Please suggest PC config

[savagex]

1. What is the purpose of the computer? What all applications and games are you going to run? (Generic answers will not work. Be exact and avoid the word 'et cetera.')
Ans:
1. HTPC - Have a Full HD Samsung 40' LCD TV (1080p) with HDMI input.
2. NAS storage for all my files and movies. (2 1TB hard drives in RAID 5 configuration).
3. Virtualization host (Will be hosting a Linux and a Windows virtual server - Those will be accessed remotely via RDP or VNC or SSH - Purely for programming and testing reasons)
4. A firewall and proxy (To effectively share and control my Internet connection)
5. A download box - torrents.
6. Post processing RAW image files.
The CPU should dynamically underclock when not under stress.
The rig should be pretty powerful on demand.
Please sugest a Mobo with good IGP. I am not into games at all.

2. What is your overall budget? If you can extend a bit for a more balanced configuration, then mention this too.
Ans:
Need the following ;
Total budget : 20k excluding monitor (lesser the merrier. Not possible to extend)
Below parts should be there.
3. BluRay Drive.
4. Cabinet - With good airflow.
6. 2 1TB hard disks. - No idea - Want VFM solution
7. A good UPS.
8. 4 GB of DDR3 RAM

3. Planning to overclock?
Ans: Maybe later

4. Which Operating System are you planning to use?
Ans: Ubuntu

5. How much hard drive space is needed?
Ans: 2TB

6. Do you want to buy a monitor? If yes, please mention which screen size and resolution do you want. If you already have a monitor and want to reuse it, again mention the size and resolution of monitor you have.
Ans: Yes. Please suggest a VFM LCD monitor preferebly 22" (5k - 6k)

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans:


8. When are you planning to buy the system?
Ans: In 1 month

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
Ans: I have built desktops lots of times.

10. Where do you live? Are you buying locally? Are you open to buying stuff from online shops if you don't get locally?
Ans: Currently in Australia. But will be in Bangalore in 3 weeks.

11. Anything else which you would like to say?
Ans: The fully built system will behave as follows :
1. Headless : Only TV will be connected. The server should automatically boot to a MythTV or XBMC frontend.
2. All server related tasks will be done remotely via SSH or RDP or VNC.

 

[MyGeekTips]

2TB - You'll not get for less than 10K.

I would say have a look at this:
ZOTAC ZBOX AD03BR Plus Review

Above would cost you 20K locally.

For Monitor Go For BenQ G2222HDL @ 7.5K

2 External USB3.0 HDD 750GB x 2 will cost you 10K:
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/reviews/152400-adata-sh14-750-gb-usb-3-0-external-hdd-review.html

Total: 37.5K (This is the best vfm solution for you as you need bluray too that comes no less than 6K in India. )

The zbox comes with bluray drive.

 

[ico]

Why is this question not answered?

7. Which components you DON'T want to buy or which components you already have and plan on reusing?
Ans:

I'm making an assumption that you will be buying the processor and the motherboard too. There you go. This is the _minimum_ which I will suggest for a HTPC + Virtualizing rig. I'm giving my reasons for every stuff in brackets.

These things are static:

4GB Gskill Ripjaws X 1600 Mhz DDR3 RAM @ Rs. 1600. [1600 Mhz is important for AMD Fusion]
NZXT Gamma cabinet @ Rs. 2100.
Corsair CX430v2 @ Rs. 2300. [Important]
LG BH12LS38 Blu-ray writer @ Rs. 6300. [this could be available for less than Rs. 5000 locally if you are lucky]
UPS = your choice.
Hard disks = your choice.

Now for CPU and Motherboard combo, you have the following choices:

Option #1:

AMD A6-3650 quad-core with built-in Radeon HD 6530D IGP @ Rs. 6300. [You need 4 cores. IGP is very strong as well. This thing is very power efficient.]
Asus F1A75-V PRO @ Rs. 8500. [This is the top-end ATX form-factor motherboard for AMD Fusion platform. Has a HDMI port and has plenty of expansion slots which in my opinion are vital for a HTPC. People end up installing things like TV Tuner and Sound Cards and for these they need to have enough slots. But A75 chipset lacks RAID 5 support.)

Option #2:

AMD Phenom II X4 840 @ Rs. 5200 ..OR.. AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE @ Rs. 5900 ..OR.. AMD Phenom II X4 960T @ Rs. 6000. [960T can unlock to a 6 core. 4 cores are necessary for smooth virtualizing. Go for 840 if you are power conscious.]
Asus M5A97 @ Rs. 6100. [Full ATX motherboard with lots of expansion slots. This supports RAID 5 but lacks an IGP as it is 970G chipset. And if you end up finding an 880G chipset board with an IGP, it won't have an HDMI port. So, you will have to buy a GPU anyway.]
nVidia GT 520 GPU @ Rs. 3100. [GPU with HDMI port.]
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU cooler @ Rs. 1200. [AMD Phenom's stock cooler is noisy.]

This is the minimum for you, in my humble opinion.

Option #1 is more power efficient than Option #2 if you can compromise with the lack of hardware RAID 5.

Whichever option you go with, DO NOT compromise with the motherboard form factor - you need enough slots. I had followed your previous thread as well, and if I can recall correctly, you had talked about TV Tuner and 5.1 channel Sound Card as well.

 

[savagex]

Thanks ico for the detailed input.
Let me dwell on your suggestions a little bit. Will get back.

And yea you are right about the TV tuner card and 5.1 surround sound.
Definitely will need more expansion slots.

And i will be using software RAID5(Linux mdadm). So pretty much covered on that.

@ico
While going through the specifications for Asus F1A75-V PRO i noticed the resolution details as below
- Supports HDMI with max. resolution 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
- Supports DVI with max. resolution 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
- Supports RGB with max. resolution 1920 x 1600 @ 60 Hz
- Supports DisplayPort with max. resolution 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz

Does that mean that i wont be getting full HD over HDMI for this Mobo ?

 

[vickybat]

^^ That's the max resolution support. You'll get your monitor's native resolution i.e 1920x1080 when using hdmi.

Even i'll suggest to go with an A6 + FM1 mobo as they cover your needs easily.
Just remember FM1 does not support RAID 5. But you'll be using software based Raid (linux mdadm) so no issues at all.

Can you plz elaborate why you're going to use RAID 5? I'm asking this because for RAID 5 a min of 3 disks are needed to complete the config i.e n should be 3. So can you plz elaborate your exact usage?

Besides 1TB hdd are insanely expensive now and will not fit your current budget.

 

[savagex]

^^ Yea 1TB disks are insanely priced nowadays.
I was planning to use 4 1TB disks in RAID config.
One would be used as backup if any disk fails.

So it will be 2TB of space.

but seeing the costs i am planning to use 500GB disks instead and cut down on my disk space needs (sic).

RAID configs are used mainly for high sequential read and writes (especially for big files).

I want to do real time HD tv capture, processing large RAW images etc.
It needs a hard drive with high spindle speed or a SSD.
But both are expensive.

So RAID 5 config will give me a good performance boost over normal hard drives.
Hope this answers your query.
And within RAID , RAID 5 is the best which gives good redundancy.

 

[savagex]

Thanks ico for the recommendations.
Sorry it took me so long to come to a conclusion.

I can do away with the Blu Ray player for now.
Also using it as a HTPC is out for now because of budget.
Using it for virtualization takes precedence.

Want a very basic GPU in the Rs 1500 range with HDMI output for just outouting to the monitor.
The processor should have AMD-V and the chipset AMD-Vi for PCI passthrough.
Budget Rs 30,000

Need the following.
CPU (preferably 6 core)
Motherboard - Best in the budget
Graphics card - Very basic
PSU - 600 W
RAM 4GB
Cabinet : Looks doesnt matter, ventilation is priority. cheapest
Monitor : HD preferable.

Thanks.

 

[ico]

AMD FX-6100 @ 9.1k
Asus M5A97 @ 6.2K or Asus M5A97 Evo @ 8k or Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 @ 8.5k (only 900 series chipset for PCI passthrough)
nVidia GT 430 @ 3.1K (GPU)
Corsair GS600 @ 4k (PSU)
NZXT Gamma @ 2.1k (cabinet)

 

[savagex]

^^But bulldozer is a epic fail. Reviews suggest phenom II 6 cores are far better

 

[vickybat]

^^ Actually ico suggested because your requirement was virtualization and run multiple os instants simultaneously. I've heard bulldozer is very good at this.

 

[ico]

^^But bulldozer is a epic fail. Reviews suggest phenom II 6 cores are far better

yup, they are.

But point is, you asked for AMD-Vi/PCI Passthrough. I know that it's done by the chipset.

FX-6100 + 970/990X chipset --> IOMMU will work. Sure on this. As AMD advertises AMD-Vi for Bulldozer platform.

AMD-Vi isn't advertised for Phenom II processors. Though it should work as it is carried out by the chipset and some people have it working as well (with 890FX and 900 series).

My criteria of suggesting is - something which _will_ and _has_ to work. Not something which _should_.

^^ Actually ico suggested because your requirement was virtualization and run multiple os instants simultaneously. I've heard bulldozer is very good at this.

It isn't good...not even very good. Bulldozer platformjust has the feature set complete.