My new PC-system: your advice please...

[andyr74]

I'm planning to buy a new pc system. It will be used for video-editing, tv capturing, some game (I'm not a hardcore gamer),...

Some of my wishes for the new system are:
for the case:
- 4 x 5.25'' extern: dvdrw, dvdrom, removable backup HD from my old pc, 1 reserve
- 2 x 3.5'' extern: floppy, maybe iomega-zip drive from my old pc
- 5 (or 4) x 3.5'' intern: new HD, 2x 80GB maxtor from my old pc in raid 0.

for the motherboard:
- 4 x sata 2
- PCIe x16 for graphics
- 3x PCI : TV-capture card
- 2x (prefer 3) IDE ports: dvdrw, dvdrom, 2 x HD raid
- raid possibility for ide HD (or else i have to add an raid pci cart
- lan, sound ,... on board

The system I thought of so far is:
- pentium D 830 (=dual core 3 GHz)
- motherboard Asus P5LD2 Deluxe
- 1 GB memory (DDR2?)
- kast: ? Coolermaster, Q-tec,...)
- power 450W
- 2 casefans (or is 1 enough)
- graphics: XFX 6600GT (PCIe, 256 MB DDR3): The graphics cart is one of the items i'm don't know very much about. So many type, memorys, speeds,...
- Harddisk: Maxtor 250 GB SATA II
- DVDRW, DVDROM, Floppy
- Hauppage winTV PVR 150
- WinXP home
- mouse, keyboard

Is this system any good? What could inprove it whitout a big extra cost? more memory? another graphics cart?
Your advice please.

[ROF]

That system looks good to me. I'd add a second hard drive though. The XFX 6600 is a quality card at a good price. As for the Asus P5LD2 Deluxe. That's a wise choice and money well spent when compared to the budget P5LD2.

[guns1inger]

Throw in an 80GB disk for system and application installs, and keep the 250 for data/video caps etc.

As soon as you can afford it, throw in a third disk so you can cap to one and export/encode to the other.

[andyr74]

Throw in an 80GB disk for system and application installs, and keep the 250 for data/video caps etc.

As soon as you can afford it, throw in a third disk so you can cap to one and export/encode to the other.

I'm planning to use the first and new SATA drive (250GB) for the system and apps. I also have 2 "old" Maxtor 80GB 7200t 8MB cache (IDE drives)from my old system that i'm planning to use in a Raid 0 configuration. I think that is possible with the motherboard i mentioned. And the speed of these 2 in a riad 0 would also be good i think.

[ROF]

Your limiting factor on the amount of drives will be your power supply. the Asus P5LD2 Deluxe takes plenty of power not to mention the energy hog that is the Pentium D and the XfX 6600. You may find you don't have enough molex connectors after all fans, cards, and peripherals are installed.

[andyr74]

Your limiting factor on the amount of drives will be your power supply. the Asus P5LD2 Deluxe takes plenty of power not to mention the energy hog that is the Pentium D and the XfX 6600. You may find you don't have enough molex connectors after all fans, cards, and peripherals are installed.

I don't think it will be a problem if the total powersupply is enough (400W a 450W of more if it is advised). I can work with splitters for all the hard drives and DVD drives. In my current system i have 7 IDE drives, 2 dvd and max 5 HD (3 permanent and 2 removable as a backup drive). I used 3 splitters in total, even a splitter on a splitter, to supply all drives with power.

[ROF]

It may work that way in your current system but remember the Asus P5LD2 deluxe is power hungry as is the chip and your graphics subsystem choice. Just something you may want to consider as you begin to add peripherals. The Asus P5LD2 Deluxe has no fuse so when you blow the power supply you may end up with damaged equipment.

[andyr74]

It may work that way in your current system but remember the Asus P5LD2 deluxe is power hungry as is the chip and your graphics subsystem choice. Just something you may want to consider as you begin to add peripherals. The Asus P5LD2 Deluxe has no fuse so when you blow the power supply you may end up with damaged equipment.

So, what is a proper way to supply power for many drives (hard disks) like I would like to do in a system like this? Bigger powersupply, another motherboard,... ?

[ROF]

It may work that way in your current system but remember the Asus P5LD2 deluxe is power hungry as is the chip and your graphics subsystem choice. Just something you may want to consider as you begin to add peripherals. The Asus P5LD2 Deluxe has no fuse so when you blow the power supply you may end up with damaged equipment.

So, what is a proper way to supply power for many drives (hard disks) like I would like to do in a system like this? Bigger powersupply, another motherboard,... ?

Bigger Power Supply is in order. For your current configuration as listed in your original post the 450 should be more than sufficient. You might even get away with adding a drive, but I wouldn't go hog wild and adding a bunch of drives to a system just for the sake of storage. I'd buy an external case and use it to power your extra drives. Make sure to buy one that easily comes apart as some have tabs that break rather easily after multiple uses. I use two external cases with about 10 different hard drives for portable storage and OS testing and monitoring. That way you only have the drive you need at the time and aren't wasting alot of energy or taking the chance of corrupting your system with insufficient power.

[JSB1]

IMHO - throw away the Iomega-zip drive....while you are at it get rid of the floppy also... for me, they always fail when you need them. Just get a USB flash drive.

JSB

[ROF]

There may still be a requirement for those drives. Some of my customers need them to continue to provide the level of support to their clients or family.

[JSB1]

There may still be a requirement for those drives. Some of my customers need them to continue to provide the level of support to their clients or family.

Point taken....
But for the personal computer... scrap that outdated and unreliable technology.

JSB

[andyr74]

IMHO - throw away the Iomega-zip drive....while you are at it get rid of the floppy also... for me, they always fail when you need them. Just get a USB flash drive.

JSB

Adding my old zip-drive was just a thought. I probably won't add it until I realy need it (and it may be possible that this is never going to happen).
I feel a floppy is sometimes still neccecary.

[ROF]

The floppy has probably in 90% of the general publics system is unused. It has certainly been outmoded as a source of storage. It still has several uses such as certain OS recoveries require the use of a boot disc separate from your bootable CD. If you aren't going to be using the floppy drive or haven't used it in the last year I usually recommend against having one in your system. In my opinion it's just one more piece of hardware that is using power and taking up an available 3 inch slot. My recommendation to those who need floppy access for storage is to purchase an external floppy or purchase an internal floppy that also has flash card support.

[andyr74]

There are some reasons I want to keep a floppy:
- I sometime want to test a linux version. I then like to use a bootfloppy so i don't have to mess with the MBR or windonws bootmenu.
- recovery or image making software
- ...

I don't intend to use it as a storage device.

BTW. the floppy is one of the minor devices in my proposed system. My main concern is about the power, graphics cart, motherboard,...

[JSB1]

OK I will get off my soapbox at the risk of a threadjack... But I have been burned so many times with floppies not reading from one system to another. I am glad you find them usefull and I hope they do not fail for you.

JSB

[ROF]

You might want to consider a multi-function floppy or an external. for power reasons the floppy consumes minimal power so that's not a concern. Another consideration is the looks of your new tower. To me a tower with a floppy drive looks old. I don't know why maybe it's just my personal view but it's just one added piece of equipment that rarely gets used. if you are using it for a storage an external is a great idea. This will allow you to use the floppy drive in any system with the required port to support the enclosure which is typically USB. Given the choice of a USB or USB2 floppy choose the cheaper one. The transfer rate will not make any difference for this device.

[andyr74]

Compared to the cost of the rest of the system, a floppy doesn't cost anything. Does it look old with a floppy? I don't know and maybe I don't care.

How do the following hard disks compare to each other:
(- new SATA 150)
- new SATA 300 (eg. Maxtor 250 GB)
- RAID 0 of 2 x maxtor 80GB 8MB cach 7200t (my 2 old drives)

[ROF]

Compared to the cost of the rest of the system, a floppy doesn't cost anything. Does it look old with a floppy? I don't know and maybe I don't care.

How do the following hard disks compare to each other:
(- new SATA 150)
- new SATA 300 (eg. Maxtor 250 GB)
- RAID 0 of 2 x maxtor 80GB 8MB cach 7200t (my 2 old drives)

The Sata 150 will consume less power than either of your older IDE drives. The Sata 300 will consume roughly the same power as your graphics card choice. I have never owned an SATA 300 so I can't speak about it's relative speed but I can say the SATA150 will show significant performance improvement over your IDE drives.

[andyr74]

Its a new system, so I think i go for the newest = sata 300. (If it is not to much pricewise compared to a sata150)

And I'm also adding my 2 old maxtors in a raid 0. I read somewhere 2 IDE drives in raid0 are better/faster than a sata150. But i don't know about sata300.

[ROF]

I never read anything like that. Was it a web link?

[andyr74]

I never read anything like that. Was it a web link?

Yes it was on a website, but i don't know anymore where it was. It was documented with some benchmark results. I don't know how reliable it was. It was a comparison between a sata150 and 2 ide drive in raid0.

[ROF]

I don't think you will see a significant performance increase by using RAID0 for your two IDE drives when compared to SATA150. i also do not like RAID0 configurations for home PCs because your MTBF increases and once one of the drives fails you lose/corrupt info on both. I'd be interested in hearing more about whether RAID0 configs for 7200RPM HDD will function faster and more efficiently then SATA150 though if anyone knows about this stuff.