First let me thank all of you for posting your trials and tribulations......I have gained a considerable amount of knowledge from this community.
I have been lurking for quite sometime, and going back and forth over some issues. I am running out of space in my current array. So, I am finishing the ordering process. My last concern is CPU. I don't have the cash for a XEON. I want to stay in the I3 - Pentium neighborhood. My goal for this box is to run the "holy trinity" (read that somewhere about SB, SABNZB, and CP), as well as PLEX and Airvideo. So I am going to have some transcoding needs from the CPU, but I am not looking for more than 2X streams at any given time.
Can I run a GXXX (Sandy) on this board and be happy with my requirements? Or am I better served with the a I3-2105?
As of today:
CASE: Fractal Design XL
MB: X9SCM-F-O (the current newegg deal pushed me over the edge);
PSU: TX650 V2
RAM: Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) ECC Unbuffered Server Memory Model KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G
Drives: 3TB RED / 4X 2TB WD Greens / 500 GB Cache
My initial gut reaction is to order the I3-2105 that is on sale as of today at NewEgg. Can I get away with the smaller GXXX cpu (ie 630 or 850) and be happy? Figured if I am unhappy with performance, that GXXX chip would give me access to flash the board to VER2.0 and move to a IB food group, no?
Additionally, how loud are the current SB intel coolers? Once I figure out where I can buy Scythe products again, maybe NCIX in CAN, I will replace with better cooler. Just curious.....
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated....Thanks again.