Blog Archive Repost
The perfect workstation!!!
Published 01 December 07 11:26 PM | RjBass Edit
Small business, it usually means small budget. So how do you get the most out of your small business network and workstations with the small budget?
Well for those of you paying attention, I already covered the server a few blog entries ago. So now let's talk about the workstations or desktops.
As a system builder and the network admin for a few small business's, I always have to keep my eyes open to the best deals I can find. I constantly tune and tweak the specs on my standard workstation builds to ensure that the people I am supplying them to get the best they can, but while still giving myself a bit of profit.
Well after a year of trying out several different ideas with different hardware, I have finally settled on one that is a sure winner.
The mission - To build a dual core workstation running Windows XP Pro. The system must be able to handle multiple running applications. Graphics in this scenario are not as important as computer speed, power consumption, and reliability.
The answer - A low cost power friendly work horse that provides ample processing power, speed and reliability. When trying out the different systems that I did, the one I came up with I first built just over a year ago. It is working just as hard and just as fast as the first day it went into place. Here are the specs with their Newegg links.
Motherboard - PC Chips A33G V1.0 AM2 SiS 761 GX Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
This little board is fantastic. It supports up to 16gb of DDR2 memory, has two Sata ports, and has every driver needed for just about every OS including XP 64, and Vista 64.
Processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA4600CUBOX - Retail
No it's not a Core 2 Duo, but it is a fast little dual core work horse that does wonders in an office setting.
Memory - pqi 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PQI26400-2GDBL - Retail
This memory has proven that it has what it takes to do the job. It's excellent clock speeds combined with it's low price make it a perfect fit for a budget build work station.
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Not a huge or super fast hard drive, but definitely reliable. 80gb is plenty of space for a work station that has a nice size server to save the bulk of it's data on.
Optical Drive - PHILIPS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM Write Black IDE interface (ATAPI) Model SPD2413BD - Retail
It does what it is supposed to do, and this Phillips drive has also proven it to be reliable. Getting the retail version also ensures that it comes with the necessary burning software, in this case Nero 7 essentials.
Case - Rosewill R103A Black SGCC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail
I have built some 100+ computers using this case (or the Apex/Super Case brown and beige). It has plenty of room inside for just about everything. It also has three 80mm fan mounts, a decent and reliable 350 watt power supply, and best of all, the hard drive racks are placed right behind the front air intake fan. This means that cool air from the front fan blows directly over the Western Digital hard drive, keeping it cooler for better performance and longer life.
Flash Card Reader - SUPER TALENT INT-AIN1-C All-in-one USB 2.0 Card Reader - Retail
Cheap and reliable. It adds an extra USB port that isn't at the very bottom of the case, and makes transferring of digital pictures on a flash memory card simple.
Cooling - MASSCOOL FD08025S1M4 80mm Case Fan - Retail x3
Cheap, effective and quiet. Enough said.
Operating System - Microsoft Windows XP Professional 64Bit SP2C - OEM
It gives the user a good old familiar OS, while allowing the system to increase it's memory above 3gb in the future if needed. Combined with the PC Chip MoBo, their are not any driver issues.
Total cost with shipping - $471.40.
With this system I use the onboard video. I set the bios to allow for 128mb of system memory to be dedicated to the graphics. With two gigs of DDR2 800 memory it still leaves well over 1gb for all other functions. The onboard 100mbps lan works good in the office environment, but adding a gigabit PCI network card won't challenge the stock power supply that comes with the case. Speaking of the power supply, Rosewill does make very good power supply's. While this one is not exactly their top of the line, it does it's job just fine. Out of the 100+ computers I have built with this case, I have only had two bad power supplies. Out of all the good ones, all of them are still running just fine. All the same I still test every one to ensure that it is ok, and I always check the PSU fan to make sure it is spinning. The two bad PSU's I got did not have working fans, so I trashed them. The only thing really lacking in the power supply is there are no Sata power connections. But the Western Digital hard drive also has the 4 pin molex power plug, so it's not that big of a deal. I should also note that in the picture on Newegg for the MoBo, it shows a 4pin to Sata power adaptor. However the MoBo does not actually come with that. I would recommend a PSU upgrade if a PCI-E video card is added to the mix. Otherwise it's fine as is.
In the end, what we have is an excellent budget build dual core work station that serves its purpose. I have not had a single complaint yet about this system, and a couple of them have been going strong for over a year now.