Planning my first build.. need your advice friends

Joy_28 · Jul 20, 2017

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Approximate Purchase Date: Now

Budget Range: ~ $800 After Rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: (Media Server/File Server)

Parts Not Required: (Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: (amazon.in)

Country: India

Parts Preferences: None specifically. I am looking for a quality build.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: I already have a monitor, for the one off situations, where I will need to administer the PC. 99.99% of the time, the PC won't need a monitor.

Additional Comments: I am looking to build a micro-atx desktop, that will sit inside a cabinet, and which I dont want to have to touch ever again - if I can help it. It needs to run 24x7x365, without a single squeak.
External powered and Unpowered HDDs (all WD - total 6) will be plugged in to its various USB ports.
This PC will be put on my network backbone (Cat6) , and serve all my devices for various purposes -

Sample usage scenarios: my work related backups from my office PC , my personal laptop has itunes library - but it will actually read the mp3 files off from a shared drive on this PC, my son and daughter would sometimes use the external drives (from android devices) and watch movies, or I might decide to connect to it from my bravia smart tv and watch movies or browse my photo albums.
There could be atleast 3-4 active & connected devices to this PC, getting served files in streaming mode.

I wanted to make this a budget build, but due to the fact, that I am a little skeptical of Intel's published policy to mark a CPU end of life - after 2-3 years, I left caution to the winds. In addition, I can't help but think - that I just may need some additional flexibility/extensibility in the future.

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This is the list of parts I selected.

1) The Case:
Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-M2 MicroATX Gaming Case with Window Panel (No Power Supply) - CC-9011087-WW

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.in/Corsair-Carbide-SPEC-M2-MicroATX-Gaming/dp/B017WL52YS?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A25RNQZGZ4W2DG

Manufacturer link: http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/carbide-series-spec-m2-microatx-gaming-case

2) Cooling:
The case above comes with a single 120 mm fan. And the case has space for 4 additional fans. Since the PC will be housed in am enclosed glass/wood cabinet (the only place I can hide it away!), I opted to go for the max amount of cooling possible by venting the case, and the cabinet where it will sit. I have already installed a 6" dia cabinet cooler fan running off AC mains for the glass/wood cabinet. So the job for the 4 additional fans will be to disperse hot air for this cabinet fan to process.

So I opted for a pair of these twin packs:
Corsair Air Series AF120 LED Quiet Edition High Airflow Fan Twin Pack - Blue (CO-9050016-BLED)
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.in/Corsair-AF120-Quiet-High-Airflow/dp/B00F6S10KK?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_2&smid=AYAZOP86CGXY9

Manufacturer link: http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/air-series-af120-led-blue-quiet-edition-high-airflow-120mm-fan-twin-pack

3) Power Supply
My decision was to go for a modular PSU due to cable management concerns. I believe also, that it is more spec than what my build really requires in current configuration. But since, I am investing quite a lot of money into this build, I would like to keep my options open for future extensibility such as adding graphics card or additional HDD or RAM in the future.

CORSAIR CXM series CX650M 650W 80 PLUS BRONZE Haswell Ready ATX12V & EPS12V Modular Power Supply
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.in/CORSAIR-CX650M-BRONZE-Haswell-Modular/dp/B01B72W1VA?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_3&smid=A2W54MYNIPYTO9

Manufacturer link: http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/cx-series-cx650m-650-watt-80-plus-bronze-certified-modular-atx-psu-uk

4) CPU
I was really on the lookout for a value for money processor, that was not about to reach end of life for next couple years. Given that in future I might use this PC for other purposes, I did not want the CPU to be a bottleneck. I checked both AMD and Intel and ultimately settled on the i3 7th gen platform as my choice.

Intel Core i3-7100 7th Gen LGA 1151 Processor

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.in/Intel-Core-i3-7100-1151-Processor/dp/B01NCESRJX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_7&smid=A1AXQXLTPR366R

Manufacturer link: https://www.intel.in/content/www/in/en/products/processors/core/i3-processors/i3-7100.html?wapkw=core+i3+7100

5) Motherboard
This was an important decision factor - considering, that I was looking for 24x7 durability but affordable. The following product was advertised as such, and I chose it after considering Gigabyte and other Asus boards. An important consideration in this choice (aside from the form factor) was the chipset. I would have preferred Z270, but these were quite expensive, besides being made for gaming, which I do not require. The H270 boards are cheaper, but also lack certain features. The Q270 seemed mid-range.

ASUS Motherboard PRIME Q270M-C CSM

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.in/ASUS-Motherboard-PRIME-Q270M-C-CSM/dp/B01MR0H84F?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_6&smid=AYAZOP86CGXY9

Manufacturer link: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-Q270M-C/

6) Main memory
Since it's a file server, I did not want to go overboard on expensive memory. Then also, I did not find any ASUS certified DDR4 on amazon.

I have opted for a pair of these:

G.SKILL DDR4 2400MHZ AEGIS SERIES (4GB).

Amazon link:http://www.amazon.in/G-SKILL-DDR4-2400MHZ-AEGIS-4GB/dp/B01AIZUPW4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_5&smid=AXPHJ4KBOYXKY

Manufacturer link: https://www.gskill.com/en/product/f4-2400c15s-4gis

7) Storage
While there will be external storage attached to the PC (via USB) - that would necessarily be for content, and not any OS. I wanted the PC to boot from an internal hard drive. The following was the most appropriate choice considering the price point.

Seagate New BarraCuda ST1000DM010 1TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Desktop

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.in/Seagate-BarraCuda-ST1000DM010-Desktop-Latest/dp/B01LNJBA2I?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_4&smid=AT95IG9ONZD7S

Manufacturer link: http://www.seagate.com/in/en/support/internal-hard-drives/desktop-hard-drives/barracuda-3-5/?sku=ST1000DM010#specs

Now some questions:
Question 1) Asus supports the 1151 socket, but does not list the i3-7100 amongst the list of supported CPUs (see list here: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/PRIME-Q270M-C/HelpDesk_CPU/) Interestingly Intel says this motherboard is supported. (see list here http://processormatch.intel.com/MotherBoards/CompatibleBoards?componentName=i3-7100).
Who do I believe?

Question 2) I am of the view that my current usage will not require a graphics card (no monitor 99.99% of the time) Is this an okay assumption? Will it be okay (cooling/power limits) to go ahead and plug in a value for money graphics card later ?

Question 3) Most importantly - Will the above parts work together? Some of these parts are not returnable. and others are being routed from Amazon global in US with relatively longer ship times. Its possible I may find incompatibility after the assembly - so I want to be absolutely sure, that I dont have to return anything unless it's defective.

Deeply appreciate an early answer. Thanks in advance friends!

itsVance · Jul 21, 2017

Prior to your first build, I highly suggest reading the Mike Meyers A+ Certification Exam Guide.

Something else I have commonly seen, although you have the correct components picked out; there are some minor things that are very easy to look over. They are not really so minor. Examples are proper cooling, Thermal Compound application, Cable management, Using the correct power connectors in the correct locations. People spend lots of money on their first build rather than to build a very cheap computer first to make sure you got it right.

That said:

If your building an i3 machine to be a media server, you def don't have to go anywhere near the $800 budget target.

You don't even need a lot of RAM. You should focus on HDD space and a fast network adapter. You should decide how much storage you want it to have and say you want 4TB of storage, you will get 4 2 TB HDD's. You will want to set up at least 4 HDD's in a RAID1+0 setup. So you will want a motherboard that supports RAID1+0. This will improve input/output performance while adding redundancy. You can lose 1 drive and still have your data intact.

Joy_28 · Jul 22, 2017

There are some changes to the build plan, not the least because of my attempt at "shopping around" - and as of now I have taken the plunge. Therefore, I thought it appropriate to inform and seek further advice.

1) CPU remains the same Core i3-7100- only that I got it off ebay at a 20% discount.
2) Motherboard - The Asus Prime Q270M off Amazon US (Amazon India Global Listing) had been my first choice. But there was always the niggling fear that the mobo was not certified for the CPU. Nevertheless, I did get a response back from Asus saying they do not anticipate issues with the CPU, and that set my mind at rest. However, another issue had to be dealt with - as this was to be a purchase from Amazon US , claiming the warranty may be an issue. I luckily found the Asus Prime Z270 on ebay India (with warranty) for 19% less than what I was prepared to pay for the Asus Prime Q270M off Amazon US. It was a no-brainer switching it out - as it has a more capable chipset.

So now I am waiting for Asus Prime-Z270M PLUS motherboard mATX/LGA-1151/DDR4/USB 3.0/Dual M.2/HDMI to arrive.

3) I chose to go for a HyperX 8GB kit instead of the singles from G.Skill. I found this retailing at Amazon India for a 18% more than the G.Skill
Besides the HyperX FURY Black 8 GB Kit (2x4GB) 2133MHz DDR4 Non-ECC CL14 DIMM Desktop Memory (HX421C14FBK2/8) is certified by Asus and on their QVL.

4) I decided to shelve the idea of getting additional air flow in the case (4 Corsair AF-120) for now. I have instead decided to research the Cooler Master Sickleflow, combined with one of Corsair's many hydro cooling solutions. But all this can be done only when I get the physical layout of the case and the Mobo.

5) I have also ordered a better quality Fully Modular PSU , the EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G3, 80 Plus Gold 650W; this represents a step change from the CORSAIR CXM series CX650M 650W 80 PLUS BRONZE ; but it is also 13% more than what I had originally budgeted. Much of this difference however is due to the fact that I am sourcing it from Amazon US, thereby incurring considerable import duties and shipping fees. Otherwise, I do not regret this decision.

6) The case remains as before , and has been ordered.

I remain in eager anticipation , for the parts to show up. In the meantime, I have a few questions about keeping this box cool.
Considering that it will be inside a cabinet, with assisted ventilation (spec 90 CFM), should I invest in the following:
a) Fan controller - what recommendations?
b) Hydro cooling - Is it required - or will the stock Intel CPU cooler do its job well. In case required, do I necessarily have to buy a cooler that is compatible with the Corsair case? i.e. Corsair Liquid Coolers :H55, H60, H75, H80i, H100i, H105 Or can I try some other brand/model?
c) Do I need More fans - (the Corsair case apparently has a 120mm fan, built in at the front) And it has space for accommodating 4 more 120 mm fans.

Any thoughts on the keeping this unattended box cool, is much appreciated. Many thanks in advance, my friends, for your valuable suggestions, inputs and advise.

Joy_28 · Aug 31, 2017

Friends, Happy to report the successful completion of the build , after almost a month and half of patience and painstaking effort.

I am sharing my experiences for builders in India, and hopefully it will help someone.

First off the BoM. Contrary to my OP, the build plans kept evolving, not the least because The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft a-gley Never a truer thought.

Here is the BoM
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MOx7ViIRRCOWOcCN2

In addition, I have setup two external WD 2 TB HDDs as a Windows Storage Space, with Mirroring between themselves.
I have also transferred my Avira License to this machine for security requirements.
The price for the Avira S/W and the external HDDs is withheld - as these were not purchased specifically for this build.

Now, you will notice straight up, that I've had several issues with getting this first time build sorted.

Here are a few of the things I struggled with:

1) Although I had planned most of the build ahead of ordering, however, there have been delays in shipping, and I have had to make use of several RMA warranty services.

2) There were a couple of instances , where Amazon messed up, however in their defence, they were quick to admit fault, and refunded the amount as a goodwill gesture. In both cases I got to keep the product as well.

3) Several items were DoA. There was no option but to check wih the warranty provider. As I stay in New Delhi, close to Nehru Place -the IT hub of Asia, this was not a problem for me.

4) After completing the first iteration of the build, when the power was switched on , the EZ Mode default motherboard dashboard did not appear.
Later it turned out that a couple of pins on the mobo were bent - inadvertently by me when installing the CPU.
Asus warranty service replaced the motherboard, as a goodwill gesture.

5) Due to the incident with CPU/Motherboard interface, I made use of locally available assembly services, after the RMA process completed for the board. This was invaluable, as I had lost momentum and energy after the first build (and failure).

6) You will notice that I used Windows 10 OS in the end. There's a reason for that. After the fist successful iteration of the build, I went ahead and installed Ubuntu 16. However,for someone used to Windows it was such a pain to get even the basic tasks done.
Although , I still remembered rudimentary unix (from 20 years ago), I had no way to easily tell if a feature not working , was due to faulty hardware or my lack of familiarity with Unix.

7) I tried using Mobo based RAID 1 mirroring for the 2 Seagate 1 TB drives. When I updated BIOS settings, the computer refused to load the OS on the SSD. That's when I changed over to software based RAID 1 mirroring (Windows 10 Disk Management)

8) Now everything is setup. The Fileserver is online. I have installed Plex Server for media sharing - and it works great with all my devices.

Glad to help anyone who has a question.

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