Nice to know, Scott. I will archive your write-up for future reference.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
On 1/3/2014 8:36 PM, Scott Gomez wrote:
> For those looking into a new system who may be interested (the rest of you
> may want to skip lots of techie stuff, following):
>
> I just recently built a new system from selected parts, after my old
> system's motherboard (or CPU -- I've got no means of independently testing
> those two parts) died. The old system was about 8-10 years old (old enough
> that I've forgotten when I got it). The objective was to get a system that
> should be useful for some 5+ years, have full control over parts used and
> hopefully save some money. An equivalent pre-built system (had there been
> one) would have run about 35+% more than what I spent, as far as I can
> determine.
>
> Here's the part list:
>
> ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD
> Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
>
> AMD FX-8350 Vishera 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Eight-Core
> Desktop Processor FD8350FRHKBOX
>
> ADATA XPG V1.0 series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3
> 12800) Desktop Memory Model AX3U1600GW8G9-2G
>
> CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire
> Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen
> CPU Certified Haswell Ready
>
> Seagate Hybrid Drives ST1000LM014 1TB MLC/8GB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s NCQ
> 2.5" Laptop SSHD -Bare Drive
>
> Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, come with Five Fans,
> window side panel, top HDD dock
>
> I purchased all the parts from Newegg, but they're readily available from
> many sources. I kept my old, smaller-capacity 2.5" Seagate hybrid drive
> that was my existing system drive as it was less than 5 years old. The new
> Seagate is my data storage device. I re-used my existing AMD FireGL video
> board, ASUS DVD burner and Rosewill internal memory card reader.
>
> I found the "Build System" feature at pcpartpicker.com very useful for this
> build. It lists thousands of parts, performs "sanity checks" on one's
> selected combination of parts, and also displays the best available prices
> from multiple vendors for each item as well as a running total of the cost
> of the build.
>
> The AMD processor was chosen because it outperforms the class-equivalent
> Intel processor on many tests--at a much lower price point--and is more
> than adequate to my needs. The Rosewill case was chosen because it has an
> integrated SATA 'toaster' on its top (which will recover some space on my
> desk, and reduce cable clutter), others with similar connections are
> available from other vendors. The case also accommodates either 2.5" or
> 3.5" drives in most slots. I chose the ASUS motherboard because it uses
> military-grade certified parts where possible, and all solid capacitors. At
> work we've been seeing a relatively high early failure rate or short
> overall lifetime of motherboards in the last few years. This is across our
> installed base of about 1000 machines, all bought from reputable
> 'name-brand' vendors. The failures have been mostly caused by failure of
> cheap capacitors. I'd recommend making sure any personally purchased
> motherboard for a custom-configured system uses all solid caps; it adds
> very little to the price
>
> The *really* nice thing was being able to simply plug in my existing system
> drive and start right up. Fedora Linux simply detected the new hardware and
> re-configured itself on start-up. A plus was that the open source drivers
> for AMD graphics cards are getting better and better rapidly, and are much
> easier to deal with than those required for Nvidia's GPUs. Not a single
> program had to be re-installed; nothing had to be downloaded from some
> manufacturer's website. It Just Works.
>
> The most difficult portion of the whole build was setting up to live copy
> my data from my old data drive to my new one, in such a way as to preserve
> mount point names so I wouldn't have to re-index photos with Digikam. All
> of about 15 minutes of extra work, not counting the actual copying time. No
> cloud services required.
>
> Of course, you could also install Windows on this hardware, instead of
> Fedora (or other Linux distro). But why would you ask for trouble? :-)
>
> ---
> Scott
>
>
> On Fri, Jan 3, 2014 at 3:10 PM, Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> On 1/3/2014 2:10 PM, Jim Nichols wrote:
>>> Thanks, Moose, for the analysis. I took a look at LightRoom, and found
>>> that the latest version will not run on my old XP system. I will
>>> probably get a new computer in the Spring, after my tax work is
>>> completed, and might choose to upgrade my software at that time. I
>>> really dread setting up a new system, so I procrastinate!
>> Oh man, do I ever hear that! I really need a new desktop. I think this one
>> has been in service longer than any of its
>> predecessors. But I so much am NOT looking forward to the process.
>>
>> In the past, I've always installed on the new system only what I know I
>> will really use, then leave the old system
>> running. Then as I find other things I want/need, I can use them on the
>> old system, then install on the new. When I've
>> not had occasion to use the old system for a year or so, it goes into
>> storage, and the one before it can be dumped.
>>
>> Being me, my computers end up with amazing numbers of programs on them. I
>> have no idea at the moment what quite a few
>> are for. The gentle transition gets rid of the chaff without risk of
>> cluttering up the new one with dross nor missing
>> something I need. It's tried and proven, but a pain I'm not looking
>> forward to.
>>
>>> I certainly want no part of the latest developments in cloud storage.
>> They are quite useful for a family or group with various sorts of devices.
>> When I take a pic with my iPhone, it appears
>> automagically in the DropBox folders on my computers and Carol's computer
>> and iPad. I would consider using it as a
>> further backup, but the number of GBs I would need to store aren't
>> anywhere close to free.
>>
>> Reticent About Replacement Moose
>>
>> --
>> What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
>> --
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>>
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