I've been reading these forums for a while, and having difficulties sorting out boards that have the features that I want at a price I am willing to pay and still available.

I have found this one, but no one seems to have tried it yet: ASRock A785GM-LE

 

How often do you find problems with board compatibility?

 

Basically I'm looking for 6 SATA Ports on a AMD Sempron CPU.  I'm trying to build a system for under $250 CDN (before drives).

 

Can someone point me something in stock at either tigerdirect.ca or ncix.com?

 

Thanks.

 

It's a hassle to determine a suitable motherboard. Ideally it should have a lot of SATA ports, integrated video and room to add PCI-E controller cards. Supermicro boards are not widely available here and have a million model names. Gigabyte boards have many features but someone said they can cause corruption. Biostar seems mentioned here often -- and not locally available here.

I haven't used that motherboard personally, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work.  Go for it!

how about this build

 

T925-1168 ::Thermaltake TR2-R1 / AMD Socket AM2/939/754 / Aluminum / 92mm Fan / CPU Cooler(1 lbs)

$18.99

A79-1250 ::AMD Sempron LE-1250 Processor SDH1250DPBOX - 2.20GHz, 512KB Cache, 800MHz (1600 MT/s) FSB, Sparta, Single-Core, Retail, Socket AM2, Processor, OEM(0.25 lbs)

 

$31.99

 

  C283-2060 ::Cooler Master Elite Series Power Supply - 460 Watts, ATX(5 lbs)

$37.99

C19-9500 ::Crucial Dual Channel 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB)(0.05 lbs)

$56.99

A455-2881 ::ASUS M4A785-M Motherboard - AMD 785G Socket, AM2+, MicroATX, HDMI, USB 2.0, PCIe(2.4 lbs)

$79.97

G452-8058 ::Gigabyte GZPH1A30 ATX Mid-Tower Case - ATX/Micro ATX, USB, No PSU, Black(7.56 lbs)

$20.97

total $246.90cdn

C19-9500 ::Crucial Dual Channel 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB)(0.05 lbs)

$56.99

 

Why not get 1 x 2GB stick?

unRAID really doesn't benefit from dual channel and this way IF you ever want to add additional memory, you just need to buy a single stick and not remove any.

 

Last I looked, single stick 2GB were close in price to 2 x 1GB sticks

 

Just a thought.

I agree, a single 2 GB stick would be better.

 

Also, I would recommend this PSU instead:

 

Corsair 430W

 

The one you chose has two +12V rails which it is best to avoid.  The Antec NEO ECO line is also good and usually about the same price.

 

I'm actually using that same case on my current 6 drive miniBox prototype build.  It isn't anything special, but it works just fine.

 

Also, I highly doubt that you'll need an aftermarket CPU cooler, the stock one should work just fine.  Up to you, though.

 

The motherboard, CPU, and case all look fine to me.

thanks,

just placed the order with a 2tb drive.  The CPU was oem so no fan, couldn't find a AM2 socket cpu with a retail box, and didn't want to go to AM3 with DDR3 for the additional cost on the MB CPU and RAM.  I ordered the P/s you recommended and switched to a single 2GB stick of ram.  The board did have 4 slots for ram so it wouldn't of been too bad to upgrade with dual 1GBs, but the single 2 was cheaper.

 

First AMD system that I have built (been building Intel machines for 15 years), so should be interesting.

 

Thanks for the input. 

 

 

The Sempron 140 is a cheap CPU that will work with your motherboard and does come with a stock fan, if you care to save a few bucks.  It is also faster than the one you chose, not that it really matters.

 

It is an AM3 CPU, but it doesn't require DDR3 RAM.

all components set up and running.  ordered a pro key tonight.  copying data from my old media center over now.  I would recommend staying away from that case though too small (SATA connectors are blocked by two internal HDDs, 2 of the 4 5.25 bays are blocked by the mobo.  I see a bigger case in my future.