OK,

 

Based on the budget build, with 3 HDD to start, but with the following Mobo's,

 

MB: Asus M4A87TD-USB3 or Asus M4A88TD-M

 

CPU: Sempron 140

 

PSU: Corsair CX-400

 

RAM: Kingston 2Gb DDR3 CL9 Value Ram

 

HDD: WD 2TB Green EARS x 1

       WD 1.5Tb Grenn EARS x 2

 

Case: Antec 300

 

I realise the M4A87TD-USB3 mobo has 6Gb sata ports and the Hdd's don't. USB3 might be handy for charging something!

 

No onboard graphics on the M4A87TD-USB3 either,

 

M4A88TD-M has only 1 chassis fan header(I'll need 2 for the 300 case), but onboard graphics(ati 4250),$7 cheaper @ A$107

 

thoughts?

 

 

I wouldn't use the Asus M4A87TD because of the lack of onboard video.  The Asus M4A88TD-M will certainly work.  My main question is why?  You are going to spend a lot more money for no real benefit.  Are you having trouble finding the recommended Asus M4A785T-M?  You may also want to look for the Asus M4A78L-M.  Really, any board with onboard video, gigabit LAN, and 6 or more SATA ports should be fine.  Both Asus and Biostar have several good budget options.  I wouldn't worry about the number of chassis fan headers since you can always power more fans directly from the PSU.

 

Also, contrary to the AUS Budget Build's recommendation, I don't think the Antec 300 is a very good choice.  A lot of unRaiders have started with the Antec 300 and quickly outgrown it.  You may want to start with something that has a bit more expandability options, such as the Cooler Master 590.  I know 6 drives sounds like plenty right now, but you may outgrow it sooner than you think.  I started with 6x 500 GB drives a bit over a year ago, and I have now grown to 8x 1 TB and 1.5 TB drives.

 

Everything else looks good to me.  Of course you may need to change the RAM from DDR3 to DDR2 if you change the motherboard.  Also don't forget to jumper your EARS drives.

for the same price, you could get M4A79XTD EVO instead

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131402

 

with 7 onboard sata and more pci express slots

 

i dont think it's a big deal if a motherboard doesnt have onboard video.  just get the cheapest PCI video card you can find, shouldnt be more than 30 dollars

I live in Australia, Newegg is not really an option,

 

My Options are,

 

1: build with M4A88TD-M = $759 from Centrecom( this mobo is $15 more than M4A785T-M)

 

2: build with M4A785T-M = $850 from AnyPc(everything except the mobo is more $$ from here)

 

Both delivered, I live in a regional town, my local pc shops dont have much to choose from, and they want over 1k for a similar system.

 

The 300 case will do me fine for the next few years, my storage requirements are not that great, , with Hdd's getting bigger capacity, I'd more likely change those than the case.

 

Thanks for the confirmation though

 

I think I'll go with the centrecom one. Wish me luck