Need a new base unit for 2 purposes:

1 - Virtual machines for my labs. WIll be doing a of MS and Cisco lab work over the next 24 months so this is priority above all else.

2 - Sound engineering - Pro tools and midi but I dont need a good sound card as I have an mbox 2 which does all the processing.

Budget isnt great - £350 - £400 tops. 4GB is fine but the m/b def needs to be able to take 8GB total.

So far Ive looked at Dell, Mesh and Acer but no deals have really jumped out at me. Also Anyone know what processor works best for Virtual PC?

cheers

R

Theres a Wiki for that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_virtualization

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-xp-mode-virtualization-intel,7709.html

Its funny i was talking to Soopah lastnight about this

ProTools can be a biatch for wanting to hog memory, 4Gb minimum definitely.

Are you using Windows 7? Only certain processors support the Virtual XP thing in that, it might be covered in Bacons links but Ive been too lazy to check. It was mentioned in one of the other Windows 7 threads on here anyway.

Yeah Ill be putting 7 pro on it. Pro Tools got to have 4GB but Ill be moving to 8GB ASAP. Ive found some ace deals but theyre all 4GB max on the board its driving me mad.

Processor wise I want Quad - which seems like if I avoid the 8xxx I should be ok. AMD looks like a good bet for what I need TBH.

All from Scan, might beat the prices elsewhere, but you have to factor in P&P costs when youre on a tighter budget.  Im assuming you have an OS to put on there already.  
LN27732 == Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2, PC2-8500 (1066)                             ==    £70.96
LN17252 == 500 GB Western Digital WD5000AAKS Caviar Blue, SATA 3Gb/s, ==    £37.56
LN23363 == Aplus Case Curbic ATX Premium Black metal mesh                    ==    £42.09
LN27088 == 500W Ezcool PSU                                                                    ==     £13.97
LN28615 == AMD Athlon II X4 620, Quad Core, S AM3, 2.6GHz, 2MB Cache  ==       £74.00
LN29445 == Samsung SH-S223C/BEBE DVD Writer                                     ==     £17.24
LN29744 == Asus M4A785-M                                                                     ==         £58.00
LN31553 == 1GB XFX HD 4650 XXX, PCI-E 2.0 (x16)                                   ==      £41.92

Postage ==                                                                                             ===     £9.43+VAT

Total Inc VAT  == £366.82
 Price is Plus OS, but Im making the assumption you have that sorted already.....

Skimped in the obvious places, those PSUs are pretty solid, even if they are cheap ones.  Ive got a few machines Ive built where I used them.  Ive even got one powering my 9650/4870/8Gb Rig at the moment, and its ticking along fine despite being nearly 4 years old now.  Could drop the graphics and put an extra 4Gb as the board does have semi-decent onboard, even if they arent up to gaming they will still work fine with HD content.  

Edit :: Picked wrong RAM out, fixed now

Hmm nice setup - actually youre right building myself is the way to go. On board gfx will be fine and dont need a HDD I have one here somewhere that will do for now.

Might up the CPU a bit - hows this lot look?

QuoteAMD Phenom II X4 955 45nm Quad Core 3.2GHz (Socket AM3) - Retail
Product Code: 149955 Manufacturers Code: HDZ955FBGMBOX  4  
remove £106.34 £106.34

   Asus M4A77TD PRO AMD 770 (Socket AM3) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
Product Code: 103791 Manufacturers Code: M4A77TD PRO  1  
remove £62.00 £62.00

   Thermaltake VK90001N2Z Element T Midi Tower (No PSU)
Product Code: VK90001N2Z Manufacturers Code: VK90001N2Z
* Ships in 1-3 Days * 218  
remove £46.95 £46.95

   CIT 550W Gold 120mm Low Noise PSU - Retail Boxed
Product Code: 102012 Manufacturers Code: 550U  2  
remove £18.25 £18.25

   Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro PWM (SKT 754/939/940/AM2) CPU Cooler
Product Code: 124414 Manufacturers Code: FREEZER 64 PRO  8  
remove £14.43 £14.43

   Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 XMS3 PC3-12800 1600MHz C9 Dual Channel Memory Kit
Product Code: 110589 Manufacturers Code: CMX4GX3M2A1600C9  3  
remove £79.99 £79.99

  Shipping:  
Tekvalue 2-3 Working DaysFree 3-5 DayTekheads Shipping Promo (Over £99+vat)  Delivery £0.00

Max RAM in this baby is 16GB if I ever need it in the future!

Quote from: RivkidHmm nice setup - actually youre right building myself is the way to go. On board gfx will be fine and dont need a HDD I have one here somewhere that will do for now.

Might up the CPU a bit - hows this lot look?

Max RAM in this baby is 16GB if I ever need it in the future!

That board doesnt have onboard GFX, though Im assuming you have something PCIe anyway.  I was actually looking at the Phenom 2 originally (Better for media encoding), but wasnt sure what kit you have you can re-use.  Obviously with ProTools youre better off with a slightly slower Quad than a fast dual, and the Phenom2s extra cache would improve matters no end.  

The 770 series chipset boards arent too bad, Im using one myself.  The obvious down side is that they can only support 1 GFX card at full 16x, the ones with 2xPCIe16 split the lines apart so its 8 for each card if they are a dual GFX board.  

I didnt go DDR3 because of the budget for the rest of it, but if youve got a lot of the useful kit in the 1st place then it does make life easier!

Those cases are nice too.  Fairly well made, but as always check X-Case and Specialtech for any deals.  T-Take have recently refreshed their range, and I picked up my nice T-Take BachVX for £35 including delivery!

Hmm well spotted Id missed that!! I do need onboard gfx. Think Ill go for the one you recommended - I only changed it because tek had no stock.

Ok happy with that - thanks for all your help

Now to make sure the credit card will clear it

Quote from: RivkidHmm well spotted Id missed that!! I do need onboard gfx. Think Ill go for the one you recommended - I only changed it because tek had no stock.

Ok happy with that - thanks for all your help

Now to make sure the credit card will clear it

there is a suggestion of asking here if anyone has an old GFX card they arent using.  something like a 7300 is fine if youre not gaming with it!

What kit do you have already?

Quote from: Beaker

Quote from: RivkidHmm well spotted Id missed that!! I do need onboard gfx. Think Ill go for the one you recommended - I only changed it because tek had no stock.

Ok happy with that - thanks for all your help

Now to make sure the credit card will clear it

there is a suggestion of asking here if anyone has an old GFX card they arent using.  something like a 7300 is fine if youre not gaming with it!

What kit do you have already?

Got a HDD and the peripherals (monitor etc..) think theres a DVD drive kicking around somewhere. Can always pinch bits from various pcs I work on too.

Im happy enough with that board with its onboard gfx - be fine for what its going to be doing. I really dont game on PC - thats what the xbox and the wii are for

Not sure Im going to need this - my boss just signed off 8GB RAM for my lappy for the lab work! Should be fine for what I need now!

Happy days - but thanks for all the help. Appreciate the assistance  8-)