I'm a programmer, but I'm not very knowledgeable about hardware. I'm buying a new machine, which I hope to set up with a dual-boot Windows Vista (upgrading to 7 when it comes out) and either Debian 5 or Fedora 11. I'll use it for .NET development with SQL Server on the Windows side, and Python/GTK, Python/Django, and C/C++ work on the Linux side. I don't do any gaming, so I don't need fast or fancy video and sound, but I do want things to compile fast and for it to run Visual Studio 2008, IIS, and a SQL Server process without breaking a sweat. Here's what I was thinking of getting, built by AVADirect; their site allows you to make incompatible choices, and I want to make sure I'm making smart decisions and that everything will work together and be supported with a recent Linux kernel. Case: COMPUCASE (HEC), 6C28B Black Mid-Tower Case, No PSU, ATX Power: HEC, X-Power 585 Power Supply, 585W, 24-pin ATX12V, Dual 80mm Fans, Retail Board: GIGABYTE, GA-EP45T-UD3LR (rev. 1.0), LGA775, Intel® P45, 1600MHz FSB, DDR3-2200 (O.C.) 16GB /4, PCIe x16, SATA 3Gb/s RAID 5 /6, HDA, GbLAN, ATX, Retail Processor: INTEL, Core™ 2 Duo E8500 Dual-Core, 3.16GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 6MB L2 Cache, 45nm, 65W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail Memory: OCZ, 8GB (4 x 2GB) Gold Edition PC3-10666 DDR3 1333MHz CL (9-9-9-26) 1.7V SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC Video: EVGA, GeForce® 9500GT DDR2 550MHz, 512MB GDDR2 1000MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, DVI /2, HDTV-Out, Retail OS Drive: WESTERN DIGITAL, 74GB WD VelociRaptor™, SATA 3 Gb/s, 10000 RPM, 16MB cache Data drive: SEAGATE, 320GB Barracuda® 7200.11, SATA 3 Gb/s NCQ, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache RAID: None Blu-ray reader: LITE-ON, iHOS104 Black 4x/8x/32x BD/DVD/CD Blu-ray Disc™ BD-ROM Drive, SATA, Retail DVD burner: SONY, AD-7241S Black 24x DVD±R/RW Dual-Layer Burner w/ Lightscribe, SATA, OEM Card reader: ROSEWILL, RCR-IM5001 Black/Silver 75-in-1 Card Reader/Writer Drive w/ 3 USB 2.0 and eSATA ports, 3.5" Bay, SATA, USB 2.0 Sound card: CREATIVE, Sound Blaster® Audigy® SE, 7.1 channels, 24-bit, 96KHz, PCI, OEM OS 1: MICROSOFT, Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition SP1, w/ Free Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon, OEM OS 2: Debian 5 or Fedora 11 Any suggestions on changes you'd make? Thanks, Jason
Welcome to HWF I don't have much experience with programming, but I do with compiling. For that, you'll need a fast CPU and quite some RAM. The RAM is okay, but the CPU is not. I'd suggest an Intel Quad Q9 series or an Intel i7, if it fits into your budget.
Thanks for that. I'm not sure what to think, though, since I'm getting some mixed reviews on the effects of multiple cores on compile times. I've seen a lot of people saying that if you do Code: make -j 4 with a quad core machine it makes a difference, but Visual Studio 2008 there's not much difference between 2 or 4; it sounds like the GNU tools make better use of multiple cores. VS and .NET compilation is really where I get bogged down right now, anyway. Any experience with it on multicore machines? Jason
It depends on the kernel, if it has good multi core support. I personally noticed a speed improvement between a computer with an E6600 and an Intel Xeon Quad Core both running Debian 'etch'. The applications where written in either C or Python. But the source code of a new UNIX technology, called Grand Central Dispatch has been released. If the Linux community is going to use this (or when someone creates a custom kernel), which is going to happen, you're going to notice a dramatic improvement.
