Building a dedicated Quickbook/Important Info Machine

[jbruno]

Good Morning,

I'm looking to build a machine to basically run accounting software and store important information for a business. With that said I'm not looking to spend a lot of money.

Basically, I want a machine that I can log into from both the office and remotely to work with the software. Their will be a hardware firewall protecting the computer from others. It's a computer that I want to be able to get into from anywhere with appropriate security.

I want new rather than used, and with the prices today, I figured I might as well get the newest sockets and such for future upgradability.

I have 2 new 200gb IDE drives that I would like to mirror in the system.

Will be using XP Pro.

I picked the MB below for price and for having onboard video/audio.

RAM below was checked to ensure it works with this board.

Needed to pick SATA DVD Rom as the MB only has 1 IDE connection (needed for HD's)

I might need a bigger PS.

I know this may be slightly overkill, but this computer might be morphed into a regular everyday computer down the road if we get a true RAID server.

I was looking at NewEgg and came up with 2 setups that would fit the bill and budget. I would appreciate your thoughts.


COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16811119068



Intel BOXDG965WHMKR Socket T (LGA 775) Intel G965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813121052



SeaSonic S12-330 ATX12V 330W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, DEMCO, NEMCO, SEMCO, FIMCO, CB, FCC, CCC - http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817151021



Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819115005

OR

Intel Celeron D 351 Prescott 3.2GHz 256KB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T Processor - http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819116225



2 - Kingston 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) System Memory - http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16820134115



LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 1.5M Cache SATA Combo Drive - http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16827106040

[newbuilder14]

Definately the first one of the two is better but look at my Pentium D build in my signature, I built that for the same purposes.

[glc]

You have a problem. The only onboard video motherboards for 775 that have IDE RAID are Via chipset. NOT recommended. Software mirror is garbage.

With this in mind, this is what I recommend:

Foxconn 945P7AA-8KS2 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813186070

Put a 805 or 915 Pentium-D on it with Corsair VS DDR2-667 ram. C2D is not compatible. Sorry about the upgrade limitation, but your IDE drives are throwing a big monkey wrench in the works here. I can't find *any* C2D-compatible boards with IDE RAID and using an addon card is a waste.

It has 3 IDE channels and RAID capability. Get a standard IDE optical drive, might as well make it a Lite-On DVD burner.

Dirt cheap video card is fine, just don't bother with Hypermemory or Turbocache cards if you are going to the trouble of getting a video card.

ASUS EAX300SE-X/TD/128 Radeon X300SE 128MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121538

Here's my standard case/PSU recommendation for a budget system with a low end video card:

Foxconn TS001-V-A300A Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 300W Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811153042

If you order NOW, you can get an Antec Sonata II for $60 after a $40 mailin rebate - good till 10/31 and ONLY at Newegg. The Foxconn case has a dual rail Fortron PSU.

[The_YongGrand]

How about the Pentium D 820, glc? They are just as cheap as the 805 right?

[glc]

I'd rather have a 915 - the 820 is a furnace.

[newbuilder14]

I was pretty satisfied with the performance of the Pentium D 805. Can't notice any slow downs in office work. Also, It idles around 42C - a big surprise to me. I was expecting a space heater.

[glc]

The 805 is the only Smithfield that's not a furnace at stock speeds.

[jbruno]

Thank you for all the feedback.

I am continuing my research and had a few questions.

1. How is the dual rail Fortron PSU in the case? Is 300W enough power?

2. Is RAID handled via the MB (do you need to install any software?) and Windows XP will have no issues with it?

3. Can I use a Celeron D? It's cheaper and less hot.

EDIT:

Also, I saw this regarding the Celeron - Intel® EM64T requires a computer system with a processor, chipset, BIOS, operating system, device drivers and applications enabled for Intel EM64T. Processor will not operate (including 32-bit operation) without an Intel EM64T-enabled BIOS. Performance will vary depending on your hardware and software configurations. Intel EM64T-enabled OS, BIOS, device drivers and applications may not be available.


Thanks,

[The_YongGrand]

Originally Posted by jbruno Thank you for all the feedback. I am continuing my research and had a few questions. 1. How is the dual rail Fortron PSU in the case? Is 300W enough power? 2. Is RAID handled via the MB (do you need to install any software?) and Windows XP will have no issues with it? 3. Can I use a Celeron D? It's cheaper and less hot. EDIT: Also, I saw this regarding the Celeron - Intel® EM64T requires a computer system with a processor, chipset, BIOS, operating system, device drivers and applications enabled for Intel EM64T. Processor will not operate (including 32-bit operation) without an Intel EM64T-enabled BIOS. Performance will vary depending on your hardware and software configurations. Intel EM64T-enabled OS, BIOS, device drivers and applications may not be available. Thanks,

Hmm...

1.) Dual-rails PSU are important especially for PCI-E builds. 300W is already enough. If you have mid-range or high-end video card, they'll drink up at least another 100W and a 450W is required there.

2.) The SATA driver diskette must be loaded prior to installing XP - remember to press F6 for that during the start.

3.) A Pentium 4 will be better. Trust me, the price range between the Celerons and the P4s is CLOSE enough for you to get the faster one. Since you mentioned about having a firewall/server and all the medium-level work there you might consider the P4. The Celeron Ds are as hot as P4s and they have 533 FSB and 256K cache which will just giving serious bottlenecks.

[jbruno]

Originally Posted by The_YongGrand Hmm... 1.) Dual-rails PSU are important especially for PCI-E builds. 300W is already enough. If you have mid-range or high-end video card, they'll drink up at least another 100W and a 450W is required there. 2.) The SATA driver diskette must be loaded prior to installing XP - remember to press F6 for that during the start. 3.) A Pentium 4 will be better. Trust me, the price range between the Celerons and the P4s is CLOSE enough for you to get the faster one. Since you mentioned about having a firewall/server and all the medium-level work there you might consider the P4. The Celeron Ds are as hot as P4s and they have 533 FSB and 256K cache which will just giving serious bottlenecks.

If all the drives (including CD Rom) are IDE, do I need to load SATA drivers?

[jbruno]

Looking at:



Foxconn TS001-V-A300A Black/Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 300W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: TS001-V-A300A
Item #: N82E16811153042

$44.99


Foxconn 945P7AA-8KS2 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: 945P7AA-8KS2
Item #: N82E16813186070

$77.99

ASUS EAX300SE-X/TD/128 Radeon X300SE 128MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: EAX300SE-X/TD/128M
Item #: N82E16814121538

$38.99

Intel Pentium D 915 Presler 2.8GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80553915 - Retail
Model #: BX80553915
Item #: N82E16819116253

$123.00

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model VS1GBKIT667D2 - Retail
Model #: VS1GBKIT667D2
Item #: N82E16820145568

$104.99


LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model SHW160P6S05 - OEM
Model #: SHW160P6S05
Item #: N82E16827106014

$27.99

[newbuilder14]

That looks fine.

[jbruno]

Ordered Above.

Thank you all!

[glc]

The IDE RAID driver will need to be loaded from a floppy if you want to set up Windows on RAID. Dig up a floppy drive and cable for it somewhere. You will set up the array in the bios first.

[The_YongGrand]

Originally Posted by jbruno Ordered Above. Thank you all!

Great - this is a very good choice. Pentium D 915, with 1GB RAM DDR2 will do best for a modern home PC + mini home server. Enjoy your new build.

[jbruno]

Received case. First impression..... very nice!

Expect rest of parts tomorrow.

Regarding RAID. I expect that we will do 0+1 with the 2 IDE drives.

So, we need to set up this in Bios and then something different in Windows XP? Do we install XP first then setup RAID?

Danka,

[faulkner132]

Set up RAID in the bios first, then install XP after you have initialized the array. You will know the mirror is done correctly if the XP install only picks up 1 available hard drive.

[glc]

You need 4 drives to do 0+1. A mirror is just 1.

See why I use that case for my business builds? The only other cheap cases I use are Enlight - but they haven't kept up with power supply requirements very well.

[jbruno]

Originally Posted by glc You need 4 drives to do 0+1. A mirror is just 1. See why I use that case for my business builds? The only other cheap cases I use are Enlight - but they haven't kept up with power supply requirements very well.

Thanks, and yes I'm quite impressed.

[jbruno]

Put system together and bios is not seeing the CD ROM. I have the 2 HD's on the primary IDE and the CD on a Secondary controller.

I tried to boot up and put the MB utilities disk in and am getting the NTLDR missing error message.

CD is set as Primary boot device in Bios.

Help

[newbuilder14]

Make the jumper for the CD Drive: CS.

[jbruno]

Did that. Still no luck. If we go past bios it sees the CD but still get the NTLDR error.

I tried plugging the CD into the primary IDE controller and it was seen in BIOS, however the IDE Drives, plugged into one of the secondary IDE controllers were not seen.

Could this be a jumper setting? I have everything enabled in bios.

Thanks,

[newbuilder14]

What are the jumpers on the drives? Master and slave? Possibly defective motherboard (Not quite sure about Foxconn motherboard, they seem decent)?

If it doesn't work, send the motherboard back for a Asus P5L-MX - that's what I used for both of my Pentium D systems.

[jbruno]

Plugged in a usb cd rom and that is working. formatting and installing xp.

I will still need to setup RAID at some point......

Not sure about why the secondary IDE controllers are not being seen.

[newbuilder14]

Well I'd honestly send the motherboard back. No use having a motherboard that is partially defective. You will need a CD-ROM at some point.

Hey by the way, what are the temps of your 915?

[jbruno]

Once XP is done, I'm going to put in the MB's disk and see if any of the drivers take care of the issue.

[glc]

That board has 3 IDE controllers. There is ONE on the intel ICH7 (ATA100 PIDE) and 2 on the ITE8212 (ATA133 SIDE1, SIDE2) RAID controller. The ITE does not support optical booting well at ALL. You need to put the optical on the ICH channel and use the ITE for the hard drives. You will need to set up the RAID in the bios first, then have a driver floppy ready with the ITE RAID drivers for Windows installation using F6. You should be able to extract them off the motherboard CD.

[jbruno]

Originally Posted by glc That board has 3 IDE controllers. There is ONE on the intel ICH7 (ATA100 PIDE) and 2 on the ITE8212 (ATA133 SIDE1, SIDE2) RAID controller. The ITE does not support optical booting well at ALL. You need to put the optical on the ICH channel and use the ITE for the hard drives. You will need to set up the RAID in the bios first, then have a driver floppy ready with the ITE RAID drivers for Windows installation using F6. You should be able to extract them off the motherboard CD.

My buddy was able to get things a bit closer to success, but I will need to talk to him to see exactly what he did. We are not there yet.

I did have one issue where we had the floppy with drivers on it, however, when I hit F6 during Windows install it didn't do anything. It did not start to access the floppy at that time.

Ideas?

[glc]

Just be patient - after a couple minutes it should stop and ask you to put the floppy in.

[jbruno]

Just wanted to chime in and say that we got everything up and running. Thanks