Home Office Build, Dell Alternative, maybe Raid 1?

Thanks for the reply.
After reading some more threads on multitasking, maybe that is not a real concern. His speed issues are probably due to a full hard drive, and probably inadequate RAM. Not sure what processor he has, and the external has USB 2.0 connection.
All of which I intend to upgrade.
He may not really need a quad core, but I'm looking at that.
A10 looks way better from the APU side of things.
As for sata3 ports... I'm confused on the ports.
Seems that the mechanical drives are slower than sata2 speeds anyway? So the SSD should go on a sata3 port, maybe the rest don't really matter?

Why do the Intel boards only support a few sata3 ports, compared to the AMD boards? Looks like you have to go up around $200 for an Intel board that has 6 x sata3 ports.

Also for benchmarks, I'm looking at the WD 1T caviar blue, EZEX.
I have 2 of those in my first build, and they seem fine.
The warranty is a lot shorter.
I'm thinking blacks for the warranty and reputation, but performance looks way better for the blues.

Thanks for the RAM advice. Looks like a good call.

Got some ideas from that quad core suggestion, now I'm thinking Haswell.
PCPartPicker part list:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($135.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.98 @ Outlet PC)
Case: Thermaltake Commander MS/I Snow Edition (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($32.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($47.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($86.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $772.86


or something like that!

[/quotemsg]

i5 would probably be overkill but doesn't hurt to have the latest tech if your willing to pay for it. You can also go a bit cheaper on the motherboard because you do not need that high end of a board.

You are correct, HDDs do not benefit from SATA 3, but LGA1150 motherboards mostly have SATA anyway. I believe the reason for the price difference on # of sata 3 ports has to do with age. Older chip sets when they first came out only had a couple of 3 ports because it was new, then they just never changed them. More modern parts like LGA1150 are almost entirely 3 and you don't need to go over 100 to get them. Its also possible that the manufacturers look at the cost of the parts that take advantage of features and adjust the price to match the price range of the people buying the parts.

One thing to note, I was thinging the case I suggested was micro atx for some reason, if you want a smaller case you should probably change it and get a micro atx motherboard. (Most ATX cases can use micro ATX motherboards but ATX boards are to big to fit in micro cases.)[/quotemsg]

Thanks again, FastGunna.
You are very right on with mobo observation, an Asus H87-PLUS LGA would be $30 less and fill the bill. I like the Asus reputation which is probably wicked subjective...but we are not clocking the CPU, so Zero need for the Z chip. Thanks! Just need RAID.
Any $$ saved can go towards a better case or whatever.
Beer, for example.
You are pushing me into research mode, thank you! (urrp..)

ATX is OK, I was thinking micro for space, but it's not important. An ATX case probably offers me more options anyways.
Mid tower case...whatever. ATX mobo, fine.
I just want some USB 3 on the front, why not 2 ports?
One is an option, I'll figure it against other advantages of the case/mobo combo. (Are there headers etc...)
6 USB ports on the mobo (rear ports) is an upgrade!
At least 2 rear ports should be 3.0
You get the picture. Relatively modern configuration, these options narrow down quickly with other factors in the mix.
Thanks again!
I'm looking at an $800 build budget, including windows 8.
I do not see need for a graphics card, or associated power, in this build.
Modern CPU's are available with some kind of graphics for office work, probably good enough whether APU or Intel effort.
(I am Googling now, how good is Intel integrated graphics in the Haswell generation?)

I am leaning towards a 2 drive (or 3 or 4) RAID1 as appropriate for this application.

Then we run down the Carbonite interface that he is already paying for, and/or triple copy to another mechanical drive, and I don't see how it gets much better.
Somewhere in there....we have liftoff.

To anybody else reading this, data backup is a big issue, what do you recommend?
We are prepared to do cloud service file backup if there are better options. Carbonite is the current service. Do they suck?

Thanks very much!

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1FSIx


CPU: Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus H87-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.98 @ Outlet PC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($58.98 @ Outlet PC)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($86.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $735.86

something like THIS!

Thanks!
I am looking at that Asus H87M-E, and thinking about a mini tower solution using uATX mobo. Got a wheeled computer enclosure that matches desk and it will be cramped for mid-tower case. Tower could hang out the back tho, so I'm not ruling it out. Might be better to use the big box and get some real air moving front to back since the sides are tight either way. Hmm.
Maybe we lose the furniture and get a dolly.

That Corsair memory at $49 is not a real deal, it must be purchased in a bundle of other components to get that price.

Also looking at the PSU. Some are not fully vetted for Haswell, looks like sleep mode might fool PSU sometimes, can always shut off sleep function. But still.

Thanks again!
I found qualified vendor lists for the mobo but they are apparently not always reliable. Gives an idea though.
Here:
http://support.asus.com/QVL.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=1&s=45&m=H87M-E&os=&hashedid=khjfbKhrFHrDQ3NW

That Antec looks good, but I would probably go with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151119

Try adding that Corsair memory to your cart!