To give an idea, I'm considering an IvyBridge based system, 16Gb RAM (so I can run a couple of VMs on it), a dual-SSD (Raid0) for the system and probably a Raid6 area of 4 x 2Tb disks for storage.

Any pointer to reliable sources of inspiration will be warmly welcome!

Cheers  /jerome

-jeromg (May 17, 2012, 08:53 AM)

I think creating a RAID 0 with two SSD won't do any good... particularly if you are aiming at better storage speed.
Get SSD that supports SATA6 and a mobo that is SATA6 capable.

For CPU, if you are getting anything lower than i7, then at least pick one which provides good single-thread application performance. I remember ArsTechnica has a good performance chart of comparison for this.
Till today, I only found few programs that are highly boosted (in performance) by making good use of multi-cores. (The best player in my PC is Total Uninstall - this program makes ultimate use of multi-cores)

I recall, in my last shopping for my dreamed PC, I have had difficulty in finding a good keyboard... one with a big fat [ENTER] key, so that I can hit it hard quickly... :)

I google and find this: http://cheapsoftwareking.com/vmware-workstation-8-full-download-version_p478.html#show

But I wonder whether it is safe to purchase from them.
Is there anyway I can verify before buy, to ensure I am buying a genuine license of VmWare Workstation 8?

Have anyone here bought anything from that site? What is your opinion?