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very well ventilated and has sufficient fans to ensure the system will be
cool-running. We'll also install a professional-grade online uninterruptible
power supply, which will protect the system from power glitches.
Size
Size is unimportant. All that matters is that the system fits on or under
Robert's desk.
Noise level
Noise level is unimportant, although we neither want nor expect this sys-
tem to sound like a chainsaw. The system will sit in Robert's office, very
close to an actively cooled 2 kVA true UPS, whose cooling fans are louder
than any noise this system could produce.
Expandability
Expandability is relatively important. Although this system will be loaded
to start with, we definitely want room to grow. In particular, we want room
for additional hard drives. We'll start with four 2 TB hard drives, but we'd
like enough drive bays to enable us to add several more drives. Also, we
may decide at some point to install a high-performance video adapter
(or two), not because we'll use this system for 3D gaming, but as math
coprocessors. For that reason, we'll use a motherboard that provides two
PCI Express video slots.
Processor performance
Processor (and memory) performance ties with disk capacity/performance
for top priority in this system. Robert will use this system to edit and ren-
der video interactively, which demands high processor performance, and
to run scientific software that operates on relatively small data sets but is
calculation-intensive. (When Robert starts a run around dinnertime on his
current Intel Core2 Quad extreme system, that run sometimes is not com-
plete when he sits down at his desk first thing the next morning.)
We actually thought about building a multiprocessor Xeon workstation
system, but a quick check of prices quickly disabused us of that notion.
Comparing processor benchmarks, we learned that the fastest current
Intel Extreme processor was more than twice as fast as Robert's current
Core2 Quad, which means that a run that currently takes 12 hours or more
should complete in 5 or 6 hours on a new system built around an Intel
Core i7 Extreme processor. That's certainly fast enough, and allows us to
keep the system cost within reason.
Video performance
Video performance, in the sense of 3D graphics speed, is completely un-
important for our extreme system. We don't game, and all of our real work
is 2D only, so any video adapter that provides sharp, clear 2D display will
be perfectly suitable for our needs. Even integrated video would suffice,
although we'd still want a PCI Express x16 slot for a possible future up-
grade. In fact, we want two such slots, just to cover us in the unlikely event
that we'll ever want to install a pair of high-performance video adapters.
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