- Aug 17, 2010
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I haven't built a PC in around 5 years, as I've been at college since and have used a laptop exclusively. Now that I've got my own place and a bit of cash, I want to build a new desktop for several reasons. I want a PC that will store all of my and my roommates music, much of which is lossless (and >200GB of classical and jazz alone ripped from the school's library
), as well as movies and TV shows.
I also plan on running a music and web server from this computer, probably a simple sql/php setup with either lighttpd or apache. Based on these requirements, I want a powerful computer with a lot of storage, but in a small space. Here are the specs I've picked out:
Power supply - Antec BP550 Plus 550W - $70
Case - LIAN LI PC-V351B - $90
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-H55M-USB3 - $110
CPU - Intel Core i5-760 - $210
Heatsink/fan for the CPU - Retail
Memory - G.SKILL Trident 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-2000 - $125
Primary hard drive - OCZ Vertex 2 120GB - $310
Secondary hard drive - WD Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB X2 - $240
Primary optical drive - LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer - $22
Video card - ZOTAC ZT-20201-10L GeForceGT220 1GB - $79
Monitor - Existing 47" 1080p TV
Mouse/keyboard - Have
Operating System - Either Linux or OSX86 - Free
Total - ~$1260
I am going to use either (K)Ubuntu or OSX on the machine, as both have great support for XBMC with nVidia Video Acceleration (thus the choice for an nVidia GPU). I'm going to use one 2TB drive as the primary, and use a nightly rsync script to sync to the 2nd 2TB drive.
I will probably invest in a nice HTPC mouse/keyboard combo, but my mian concern now is the system components. I also have a copy of OSX already because my laptop is a MacbookPro.
My budget is <$1200, and while I realize that the SSD is the biggest expense, I was thinking that it would also have a significant impact on performance.
I'll be building this computer in the US, specifically NYC, so if anyone knows of any places in the city that have cheaper deals on parts, let me know. Any other criticism, positive or negative, is welcomed and encouraged. Thanks.
I also plan on running a music and web server from this computer, probably a simple sql/php setup with either lighttpd or apache. Based on these requirements, I want a powerful computer with a lot of storage, but in a small space. Here are the specs I've picked out:
Power supply - Antec BP550 Plus 550W - $70
Case - LIAN LI PC-V351B - $90
Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-H55M-USB3 - $110
CPU - Intel Core i5-760 - $210
Heatsink/fan for the CPU - Retail
Memory - G.SKILL Trident 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-2000 - $125
Primary hard drive - OCZ Vertex 2 120GB - $310
Secondary hard drive - WD Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB X2 - $240
Primary optical drive - LITE-ON 24X DVD Writer - $22
Video card - ZOTAC ZT-20201-10L GeForceGT220 1GB - $79
Monitor - Existing 47" 1080p TV
Mouse/keyboard - Have
Operating System - Either Linux or OSX86 - Free
Total - ~$1260
I am going to use either (K)Ubuntu or OSX on the machine, as both have great support for XBMC with nVidia Video Acceleration (thus the choice for an nVidia GPU). I'm going to use one 2TB drive as the primary, and use a nightly rsync script to sync to the 2nd 2TB drive.
I will probably invest in a nice HTPC mouse/keyboard combo, but my mian concern now is the system components. I also have a copy of OSX already because my laptop is a MacbookPro.
My budget is <$1200, and while I realize that the SSD is the biggest expense, I was thinking that it would also have a significant impact on performance.
I'll be building this computer in the US, specifically NYC, so if anyone knows of any places in the city that have cheaper deals on parts, let me know. Any other criticism, positive or negative, is welcomed and encouraged. Thanks.