Before I buy

[hm2k]

I haven't really been involved in computer hardware for about 2 years now, I wanted advise on the following:

Does all this work together?

Intel Pentium 4 630 3 Ghz Socket 775 800Mhz 2mb Retail Boxed
LG GSA-4167BAL 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer Internal IDE (Black) - OEM
ATX Middle Tower Case in Black with USB2.0/Audio/8cm Fan and a 350w PSU(no power cord)
Asus P5VD1-X SKT775 PT880 1066FSB AGP and PCI-E VGA slots
Corsair (VS1GB400C3) 1024MB, DDR400 / PC3200, non-ECC, 184 DIMM, unbuffered, CL3, 64Mx8 DRAMs, Lifetime Warranty
Western Digital WD740GD 74GD "Raptor" 10,000RPM SATA/150 8MB Cache - OEM
Sapphire X300 SE 128M (Supports 256M) HyperMemory PCI-E VGA TVO DVI-I

Please let me know, IF:
1, these components will work together
2, you have any recommendations or suggestions

This system will be a simple win2k file server and will run some custom software for a small company (4 pcs).

Thanks for your help.

[dave87]

If you're using a pci-e graphics card then there is no point buying the p5vd1, unless you have an aversion to ddr2? possibly get 2gb ram either way? depends on how demanding the custom software is.

Dave

[KowShak]

As said above, that Asus board has built in VGA so you could either swap it for a different board or lose the video card.

If its a file server I'd definately put two hard disks in set up Raid 1 (Mirroring) so that if you (unlikely) get a hard disk dieing, its just a case of replacing that disk and getting the raid array to sync/rebuild itself rather than restoring backups / reinstalling etc etc.

[dave87]

dont think that asus board has built in gfx, but you could go for a dedicated pci-e mobo (ie without the agp slot) and then go for ddr-2 and possibly extra SATA ports depending on the mobo you choose. oh and I agree with KowShak on his second point, it would make it a hell of a lot easier should one of the hdds die/corrupt itself - and places no reliance on the users actually having backed things up - something most companies are aweful at

Dave

[hm2k]

I only need a cheap graphics card, I just figured for a few extra quid i'd get a PCI-E one, as it will keep its price longer, but i'm not really bothered, so i'll take suggestions on that one.

2 Hard Drives isn't in my specification at the moment, mainly due to cost, but I need a board that supports RAID so I can have that option at a later date.

The budget is £450, that is why I didn't specify DDR2, and a more expensive motherboard, but I must have SATA RAID.

[dave87]

Any aversion to athlon based systems?

LN11972 Asus A8V-MX uATX S939 AGP K8M800 DDR400 Integrated VGA SATA2 Raid 6Ch Audio Lan USB2
LN7297 1Gb Corsair Value Select PC3200 DDR non ECC Lifetime Warranty
LN10725 AMD Athlon 64 3200 32/64Bit CPU S939 "Venice" 90nm Retail inc Heat Sink Fan & 3 Years Warranty
LN6346 74Gb SATA150 Western Digital Raptor Enterprise (10Krpm,8MB) - NCQ
LN9990 AOpen H420B Black/Silver Tower/Desktop uATX/FlexATX Case 300W PSU 1.3/2.0
LN11746 LG GSA-4167BA Ivory 16x16 ±R Super Multi Dual Layer DVDRW/RAM Writer, OEM UK

Net Total £339.25
Carriage £10.00
V.A.T. £61.12
TOTAL £410.37

I would consider changing the case - but to keep it simple thats all from scan, and comes in £40 under budget - which you could use to get up to 2gb of ram once your up to 25 posts - you get free carriage.

Dave

[KowShak]

My mistake, it seems that it doesn't have VGA onboard ... I stand by what I said about the RAID though.

[hm2k]

dave87, I wanted to stick with intel really...

Any better suggestions on that one?

[KowShak]

If you're building a proper server, you'd use a server motherboard, server case, server PSU, RAID array etc but since you're on budget you aren't.

You aren't building a "proper" server with server components so there is no real drawback to using a desktop AMD processor especially since the alternative is an Intel desktop processor. Pound for pound the AMD chip will kick the Intel chip all over the place and it will run cooler too.

AMD are making headway in the server market with the Opteron, it is a better server chip than the Xeon especially when you talk about multi-core and multi-processor configs. The Athlon 64 (and Sempron) are based on the same silicon as the Opteron so there isn't really a drawback to using them in a server, as long as you buy a decent motherboard and good quality power supply the system will be as stable as any Intel based desktop.

[hm2k]

I agree with what your saying. I run an AMD for my desktop PC. However I do actually feel safer with Intel, and I know what i'm getting with an Intel.

Just need a board that is going to be right for it.

[hm2k]

bump

[Nox]

I wouldn't bother getting a board that supported both AGP and pci-e slots, it will just cost more. And on your budget, you want to watch every pound, that extra cost would probably get you your RAID. Unfortunately, i've not followed intel cpu's/mobo's for a while so can't recommend anything specific.

Nox

[hm2k]

Can anyone recommend a motherboard to suit the rest of the hardware (apart from the gfx card)

Thanks.

[njefferies]

...You know what you're getting with Intel.

Yeah, right. I bought 2 rackmount dual Xeon boxes last year. Intel procs, mobo, chassis and PSU (triple 650W), U320 RAID etc. All Intel.

Left them overnight plugged in but switched off. Came in the next morning to a burning smell and PSU's too hot to touch. The standby draw on the things was too much for the system with the fans off. Real quality engineering!

Next box was a dual dual-core opteron - cost about the same and flogs the pants of the Intel box.

[hm2k]

Thats crazy, but this system doesn't need that much gear.

Just need a motherboard now... any recommendations?

Components are:
Intel Pentium 4 630 3 Ghz Socket 775 800Mhz 2mb Retail Boxed
LG GSA-4167BAL 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer Internal IDE (Black) - OEM
ATX Middle Tower Case in Black with USB2.0/Audio/8cm Fan and a 350w PSU(no power cord)
Corsair (VS1GB400C3) 1024MB, DDR400 / PC3200, non-ECC, 184 DIMM, unbuffered, CL3, 64Mx8 DRAMs, Lifetime Warranty
Western Digital WD740GD 74GD "Raptor" 10,000RPM SATA/150 8MB Cache - OEM

Thanks.

[hm2k]

bump