Re: [gentoo-user] Somewhat OT. Building a rig. Want to get opinions before spending $$$

[Matthew Marlowe <matt@deploylinux.net>]

Dale,

One thing to keep in mind w/ power supplies is that you don't want to run them 
normally at more than X% of peak capacity -- most of them have a sweet spot in 
load where they are rated for efficiency and noise.  Choose your power supply 
based on that load % rather than max required wattage.  Most of the vendor 
websites will have a graph of power/noise versus wattage.

For a new system which you may keep around for 5-10 years and upgrade as time 
goes by, I'd consider putting in a ~800W unit which hopefully you'll run at 
under 50% load.  I've had very good experience with OCZ models.  The 800W is 
based on some reading I had done that indicated that newer 
motherboards/cpu's/+higher end video cards would bring power util in the 
~400-500W range.   I'm sure you can google for your own calculator.

I'm not that familiar with the other components you listed, but I've 
definitely had better experience w/ Kingston ram than crucial, and thermaltake 
makes good cases and chassis accessories.  For motherboards, I've always been 
partial to ASUS or Gigabyte for workstations/desktops.

Regards,
Matt

On Friday, November 26, 2010 01:29:03 pm Dale wrote:
> I'm planning to build a new rig.  My current rig is about 7 or 8 years
> old now and it needs to be updated.  Current rig is AMD 2500+ with 2Gbs
> of ram and a Abit NF7 v2.0 mobo.  Couple hard drives too.
> 
> New build #1 with links and all.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160
> 
> COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black case.  I included this
> because of the rather LARGE CPU heatsink that is going to be listed
> later.  I did a google image search and saw it in other rigs so it
> should fit in there.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130265
> 
> MSI 790XT-G45 AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X motherboard.  It's not the latest
> but it is a OK mobo.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125296
> 
> GIGABYTE GV-N210OC-512I GeForce 210 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0
> x16 HDCP video card.  I don't do gaming.  Actually, my old FX-5200 does
> pretty well but won't fit in the new mobo.  I really don't need a super
> fast video card here.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153116
> 
> Thermaltake TR2 TRX-650M 650W ATX 12V v2.3 / EPS 12V Power supply.  I
> like this brand and would like to stay with this but if the price is
> right, I could be tempted to change my mind.  My biggest question on
> this, can this handle this mobo, CPU, video card and 3 to 4 drives
> including a DVD burner?
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103644
> 
> AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB
> L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor.  From the searches I did,
> this should fit this mobo fine.  Agree?
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104073
> 
> Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 Desktop
> Memory.  I have used this brand before with not one problem.  Like
> before, if the price is right, I could change this.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118056
> 
> ZALMAN CNPS10X FLEX CPU Cooler.  This thing got good reviews and it is
> not priced to high.  According to the searches I have done this will fit
> the mobo/CPU and should fit in the case.  Any disagreements on this?
> 
> This is build #2:
> 
> I'll be using the same case, power supply, video card etc so I won't
> list them all twice.  Just listing the things that have to be changed.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128431
> 
> GIGABYTE GA-770T-USB3 AM3 AMD 770 USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard.  The only
> thing I don't like about this is that it doesn't have a com port for my
> UPS.  I guess a adapter will be found somewhere.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103675
> 
> AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket
> AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor.  This should fit the mobo according to the
> website.  Agree?
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148325
> 
> Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
> Desktop Memory.  According to newegg this fits the mobo.  Agree?
> 
> I only plan to build one or the other not both.  I would like to make
> sure everything should fit fine but I would also like to get a opinion.
> I would like a opinion on whether build #2 would be better in the long
> run?  It appears to be a bit faster although the price is not much
> different.  Build #1 is $611.92.  Build #2 is $637.92.  That doesn't
> include shipping but a lot of the items have free shipping anyway.
> Basically, I need this to last me several years since I can't afford to
> rebuild every few years.  Also, one reason for the HUGE CPU cooler, I
> run folding in the winter.  Helps heat the place up a bit.  lol  My
> current rig with a Volcano 12 runs at about 90F at full load.  I would
> like to run pretty close to that since it just makes the CPU last longer.
> 
> I'm open to ideas, discussion, problems and opinions.  I mostly want to
> make sure each build will work and which I should build.
> 
> Thanks for your time and replies.  If you need more info, let me know.
> 
> Dale
> 
> :-)  :-)

-- 
Matthew Marlowe    /  858-400-7430  /    DeployLinux Consulting, Inc
  Professional Linux Hosting and Systems Administration Services
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