[Icculus]

I'm looking at Newegg and everything here has pretty good reviews. I just thought I might be able to get a fresh set of eyes on it and possibly recommend a build for other G2Gers:

Intel i5-2500 - $209.99 (includes blu-ray burner)
Asus P7P55D-E - $124.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - $43.99
RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-530SS 530W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular LED Power Supply - $39.99
ASUS ENGTX550 TI DC/DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video ... - $129.99
Seagate Barracuda Green ST1500DL003 1.5TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $64.99 (Used for media storage)
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKX 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive - $39.99 (OSes including W7 and Ubuntu)
Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm ... - $49.99

Total: $703.92


My questions: Is the processor fast enough to match the memory?
Can I eventually use a 6Gb/s HD on a 3G SATA port?
Is the PSU powerful enough? I like the modular ones but don't want to pay a whole lot...
Is there anything else I might be overlooking that I'll regret once I get it (form factor, compatibility?)

I'm going to keep it for general use at the moment. Probably a PS3 media server. Eventually will probably hook it up to a TV and act as a fully used machine.


Thanks guys!

Edited by Icculus, 19 July 2011 - 06:47 PM.

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You mention W7, but I don't it listed for purchase. Note OEM/System Builder licenses for Windows that came with, or was purchased for another computer is NOT transferable to this new computer.

RAIDMAX is not a brand PSU I would buy. I like Corsair and Antec. 530W is powerful enough, but does not leave much room for future expansion.

I generally recommend 6Gb of RAM for triple channel motherboards and 8Gb of RAM for dual-channel - and that then requires 64-bit OS.

SATA is frontwards and backwards compatible. But of course, speeds toggle down to the slowest device.

RAM should be the same specs as RAM found on the motherboard's QVL.

[Digerati]

You mention W7, but I don't it listed for purchase. Note OEM/System Builder licenses for Windows that came with, or was purchased for another computer is NOT transferable to this new computer.

RAIDMAX is not a brand PSU I would buy. I like Corsair and Antec. 530W is powerful enough, but does not leave much room for future expansion.

I generally recommend 6Gb of RAM for triple channel motherboards and 8Gb of RAM for dual-channel - and that then requires 64-bit OS.

SATA is frontwards and backwards compatible. But of course, speeds toggle down to the slowest device.

RAM should be the same specs as RAM found on the motherboard's QVL.

[Icculus]

Excellent. I will definitely heed your advice on the PSU.

I also left room for expansion to a total of 16G memory, 8 using my current sticks. I'll probably up it later.

Great to know about the SATA compatibility. I think I'll hook the BluRay and the OS HD up to the 6Gb ports. The storage one I'll hook up to the 3G.

I did change the memory. The CPU only supports 1333, so I saved a few pennies there.



Thank you!

[Digerati]

I think I'll hook the BluRay and the OS HD up to the 6Gb ports.

That's fine, if they are SATA III devices. If not, then you will not see any advantage to using the faster ports.