bang for your buck" components? I've been out of the computer design loop ever since I built my Core 2 Duo E6600 rig a few years back, so forgive me if there is some glaring flaw in the proposed machine below.

 

We currently have:

- A case

- HDD

- Optical drive

 

These are the components I'm looking at purchasing:

$280 - Intel Core i7 860 - LGA 1156

 

$100 - Crucial Ballistix 2x2gig

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...8-325-_-Product

 

$75(50 with MIR) - OCZ Fatal1ty Modular PSU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...1-022-_-Product

 

$120 - GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128425

 

$40 - XFX HD-435X-YAH2 Radeon HD 4350

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150335

 

$160 - Hanns

[El_Capitan]

Looks good to me. If anything, maybe for $5 more invest in a 4650 rather than a 4350? Not that you need to, but the jump in performance is worth it.

Edited March 3, 2010 by El_Capitan

[nns]

Looks good.. You need the hyperthreading, right?

[BobTheMystic]

I mostly want the ability to multitask effectively, compiling quickly and cleanly without interrupting any audio in the background with enough horsepower to handle lots of background threads. If hyperthreading will help me accomplish these tasks, then yes, I would like it.

 

Honestly though, I don't know much about hyperthreading. When it was first introduced in the P4 days, it looked to me like a lot of hype. I haven't ever actually done any performance comparisons though.

 

Thanks for the replies.

[nns]

Hyperthreading helps a lot when you are running multiple threads.