Hello everyone.
Can I please get some feedback on the following build? I consider this my first real build.
This is for my old man. Aside from general home office use, he likes using Roxio Creator for making video slideshows for his grandkids for their birthdays. That's the extent of the "amateur video editing". As for the "amateur photo editing", we're talking about the auto-editing features in Picasa. Hehehe. Anyways, what's important to him is having reliable storage for all the photos and videos he snaps with his new DSLR and to be able to do his version of amateur video/photo editing. From my perspective, I'm trying to satisfy his wishes and also build him a reasonably fast and responsive machine that should last a while. He's almost 70 and about to retire and I'd rather he be able to spend his time on the computer doing what he wants to get done and not waiting for slow, unresponsive software.
I'm a research scientist and use macbook pros and linux boxes for scientific computing/programming that have come prebuilt. I've tried my best to inform myself and I now have a first class, Wikipedia-level education and understanding of the various computer parts. But I'm not a gamer and am generally ignorant when it comes to hardware. Before listing the parts, here are my general questions/concerns:
a) I opted for no video or audio card. Based on the research I've done, the integrated video in the i5 should be sufficient.
b) The idea with the 1 solid state and 2, 1 TB drives is to have the OS (Windows 7) and the software all installed on the SSD, the data on one 1 TB drive, and to use the other 1 TB drive for local full system backups. I had been considering setting up a RAID 1+0 or 0+1 system (which would require minimum 3 drives), but am not sure it would be worth it here. Any opinions on that?
Here are the parts I've priced out:
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4-M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($91.33 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($91.33 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M4 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($72.45 @ B&H)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.71 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $729.75
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-06 00:56 EST-0500)
Can I please get some feedback on the following build? I consider this my first real build.
This is for my old man. Aside from general home office use, he likes using Roxio Creator for making video slideshows for his grandkids for their birthdays. That's the extent of the "amateur video editing". As for the "amateur photo editing", we're talking about the auto-editing features in Picasa. Hehehe. Anyways, what's important to him is having reliable storage for all the photos and videos he snaps with his new DSLR and to be able to do his version of amateur video/photo editing. From my perspective, I'm trying to satisfy his wishes and also build him a reasonably fast and responsive machine that should last a while. He's almost 70 and about to retire and I'd rather he be able to spend his time on the computer doing what he wants to get done and not waiting for slow, unresponsive software.
I'm a research scientist and use macbook pros and linux boxes for scientific computing/programming that have come prebuilt. I've tried my best to inform myself and I now have a first class, Wikipedia-level education and understanding of the various computer parts. But I'm not a gamer and am generally ignorant when it comes to hardware. Before listing the parts, here are my general questions/concerns:
a) I opted for no video or audio card. Based on the research I've done, the integrated video in the i5 should be sufficient.
b) The idea with the 1 solid state and 2, 1 TB drives is to have the OS (Windows 7) and the software all installed on the SSD, the data on one 1 TB drive, and to use the other 1 TB drive for local full system backups. I had been considering setting up a RAID 1+0 or 0+1 system (which would require minimum 3 drives), but am not sure it would be worth it here. Any opinions on that?
Here are the parts I've priced out:
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4-M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($91.33 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($91.33 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial M4 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($72.45 @ B&H)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.71 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($49.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($24.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $729.75
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-01-06 00:56 EST-0500)