Thinking About a Linux Workstation

I’ve been playing around with the idea of building a new Linux workstation PC. My XPS13 is starting to feel a little cramped and I’d really like to have a bit more speed. Also the screen on my WindowsQA testing system died a few weeks ago and I can’t use it now. It is pretty weak anyway. It was like $250 from Best Buy.

I stayed up late last night checking out reviews and searching for components. I found some pretty cool boards and cards. Things sure are faster than they used to be 15 years ago when I last built a PC. My goal was to get something that compares to the new Apple Mac Pro. I think I’ve found something that’s pretty good.

Here is what I have so far:

• Motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Gene LGA 2011 Micro ATX
  
• CPU: Intel i7-4930K LGA 2011
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 Quiet CPU Cooler for Intel LGA 2011
• Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB Kit (8GBx4) DDR3 1600 
• SSD: Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III
  
• GPU: XFX HD 7770 CORE Edition 1000MHz 1GB DDR5
  
• Display: 3 x Dell P2214H IPS 22-Inch Screen LED-Lit
• Cable: Cable Matters Gold Plated DisplayPort to DisplayPort Cable 6 Feet
• Cables: 2 x Cable Matters Gold Plated DVI-D Dual Link Cable with Ferrites 6 Feet
• Case: Xigmatek Aquila CCD-14ABW-U01 Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mini Tower
• Power: Corsair RM Series 750 Watt ATX/EPS 80PLUS Gold-Certified
• Keyboard: Rosewill Slim Keyboard with Low Profile Chiclet Keycaps

So this package is $2,220 and is pretty nice. I can clock it to 4.8GHz, has 32GB RAM and nice SSD. It has a pretty good graphics card.

I think I would be pretty happy with this setup. And with this much power I could get rid of my WindowsQA desktop and just run everything in VM’s. It should also be great for compiling Go code. I’m kinda looking forward to it.

Update: I decided to go with a slightly bigger option of the Micro-ATX that can go up to 32GB of ram. Had to go to a bigger case. Don’t really like the case but it’s the best I can find so far.

Update 2: I added the 6 port video card because it was the same price as the 4 port and has twice the memory. Might as well.

Update 3: When NewEgg says “With Power Supply: Yes” that really means “No, it doesn’t have a power supply inside.” So I added a power supply to the mix.