Written by James McDonald

June 20, 2011

OK so finally after 6 years of having a P4. I am getting a new Desktop Computer for home.

The dream:

  • Is to have a reasonably fast CPU capable of running Virtual Machines (VT-x) which will let the VM’s talk more directly to the hardware (VT-d)
  • with enough RAM to load big graphic images into the GIMP
  • and of course run a 64 bit OS
  • plus be able to play Blu-Ray Discs
  • To support dual monitors.
  • and the case to have a reasonably small form factor

So after much investigation I have put together a system with spec’s as shown in the table below, sent my hard earned dollars off to the PC Parts Vendor in this case it’s PC Case Gear, and I am now waiting for it to be delivered(think small boy waiting in excitement for his dad to come home from work).

The down side is I have to get all `White and Nerdy’ (thank you Weird Al for this reference) and put it together myself. Fortunately I have opposable thumbs and a screwdriver, so I hope I’ll be able to do it without too much trouble.

Hopefully after the build “all will be well that ends well” to paraphrase Shakespeare.

ItemDescription
SSD Mount BracketLian Li HD-321 3.5in to 2.5in Drive Mounting Kit
CaseLian Li PC-V354 Black HTPC (USB3.0)
CD PlayerLite-On iHBS212 12x Blu-Ray Disc Writer with LightScribe
CPUIntel Core i7 2600
MemoryCorsair CMP8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3
MotherboardASUS P8H67-M Motherboard B3
Power SupplyAntec High Current Gamer 520W Power Supply HCG-520
System / Operating System Hard DiskOCZ Vertex 2 120GB SSD
Storage Hard DiskWestern Digital Green 2TB WD20EARX
Video CardASUS GeForce GTS 450 Direct CU Overclocked 1GB

2 Comments

  1. cwraig

    Which virtualisation package do you intend to use? I have been looking at xen but have not yet had a chance to install it and give it a go. I would be interested in hearing about your results.

    Reply
    • admin

      I have used VMWare Server on Linux (because it supported running VM’s even though the CPU didn’t have VT support ) and more recently VirtualBox. But now I’m free to choose any of the Linux Kernel based options (XEN, KVM) because this new CPU has VT-x. So I don’t know what I’m going to choose. Will post results though

      Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. How long does it take for ddrescue to take a rescue image of 2TB SATA drive? – The Telarah Times - [...] 3TB USB2.0 External Hard Drive (Model WDBAAU0030HBK-AESN) and the computer driving it is a recent spec i7 with 8GB…
  2. Fedora 16 Screen Flicker – The Telarah Times - [...] PC has these specs. Specifically a “ASUS GeForce GTS 450 Direct CU Overclocked 1GB” Graphics card driving [...]

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

You May Also Like…

Squarespace Image Export

To gain continued access to your Squarespace website images after cancelling your subscription you have several...

MySQL 8.x GRANT ALL STATEMENT

-- CREATE CREATE USER 'tgnrestoreuser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'AppleSauceLoveBird2024'; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON...

Exetel Opt-Out of CGNAT

If your port forwards and inbound and/or outbound site-to-site VPN's have failed when switching to Exetel due to their...