New PC Build w/ Backup and Updated Home Network

[D.Rock]

Hello everyone,

I have spent the last several days scouring over all the information within this forum. What intelligent people you all are and thank you for the education. My current PC, a Dell Dimension 9200, is about 4 years old now. I believe the HDD is on it's way out. No big deal right, just replace the HDD and restore from a backup. Wrong! I have never, and I mean never, backed up my data. I honestly can't tell you why? I pay extremely close attention to detail and always want things done by the book. I don't know why regular data backups have never been on my radar? I guess I am just too naive and thought I would never have a HDD failure. That is what has led me to this adventure.

I first started out thinking I was just going buy an external HD and back up all my movies, music, pictures, and important documents. Replace my HDD and finally upgrade to Windows 7. I then started leaning towards a NAS, as I have a Macbook, Xbox 360, PS3, iPad 2, and 2 iPhone 4's connected to my network. A NAS would suit my needs perfectly. With a NAS I need to update my router, I have an old school WRT54G. I haven't replaced it yet because as the old saying goes, "don't fix what isn't broken." That is where my network revamp comes in. I'll talk about that a little later. During a lot of research in regards to the NAS I found this site. I started perusing through the forums and ultimately started reading about new PC builds.

I have always been interested in building my own PC. I always thought it was difficult until my current PC (Dimension 9200) had a motherboard failure about 2.5 years ago. It was under warranty of course and tech support literally walked me through taking most of the internals out of the PC. They ended up having to send out a technician to replace the motherboard. I found it to be very fun and not that difficult actually (I am a BMW Master Technician so I am pretty good a taking things apart and putting them back together). I just haven't had the time, need, or money to think about building a PC until now. After coming to the realization that my PC is 4 years old and outdated by todays standards I decided to build a new PC, incorporate a backup of some fashion, and update my current network configuration. This is where you guys come in of course.

Here is what I have so far in regards to my PC build which will be used for mainly web browsing, streaming HD video and music, some productivity such as MS Office, some light picture and video editing, and absolutely no gaming other than maybe a few web based game (I have never downloaded or installed a FPS, or any other sort of video game, I have consoles for that). I know this build will in no way be future proof but I would like it to be easily upgradeable, who knows what life will bring:

Newegg.com - Corsair Graphite Series 600T Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Newegg.com - ASUS SABERTOOTH P67 (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 I went with 1600 because it is currently only a couple bucks more than 1333?

Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6402AAEX 640GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

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 - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

Newegg.com - LITE-ON Black 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Internal Blu-ray Burner 12X Blu-ray Burner with Blu-ray 3D feature Model iHBS112 - Blu-Ray Burners Will this drive read CD's and DVD's? I know its a dumb question but it doesn't give a read speed in the details, the one below does however:

Newegg.com - LITE-ON 12X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 12X DVD-RAM 8X BD-ROM 8MB Cache SATA Internal Blu-ray Burner with 3D PlaybackiHBS212 LightScribe


Is there anything I am missing or would you guys make any changes? I am thinking the onboard audio will be just fine. I don't think I will need a GPU either since I am not doing any gaming, video editing, or graphics design. Will having a Blu Ray player change that? I also assume I will not need a network card as the onboard gigabit LAN chipset should be fine. Am I correct in all of that?



As far as backup, I was going to go with a high quality NAS, now I am thinking about doing away with it completely and just having shares set up on Windows 7 as that is where most if not all of my data will be, or just getting this:

Newegg.com - Western Digital WDH2NC20000N 2TB My Book World Edition II Dual-drive Network Storage

and then using an external HDD like the one below to back up the NAS:

Newegg.com - Western Digital My Book Elite 1.5TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive WDBAAH0015HCH-NESN

Any other suggestions in regards to backup?



As far as my network goes, I most definitely need a new router and wondering if a network switch would be worth any value? I am thinking about one of these two routers:

Newegg.com - NETGEAR WNDR3700-100NAS 802.11a/b/g/n Rangemax 2.4/5GHz Simultaneous N600 Dual Band Wireless Gigabit Router/ USB port

Amazon.com: Cisco-Linksys E4200 Maximum Performance Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless-N Router: Electronics (Hasn't been released yet)

Thoughts on a Network Switch or is not even worth it or does it not suit my application? I do like the fastest internet possible, especially for gaming on a console.


I am sorry for such a long post, thanks in advance for any suggestions and/or input!! I am learning as I go but have already learned a lot just from this forum. Thanks again everyone!

[jdeb]

I don't see any huge issues, the build looks good as you obviously did your homework.

That is good memory but the heat-sinks on them are a pain, take extreme care when installing them as they tend to fall apart. I kind of manhandled them in a build and ended up replacing the heat-sinks.

Not sure on the NAS or Router but they look like they would do the trick.

Is there anything I am missing or would you guys make any changes? I am thinking the onboard audio will be just fine. I don't think I will need a GPU either since I am not doing any gaming, video editing, or graphics design. Will having a Blu Ray player change that? I also assume I will not need a network card as the onboard gigabit LAN chipset should be fine. Am I correct in all of that?

Onboard audio is great, no GPU needed for your use besides, you can always add it later if your not satisfied. BR is not an issue, network is built in and excellent.

[glc]

The Sabertooth is not capable of using the Sandy Bridge onboard video. You need a graphics card. The other option is use a H67 chipset board that will use onboard video.

Unless you will be overclocking, get 1.5 volt 1333 speed ram for best stability. If you ARE going to be overclocking, get the "K" series CPU.

The $100 Lite-On will read anything, they just don't list the speeds.

If your WRT54G is version 4 or earlier, you can upgrade its capabilities substantially with DD-WRT firmware. You do NOT need a switch for Internet speeds - the 10/100 router is many times faster than any Internet connection. The only improvement 10/100/1000 will give you is file transfer speeds across your LAN - assuming ALL your devices have 10/100/1000 adapters. Then, you can simply uplink a 10/1000/1000 switch to the router and connect all your devices to it.

For backups, fix your Dell, put a big hard drive in it, and attach it to your network. Use a KVM switch to share the keyboard, mouse, and monitor if you need to.

[D.Rock]

Thank you for your reply. I will most likely be sticking with the Sabertooth. With that said, what is a decent GPU? Just a reminder, I am NOT into PC gaming. Will adding a GPU result in changes needing to be made with my setup? I will most likely not be over clocking, however, I will be getting the K series, it's $179 at my local Microcenter. Thats $30 cheaper than the non K series on Newegg.

I will have to verify my version of the WRT54G. I am fairly sure it is V5.


Why do you say ALL my devices have to have gigabit adapters in order to achieve gigabit speeds? Wouldn't it be alright if only SOME of them had gigabit?

I will look into reusing my Dell for backup purposes. Anything special that should be done? Would upgrading memory be beneficial? It currently has 2GB RAM, running Vista 32bit and has a 2.6 Ghz (I believe) Intel Dual Core. Any tips on how to set this up as a backup and point my other devices to it? I would like to be able to stream from it. Would something like XMBC be needed?

Thanks again for the help!

[glc]

No changes required if you add a video card, but the 650 watt PSU will be overkill.

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100253HDMI Radeon HD 4650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Low Profile Ready Video Card

If your WRT54G is a V5, trash it. It was the worst version. Get a Gigabit router:

Newegg.com - ASUS RT-N16 802.11b/g/n Gigabit Wireless Router up to 300Mbps DD-WRT Open Source support with USB Storage, Printer And Media Server

The only Gigabit LAN speeds will be between devices that have Gigabit adapters. If you use the Dell as a NAS, make sure it has a Gigabit adapter. 2GB ram should be sufficient if you use one of the dedicated NAS operating systems like FreeNAS.

[D.Rock]

Any other suggestions on the video card? It's always nice to have options.

Is it the wattage thats overkill or the PSU as a whole? Recommendations?


Thanks for all your input. I can clearly see by reading all the other threads you are by far the most active member on the board, or so it seems anyways.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by glc The Sabertooth is not capable of using the Sandy Bridge onboard video. You need a graphics card. The other option is use a H67 chipset board that will use onboard video. Unless you will be overclocking, get 1.5 volt 1333 speed ram for best stability. If you ARE going to be overclocking, get the "K" series CPU. The $100 Lite-On will read anything, they just don't list the speeds. If your WRT54G is version 4 or earlier, you can upgrade its capabilities substantially with DD-WRT firmware. You do NOT need a switch for Internet speeds - the 10/100 router is many times faster than any Internet connection. The only improvement 10/100/1000 will give you is file transfer speeds across your LAN - assuming ALL your devices have 10/100/1000 adapters. Then, you can simply uplink a 10/1000/1000 switch to the router and connect all your devices to it. For backups, fix your Dell, put a big hard drive in it, and attach it to your network. Use a KVM switch to share the keyboard, mouse, and monitor if you need to.

Sorry about that glc didn't catch the P67, I need to slow down and pay more attention.

[glc]

Just about any low end PCI-Ex16 video card will suffice, the one I linked is a particularly good deal right now.

It's the wattage that's an overkill. Nothing wrong with it - a Corsair TX is one of the highest quality units out there. You can just save some money with a lesser unit.

Newegg.com - Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W Continuous power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

[D.Rock]

After doing some more thinking and research I have decided I want to leave myself open to as many options in the future as possible. With that said I will be getting a K series 2500 or 2600, haven't decided if the 2600 is worth the extra money. Local Microcenter has great deals on both currently.

So with the ability to overclock should I stick with 1600 RAM? Will this be unstable at stock clock speeds?

I am also rethinking the Mobo now. Possibly a P8P67 Evo / Pro / Deluxe? Preference on these 3 compared to the Sabertooth? Major differences?

I am looking for $120 to $180 GPU. I checked out the EVGA GTX460 and there is 14 difference part numbers. I have no idea which one to get? My local Microcenter has this one for $120 Newegg.com - EVGA 768-P3-1362-AR GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked 768MB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

What would be an ATI equivalent?


I will also be switching the case to an NZXT Phantom.
Newegg.com - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Thanks in advance for all the help and advice!

[glc]

1600 will run fine at 1333 speeds if you don't overclock.

If you want a 460, get a 1 GB version, and don't get the "SE" version. Asus or EVGA preferred. ATI equivalent would be a 6850, Asus, Diamond, or HIS preferred.

I think I'd prefer the Sabertooth to any other P67 board out there. If cost is the issue I'd get a Pro, when it comes back in stock.

[D.Rock]

Thoughts on the 2500K and 2600K CPU's? It seems as if ASUS has made it very simple for a novice such as myself to overclock with their motherboards. It's almost guaranteed that I will be overclocking shortly after putting this thing together and making sure all is well. With that said, will stock cooling be sufficient? If not then what is recommended? I would like to stay away from liquid cooling, everything leaks over time. I've seen $100K vehicles leaking coolant with under 10K miles clocked on the odometer.

[glc]

If you want to overclock a "K" processor, I'd get aftermarket cooling. This one is one of the best, especially for the price:

Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" Long Life Sleeve 120mm CPU Cooler Compatible Intel Core i5 & Intel Core i7

The mounting instructions are terrible - I understand there are some videos on Youtube that are a LOT better.