Starting from ground zero a decade later

[Whiskerfish]

Newbie here

Time to replace this antiquated machine I have. I acquired a large case with a 560W power supply and several fans. I want to transfer over my current hard drives. Currently running 3 (system 30G, Backup 100G, and data storage for my web site 1 TB) The Tb drive is SATA with a controller card.

I have built 2 PC's but one was 20 years ago and the last one was 10 years ago so what I "was" smart on is obviously all obsolete.

My biggest priority is longevity. I like to have a machine that is upgradable over the years as prices of RAM and other stuff drop. If I can throw a part or 2 in every couple of years and keep it working that is how I like to do things. Also my PC stays on 24/7/365 so quality parts are a must.

I have been reading most of the day on New Egg and "here and there" and I have a couple of questions.

A couple of times today I got an impression that different types of CPU's required Ram be installed in different units. Like one type of CPU could take one stick of ram at a time and others needed 2 sticks at a time and still others needed 3 at a time. Could someone please clarify this for me?

Second question is regarding the cpu sockets. I have been reading about the i7 needing a different kind of socket than the 1156. So I have a couple of questions about that. Are sockets something that change often? and would the 1366 socket become a new standard? In other words if I wanted the ability to change out the CPU in say 4 or 5 years should I look to build something with a 1366 socket now?

Thanks folks I am sure this is just the beginning of my learning curve for this project. I have more time than money so I want to get as smart as I can and do this right.

[Whiskerfish]

Looks like I put this in the wrong forum. If one of the mods would like to move it please do so.

[glc]

Moved it for you.

Right now, we recommend a socket 1156 for Intel processors. This will take i3, i5, and i7 processors, and it uses dual channel ram. The 1366 and triple channel ram is expensive, and is quite fussy. It's an enthusiast chipset, not mainstream.

[Whiskerfish]

Thank You glc.


I think I have identified my cpu chip as the i5 750 as seen here: Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750 and am now working on selecting a mobo to go with it. I have had great service from my current ASUS and would like to stick with them.


I really like this one ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard as seen here Newegg.com - ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard but I am a bit concerned with the small number of expansion slots??

In my current PC I have a Sata/ESata Board, a Video Board, and a Modem Board.

I do not know what is what regarding the different type of expansion slots ie. PCIe / PCI/ and PCI Express. Is there a tutorial or a link to an explanation on this subject??

Thank you

[glc]

You should not need that SATA/eSATA board, the motherboard has a bunch of SATA ports and an eSATA port. It also has a PCI-Ex16 slot for a video card, another PCI-Ex16 slot, 3 PCI-Ex1 slots, and 2 legacy PCI slots. If you need a dialup modem, that will use one of the PCI slots. I don't see what you would need the other slots for, the motherboard has onboard sound and Ethernet.

PCI-E (Express) is the new standard for expansion slots. There haven't been ISA slots for years and AGP is just about gone now. Legacy PCI will be around for a while longer.

[Whiskerfish]

OK I see what you are talking about now. Next question is regarding my 2 older HD's that are currently run through ribbon cables. Are Ribbon cables dead now?

[quartet-man]

I think most of us use sata.

[glc]

The motherboard has one IDE controller, so you can connect two IDE drives. However, I do not recommend you use IDE for your primary drive. It does NOT have a floppy controller, so if you need to use a floppy drive you have to get a USB external floppy.

After 10 years, I think you really should get rid of all your legacy equipment and start with a clean slate.

What brand and model is the power supply in that case you picked up?

[Whiskerfish]

My original post was based on the paperwork that accompanied the case but I just opened it up and the power supply is missing, and the case is apparently used by looking at the dirty screens for the fans and the scars on the mounting areas. It was a friend of a friend kind of deal. It is an old Thermaltake V5000 case and now I am thinking that it would just be simpler to buy a new case and power supply. The wiring inside this thing looks like a nightmare.


So I presume you have a recommendation? Please keep in mind that I am much more impressed with function over appearances and price is very important as I am retired and live on a fixed income.

My 30g System drive is quite old probably 7 or 8 years, but the 100g is only like 2-3 years old and I would like to use that if possible. The big Drive is Sata.

[raftero]

i used this in a recent build, it is only a 380w power supply but it is a good one and will handle pretty much normal (not gaming) used. after you complete your requirements and parts you can tell how much power you will need. the case is very good, easy to work and i like the plane type cases.

[Whiskerfish]

Originally Posted by raftero i used this in a recent build, it is only a 380w power supply but it is a good one and will handle pretty much normal (not gaming) used. after you complete your requirements and parts you can tell how much power you will need. the case is very good, easy to work and i like the plane type cases.

Is there a link or something embedded here I am missing?

[glc]

Tell you what - let us know what your budget is for just the computer - no peripherals or operating system - and what kinds of things you are going to be doing with it.

[Whiskerfish]

I run a PHPBB website for old GoldWing motorcycles ( NGW Club ) It currently has about 6,000 members. The forums are fairly easy for my current PC to manage but the photo albums are a real bear. I downloaded them and resized all pics a few months ago from a 14g total down to about 6.5 g. That took 22 hours of straight crunching and 3 tries to get it done. I back that up every couple of weeks (4-6 hours depending on the pipe). The Forums I back up daily using GZip and that is about a 20 minute process every morning. I am on a cable and my connection is fast but the compression process is slow.

I write a small amount of code using primal script and use Ipswitch FTP for my site downloads.

I also do a fair amount of photoshop work associated with the site. Mostly just graphics development and basic photo manipulation.

Beyond that it is mostly the normal stuff: email, Office programs, minor spread sheets, personal photography, and some movies mostly using WMP.


I figure the budget for this to around 8 bills. There is some flex in that and please remember my primary goal is longevity and upgradability.

[raftero]

well after i looked closer it was not exactly the same but almost Newegg.com - Antec NSK 4482B Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 380W Power Supply

[Nikon]

for what you seem to do, i would recommend a mid-high level cpu, an i5-760 or actually, perhaps go with an amd phenom II x6 1055t (about the same price.)

file compression and photo editing are heavy on CPU, so this is where you want your money to go.
you dont need to dump unneeded $$$ into a GPU, so lets see what i come up with for an AMD system in that price range.

Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz 6 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT55TFBGRBOX

there are cheaper CPUs available, but i feel this little beast will impress you quite a bit, and bang for the buck, its unbeatable imho.

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
the onboard video for this board should be plenty for your useage, and the brand new 890gx/sb850 chipset gives you USB3 and sata 6gb/s for future proofing and great potential as these devices become more mainstream in the near future. this is more of an enthusiast board ATM, i chose it for the onboard video + future proofing, and the price isnt bad.

Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3K2/4GR
i see no need for expencive high speed ram with tight timings, this should serve you well.

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
the 1tb edition of our forum favorite HDD is also sata 6gb/s and will give you all of the storeage you need at blazing speeds.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboD...t=Combo.458434

combo deal on the case/psu, choose a different case if you like, but dont forget to get a psu too!

LITE-ON CD/DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM

windows 7 home premium 64bit OEM

comes to $735 and some change shipped, with OS. i feel if you were to purchase this machine, you would be quite happy with the results.

i know you said earlier that you were looking at the i5, i7 chips, but take a look at amd too =D in your budget, you might be best off going amd.

[glc]

Here is a very powerful and upgradeable Intel system right around $800.

Newegg.com - Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply

Newegg.com - ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I7870

Newegg.com - A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AD3U1333B2G9-DRH

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners

Newegg.com - HIS H467PR1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Use the new 1tb SATA 6.0 drive for the OS and all your software, use your existing SATA drive for extra storage, and the 100gb IDE drive for a Photoshop scratch disk.

[Nikon]

touche GLC, squeeze that i7 in there =D

[David M]

The i-7 870's multi-threading capability is good for grinding all those photos. I would imagine the i5-760 would have taken noticeably longer.

[Whiskerfish]

Thanks guys. It is going to take me a couple of days to read through these components and digest this. I am sure I will be back with questions before long though!!

[Whiskerfish]

Originally Posted by glc Here is a very powerful and upgradeable Intel system right around $800. Newegg.com - Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply Newegg.com - ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I7870 Newegg.com - A-DATA 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model AD3U1333B2G9-DRH Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA CD/DVD Burner - Bulk - CD / DVD Burners Newegg.com - HIS H467PR1GH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card Use the new 1tb SATA 6.0 drive for the OS and all your software, use your existing SATA drive for extra storage, and the 100gb IDE drive for a Photoshop scratch disk.

I been studying on this and I gotta say I am pretty damn impressed.

[Whiskerfish]

Ok it is on order. The only thing I did was add a copy of Win7 home. I am sure I will have questions when I start assembling. But I wanted to say thank you very much for the hand holding on this

I am sure I would have struggled for weeks trying to figure all the new equipment out and then would lost sleep wondering about compatibility.

[glc]

Did you order 64 bit Windows?

[Whiskerfish]

Yes. Is that not correct??

[glc]

That's correct. 32 bit would not be able to fully utilize all 4gb of ram.

[Whiskerfish]

OK Thanks

[Whiskerfish]

OK my next Question is about moving my programs. I have a copy of Acronis True Image that I got about a year and a half ago. My plan is to mirror my current OS Drive With XP onto the new 1 g drive and then move that to the new machine. Will that work to boot up? And then do the upgrade to Win7. Does this make sense or is there a better way?

[quartet-man]

You can't upgrade from XP to 7 (I don't think at all, but the 64 bit would do it in for sure as far as I know.) You will probably have to reinstall. Really that is a good idea with your starting with a new machine anyhow. You might be able to put the drive in as a secondary and transfer the files over, but you would still have to install the OS and programs.

[Whiskerfish]

I just wanted to take a minute to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU!!!!


I have the new system up and running and while I am struggling a bit to get all my old programs switched over I have the critical ones running. Win 7 is taking some getting used to but I think I will be very satisfied once I get her configured the way I want. this project would have taken me weeks without your assistance



So Sincere thanks and Respect to those that work this board.

Whiskerfish