Cheap build for my dad

[Charlie98]

Returning the 4130T and getting a 4130. Ordered a USB 3.0 card, but just realized this case has an alternative 2.0 connector for motherboards like this.

Damn.

It does? I've never heard of that... but I don't have a case with only 3.0 up front. Hmmm...

 

[goobernoodles]

It does? I've never heard of that... but I don't have a case with only 3.0 up front. Hmmm...

I have the same case but I used the 3.0 plug on mine so it didn't really register in my brain. I was able to cancel the order for the USB card before it shipped and with my trial Amazon prime membership, next day shipping for the 4130 was $4. Should be installing the OS later today.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

 

[goobernoodles]

Has anyone ever shipped an assembled desktop? Obviously wrap the thing in a lot of bubble wrap, make sure it doesn't move in the box and label it fragile, but... what about the inside? I suppose since there's no massive GPU or heatsink it will be fine, but would say, putting bubblewrap on the inside of the case cause static buildup?

 

[Charlie98]

I built a GP PC for my inlaws for a Christmas present... it bounced around in the back of our pickup all the way from Texas to Nevada. I put it back in the original case packaging (in this case a Fractal Core 1000) and it did fine. I have also had PC's shipped to me (Dell) that arrived all in one piece and working.

If you still have the original case packaging, repack it in there, and then take more rigid cardboard and make an outer box around the case box, and tape the bejeebers out of it. Should make the trip fine.

I was able to cancel the order for the USB card before it shipped

Cool!

 

[mfenn]

The T version of the CPU was a mistake. I think I'll probably return it and get the normal version. Thanks for pointing that out. My dad is currently using 2x 1tb drives, one for an OS and one for Data. He's only using <200gb on the data drive, so I'm going to back up his data and profile and throw them into a RAID-1 array since he's using nowhere near 1tb anyway.

Sucks about the front USB ports. I might just go to Fry's and pick up a card for him.

A RAID 1 only protects you against hardware failure, it doesn't protect you against malware, data corruption, or just plain old user mistakes because software-induced errors on the first drive are instantly copied over to the second drive.

A better use for that second drive would be for backups. With some software like Acronis True Image, you can keep backups of multiple points in time and restore to any of them in about 20 minutes.