At 8/30/2006 06:39 AM, Thomas wrote:
 >
 >Andrew J. Rozsa wrote:
 >> Secondly, I think I will upgrade to 1, max 2, much larger drives to
[...]
 >
 >The downside is that if a drive fails, you lose more data... so plan for
 >drive failure.

Critical data get burned to CDRs (now DVDs, I suppose) weekly and 
transferred to evolving media as they happen. The other day I threw 
out 1/4" backup tape of data analyzed with a DEC PDP-12 (can you say 
1970s?). I know... it's not if a drive fails, but when. I just looked 
at my documents directory.. almost 7500 documents (audio and video 
data are on the big drives)... A LOT of hunt-and-pecking. ;-)

 >My only recommendation for drives is to go for the units with at least
 >3-year warranties.  I'm using a lot of Seagate drives lately because
 >they're the only ones using Perpendicular Recording.  (Their 7200.10
 >Barracuda series drives.)

Seagate seems to be on the top of everyone's list. How about Samsung 
and Hitachi? Any direct experiences or second-hand info?

 >around 50C.  Way too warm.  Moving the parts into an early Antec Sonata
 >case resulted in significant temperature drops across the board.  Other,
 >larger, cases would've resulted in even better temperature drops.

I'll come back for some recommendations later. There already is an 
Antec Sonata II, but it's a midtower. I am pretty sure I will want a 
full tower.

 >putting (2) 3.5" drives in it; with a 0.5" gap between the two drives.
 >MWave carries this one under part# BA21364.

Nifty little package for $24... wow. It won't fit in my present case, 
but will definitely go into my next (from scratch) project.

 >The other trick is to make sure air comes in the front of the case via
 >optional intake fans and that all of the rear fans are set to exhaust
 >the hot air from the case.

Can I just drill a couple of holes in the back of the case and mount 
two exhaust fans?

 >As always, I recommend SpeedFan for looking at system temperatures.  It
 >works with most motherboard sensors and hard drive S.M.A.R.T. sensors.

I am looking at stuff with Everest. Seem to be OK as long as I am not 
crowded and keep the lid off.

The two boxes I am working with now are my very first build-your-own 
projects. Until now, starting with an IBM PC (8088) in 1981 and 
followed by Northgate in 1987 (still use Omni Ultra keyboards), I 
have been "living" off Gateways and Dells. Usually refurbisheds.

So, while I must have at least one working box in my home office, 
this is my learning "run." Things are not going to be pretty or the best.

But, I will definitely be back soliciting help with choosing top 
components for a truly "from scratch" system with idealized case, 
power supply, motherboard, drives, graphics adapter, etc.

Looking at MWave.com I feel like a kid in a candy shop. I have used 
Pricewatch for price comparisons, but for some reason I have never 
stumbled on MWave. Is this a reputable source? Prices seem excellent.

Meanwhile, please accept my sincere thanks for taking the time to 
show me the ropes.

Kind regards to all,

Andrew 

            Do you want to signoff PCBUILD or just change to
                    Digest mode - visit our web site:
                   http://freepctech.com/pcbuild.shtml




No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.11.7/433 - Release Date: 8/30/2006

            Do you want to signoff PCBUILD or just change to
                    Digest mode - visit our web site:
                   http://freepctech.com/pcbuild.shtml