# Anyone using a 4th gen intel proc with micro-atx?

## 1clue

Hi,

Looking for a new rocket ship. I was originally trying for server hardware but am too unfamiliar with that, and the prices are too high.

I need to know if anyone has experience with this and Gentoo or any other Linux, and if somebody has better alternatives. Especially I'd like to know if somebody knows anything to be unworkable or not worth the effort. That's the main thrust of my post.

I'm contemplating a 4th-generation Intel i7 with a micro-atx motheroard to make it sort-of luggable.

Here's what's important to me, pretty much in order:

Speed

capable of 32g RAM.

Triple or quad 1080p monitor support, or at least dual super-high-res monitors, 2560x1440.

sata3/6gb/s

usb3

I've been looking at:

an intel i7-4770s processor http://ark.intel.com/products/75124/...GHz?q=I7-4770S

Browsing through compatible motherboardss from "find compatible motherboards" link on that same page.

I'm going to use this as a combination developer workstation and as a virtualization platform with kvm. Can't do what I need with a laptop anymore, I need more monitor space and I need more drives.

The video doesn't need to be crazy gaming fast, just trouble-free and quick enough to handle full-screen streaming video at the resolutions given.

I expect I'll need to find a quad-head video card. I already have the 4x1080p monitors, would rather have a couple bigger ones but that will have to wait for a bit.

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## user

Server hardware is ECC, isn't it?  :Smile: 

mATX server suggestion:

- CASE BitFenix Phenom mATX (or SilverStone SG10)

- CPU Intel Xeon E3-1270 v3

- MOBO Supermicro X10SLM+-LN4F (one PCIe 3.0 x16 slot)

- MEM 4x8GB ECC unbuffered

- SSD as needed

desktop addons

- GPU AMD Rx 2x0 (hoping for 3x DisplayPort version)

- DISP 3x HP Z30i 2560x1600 (if reviews confirm good scores)

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## 1clue

Thanks for the tip, had to do a bunch of reading and I'm not even close to done.  Haven't checked RAM prices yet but your processor isn't that much more than what I mentioned.

I'm not very familiar with server hardware, and I'm especially not familiar with multi-port video cards.  I'm using one on my home Linux workstation and it works fine, but I've seen complaints on some forums about the card not supporting two high-res monitors side-by-side.

Searching newegg for cards, I see a bunch with up to 6 DisplayPort connections, but it seems to me that the max resolution is impossibly small.  They must mean per-port resolution, right?  Because if I put 3x 1080p monitors side by side or 2x 2560x1600, I'm going over the limits I see on these 4-port cards.

I'd prefer a slim case, because I intend to lug this thing.  I might also need to go with liquid cooling.  I'll find a case at some point.

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## netixen

Hi,

Using server grade components in a workstation is not the best idea.

While more durable/stable they are probably slower and more expensive.

Also you might have problems with drivers and other software compatibility.

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## 1clue

OK well I'm definitely listening.  I've never attempted something like this before.

My intent is a multi-monitor LUGGABLE development workstation with really good KVM support.  I find myself needing at least 3 VMs constantly now, and at least one of those is Windows.  Sometimes I have as many as 6 going depending on the tests involved, but most of the operating systems are non-gui linux.

Price is definitely an object since I'm a consultant, and so is size of the box and heat dissipation.  I'm thinking of a suitcase with rollers, pull the monitors and keyboard out and set them up with a light framework.  Computer needs to fit in there too, and keyboard and pointing device.  Probably just 2 monitors for the luggable mode, maybe 4 if I can get them to fit.

I don't need gamer-fast video, but I need at least 3x 1080p and would probably go 4x, or since the cards look tasty maybe even a 6x.  I actually have 6 1080p monitors, but they're not all the same dimensions.  Hmm.  The 24" pair in the middle and the 22" ones on the sides? 2 rows of 3?  That might work out really well if I can get it to work.

I need the CPU and disks to scream.  I'll be using at least one ssd and at least two spinning drives in raid1.  I need a lot of usb3, in part for a spinning disk backup mechanism. but also because of USB sticks that I'm constantly reading or writing.  I'll be using lvm on the host disks and map guest partitions directly to that.  No vt-d or any of that necessary.  I'll need network speed but mostly just between virtual devices.

As an example scenario, I'm currently testing two separate app-server/database combos which interact with each other through a firewall.  One of the combinations is MSSQL.  The database is huge, >50g, and I'm doing load testing.  I don't need to match the speed of the server hardware of the customer, I just need a predictable arrangement.  And I need it to work.

I'll need to be able to suspend to disk.  I know how, just setting the requirement.

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## chromaf

My setup : 

CPU :i7 3930-K 

MOBO : ASUS RAMPAGE IV GENE

RAM : 16GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE 1600

GPU : GYGABYTE NVIDIA GT760  2GB

DISKS: SSD VERTEX 450  120 GB and 650 GB 2.5 WD scrapped off a laptop

CASE SILVERSTONE SUG 09

PSU : SILVERSTONE STRIDE GOLD

It's fucking awesome !

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