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Near-future project, advice wanted..

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My 4670 (did) perform fine, but it is on the way to Visiontek because it 'done broke on me... When I get the new one in the mail again, I suppose that I COULD very well reuse it.

I didn't list all of my computing needs, but I DO need/want a very very nice/fast system for any applications. I have not even touched some of the heavier things I will be doing in school, and I want to be ready. Everyone is mentioning data centers and what not - so again I am majoring in exactly that. A big reason why I want to sell my current system is because I want to use the hardware that I will be learning about (short of the UUUUGE servers and actual data centers). So as far as the fiber/sata debate is concerned - couldn't a well-built case sustain the large vibrations and "hassles" of a SCSI drive? I mean, really - CPU's run your programs, RAM holds them while they're being used (pretty much), and everything originates from the hard drive...correct? So wouldn't having that EXTREMELY fast HD be the best way to go? Again, the idea is to have the best (or close to it) - not a system to run regular software applications on. The drive needs to be able to transfer large amounts of data, sometimes store that data...and from what I hear, you can't beat fiber channel with speeds right now.

Also, my plan really isn't to save money (I mean, I don't want to overpay of course...but I'm not trying to build a 'decent' computer). I like AMD because they've NEVER (knock on wood) broken on me...not once. I have had both Intel and AMD comps (all AMD since late '01), and those Intel machines always had something else going on with them...and finding support was terrible because Intel was too busy producing their newest CPU for that weekend. This might have changed in recent years - and I'm not against the switch back over.

Really appreciate the input thus far, thanks' to everyone who has contributed. Though I don't really want this thread to get turned into a SATA v. SCSI debate (though it's proved interesting so far!).

As others have said there is no need for fibre channel storage networking unless you are running an enterprise web or file server.
 
I support AMD, but if you are going for a gaming solution I would definitely go for an intel platform. Even the current generation 775 cpu's beat the nextgen phenom II from AMD. Not to mention that the i7's are just belching mama jokes at the phenom II's.
Really? From the reviews I've seen, gaming is PII's strong point.
 
Everyone is mentioning data centers and what not - so again I am majoring in exactly that

*Facepalm* You're not getting it. You may be studying how to run datacenters and such, and that's fine. But you're still going to be doing it from a desktop machine. Fibre channel has no place in a desktop machine, simple as that. If you had actually learned any of the stuff they're teaching you about enterprise and datacenter applications, or if you had done any research about it on your own, you should understand why.

Now, if you really think you need super fast disk performance, then there's nothing wrong with going to a SAS setup, with a hardware RAID controller. You can pick up a Dell Perc5i with the necessary accessories off eBay for ~$150, add in a couple fast 15K SAS drives for boot and working drives, and some larger SATA drives (SAS controllers will run SATA drives) for storage.

However, even that is probably overkill. Learning how the stuff works and trying it out for theory is not the same as implementing huge multi-user high traffic infrastuctures in mission-critical enviroments. Fast SATA drives can perfectly well handle the light load of a small network. (And yes, what you're talking about doing is a light load, no matter how big and important you want to pretend it is.)

Then there's the other issue. You're talking about building a machine that can do it all, and do it well. That is simply not realistic. Sure, you can put together something that can casually dabble in a multitude of tasks, like you can build a casual gaming rig that can also handle a little bit of video conversion and fileserving duties, and stuff like that. But a proper server will not work well for much of anything except being a server, just like a gaming machine won't do well with heavy-duty [pro-level] video or audio editing, a video workstation doesn't do well as a server. Different machines, different hardware and software configurations, designed for different tasks. Again, if you're studying this stuff, you should know that.

How about this: if you need a server, buy a server. You can get decent P4-era surplus ones for a couple hundred bucks if you shop around (Craigslist often has 'em, or make friends with someone who works in corporate IT and he might nick one out of the trash for you). Something like that would do well for testing out server applications, because, well, it was designed to do so. Then build another system for general use, like I said you can put together something that does alright at gaming, and alright at patching together a few home movies and ripping DVDs. The average build people have around here would suit such tasks just fine.
 
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