The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition

I don't think so - the 3.5" and 5.25" bays share the same space, it's EITHER 10 3.5" drives or 9 5.25" bays, not both!

 

I'm kind of partial to this type of mass storage solution but ot comes at a price.

HP StorageWorks P2000 G3 MSA AW594A SAS Dual Controller SFF Array System

Kevin is working 3 jobs now so maybe he can provide you a small loan? Since he is money bags now... LOL

I would only consider Win 8 if you can permanently disable the Metro nonsense, which I'm sure we will be able to do once we get to play with it some.

 

Nah, I don't really care for 2.5" drive bays if I'm honest.
I'm more interested in stuff like
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811152517
Though obviously that's just the casing

 

That is nice and would perform better then the 2.5" drives, just more space but no big deal for a rack system. Fully populated that would be a tad heavy, I know as I've set those up for businesses before, and maintained them too! Except for the weight I love server rack systems like that.

 

Well yeah it certainly wouldn't be a portable affair, but then my current server isn't exactly easy to lug around, it's just that it's small enough to carry.

It's going to be a long time before I have any need for something on quite this scale, but this is the sort of thing that really got me interested. I could find a use for a lot of this stuff I had the room for it, and could afford it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL0xC7H7naY&feature=related

 

I've been using Windows 8 in some way every now and then for a few months. I simply ignore Metro and use the desktop, the task bar, and when I install it, a start menu. I only use Metro to log in and even that can be avoided. I think that a modified installation ISO for Windows 8 might be able to remove Metro completely, but I'm not sure just yet.

 

Hypothetical situation. You're attempting to troubleshoot a PC. It locks up almost immediately, upon entering the windows environment. And you're reasonably certain that the power supply unit is the weakest link. Other than using a known good power supply, how would each of you determine that the current power supply is in fact dead?

I've tried hotwiring the PSU via green to black on the 24 pin. And the 12V reading was under 12V. My next step is to power up the computer, and watch the readings upon entering windows. I have a feeling, that the voltage will tank

I don't wanna pull my Corsair for the test! And I have no spare 24 pin PSU's Only a 20 pin, which would require some creative thinking to mickey mouse, and probably end up blowing it

 

so I was asked to post my questions on my build here.....Here it is.....

Hi, Guys its time for me to build a new computer and I just want to double check everything here as I always have before building.

I have an existing computer which I built in 08 that I am going to just take out the mobo, cpu, ram, gpu and main drive. Blu ray drive, 5 other hard drives for storage will stay the same.

So here is what I am thinking, let me know if this is overkill or if there is a better alternative. I am kind of confused as to where the state of graphics cards are and which ati card competes with the gtx 570.

here is what I do with the computer, general surfing, uploading pictures, photohoshop, mild gaming...son plays minecraft, and I record Football games and tv programs via a hauppauge tv tuner card using beyond tv and video redo to encode taking out the commercials. So the most stressfull thing I do with the computer is record and encode HD..I encode mpeg2 HD clips to H.264 files and am looking for something faster than my q9650 cpu currently.

so again, any advice is welcome. Am I overspending on the board and graphics card? is there a better cpu for me, an i7 ivy maybe? and if everything here is a good fit just to double check it will all jive nicely right? thanks in advance.

here is a youtube page of mine showing how I put up clips in h.264
http://www.youtube.com/user/Stadium229?feature=mhee

Windows 7 64bit

MOBO---Most confused here this time, cant determine what is overkill and what is not.
Asus Sabertooth z77 lga 1155

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131821
http://www.frys.com/product/7028831?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

CPU
INTEl core I5 2500K Sandy bridge

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
http://www.frys.com/product/6487382?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

GPU
EVGA GTX 570

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130595
http://www.frys.com/product/6480902?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

RAM
Corsair Vengance 16GB 4x4 ddr3 pc3 12800

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145347
http://www.frys.com/product/6718235?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

and Finally I am replacing my 6 year old happauge tv tuner with a new happauge tv tuner
Hauppauge wintv hvr 2250 dual tuner

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a...Tab=true&Page=3

http://www.frys.com/product/5910254?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

 

Are you sure it isn't the CPU Cooler that's at fault? If you can get into the BIOS, see if it will give you a temperature reading for the CPU.

 

I've had this happen on another system before. The fan quit in the PSU, and would heat up upon entering windows. I suppose it's possible that another component could be heating up though. I've had a northbridge behave very similarly. What a shame I didn't purchase one of those laser temperature sensors!

 

Figures! Whenever I look for a problem, it won't present itself. Now it acts rock solid! Now I'm looking quite sharply at the PSU. They can be quite inconsistent at times. Certainly the cheap ones(which it is).

I did one better. I ran Prime 95 for nearly 20 min. The CPU hovered around 42C, the northbridge even cooler(it has a tiny fan equipped). The voltage reading stayed between 11.8 and 11.9V during the testing. Using both everest, and a Voltage meter.

It's an Asus A8N-SLI. With a single core 3200 Athlon. It also has an Evga Geforce 7800. This build is quite outdated. XP, 1Gb Memory. The board supposedly supports dual cores. But I'll probably just sell it as is, at the upcoming yard sale. If I can get it to run solid for a few hours, I may just be comfortable selling it LOL!

Oddly, the hard drive was the highest temp! At one time, it read 54C! According to Smart, it seen even higher temps...

So with a replacement HDD, and PSU, it could be a decent computer for somebody.

 

I would go with a GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-D3H over the Asus sabertooth and a non-k edition if you do not plan to overclock. If you plan to overclock I would probably go with a GA-Z77X-UD5H instead (and a k-edition cpu of course). You may also want to consider getting an ivy bridge cpu instead of sandy bridge since the prices are still quite close.

 

thanks.

I was thinking an i7 ivy bridge might be a good fit. I am not going to overclock.

Memory still ok with that board? Is the gtx 570 overkill?

 

Howbout this setup

Gigabyte GA Z77x -ud5h
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128545

Intel i5 3750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504


or would an i 7 be better?

along with the corsair vengance 16 gb ram and gtx 570 gpu....Still confused on what is overkill and what is not on the gpu.

 

Nice server rack and laid out well. I also like that he has a terminal server too.
Sweet!

 

Financial situation has improved a bit as of today
assuming they still have any, will likely order one of these next week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V4QIB4iBd8

In time, I will accompany it with a proper HBA that has 8087 sockets on it to save using a mess of reverse breakout cables. Depending how well the stock fans work I can see them being changed for quieter versions.

 

That is a probably the way to go at £358.80 (£299.00 exc VAT) and I like it better than the RM-424 since you have the slim optical and two storage spots left on top of the hotswaps.

X-Case RM420 4u Rackmount V2- 20 x SATA / SAS HDD Cadddy, Mini SAS 6GB Backplane -Rail Kit

Here is a very inexpensive slim BD for $75.99 which I bought a while back and works very well.

Panasonic UJ-240 6x Blu-ray Burner

Kevin, I need a loan?....

 

Ha! Wish I could oblige. I haven't been working the second job for weeks. And I'm only getting a small paycheck next week SHould be picking up soon though.

I don't think I'll ever have the need for server equipment

 

With that case you could use a normal ATX MB and PSU to setup a media center system with tons of space or just a heavy duty gaming machine for that matter. You're unlimited pretty much on what you can do with it and it's cheap.

I would love to have this as a server, it would be perfect for my house.

 

The main difference between an i7 and i5 is the HyperThreading on the i7s which gives them 4 more threads than the i5s. Based on the activities you mentioned in your first post, the main performance difference you will notice between an i5 and i7 would be in encoding times depending on if and how well your encoder is able to take advantage of the extra threads. I don't do any encoding so I can't give you any idea as to how much faster it will be, if at all.

The corsair ram should be fine, and there really isn't an "overkill" point with single gpu cards as long as you plan use it to play non-trivial games. I think a GTX 570 should be able to handle most current/new games at high graphics settings, however you can always check some benchmarks and pick one in the performance range you are looking for.

edit: fixed gpu performance estimate