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I am web designer/developer, and I design and code "Premium Wordpress Themes" and HTML Websites.

I wish to buy a new PC system with fast features, and will be installing virtual machines too.

What kind of PC system would be best for a professional web designer/developer.

Tell me the PC specs, e.g processor, motherboard, how much hard drive, RAM, graphic card etc.

Don't really care about the price.

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There is no definite answer to this question. To start I would need to know if you are going to build it yourself or buy it off the shelf. There are quite a variety of developer rigs described over at stackoverflow.com, like this one stackoverflow.com/questions/403084/…. – Bratch Feb 14 '10 at 16:48
somewhat a subjective question... – studiohack May 24 '10 at 22:01
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2 Answers

Ok, first I will assume that you will want to move to Adobe CS4 for your development in the near future. So my list would be as follows for you to think about

  • Windows 7 x64 Home Premium or higher
  • Intel i7 on either the P55 platform or the older x58
  • 4 - 8Gb RAM for host OS and VM provisioning
  • Middle range NVidia or ATI card with Dual DVI outputs
  • Dual 19" or bigger displays
  • Either 2x 1Tb HDD in RAID1 or get a dedicated RAID card and use RAID5
  • NAS Box that supports RAID5 so your work can be copied there if this is of commerical interest
  • VMware Workstation 7 or VirtualBox or VirtualPC
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The 7x64 should not be just "premium". That is missing the xp compatibility mode which may be needed if any old programs are not running properly. – Mick Feb 14 '10 at 9:20
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7x64 Home lacks Virtual PC, which includes "xp mode" as a way of launching a VM application without seeing the whole VM desktop. But VirtualBox works great on 7 Home, so any program with compatibility issues can be run in VirtualBox even though it does not have the nice "xp mode" integration. IMO, the 100$ extra for ultimate just that "xp mode" is not justified (given you already have a xp license for VirtualBox). Anyway, check the version comparison charts! – mtone Feb 14 '10 at 10:13
+1 but it's worth pointing out that the 'older' X58 is the 'premium' alternative to the more mainstream P55, despite being 9mths older. Make sure you select RAM in threes (socket 1366) or pairs (socket 1156) to use triple/dual channel. – CJM Oct 8 '10 at 13:59
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You should get a PC with the Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition processor. You should get windows 7 (64 bit, professional edition) so that you can use more than 4GB of ram. I'd also get a 2560×1600 display - the apple one looks nice.

This all may be a little overkill for your real needs though.

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Just the one monitor? I'd have thought a web developer could get loads out of multi-monitor setup. – Phoshi Apr 4 '10 at 0:10
The Extreme Editions are overkill by definition... they are toys and are more expensive than they are worth. Any basic i7 will be more than enough for this function... either 860 or 930. I do similar and more with a 920. – CJM Oct 8 '10 at 13:54
I would not normally recommend an extreme edition - but for the sentence "Don't really care about the price." – Mick Oct 8 '10 at 17:11
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