February 8, 201313 yr Have mostly decided on what I want; eventually 16 or so drives, (3TB+), potential to run more demanding add-ons later if wanted; having never built a pc before any thoughts or opinions about my choices (or which makes more sense where I still have two options) wouild me much appreciated... Case : either Antec 1200 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-165-AN or Xigamtek Elysium http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-015-XG&groupid=2362&catid=1572&subcat= Any particular difference anyone can comment on between the two?, in terms of sound, drive cooling, ease of installations? The Xigmatek seems to come with 2 4-in-3 cages so slightly cheaper overall; Antec has an extra 2.5" bay internally (for cache?), the Xigmatek has a hot-swap bay on the top (for easy preclearing?) PSU: Corsair HX650 Gold http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-095-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084 or Seasonic G 650 Gold http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-017-SS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=2383 I want a modular supply, and I'm thinking either of these would be fine to run 16 (5400 rpm) drives, and reasonably efficient? Or far more than needed... Cages : either Coolermaster with the Antec - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/cooler-master-full-alloy-4-in-3-devices-module-ideal-for-most-cases Or Xigmatek http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-044-XG&campaign=pcm/googleshopping/PUP_Cases/Case_Accessories/CA-044-XG&pup_c=gs Motherboard : Asrock 880GM-LE-FX http://www.amazon.co.uk/ASRock-880GM-LE-FX-Motherboard-Processor/dp/B0072X9194 seems a common component (and will run 16 drives with a 2 and an 8 port card); any particular drawbacks to not having e.g more of the faster PCI slots? CPU : AMD Sempron X2 2.5Ghz http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-326-AM&groupid=701&catid=1967&subcat=803 Any point in getting something more powerful? would this be enough to run 'heavier' plugins (e.g. MySQL) Ram : G-Skill Ripjaw 1600Mhz DDR3 http://www.amazon.co.uk/G-Skill-Ripjaws-240-pin-PC3-12800-unbuffered/dp/B00339X1EM/ref=sr_1_6?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1360364055&sr=1-6 Don't know much about memory; this stuff would appear to work with that board? 8GB will be more than enough (and reasonably futureproof in terms of plugins) Thanks for reading...
February 11, 201313 yr Is the Norco 4224 case not available in your area? In the long run it will save you money as you need to add more cages to those cases.
February 11, 201313 yr Author It is, and I did look at it - but it's 3.5x more expensive - for the cost of one Norco case alone I could buy xigmatek/mboard/psu/cpu/ram + a couple more cages to go to 16 drives, and maybe even have some change left for cabling...assuming the other components seem reasonable, anyway...
February 11, 201313 yr Oh, ok, makes sense then. In the US you can get the 4224 for $400 bucks. An Antec 1200 plus 4 cages here would cost you $550+
February 11, 201313 yr The Elysium is quite a bit larger than the 1200, be aware of that. It was the case I was originally going to use in my build.. but in the end I opted going the extra money for the Norco. My reasoning was I wanted hot swap (because when you have so many drives, you don't want to have to deal with unscrewing to replace and potentially knocking other drives' sata/power cables out in the process) and doing hot swap with the Elysium meant the case ($200Au) and 4x Norco SS-500's ($150Au each at the time.) The Norco was $460 Au, so a no brainer there. If you're happy with the 4 in 3's that the Elysium comes with (and you can easily get more, they are $17 Au here), then I would recommend going with that case, providing you don't have an issue with the size. It will give you more room to work with the quantity of drives you are looking at, and less likelihood of the above scenario occurring. Also, don't skimp on the PSU.. go the Seasonic. You won't regret it.
February 12, 201313 yr Author Thanks for the feedback - it will be a while I think before I go much beyond 6-8 drives (partially for financial reasons, partially as I only have so much media to store right now), so when it comes to add more I can always decide to shift to hot-swap bays for the extras then. The case certainly is a beast, but it will fit down the side of a desk in my study for now, and in a cupboard later, so all good there. Also I've never actually built a complete pc before (swapped/installed components but never the whole thing), so plenty of room to work in sounds like a good idea to me :-). The specs looked fairly similar on the PSU's, so I'm guessing the Seasonic is just a better brand? (they're actually about the same price, and in fact if I buy this week I can get the Seasonic £10 cheaper :-))
February 12, 201313 yr Given you mention £, you may want to look at x-case: http://www.xcase.co.uk/x-case-home-server-box-p/case-homeserver24.htm Having bought an Antec 1200 4 years ago, if x-case had been around at the time, I'd have probably bought a case from them.
February 12, 201313 yr Author ty - that was exactly who I was looking at for the Norco :-) - but for the xigmatek they only have the version with the window, and I'd figured to save £20 or so and get the one without from overclockers :-). Although I suppose if I later repurposed the case for a quad-SLI water-cooled monstrosity I'd wish I had the window after all....
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