What PC

[iAndrew]

I'm looking to buy a PC for vmware testing. What i5/i7 or AMD PC should i look at that will allow a minimum of 2 hard disks and tons of RAM? I don't want to build anything, just buy out the box and add disks and RAM.

 

[Silverhazesurfer]

I think you already answered your question. If you don't want to build anything, then your options are major manufacturer based. If you choose to go this way, you will most likely be faced with the need to add a SATA card and it may not support the amount of RAM you choose or the OS options are outrageous, as most cookie-cutter machines are standard issue. You will also face a large cost for purchasing a machine with what you need for RAM and disk requirements, as these machines tend to be "developement machines" and have a higher associated custom cost. You will end up with software, and possibly hardware, that you don't need or won't use.

My suggestion is to just build one. You get exactly what you want and, chances are, that you will come under any price a major line would offer for a comparable machine.

 

[iAndrew]

But there must be a PC on the market i can put a min of 16GB of RAM in and 2 SATA drives?

 

[TriplexDread]

But there must be a PC on the market i can put a min of 16GB of RAM in and 2 SATA drives?

Probably but with those configs (RAM) you will needs a business machine and they are expensive compared to ya home build.

Go see Dells website for example and build the spec you want. I did and it came to over £1400 with i7, 1 HDD and 12gig with no monitor

 

[Silverhazesurfer]

^^^^

I did and it came to over £1400 with i7, 1 HDD and 12gig with no monitor

Exactly this. This is why you want to build your own machine. You can even buy a barebones machine that is already put together and all you do is install the OS.

 

[Anon_F]

If your UK based try Novatech, they may be able to help you from barebones systems up to fully built, but to your specs. But expect to pay top end £1.3k + to £2k!!

For VMWare anything over 8GB should be ok anyway.
What do you intend to run within it?

 

[bootneck02]

Hi Andrew welcome to the site. The suggestion of building your own to the speck that you require is not as daunting as you may think, in fact it is quite easy if I can do it any one can and you will have the PC you need and not one the manufactures want to build for a mass market and that is what they do. First you need to get a good motherboard which will support the the amount of RAM you require probably 8 gig and above, a PC case and that does not need to be an expensive one but it does need to be able to accept and fit the mother board. The on board sound card is usually good enough for most people unless you are a audoifile and if you are you may want to buy a sound card. As far as the CPU debate I would go for AMD as they are less expensive than the equilevient Intel i3-i7 and a good CPU fan. If you do put one together your self take it easy don't rush things and at the end of the process and it is up and running you will feel a great satisfaction if completing your own PC which does what what you want it to do.

 

[iAndrew]

I'd be better going for a PowerEdge T410 and beefing that up by the looks of things.

I think i'll be running SBS2008, Server 2008 Standard x2 to start with. Then move on up to BES Express, SQL 2008 R2.

RAM and disk space is what i need rather than redundancy as this will be running at home so not business critucal if say a PSU or disk fails.

 

[EvanDavis]

I'd be better going for a PowerEdge T410 and beefing that up by the looks of things.

I think i'll be running SBS2008, Server 2008 Standard x2 to start with. Then move on up to BES Express, SQL 2008 R2.

RAM and disk space is what i need rather than redundancy as this will be running at home so not business critucal if say a PSU or disk fails.

Quite a pricey choice there, I still would go with building yur own PC, yu would save a shed load of cash.

 

[Abarbarian]

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Home+...on+Torque+Deluxe+Business+PC+?productId=46856

The system above uses this mobo, which has a 3 year warranty and all you require.

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials...DDR3+PCI-Express+Motherboard+?productId=45974

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Home+...s/Arianet+Gaming+PC+IV+-++X6+?productId=45966

Just a few examples. Aria will upgrade to 16 GB if you give them a ring.

A lot of modern motherboards will take up to 32 GB and nearly all have 4 to 6 sata ports.

Best bet would be to get a bundle with a 16 GB upgrade, a decent psu , a gfx card and a few fans and build your own.

 

[iAndrew]

Looking at building one now over time meaning i can bank the cash i was willing to spend.

Didn't realise how cool some of the component looks these days, lol

Will start with a decent PSU into a Dual Core Medion PC that has broken down. This machine is Dual Core with 4GB RAM.