Witness node/utility machine buildsteemCreated with Sketch.

This is way overdue. I stared planning this in December. Had what I thought was a good motherboard/cpu combo picked out but after talking to some people I decided to scrap that and go with different specs. This was mainly due to the newer I7 processors being limited to 64gig of RAM. I wanted to make sure I was ready to handle future expansion so I switched the older I7 extreme processor line that can handle up to 128gig of RAM. Of course this was also more expensive so it took some extra time to get the money to start ordering. Then I got talked into going with a SSD which meant even more money and another delay for a few weeks. Finally I am ready to hit that order button. Here is a run down on my new steem machine.

Processor: Intel Core I7 Extreme I7-6850k 6 core/12 threads 3.6ghz. This one was a last minute change. Was going with the 6800k but couldn't bring myself to not get the faster processor.
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99P-SLI . Supports the processor and up to 128gig. 8 memory slots so with 16gig chips I can start with just 32 which is plenty for steemd right now.
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black DDR4 2400. 32gig kit.
SSD drive: Kingston 480gig HyperX Savage. Never bought a SSD before so I went with the same manufacturer as the memory. I've always had good luck with Kingston memory. Might be overkill but I would rather overdo it and have it last years longer.
Hard drive: Seagate 4tb SATA. Extra storage never hurts.
Hot Swap bay: I started putting these in every computer I build. They are cheap and great for doing backups.
DVD drive: Light-On 24x burner. Just a cheap drive nothing fancy here.
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6G. While a good GPU isn't a necessity for steemd I didn't want to go with something crappy. While this may be a steem node today who knows what it will be 2 years from now. Hopefully still a steem node but I wanted to be prepared. Who knows might mine some other coins during the winter. As long as it doesn't interfere with the node operation why not?
Case: I'm reusing a rack mount server case. 4u case
Power supply: Have plenty left from bitcoin mining and there is I think a 900 watt in that server case

I'm sure a lot of people will say this is overkill and it probably is. I like to build machines that will last for a decade or more though. Spend a little extra now and make it last. My current steem node I built last year. That machine replaced a system built in 2001. This one is replacing a machine built in I think 2005. The machine I use every day I built in 2011. It's a first gen i7 extreme 3.6ghz with 24gig of ram and 2 2tb hard drives. Vid card is a Radeon 6990. It still plays modern games just fine (except AMD made buggy drivers so I can only use 1 of the 2 GPU). If I would have went cheap I would have had to upgrade it at least once by now. So far the only upgrade I've done is adding an additional hot swap drive that I just leave in most of the time.

So opinions? Suggestion? Last chance before I hit that order button.

Oh and this is all being bought with money made on steemit.

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Talk about beast mode! Sounds vicious haha. I'm toying with the idea initially with a spare laptop I have. I want to test the waters and wrap my head around the ins and outs properly prior to taking a plunge similar to what you've done. At any rate, shit! Sounds like you have a monster on your hands! Good luck!

Also, side question: What's the build price looking like?

Newegg accepts BTC (sure you know that) and also there's www.purse.io if you want to grab some items on the cheap.

Looking around $1500 with rebates and stuff. I'm sure there will be some small stuff I have to order when I get to building. Always is.

Nice CPU! nice setup! I run an old 3960X 6core/12 threads to render fractals. One hint::: if u want to mine other coins in winter with GPU you should take a RX480 instead of the GTX1060!! Good luck with the setup!

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