Media Server Build – with a hint of desktop use.

[Lothar]

Ok guys, I started a thread a while back at htpcnews but many people had abandoned ship so here it is again:[url=http://www.htpcnews.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25127&st=0]http://www.htpcnews.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25127&st=0[/url]  This will be used in Linux, but it looks like everything should be ok from the reviews I’ve read, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.  I just want someone to look over the list for possible issues that I didn’t think of.  Cool thanks. 😀

Ok, I’ve had some time to think about some of the finer details of this system and here’s where I’m sitting now:

[b]Motherboard[/b]
[url=http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813128010]GIGABYTE GA-M55plus-S3G Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard[/url]
The motherboard I initially wanted is finally listed again.  4xPCI slots, 6100 onboard graphics, 4xSataII, 2xIDE, passive cooling.  RAID5.  The only thing I didn’t really like about it is that it’s apparently only got 2 fan headers…

[b]Processor[/b]
[url=http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819103733]AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor[/url]
65W.  Could have gone with the 4200 but I don’t think it’s worth the extra $30 for me…

[b]RAM[/b]
[url=http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231102]G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800[/url]
Do I need DDR2 800 or is 667 ok (in general…  the price difference here wasn’t very much)?

[b]Video Card[/b]
Onboard.  I dropped the discrete card in favor of another hard drive. 🙂

[b]Power Supply[/b]
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817151023]Seasonic S12-430[/url]
I decided to change cases again so I now need a PSU.  I realized how much I was already looking to spend on a PSU so I figured I’d just spend the extra couple bucks and go with a Seasonic. 🙂

[b]CPU Cooler[/b]
[url=http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16835185125]ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro[/url]
I would have gone with the zalman since I could have taken advantage of the CPU duct on the case, but it was a bit more expensive and I would have had to mod a bracket to make it attach properly.

[b]Hard Drive[/b]
[url=http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822152046]SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD400LJ 400GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive[/url]
SPCR is saying these are a little quieter than the WDs are, and since the price per gig is less, I can get 3x400gig drives for the price of 2x500gigs.  So in the end I’ll end up with 4x400gigs (I dropped the video card in favor of another drive).  The PSU supports 4 SATA power cables, the motherboard has 4 SATA connections.  It seemed the logical thing to do.  Then maybe I’ll go for a RAID5 array after all.

[b]DVD[/b]
[url=http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16827135090]ASUS Silver ATAPI/E-IDE DVD-ROM Drive[/url]
This will be swapped the black Plextor I have in my NSK2400.  The NSK2400 only needs a DVD ROM and this will match the silver front according to others with this drive. 🙂 And the black Plextor will go nicely with the new case.

[b]Case[/b]
[url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129154]Antec P180[/url]
Found a nice deal for the black version for $80 after rebate.  I think I can afford that. 🙂 I just couldn’t stand the white P150.  It’s just too… white.

After shipping this should come out around $1000 which is what I was going for.  If my accountant doesn’t like it, I can drop one of the hard drives.

On a side note, are there issues with 4xRAM like there were with DDR where it would only run at 333MHz?  I may throw in another 2×512 later…

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