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Gonna start building my new setup tonight! WOOHOO!

M

miston

Member
I've had the case, power supply, and the Plextor's for about a month, but I couldn't decide on a MOTHERBOARD.

I wanted SLI X16 (even though I probably want use it, but SLI X16 motherboards only cost abut $50 bucks more, so you might as well get it for the upgradebility. The Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe only has 5 internal sata ports, which wasn't enough (its enough ports, but I want each SATA controller run a RAID 0 array), and the audio on the Asus sucked.

The MSI is the perfect board, especially since I plan on moving it to an HTPC I plan on building in a few months (after AMD releases their new chipset)

Case: Cooler Master - CM Stacker - Black BTX Full Tower
Power Supply: OCZ OCZ600ADJSLI ATX12V 2.01 600watt SLI SATA
Motherboard: MSI K8N Diamond Plus SLI X16, Dual Sata 2, Soundblaster Audigy
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ OR 4400+ Toledo 1MB+1MB L2 Cache
Memory: OCZ Gold GX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 500 (PC 4000)
Graphics: eVGA 256-P2-N529-AX Geforce 7800GTX 256MB
OS Hardrive #1: WD 10,000K RPM Raptor 74GB SATA150
OS Hardrive #2: WD 10,000K RPM Raptor 74GB SATA150
Hardrive #1: WD Caviar RE2 WD4000YR 400GB SATA150 RAID-specific
Hardrive #2: WD Caviar RE2 WD4000YR 400GB SATA150 RAID-specific
Optical Drive #1: Plextor slot load PX-716AL/SW IDE
Optical Drive #2: Plextor slot load PX-716AL/SW IDE
Monitor: NEC LCD1970GX-BK Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor
Keyboard & Mouse: Logitech MX3100 Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
Card Reader: LINKSKEY LKA-CR15B 19-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader/Writer
OS: Microsoft XP Pro OEM
External HDD Encosure: Rosewill RX30-U2FAB BLACK Alm 3.5" USB2.0 Firewire 800
UPS: APC BACK-UPS RS 800VA 120V BLACK USB BR800BLK


Question: the CM Stacker comes with a 4 in 3 hardrive cage (4 3.5 drives that take up only 3 5.25 bays). I ordered another one because I wanted some space in between the drives. Due to the heat I don't want to cram 2 10,000 RPM drives next too 2 7200 drives. Is my thinking correct or am I being too cautious?

In anycase the 2nd hardrive cage won't be here for another week, am I okay putting all 4 drives in one cage right on top of the other? The cage has a fan.
 
That's for a HTPC?

You craaaazy man!

Noise is the only issue i'd have with it, but performance wise it's hard to beat.
 
The CM Stacker is an awesome case. I have mine maxed with two additional 4in3 modules and a 5.25" to 3.5" adapter. That's 13 HDDs and one optical drive if anyone's counting. Yes, the dual power supply feature came in useful. 😉 LMK if you want to buy an unused but opened CrossFlow fan (My full-lenght PCI cards block it from where it should mount).

Ordering the second 4in3 module is good if not just for the additional fan intake. The BTX thermal module provides the same capability I think but if you aren't planning to repurpose it as a BTX machine in the future you'll get better use out of this. I found a site selling 4in3 modules for less than $20 but I can't remember it at the moment.
 
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
That's for a HTPC?

You craaaazy man!

Noise is the only issue i'd have with it, but performance wise it's hard to beat.
Click to expand...



No no no, that's my DESKTOP. But in a few months I'll move that motherboard/cpu/memory and put it in a HTPC
 
Originally posted by: Looney
Why do you have 2 plextor drives?
Click to expand...

I want to be able to burn 2 DVDs at once

Or at the very least load both DVDs and get them ready, then all I have to do is hit "burn" from my couch via my laptop via PCanywhere (or some similar software)

I actually plan on getting a CD burner in the hopes I can burn 3 CDs at once. (I burn a lot of live shows like the Grateful Dead)
 
Originally posted by: miston
Originally posted by: Looney
Why do you have 2 plextor drives?
Click to expand...

I want to be able to burn 2 DVDs at once

Or at the very least load both DVDs and get them ready, then all I have to do is hit "burn" from my couch via my laptop via PCanywhere (or some similar software)

I actually plan on getting a CD burner in the hopes I can burn 3 CDs at once. (I burn a lot of live shows like the Grateful Dead)
Click to expand...

Your HTPC will then be more powerful than my desktop number cruncher 🙁

Jealousy is a bad thing.
 
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