Full Speed Ahead: New Developer Machine

I've recently bought and built a new high performance machine. I've previously done all of my development on my Inspiron 9300 with 2GB DDR2, but with latest activities with application servers and development environments it has become too slow to be highly productive on it. Hopefully this new machine will prove to be worth the investment.

I gave myself a budget of approximately $1000. The original intent wasn't for a gaming machine, albeit that's what the specs will look like. I've went through and researched using many sources such as articles, forums, and benchmarks to find the best product to fit my requirements as a multi-tasking developer that may be running application servers, running tests, and developing at the same time.

Specifications
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 12MB Cache 1333MHz FSB
Hard Drive: Western Digital Raptor X 150GB 10,000 RPM
Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) XMS2 Corsair 800MHZ
Monitor: 24" Samsung 245BW
Video Card: EVGA 8600GT 256MB DDR3
Case: Antec Three Hundred
PSU: Thermaltake Purepower 500W
Keyboard: Microsoft Natural 4000 Ergonomics Keyboard
CD/DVD: Samsung 20X DVD Burner with LightScribe

I'm pretty sure these look like specs for a gaming machine, but that's not the intent. The primary intent was to allow myself to be more efficient and productive in a working facet. It's in preparation for an amount of work on a startup idea. I was originally going to get the Q9300 processor, but decided to upgrade a little. The Q9300 would have cost me $279, but the Q9450 was only $299. The different is the Q9450 has a 12MB L2 cache vs. 6MB and 2.66GHZ vs 2.5GHZ. If I plan to optimize further it's an easier road ahead of me because the Q9450 over clocks easier.

Future Options
I'm usually very interested in squeezing every bit out of my machines (e.g. over clocking). I'm interested in overclocking my processor to at least 3GHZ with the current RAM. I was originally going to buy 4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Dominator 1066MHZ but decided to go with the cheaper option as shown above.

Balance
The tough problem is balancing my time of building, overclocking, and optimizing my machine over productive time in other venues such as development, requirements planning, and other such activities.

A First Look
I'll post the rest, but these are a start.




Full speed ahead!