Hi All

1st post. Sorry to make it mundane. I was referred here by an active user, who thought I'd get great advise here...
I am building/buying a Win 10 workstation for the following:

• Powerful but somewhat affordable
• Heavy Photoshop/lightroom use with very large active image catalog and large RAW and processed files.
• VM, etc “Lab”
• Possible hosting of a few live Win 10 VM desktops
• Backup “server", i.e will run BU engine for 5-10 PC’s including dedupe, etc in a VM instance of winsvr16
• Significant storage and hardware raid (2xSSD, 8x3.5", possible MVME .M2) [I have most drives already]
• 6+ PCIe for GPU etc
• Likely hardware RAID
• 32-64G RAM
• GPU to assist photoshop load and drive 4k monitor
• 10GbE or higher (on-board or PCIe)
• Quiet (quiet fans or basic water-cool)
• Not huge: Preferably rack mount (2 post rack) =/< 24" depth, 2-4U. Otherwise mid-tower on rack shelf.
• "Reasonably" energy efficient
• 24/7/365 (but a day of downtime wont kill us.)

With infinite options, I'm having difficulty getting a baseline and don't know enough to separate fact from marketing BS. If anyone would care to jump in to fill in some blanks, that would be a big help. If specific questions are preferred...

1. CPU: i9 or i7? Assuming i7 which? Processor power vs energy use @ 24/7 balance
2. MOBO / CASE combo?
3. Noise/cooling recommended approach
4. What is an "appropriate" GPU
5. Single vs dual power? What capacity?
6. Unlike a server, I assume ebay doesn't get me too far on modern wk station. Maybe I'm wrong?? Some components??
7. RAID controller?

Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@marcinozga said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

@ccclapp said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

@marcinozga said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

Look at their server mainboards and cases. They have single socket boards too.

Sorry to be dumb, but, if looking at SM MB, is anything w socket 2066 compatible? If not, what spec do I filter by to determine compatibility?

https://www.supermicro.com/support/faqs/faq.cfm?faq=26087
https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C420/X11SRA-RF.cfm
https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon3000/#2066

Thanks for the links!

@scottalanmiller said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

@ccclapp said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

I cannot have a full depth server box because my rack is only two post.

You should not have this in a rack, this goes at your desk. Your keyboard, mouse and monitor cables don't like being run through walls. This is a desktop, not a server.

It has to be in the rack either mounted or on a shelf I greatly prefer mounted. The location is not far from the desk but it cannot be on the desk. The cables work fine.

Thanks

@scottalanmiller said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

Only one, maybe two, PCIe slots for GPU. Remember even a single PCIe slot will be dramatically more (maybe 10x) the power you were expecting in your old design. And instead of being shared between five people, it is dedicated to one. This design doesn't match with your needs from your previous server based design.

I can well imagine meeting more than one – two slots: GPU, 10 GBE, additional 1 GBE, etc. etc. . don't I want a board with expansion room?

@scottalanmiller said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

@ccclapp said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

@ccclapp

This one?
Adaptec 2244100-R 5805 8-Channel SATA/SAS 512MB PCI-Express LP RAID Controller with Cable Kit
https://www.amazon.com/Adaptec-2244100-R-8-Channel-PCI-Express-Controller/dp/B0015DVE5G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505281599&sr=8-1&keywords=Adaptec+RAID

Awfully low end. You'd feel the performance lag.

Going up from that gets me to about 1/3 cost of entire rig for card, ie $500-1k for card. Are ebay ones worthy? Do you know models to look for? Thanks

@marcinozga said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

Look at their server mainboards and cases. They have single socket boards too.

Sorry to be dumb, but, if looking at SM MB, is anything w socket 2066 compatible? If not, what spec do I filter by to determine compatibility? I cannot have a full depth server box because my rack is only two post. I believe I can go 24 to 25 inches but that's it. ideally I would go 3U, but I assume 4U will give me better room for quiet fans/cooling etc.

@marcinozga said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

Change mainboard. It looks really cool, I would want it in my gaming PC, but for business or anything work related you do not want it. Asus support is horrible. Go with Supermicro.

The same thing with case. I had very similar model, and it didn't lineup with units on rack. It will take 6u space, half above and half below, and if you plan to add additional gear, you'll end up with gaps. Supermicro is my choice here again, you can get really nice cases with even triple redundant power supplies.

Thanks for the feedback.

I will look at supermicro again. I went to their site yesterday and couldn't determine if they have motherboards for this PC and generic cases, I must not have looked carefully enough.

@ccclapp

This one?
Adaptec 2244100-R 5805 8-Channel SATA/SAS 512MB PCI-Express LP RAID Controller with Cable Kit
https://www.amazon.com/Adaptec-2244100-R-8-Channel-PCI-Express-Controller/dp/B0015DVE5G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505281599&sr=8-1&keywords=Adaptec+RAID

@scottalanmiller said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

I prefer Adaptec, no lying about RAID 10 and no intentional crippling.

Thanks Scott, which model?

@mike-davis said in Photoshop/VM Lab: Workstation Spec?:

Seems like drives and RAID controller are missing.

yes
i have the drives except for .m2
Any recommendations for controller? An I right in assuming even the new cpu enabled raid on this chip/mobo is worthless?

Thanks for your input and help. As you can see hardware is not my forte. Here is what I am thinking if and why...

• CPU: i7-7820X
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072NF4BY3/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

• MOBO: ASUS TUF X299 MARK I
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071JBX9GN/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

• Case: Rosewill 4U Rackmount Case, 12 Hot Swap Bays, 7 PCI
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N9CXGSO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

• PS: Corsair AXi Series, AX860i, 860 Watt (860W), Fully Modular Digital Power Supply, 80+ Platinum
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A0HZNDW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

• GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB SC ACX 2.0, 3GB GDDR5, DX12 OSD Support (PXOC), Only 6.8 Inches Graphics Cards 03G-P4-6162-KR
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KU2CIIY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 64GB (4x16GB) DDR4 3200 (PC4-25600)
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HKF48FU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Is short the "Why" is:

1. The CPU is 8 core/16 thread 3.6-4.5 GHz thinking the speed will help photoshop etc and the cores/threads will help VM/Lab. Also handles 128G RAM.

2. MOBO: "Rugged" series 5yr warrantee with better than normal heat dissipation. 2 x NVMe m2 , 6+ PCIe, USB 3.1 gen2 etc, etc. Handles 128G RAM

3. Case: at 4U 24" depth large enough for cooling/quieting. 12 3.5" hotswap. Will fit in my rack.

4. PS: seemed appropriate, but really have no idea

5. GPU: Recommended on some Photoshop builds, but really have no idea.

6. RAM: Seems CPU takes base speed of 2666 and handles up to 4000. 3200 wasn't much more than 2666. (Will add more later)

All in about $2k

Comments/suggestions are welcome. I didn't specifically reply to comments above, since this reply gives you a better sence of my intended direction. Again, hardware is not my expertise, so don't be shy.

Thanks!!!