Well, bless my build

[Panama Red]

Hey guys. Been quite a while since I've built a pc for a customer or myself and I fear I've lost touch with current hardware. So, I'm asking for a review of my hardware with any suggestions for improvement.

I'm upgrading my Win Home Server and plan to use the internals from my current everyday desktop machine. The new pc will be my daily driver which won't be used for any gaming. Simple internet, picture management and music management will take up 95% of its usage.

Mobo: Newegg.com - ASUS P8H61-M LX PLUS R2.0 LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

CPU: Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32100

PSU: Newegg.com - SeaSonic S12II 380B 380W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Ram: Newegg.com - Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model BLS2KIT2G3D1339DS1S00

I have an existing case, dvd drive and dual 22" monitors as well as multiple 320Gb hard drives. I'm hoping to reuse my exiting vid card, a Sapphire Radion HD2600 Pro 256Mb PCI-e. I'll also reuse the Win7 64 bit OS with a plan to upgrade to Win 8 after its release in Oct. I plan to take advantage of a $15 upgrade deal on Win 8.

So, all you building guru's, have at me. Tell me any issues or bad hardware choices or just Bless My Build. Thanks.

[shadowpr]

i've been out of the game for a few years myself.

but i will bless this build. may it be free of all gremlins.

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by shadowpr i've been out of the game for a few years myself. but i will bless this build. may it be free of all gremlins.

Not exactly what I had in mind but I certainly appreciate the sentiment.

[glc]

Better upgrade path, SATA 6.0, USB 3.0, and 4 ram slots:

Newegg.com - ASUS P8B75-M/CSM LGA 1155 Intel B75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

0.2 GHz faster and only 5 bucks more:

Newegg.com - Intel Core i3-2120 Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2000 BX80623I32120

More stable than Ballistix:

Newegg.com - Kingston Value 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3S8N9K2/4G

More headroom for the video card:

Newegg.com - SeaSonic S12II 430B 430W ATX12V V2.3/EPS12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

[Panama Red]

Thanx, G. Reusing that vid card is OK then?

[glc]

It should be.

Have you considered building it with 8gb ram? Memory is so cheap you might as well.

Newegg.com - Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9K2/8G

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by glc It should be. Have you considered building it with 8gb ram? Memory is so cheap you might as well. Newegg.com - Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9K2/8G

Might as well for that price.

[glc]

I love spending your money!

[Nucious]

Originally Posted by glc I love spending your money!

i second tht. send it to me through paypal if you wish.

[jdeb]

Excellent build glc. I second the 8gb. That is going to be a very stable build. Throw a Intel 330 Maple Crest SSD (120 gb) for OS and apps and it will practically fly off the table.

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by jdeb Throw a Intel 330 Maple Crest SSD (120 gb) for OS and apps and it will practically fly off the table.

If I didn't already have a 600, 250 and 3 x 320Gb hard drives laying around, I'd consider spending the extra for SSD but not this time. Besides, I gotta pop for 2 x 1Tb drives for the server.

[glc]

That board has 5 SATA 3 ports and 1 SATA 6 port.

You may not even need the video card - the onboard is multi-monitor capable.

[jdeb]

If you use the onboard and have standard VGA monitors make sure to grab on of these cause you are not gonna find in a store locally or more than likely won't. Been there

Rosewill RA-VGA-DVI-D 25pin (24+1) DVI-D Male to 15pin VGA Female Adapter
Newegg.com - Rosewill RA-VGA-DVI-D 25pin (24+1) DVI-D Male to 15pin VGA Female Adapter

[Panama Red]

My monitors have both vga and dvi and I have a few of the adapters in stock from old vid cards. Shouldn't be a problem with that. I've used the monitors like that in the past - 1 vga, 1 dvi and I don't see a difference in the images. Thanks for the thoughts guys.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by Panama Red My monitors have both vga and dvi and I have a few of the adapters in stock from old vid cards. Shouldn't be a problem with that. I've used the monitors like that in the past - 1 vga, 1 dvi and I don't see a difference in the images. Thanks for the thoughts guys.

zoom in (motherboard link) and look closely... 24+1

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by jdeb zoom in (motherboard link) and look closely... 24+1

I see what you mean. I'm thinking the easiest is to just reuse my vid card.