New Build cause my last one took a crap

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GSRCRXsi

GSRCRXsi

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well since my MB crapped out (5 years of loyal service) i need to get my computer back up and running. this computer will be a MythTV backend and XP machine. i will be running VMware so that i can run them both at the same time. i previously had dual boot, but that was a pain in the ass to shut down my backend just to print print something. plus i need xp fo some software that ill be using in my classes

the breakdown:

Asus P5K3 MB
Intel Q6600 CPU
G. Skill 2x1GB DDR3 1066MHz
1x320GB WD for OS
3x500GB WD for storage (soon to be expanded to 4 for raid5)
EVGA 7300GT vid card
Hauppauge PVR-150 tuner card
plextor dvd-r/rw/dl burner

some neat additions:

Zalman 9700 NT cpu cooler
2x scithe 120mm fluid bearing case fans
thermaltake iCage. adds more HDD space and another 120mm fan
all in a cheap 25 dollar coolmax case.

ill add some pics after class.
 
Looks good. Plenty o storage, and that Zalman cooler is top notch. I snagged one for my setup... wound up not clearing the frontend case by about a quarter of an inch :( I tossed it in the server and that chip stays nice and cool.
 
yea the only thing i dont know about is the raid setup. i could spend 3-400 on a hardware raid card and not worry about setting it up in the OS or spend less on an adapter card and use software raid (i have plenty of cpu overheard obviously). what im looking for is a good raid card that i can hot swap drives in case of failure, and it needs linux support. my MB has plenty of sata ports but i dont think theres any support for raid5 under linux.
 
and yea, i did a lot of research on my components. especially with MB compatability. i was worried that the 9700 wouldnt fit with all the heatsinks on the p5k3, but a test fit shows it fits just fine. this backend should be pretty "future proof" for a while. im not going to overclock just yet, but if i decide to in the future im all set. ive seen the q6600 oced to 3.6 on air. thats impressive.

heres some pics

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I like very much, except maybe the PSU :p. If you were gonna overclock, Id consider strongly getting a different unit.

And yeah, if you got a G0 stepping for the Q, it should hit 3.0ghz without breaking a sweat and probably then sum.
 
i havent gotten it yet so i dont know. apparently newegg doesnt guarantee if you get the b3 or g0. lots of people have gotten the g0 so im keeping my fingers crossed. and yea. the PSU will work for now. but i will update if i overclock. but hey for 10 bucks, i snatched it up. (newegg had a deal for 39.99 + 30 MIR. retail was like 70 i think.
 
Wow, thats a steal. I might have to get one as a spare since I gave my Antec basiq to my sister. Though, I wish i had money for a Corsair HX. Them are some nice units.

Yeah, most likely youll get the newer stepping since the old B3s should be gone by now with all the Fry's specials and the new cores are supposed to out within this quarter (delays are great).

Oh yeah, why the crazy fast RAM? I hope you overclock and dont put those to waste.
 
my dad got me the MB for xmas. i didnt know it used DDR3. so i picked up the cheapest 2 gig i could find. newegg has a great price on the mem i got. 200 bucks. still pricey, but not bad considering the performance and the cost of comparable memory.
 
yeah the P35 chipsets come in two flavas, but I think the X38/X48 uses DDR3 only. at least your cpu wont be starved for bandwidth :-D
 
nope :) and ive been concentrating pretty hard on routing the wires in such a way so it blocks the least amount of airflow as possible. i think ill try to tuck some back behind the MB or on the backside of the 5.25" bays. ive been trying to make it quite quiet as well. hence the 110mm cpu fan and 120mm case fans. i might even upgrade the vid card to a fanless one. (i dont do much gaming, just engineering software and stuff. ive looked at this asus fanless 8600GT( GTS maybe?) that should suffice my needs :)
 
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GSRCRXsi said:
nope :) and ive been concentrating pretty hard on routing the wires in such a way so it blocks the least amount of airflow as possible. i think ill try to tuck some back behind the MB or on the backside of the 5.25" bays. ive been trying to make it quite quiet as well. hence the 110mm cpu fan and 120mm case fans. i might even upgrade the vid card to a fanless one. (i dont do much gaming, just engineering software and stuff. ive looked at this asus fanless 8600GT( GTS maybe?) that should suffice my needs :)
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What display are you using?
 
i wouldn't bother with raid 5 for a home storage. i'd just do a raid 1. easier
 
B said:
i wouldn't bother with raid 5 for a home storage. i'd just do a raid 1. easier
Click to expand...

Cases get heavy and wallets get light when you're raid1'ing a terabyte or more. IMHO, I'd keep 'em separate. I raid0 a TB because I need to, not because I want to. Raid 1 is the best choice, but he's gonna be out a lot of potential drive space versus 5, and he'll still maintain a bit of in-case-shit insurance.
 
yes thats why im doing raid5. i can have 1.5 TB of storage with 4 drives (losing the space from only 1) and have some redundancy in case a drive fails or whatever. this array will hold all my ripped movies (currently 50+ and counting) and recordings and probably games and roms in the future. so i need a lot of space to hold things that i really dont want to spend time replacing (~45 mins per rip is brutal with this many rips). raid 5 seems to fit the bill. im just trying to decide if i want to do a software raid or hardware. it seems that hardware is the best option as far as compatibility, speed, and hot swap-ability, but good hardware cards are about 3-400 dollars, and i dont know if i should go that route or get an adapter card and run software raid (im almost certain that the onboard ports arent supported for raid5 under linux). any suggestions on what my options are? ive been looking at 3ware and adaptec hardware cards which have excellent linux support, but very costly.
 
well ill pick cheap and reliable. my cpu is plenty fast enough. i doubt ill see a differnce in speed. i just need some solution that will allow me to do raid5 with these 4 drives. hot swap-ability is a plus but not 100% needed. like i said, hardware can do all this, but if i can do nearly the same thing with just software and a lot less money ill take it. i just need to know what SATA adapter cards are linux compatible. id rather have a PCI express x4 (or more) card as i have an extra x16 slot available. itll give more throughput than the PCI slot (which id rather save for more tuners anyway)
 
GSRCRXsi said:
well ill pick cheap and reliable. my cpu is plenty fast enough. i doubt ill see a differnce in speed. i just need some solution that will allow me to do raid5 with these 4 drives. hot swap-ability is a plus but not 100% needed. like i said, hardware can do all this, but if i can do nearly the same thing with just software and a lot less money ill take it. i just need to know what SATA adapter cards are linux compatible. id rather have a PCI express x4 (or more) card as i have an extra x16 slot available. itll give more throughput than the PCI slot (which id rather save for more tuners anyway)
Click to expand...

Just about any off the shelf SATA adapter will work. I haven't found one that doesn't yet, whether onboard or not.

Install a program called mdadm and read the howtos and manuals. It'll do plenty of software raid setups with little CPU overhead.
 
only runs in the console right? i was hoping for something with a GUI to make it a little easier. (im still a linux n00b lol)
 
well i had a little more on my paycheck than i thought so i picked this up.

antec nine hundred.

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i was looking at modding my case with vents but this seemed like a better solution. and i got a pretty good discount on it too since i work at best buy :)
 
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