Now You Can Have a Dual-CPU Workstation Without Getting a Mortgage
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Now we're getting serious.
This system in short:
Two Quad-Core CPUs with Hyper-Threading capable of handling up to 16 threads, 12GB of RAM in Triple-Channel, Dedicated Video Card ready for two monitors/Gaming/HDCP Content, Two Hard Drives in RAID 0, Dedicated Audio and much more…
Are you drooling over the specifications, yet are thinking that you’ll never be able to afford such a powerful rig? Think again: You can build this system for under $2000!
Whether you want to do Web Development, work with large audio/photo/video files, have a lot of editing/converting/rendering to do or even have an insane gaming system, this versatile workstation computer is ready for anything that you’ll throw at it.
But I have never built a PC before!
Make the jump. Do not be afraid. Building a computer has never been more simple.
While the whole process may look overwhelming, if you look at it one part at a time, you’ll realize how simple it really is.
There are countless resources on how to build a computer, which you can find by doing some research on Google or Youtube.
Here are two guides on how to build a computer that I recommend:
This one, from DriverHeaven.net: http://bit.ly/4bhlwb
This one, from maximumpc.com: http://bit.ly/1TgR7X
If you take your time, are careful and follow guides/videos:
You’ll end up with a fully functional computer, either at a lower cost than a comparable Dell PC or with higher performance for the same price, because you will get the best parts that your money can buy, instead of “ok” parts chosen by Dell. The best part? You’ll be proud of a job well done 
What if I get stuck or need help?
Simply drop a comment at the end of this post and either a helpful member of this community or myself will answer you. You can also Contact me directly for some assistance. While I’m pretty busy, I’ll try my best to answer you quickly.
What if I’m outdated on what are the current best parts or simply don’t know which parts to pick?
If you don’t have the knowledge or time to choose your parts, simply stick to my recommendations below (In Bold) and you’ll be more than happy. That’s my promise.
Who are you to tell me which parts to choose?!
My name is Mathieu Bourgie, a computer expert with nearly a decade of experience in building the best computers for a given price and I share my knowledge by blogging on Hardware Revolution, where I offer various custom computer builds designs, along with useful articles such as the Best Video Card for your money, to help you figure out what are the best parts for a computer at a given price.
You can read opinions, comments and more left by my readers on the testimonials page.
What if I don’t agree with your choices?
This is the great part of building your own computer(s), you can customize it to your taste. If you have the knowledge and/or the time to learn, you’re free to use my recommendations as a base and then to customize any build just how you want it.
~$2000 Workstation Computer for Photo/Audio/Video/3D Workloads
Hardware Parts Recommendations Summary:
In Bold, you’ll find my recommendations, which offers the best performance possible for a price that fits the overall budget. All parts have been verified to be compatible with each other and only parts proven to be reliable have been hand-picked by me.
What if I want more performance than this build has to offer?
No problem. Included in Italic are the best possible upgrades. They are still priced reasonably in regard to the budget and are all compatible with the rest of the system. (You’ll find the price difference over my recommendation in parentheses).
Now, don’t get me wrong, there are other upgrades, but I focused on telling you which ones offered the most value for your money 
In simple terms, if you want a more powerful video card or a different motherboard, simply pick it from the list of recommended upgrades that are in Italic.
Is this the right type of PC for me?
If you’re looking for a PC to do Web/Photo/Audio/Video/3D Workloads, you’re at the right place. If this is not what you’re looking for, check out our other Computer Systems instead.
~$2000 Workstation Computer for Photo/Audio/Video/3D Workloads
Hardware Parts Recommendations, Detailed Version:
Motherboard: ASUS Z8NA-D6C Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5500 ATX
What makes this motherboard great is that it features two LGA 1366 socket for a Dual-CPU setup, on the practical ATX format, allowing you to use a regular power supply and case, instead of very expensive server parts. It is based on the Intel 5500 chipset.
This motherboard features two USB ports, two PS/2 and dual 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN.
Completed by a PCI-Express 2.0 16X, two PCI-Express 2.0 8X (Running at 4X), one PCI slot and one MIO slot (Used for Audio Card) and six SATA ports.
Note that it also features a VGA output, which I recommend avoiding, as its based on the awful Aspeed AST2050 onboard video chipset.
For $260, you get everything that you need:
Two LGA 1366 sockets for Bloomfield based Xeon, 6 DIMM slots for DDR3 Triple-Channel RAM and plenty of connections. This is a versatile motherboard capable of handling all of your needs.
CPU: Two Intel Xeon E5520 2.26GHz LGA 1366 Quad-Core
The Xeon E5520 is the first entry-level E55xx model featuring Hyper-Threading.
Did I say entry-level? That’s relative, considering that this setup will outperform any comparatively priced system. Needless to say, for your workloads, this setup will outperform any single cpu setup, whether it’s from AMD or Intel.
The dual-socket 1366 platform gives you access to Triple-Channel RAM and will allow you to upgrade to the 6-core Gulftown CPUs once they are released in Q2 2010.
Note that the heatsink/fan is NOT included with them, hence why you’ll see me recommending a model later in this article.
Save $46 for the two Xeon E5520: SuperBiiz.com offers the Xeon E5520 as an OEM model for $362 each here. However know that the OEM version only comes with a 30-day warranty instead of the usual 3 years for the retail version.
Video Card: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4670 1GB GDDR3 HDCP Ready
Programs, such as PhotoShop CS4, are starting to take advantage of the power available in video cards, hence why you see this dedicated video card for this build. The 1GB of GDDR3 will help you shave off several seconds in specific scenarios under PhotoShop CS4 and load photos faster, especially when you’re working with large files.
This video card offers video output via VGA, DVI and HDMI. It supports full HD 1080p video playback, Blu-Ray and more. The video decode engine supports decoding multiple HD streams (useful for picture-in-picture on a Blu-ray movie) and additional post processing effects if you are not a big video purist.
It is also capable of handling some light gaming, depending on your screen resolution and choice of games.
The GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4670 1GB features an after-market cooler from Zalman, keeping it cool and silent.
Upgrades:
- XFX Radeon HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 HDCP Ready
If you intend to play some video games with this computer, a Radeon HD 5750 1GB is pretty much the minimum that you can get by, for gaming on a 17-19″ screen, with a resolution up to 1440 x 900 or so. Based on 40nm manufacturing tech, the Radeon 5750 and 5750 draw very little power at idle and very reasonable power at load. Based on the Radeon 5xxx series, featuring DirectX 11 support. Of course, this card is ready to assist you for Photoshop and other programs that can take advantage of the GPU and 1GB of GDDR5. - SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 HDCP Ready
Similar to the Radeon HD 5750, except that this is a step-up, offering enough performance for gaming on a 20-22″ monitor, with a resolution up to 1680 x 1050. Offers the same low power consumption and acceleration in programs as the Radeon 5750, along with DirectX 11 support. - HIS Radeon HD 5850 1GB HDCP Ready
Also based on the Radeon 5xxx series, thus offering low power consumption and DirectX 11 support, this video card will suit you for playing the vast majority of games on a 1080p (1920 x 1080) monitor or HDTV at high or maxed out details. - SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5870 1GB HDCP Ready
RAM: Patriot 12GB (6 x 2GB) DDR3 1333
When it comes to working with large files or multitasking, the last thing that you want is to run out of RAM and rely on your hard drive, slowing down your system to a halt. With 6 sticks of 2GB, for a total of 12GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM, you’ll have plenty of RAM for everything, while giving you some overhead for future, more demanding programs.
Hard Drive: Two Western Digital RE3 500GB for 1TB in RAID 0
When you load programs and/or large files, the main bottleneck in your system will be your hard drive(s). In order to improve performance, I recommend getting two Western Digital RE3 500GB hard drives, set up in a RAID 0 array for enhanced performance.
Upgrades:
- INTEL X25M 2.5″ 80GB Solid State Drive (SSD) – Add $250 – An Intel X25M Solid State Drive (SSD), along with the required ICY DOCK 2.5″ to 3.5″ Converter for SSD
- Two Western Digital RE3 1TB for 2TB in RAID 0
Optical Drive: LITE-ON Black 24X SATA CD/DVD Burner
The LITE-ON is a 24X DVD/CD Burner, with a SATA interface. This drive is able to read and burn CDs and DVDs. Silent, compatible with all major formats including DVD-RAM.
Upgrade:
Bluray burners are starting to speed up and go down in prices, making them more and more interesting. The LG Black SATA 8X Blu-ray Burner is a 8X Burner, currently available for $150. You can replace the DVD Burner by it, or add it to have two optical drives.
Also, seeing as DVD Burners often go out of stock, here are a few alternatives that you can use to replace the Sony one. All are SATA based and compatible with the rest of the system.
- Sony Optiarc Black SATA CD/DVD Burner with LightScribe
- Sony Optiarc Black 24X SATA DVD/CD Burner
- HP Black 24X SATA CD/DVD Burner
Case: COOLER MASTER HAF 932
With two CPUs, you want to make sure to have enough case fans to keep them cool. Also, you will want space to work with in the case, especially if you decide to install several hard drives.
About my recommendation:
The Cooler Master HAF 932. This is a full-size case equipped with not one, two, but three massive 230mm fans. One in the front, one on top and one on the side and finally one 140mm case fan in the back, making this case perfect for cooling this powerful gaming PC.
With six 5.25″ expansion bays, five 3.5″ drive bays and the fact that this is a full-size case, you’ll have plenty of space to customize it, upgrade and install a long video card if you wish to.
The front panel comes with four USB ports, one FireWire and one E-SATA, letting you plug whatever you need to.
Recommended alternatives:
- Antec Twelve Hundred
- LIAN LI PC-A70F
- COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution Another great case, unique in its own way.
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts 650W 80 PLUS Certified
Offering 650W (Not that should rely on this information only as I often point in posts such as Warning: 6 Surefire Ways of Blowing Up Your Computer Due to an Inadequate Power Supply) but more importantly 45A (or 540 Watts) on the the 12V lines.
According to the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator, this system will consume about 450W at its peak, that is with the Radeon HD 5870 1GB upgrade, leaving you an healthy 200 Watts of overhead. Meaning that this power supply is able to handle your power requirements if you use upgrades that I recommend in this article, even in the worst case scenario.
Recommended upgrades:
SeaSonic 850W 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Capable of delivering nothing short of 70A on the 12V lines, this is one solid power supply. Best of all, it is certified 80 PLUS SILVER meaning that this power supply is at least 85% efficient at 20% and 100% and 88% efficient at 50% load. Currently on special for the holidays for $120, usually easily cost upwards of $150, grab it while you can!
Cooling:
Seeing as the Intel Xeon processors don’t include CPU coolers and that we are working with tight space on the motherboard, we are limited in our choice of coolers. My recommendation is to get two Intel BXSTS100C CPU Coolers, along with ARCTIC COOLING MX-2 Thermal Paste. The CPU coolers are designed to handle up to 130W TDP CPUs, while the ones in this system are 80W TDP, meaning that you have some overhead to reduce the fan speed and keep noise at a reasonable level.
Sound Card: ASUS MIO-AUDIO 888 MIO Sound Card
This motherboard does not include integrated onboard sound, so you’ll need a dedicated.sound card. The ASUS Mio-Audio 888 is specifically designed for the ASUS motherboard, to fit in the MIO slot (which looks like a PCI-Express 1x slot, but does not support such cards).
Recommended upgrades:
While onboard sound will be good enough for the vast majority of people, if you have serious audio equipment or are au audiophile who enjoys high fidelity sound, the following upgrades will suit you better.
- Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI
- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi 7.1 Channels PCI
Network: Dual 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN
Integrated with the motherboard, these dual network adapters will allow you to access your local network and Internet by using a Ethernet (RJ-45) cable.
Cost: Free – Integrated
Recommended operating systems:
The operating system cost, if there’s one, is not included in the total cost. The two reason for this are that the cost represents only hardware and because you may be able re-use a previous license, go with an open-source OS such as Linux or , if you’re so inclined and are aware of what you’re doing, use torrents. Nevertheless, here are some recommendations:
Windows 7
Despite Linux starting to support some games, Windows still is the platform of choice for the best performance at the moment. Considering that you’ll have 12GB of RAM, you’ll need a 64-bit version, as 32-bit is limited to 4GB of memory for the entire system, which is not enough now, nor in the future if you upgrade.
Windows 7 is by far better than Windows Vista, looks better, more functional, less annoying, consumes less resources and brings DirectX 11 to the table.
Three Available Versions:
- Windows 7 Home Premium: The basic edition, with all the looks, most of the functionality and DirectX 11.
- Windows 7 Professional: If you want the virtual XP mode, you’ll need at least the Professional edition. Also required if you want to backup to a network, using the built-in backup mode in Windows.
- Windows 7 Ultimate: To help protect data on your PC and portable storage devices against loss or theft with BitLocker and to work and switch between 35 languages.
OEM vs Retail:
The OEM version allows you to only install it once on a computer. You cannot transfer the license to another computer in the future and you do not receive support from Microsoft. It’s the same type of license you get when you get Windows on a desktop or laptop that you buy from Dell, HP and such. It’s less expensive, but gives less flexibility. Ideal if you intend on keeping your computer for many years.
The Retail version is the full version, which allows you to transfer the license to another computer in the future and you can call Microsoft if you need any form of support. Ideal if you intend on upgrading/changing your computer down the road.
Other than that, you get the same features on both, only the license differs. The price between the two differs obviously.
OEM Versions:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM – $105
- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM – $140
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit OEM - $175
Retail Versions:
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Retail – $184
- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Retail – $275
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Retail - $292
Linux
A lot of people these days boots more than one OS. Linux is a wonderful choice: powerful, cool, and cheap. Take your pick of distributions and have fun! For Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware, and Mandrake, try Distrowatch.com, Cheapbytes.com, LinuxQuestions.org or one of the many others.
What about Word processing, Excel and other Windows-based programs that Iyou need? Linux being an open platform, there are many free alternatives that will answer your needs. For Word/Excel and such, try OpenOffice.
Cost: Free
Conclusion
Did you like this computer build? What you would do to improve the build or this article?
I’m always open to your suggestions and ideas to improve this blog, your blog.
If anything, I invite you to comment on this computer build, share your opinions, what you think about it, etc.
Building this system?
Contact me and let me know how it goes, send me your story, pictures and I’ll publish it on the blog, to share with and help bring confidence to others who are thinking of building a computer for the first time.
Did you enjoy this build? Support me and Hardware Revolution
For each article, I spend many hours of research and many hours of writing/editing and I generously offer it to you and everyone else for free. If you appreciate my work, you can help me cover my costs (Hosting, living, etc.) and support our community by making a donation.
How much should you donate?
I suggest $10 because if you think about it, a consultation for a custom computer like the one in this article, from an expert with a decade of experience like me would cost you $50, if not even more.
Have I mentioned all the time and money that I have saved you through this and all of the other articles available on Hardware Revolution?
Obviously, this is a suggestion. Donate what you can to support us. Thank you very much.
