Custom_Workstation

The following items will be common to many of the workstation classes proposed here.

Computer Cases

Every good workstation starts with a decent case. The choice of enclosure is every bit as important as the selection of components - processor, motherboard, disk drives, etc - that make up the hardware portion of the workstation. A well designed enclosure should protect its innards from dust, provide ample airflow for cooling and somehow manage to be quiet about it. Some cases have so many fans that you'd think that you were running a leaf blower. That makes for great airflow, but a lousy home or office environment. Noisy fans might be OK for a dedicated room frequented only by IT people, but it is absolutely unworkable for a small office environment. Fortunately, there are some good solutions for these requirements. One manufacturer in particular has paid attention to high airflow, low noise issues for home and small office environments - that's Antec.

NSK1380	NSK2480	Sonata 500	Performance P180
MicroATX motherboards only	MicroATX motherboards only	MicroATX / ATX	MicroATX / ATX

Application: SOHO workstation NSK1380 Info	Application: SOHO / SMB workstation NSK2480 Info	Application: SMB workstation/server Sonata 500 Info	Application: SMB workstation/server P180 Info

Motherboards

We strongly recommend Intel and ASUS motherboards for custom workstation solutions. These brands (and particular models) have proven track records and we make the selection based upon your budget, use and needs.

Intel G31PR Intel G31 chipset	Intel D975XB Intel 975 chipset	ASUS P5E-VM DO Intel Q35 chipset	ASUS MAXIMUS FORMULA Intel X38 chipset
MicroATX	ATX	MicroATX	ATX

Application: SOHO / SMB workstation	Application: SMB workstation/server	Application: SOHO / SMB workstation	Application: SMB workstation/server

Processors

We recommend Intel's latest multi-core processor offerings. You'll pay on the average an extra $100 or so for these over the single core processors they've largely replaced. And it's worth every penny. Performance of any of these processors is absolutely stunning. It's important to note that you really can't judge a processor solely by it's clock speed. Front side bus speed, L2 cache size and CPU architecture all play a part. For example, a 3.0 GHz CPU with a 512MB L2 cache can be out-performed by a 2.8 GHz CPU with a 1MB L2 cache. These subtle but important differences become even more apparent when you deal with multi-core CPUs.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550	Intel Core 2 Duo E6850	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600	Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650
Dual Core	Dual Core	Quad Core	Quad Core

1066MHz FSB 65 nm Conroe 4M shared L2 Cache 2.66 gHz 65w power	1333MHz FSB 65 nm Conroe 4M shared L2 Cache 3.00 gHz 65w power	1066MHz FSB 65 nm Kentsfield 4M shared L2 Cache 3.00 gHz 65w power	1333MHz FSB 45 nm Yorkfield 4M shared L2 Cache 3.00 gHz 130w power
Best bang-for-the-buck for everyday workstations	Kick it up another notch with faster memory access and slightly faster clock speeds.	Superb choice for high-performance workstations used for graphics-intensive or compute-intensive applications.	No holds barred performance. Expensive and power-hungry but if you need it nothing else will do.

Memory

We recommend the Patriot eXtreme Performance 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit in either 2 GB or 4 GB kits. This pair of memory sticks will occupy 2 of the four memory slots on the Intel and ASUS motherboards, leaving two open for another gigabyte or two of memory upgrade later on. We've selected this particular brrand because it is conservatively built, supports dual channel operation (that means that it's blazing fast) and comes with on-board heat spreaders to prolong service life. It's not the cheapest memory product around, but lowest-bidder parts have no place in your system. 2 GB is the minimum workstation memory recommendation, as this is where decent Windows Vista performance begins.

Hard Disk Drives

We now have reasonably affordable hard disk drives in the terabyte capacity range. But the choice of drive complement should not be made upon size alone. Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), heat dissipation and spindle speed are all critical items. So larger is better - up to a point. Service life and reliability are (or should be) the prime factors in the choice of disk drives for your server. For a server drive complement and as a general rule, we suggest the following minimum:

One pair of operating system drives in RAID 1 (an exact copy or mirror of a set of data on two or more disks)
3 data drives running in RAID 5 ( block-level striping with parity data distributed across all member disks)

Important points:

Separating your operating system drives and data drives not only improves fault tolerance and performance - it also contributes to much greater security.
Mirrored operating system drives ensure OS continuity.
Using RAID 5 for your data ensures that if one of your data drives quits, your system will continue to run without interruption.

Video Cards

It is increasingly common to find high-quality graphics systems built into today's better motherboards. in many cases, the availability of such built-in graphics subsystems means that you don't have to go to the additional expense of a separate video card, However - the use of a video card with its own processor and memory contributes mightily to overall system performance. For those of you who want to get the most bang for the buck out of digital entertainment - games, movies, etc. - or who use high-end graphics design and engineering software - Adobe Photoshop or AutoCAD, for example - then you really, really want to make use of a separate, high-performance video card. The interface of choice for good cards is PCI Express, of PCI-E as it is called. We make sure that your video card and motherboard are compatible.

GIGABYTE GeForce 8500GT	ASUS GeForce 8600GT	XFX GeForce 8800GT	XFX GeForce 8800GTX
512MB 128-bit GDDR2	512MB 128-bit GDDR3	512MB 256-bit GDDR3	768MB 384-bit GDDR3

Dead quiet - no fan	Dead quiet - no fan	For ultra-silent operation, replace the stock cooling fan with an Arctic Cooling Accelero S2 fanless VGA cooler.	Not that quiet, owing to the fans, but it's a reasonable trade-off for the performance.

DVD/CD burners

With few exceptions, workstations come with the ability to both read and burn DVD and CD media. Burners are classified as either CD burners or DVD burners. A CD burner can write up to 700MB onto a CD-R or CD-RW disc, while a DVD burner can write up to 4.7GB onto a single layer DVD disc or 8.5GB onto a double layer DVD disc (must be DVD Recordable or Rewriteable discs), and feature backwards compatibility with CD-R and CD-RW discs.

CD discs come in two forms: CD-R (recordable) and CD-RW (rewriteable); and DVD discs come in three forms: plus (+), dash (-) and DVD-RAM. Confusing, no? Here's an explanation that may help sort things out:

DVD plus (+) format, originally developed by the DVD Alliance, comes in three different forms: DVD+R (recordable), DVD+RW (rewriteable) and DVD+R DL (double layer).
DVD forum proprietary dash (-) format similarly has three forms: DVD-R (recordable), DVD-RW (rewriteable) and DVD-R DL (double layer). Most new DVD burners are capable of supporting both formats.
DVD-RAM, a form of rewriteable DVD disc, excels in terms of the number of times it can be reused. By comparison, DVD+RW and DVD-RW fall far short of the mark. A DVD-RAM is capable of being written and erased 100,000 times - far more than the 1000 times the DVD+RW and DVD-RW are capable of.

Note: DVD-RAM discs require burner compatibility. Most (but not all) new DVD devices are capable of supporting DVD-RAM discs. Choose carefully if this format matters to you.

LightScribe Technology

LightScribe is an innovative piece of technology that allows for the direct labeling of optical discs. More specifically, LightScribe burns any image or text onto the surface of CDs or DVDs without the use of adhesive labels, paint, or ink. LightScribe technology involves a laser imaging process that burns labels onto the surface of optical discs. The laser imaging process initiates a chemical change in the disc coating, and no hazardous chemicals are emitted during the process, making it quite safe to use. Discs burned with LightScribe technology can be read in optical drives that do not feature LightScribe support.