New PC - 90% VMWare use, no gaming

N

noobieneil

Posts: 14   +0
Hello,
New to the site so please be gentle.

I need to upgrade my current build which is starting to struggle with my requirements:
I run a lot of VMWare for both work and personal as studying exams for job, Cisco & Microsoft - This can total 10 at once.

I like the idea of this: https://www.techspot.com/article/697-small-form-factor-gaming-pc/
though not sure if totally acceptable.
@St1ckM4n (sorry no idea if correct use of tags as never use them) suggests possibly not the case.

I do though prefer having x2 onboard NIC so can use homeplug as opposed to WiFi.

Any thoughts, comments gratefully accepted.
Budget is approx. £500-£600 uk sterling.

Thank you
Neil
 
I don't think small form factor is good for you. You need the ability for PCIe expansion slots, HDD slots, etc. Cooling and performance is also priority.

I'd go for a normal size case.
 
So, other than a mid size tower case, you think the rest of the spec would be ok?

Currently have an antec p182 and don't really want a full tower again as no need for so many 5.25 & 3.5 bays.

Would the extra fans not be enough you think to cool it all down? and why do you think I need expansion slots (you thinking 2nd NIC?) and hdd slots?
I was under impression the sugo would hold x4 3.5 & 2 ssd drives which would be plenty and using 2tb drives be big enough also

So many choices out there for each component not really sure where to start to be honest, and looking at the tech-buyers guide no way I can justify $700 for graphics card as just wouldn't use the power it can offer

Neil
 
The Silverstone Sugo SG10 looks good. You should have any issues building it the way you want
 
Last edited:
Tmagic650, did you miss a word out in your statement?
Reads as though you think I should not have any issues, but want to be sure, and wonder why you think ok when St1ckM4n thinks possibly not.
 
Look, it's up to you, and the build that is exactly in the link would work. But it's not designed as a high-performance rig.

If you're running a ton of VMs, you need at least a quad-core i7. Perhaps 6-core, if you have many VMs. You want RAID5 or 6 array set up for project work and additional SSD's for host OS and maybe dedicated to virtualised OS. That's at least 5-6 drives already.

2nd NIC requires either USB port or another PCIe expansion slot.

Making absolutely sure all of this is running stably requires a decent PSU and a good cooling system, which just isn't gonna happen in the small form factor.

In the end, up to you dude. 90% VMWare work tells me it's a high-performance work rig, so I'd be putting it in an appropriate high-performance case and choosing parts as appropriate.

It'll work, but my suggestion is not to use it.
 
St1ckM4n, I understand what you are saying, though the vmware will never be used in real world situations with very minimal stress placed on them.
Literally for MS lab specs for exams and testing and same for Cisco products.

I currently use x1 3.5 as os & x2 3.5 for storage and vmware guests with another drive as a duplicate not in raid1 for mirror. This all works with 8gb ram and core 2 quad q6600 @ 2.4 and apart from lack of ram to load then all with stock cpu cooler and x2 120mm fans and a nvidia gt9600.

Neil
 
I'd go for onboard graphics to clear out the budget a bit and then stack the RAM and disks. If you are running many VMs, you want disk bandwidth. I can't stress that highly enough. Nothing slows a PC down than having to load from a disk that is over-contentioned.
Either lots of physical disks or you can get away with fewer SSDs as their random IO obliterates spinning disks (single HDD has random IO of < 1000 IOPS vs 90,000 IOPS for a modern SATA 3 SSD).
 
Thanks guys, can't afford large enough SSD for anything beyond the OS at present, and thanks for confirming the onboard VGA should be sufficient for a while.

Now to see if can find a x2 nic atx mb and confirm HDD limit in case.
Wish this was easy, so many possible component differences make this difficult!
 
Thanks again guys, had more of a think and taking on board what said I'll change the case and if budget allows CPU as well, and I guess this will require a bigger PSU to handle this extra power and potentially more HDD over time?
Been looking at the Corsair Obsidian 650D
Not sure on which CPU would be better over an i5-4430
PSU as was looking at a 500w which I guess should change for a 750w?

Neil
 
Not really worried about over clocking though will try and source i7 you note and no idea what IGP is I'm afraid, and think will look at 750w for longevity. Also the i7 has gpu which helps and looking at that link, thank you, they are as good as each other pretty much with only $11 difference.
get what I can afford now as not sure when I can do this again so need to last a while!

thanks St1ckM4n
 
Last edited:
Thanks all for help so far.
Now looking to purchase and wonder if this breakdown is ok:
Corsair Obsidian Series 650D
Thermalright AXP-100 ITX
ASRock Z87M Extreme4
Intel Core i7 4770K
128GB Samsung 840 Pro
16GB kit (8GBx2) Part Number: BLS2C8G3D18ADS3CEU Package: Crucial Ballistix 240-pin DIMM

Just need a recommendation on PSU as seen a few threads and reading them get lost!

CPU cooler - or should I splash out on Noctua NH-U14S seem favourable in reviews on techspot.

I am accepting I need to use onboad vga, IGP, until I can save a bit more money up.
 
Decided on a 750w corsair psu and the noctua cooler and changed from extreme4 to extreme6
now to put it all together and hope it works!

oh, one last thing:
that paste between cpu & cooler - will I get some in either box? if not, what should I get please.

Neil
 
Sorry for lateness in updating.
Bought it all and very happy. Now saving more HDD so can run esxi on it as requires less reboots than w8!

Appreciate all help.
 
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