With the size of hard drives today, I really wonder if you will use more than 3 inside the case. Seems for me I want to optical reader burners, a face plate that has all the sd card slot configs from my cameras, etc, and enough memory to be-seem fast. Now, that can all go out the window if you are going to do a raid 5 . JD -----Original Message----- From: elky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:elky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Chris Lindh Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 8:26 PM To: elky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [elky] Re: Building a PC We'll have to compare notes as we go along... I've been tempted by some deals today but I think the only item I'm actually going to buy today is a Corsair power supply. 10% Bing cashback today. Motherboard, operating system, etc., I'm going to try to find "combo deals" at Newegg, and I don't mind rebates. I think you can find the SSDs less than $350, the Intel X-25M that has decent reviews is ~$250. I like the Lego cases, and the alien looking one... I'm wondering about mid tower versus full tower ATX... will I really need the extra space... -- Chris Lindh http://www.PartsForSpeed.com On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 9:12 PM, Ray Buck <rbuck@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I've been considering the same thing: building a new desktop. The one I'm > using now is ok, but it's starting to get disk-bound. I've got 4TB internal > and 2 TB external Firewire drives. I'm running XP Pro on a 3 ghz 2 core > Intel chip with 2 gb memory...the max I can run on XP. > > I bought this one pre-assembled with the XP install and 1 TB of disk and the > 2GB of RAM. It's pretty good, but the 360 watt power supply is probably > maxed out. The existing cooling fans are woefully inadequate, so I have a > 24" boxer fan blowing into the open side. I've been running a program > called Active SMART to monitor the temperatures of the disk drives. If I > don't use that big old ventilation fan, the temps hit 50C pretty quick and > alarms start to go off. I've been looking into "case modding" on the web > and I think I found the cooling fan solution. It's in the attached photo. > http://bored-bored.com/cool/pc-case-mod-made-with-coolers/ > > I figgered that if I was gonna build one, I'd do it up big. A full tower > enclosure rather than a mid-tower like I have now and I'd add a lotta stuff > like those shown on this site: > http://www.neatorama.com/case-mod/ > > I'd wanna add the light show stuff and transparent case panels sorta like > this one: > http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2004/06/09/orac3_part5/1 > > I'm not sure what motherboard I'd go with, but I'd want something that could > take a buncha RAM and run Windoze 7 on it to allow the use of maybe 6gb. > I'd also like to use a solid-state disk for memory cache, or maybe install > the OS to SSD (ok, Frank you can go nutz about the acronyms...they're code > words that will eventually reveal the secrets of the universe, life and > everything.) so that booting up wouldn't require any physical disk access to > load up. I'd think that an 80 gb SSD would work pretty well for the OS, > swap file space, temporary files, etc. Those run about $350. I'd also want > a 4-core processor like Robert mentioned overclocked to 4ghz and that would > probably require a water-cooling system (I'm not kidding.) > > The 3ghz AMD Phenom II X4 940 quad core chip seems to be priced around $150, > which, when compared to what I paid for a Pentium I at 90mhz 15 years ago is > just about the same. > > I haven't done any pricing yet, but $1000 seems like a reasonable > guesstimate. Ohh...I'd also need a real big power supply...maybe 1kw. > > I guess I could kill some time and do up a spreadsheet of items and costs. > > If ya got some suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em. > > Ray > > > At 03:52 PM 11/30/2009, you wrote: >> >> I decided I needed a laptop, to be able to work around the house - >> keep an eye on the boys, etc. As I shopped I came to realize there >> are two classes of laptops: $300 Walmart specials or $1000+ fully >> featured laptops. Since a computer is a vital part of my business I >> need a workhorse, so as I shopped looking for power and light weight I >> found myself deep in the $1000 to $2000 range. The Sony Vaio Z series >> and Lenovo T400s were at the top of my list. >> >> As we've discussed before a laptop is a compromise, out of necessity >> to fit in such a small form factor. So I'm now thinking I'd rather >> build a powerful PC and buy a cheap, small laptop. Not a netbook, but >> a little larger - around 3lbs. >> >> I also like the ability to troubleshoot a PC... I can swap parts out >> if I have a hardware issue (which is rare in my experience with a PC). >> >> Build versus buy: there is no doubt I can buy a prebuilt PC that will >> do all I need, but these typically use the cheapest components. My >> Shuttle PC was a barebones built with quality components (I bought it >> built and upgraded parts along the way). My Shuttle has been very >> reliable - it's been on for almost the entire 4 years I've owned it. >> I will be building a full size PC, or possibly a mini ATX, but I doubt >> I'll do small form factor again - I just don't need the portability. >> >> I was impressed with my RMA experience with Corsair so I'm looking at >> Corsair ram and a little reading indicates Corsair is also one of the >> best manufacturers of power supplies. I'm thinking about the new i7 >> processors and Windows 7 Pro. >> >> I use a PC for spreadsheets, Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, etc and the >> backend for my website, among other tasks... I usually have several >> programs going at once. I don't game but I'm going to get a decent >> graphics card. >> >> I'd be interested to know your opinions about other components... my >> focus is reliability first. Thanks! >> >> -- >> Chris Lindh >> http://www.PartsForSpeed.com >> >> >> Rules: Please play nicely with others. >> >> -List members page (text & pic links): >> http://www.myelcamino.net/eclist.htm >> -List members page (all pics): >> http://www.myelcamino.net/ec_list.htm > Rules: Please play nicely with others. -List members page (text & pic links): http://www.myelcamino.net/eclist.htm -List members page (all pics): http://www.myelcamino.net/ec_list.htm Rules: Please play nicely with others. -List members page (text & pic links): http://www.myelcamino.net/eclist.htm -List members page (all pics): http://www.myelcamino.net/ec_list.htm