The screen is switch per display and I use a USB switch to switch the USB inputs.

Switch: https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Sharing-Keyboard-Scanner-Printer/dp/B01N6GD9JO

"I priced everything out online and this is what it's worth" suuurrreee....

• 4TB Hard Drive - $120
  
  
• i7 2600K - $175
  
  
• 16GB RAM - $50
  
  
• 7850 - $75 I actually bought a 7870 on eBay a few months ago for $57 but whatever
  
  
• Motherboard, can't find one but equivalent decent mobos would be like $150
  
  
• PSU - $75 and probably better than the one this thing comes with
  
  
• CPU Cooler - $20
  
  
• Case - $70
  
  
• Enough LEDs to melt this computer - $20
  
  I'd offer $750 for everything, tops.

Is some ways they can be yes. The Asus xonar cards all have a design flaw that any kind of internal interference or single going on inside your case is picked up on the mic input. USB sounds cards don't have that issue but cheap one can sometimes pickup interference from other sources, however it's usually far less then right next to your graphics card and CPU.

Sometime like this, https://smile.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1486575400&sr=1-4&keywords=usb+sound+card or this, https://smile.amazon.com/Channel-External-Sound-Adapter-Laptop/dp/B01LQENV8G/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1486575400&sr=1-5&keywords=usb+sound+card will have a much less noisy input then your current card, but the headphone out might not be as strong or sound as good as the asus card.

fuck this case, let's get the meshify c boys up in here

EDIT: I'll write a more meaningful comment since I've actually done research on both cases. The H500 is a negative pressure setup. DO NOT put any fans in the front, leave the fans in the default config. You will not improve temps by throwing 2 fans in the front of the case. If you are looking for something with better airflow and not negative pressure, check out the meshify c. With stock configs, the H500 typically has cooler GPU temps whilst the meshify c has cooler CPU temps. This is because the back IO ports of the H500 bring in cool air into the GPU. Getting a proper fan setup in the meshify c (which isn't possible with the H500) will definitely beat the case in terms of airflow. But, thats if you have some more money to throw around.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3309-nzxt-h500-case-review-thermals-noise-vs-s340

https://www.amazon.ca/Fractal-Design-FD-CA-MESH-C-WT-TGC-Computer-Case/dp/B07BPP9KYD/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=meshify+c&qid=1563975204&s=gateway&sr=8-1

​

|Specs||
|:-|:-|
|Case:|Loque Ghost S1|
|GPU:|XFX Vega 64|
|CPU:|i7-8700K|
|CPU Cooler:|Noctua NH-L12|
|Mobo:|ASUS Z390-I|
|PSU:|Corsair SF600|
|M.2:|2xSamsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB|
|SATA:|SanDisk 500Gb SSD|
|OS:|Arch Linux with i3|
|Keyboard:|SteelSeries Apex 7 TKL|
|Mouse:|Logitech G903 Wireless|
|Monitor:|MSI Optix MAG321CQR|
|Wifi Antennas:|Aigital 9dB|

I'm also looking to buy a good external USB hub, if anyone has any suggestions.

For people wondering what parts OP used to build the computer:

Motherboard:

Biostar TZ68A+RCH LGA

Processor:

Intel Core i5-2500k 3.3Ghz


RAM/Memory:

Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM

Hard Drive:

Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB

Video/Graphics Card:

MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5

Case:

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Power Supply:

Raidmax Hybrid 630W

DVD Player/Burner:

Asus DVD/RW

It's a rosewill. Same case I have. It is great. Rosewill 4U Server Chassis / Server Case / Rackmount Case, Metal Rack Mount Computer Case with 8 Bays & 4 Fans Pre-Installed (RSV-R4000) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_dt2MAb4MA2JP1

I'm running the Connect (2 tuner) model and it works fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GY0UB54/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use a HDHomeRun hooked up to my PC and Window Media Center to manage all of my recordings. It was amazingly simple to hook everything up.

HDHomeRun

sysadmin here I stick screwdrivers into running motherboards all the time. Nothing shocking here, just don't stab the motherboard in random places like an idiot. Also the side of my case has been off for a month, but I don't have cats..

you can relocate your power button with this.

https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Desktop-Computer-Supply-Button/dp/B00HG7HO22/

How much is your time worth? How much are your components worth?

Less than 25 dollars?

Not the poster, but I use this one on my passthrough setup: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6GD9JO

Funny thing for Android users. Samsung made a DVD drive that works on phones and tablets. No idea what you need to do to play dvd movies straight off the disc if it's possible.

I recommend this power button. It costs about $8 and it let's you mount it to the bottom of your desk. Currently own 2 with no issues.

Your options:

• Fix it (maybe not possible)
  
• Replace the case
  
• External Power Button

No1 selling adapter on Amazon. #2 is the metal cased version for a little more.

If 8 bays is all you need right now, consider something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Norco-4U-Rackmount-Components-RPC-4308/dp/B00N5C6GYY/ref=sr_1_16?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1536045035&sr=1-16&keywords=short+depth+rack+mount

or

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=psdc_572238_t1_B00BQY388A?th=1

​

What I would do is use:

-Full size atx asrock taichi motherboard (Which has 8 sata ports, with all the pci-e slots you'll ever want for expansion. The taichi ultimate has a 10gb port)

-A Ryzen APU (The Ryzen 5 2400GE 3.8GHz 35W looks interesting https://www.quietpc.com/amd-2nd-gen-ryzen-cpus)

-ECC ram. A single 16gb stick would be fine, which gives plenty of expansion potential later.

-Openmediavault with the zfs plugin

-Reuse a power supply I have around, but really good new ones aren't much these days.

​

And boom, you'll have everything you need as well as future expandability for much less than a prebuilt nas that locks you into an ecosystem. The norco case would allow you to add another five disk bay in the middle, and you could use the pci-e slot to get an hba card and use sas to sata cables to connect those drives.

CPU

Mother Board

GPU

8GB of RAM

1TB HDD for way more storage space then a console. You could drop the storage space to match a console and save a bit of money, but we won't do that.

PSU Cheaper/lower wattage for this build is possible, but it's better not to skimp

Disk drives are dying out and everything is going digital. Even consoles are showing massive growth in direct game purchases and downloads from PSN/XBL. But here it is if you want one.

Here's a few cases 1 2 3 4. Pick your case based on style, USB ports, whatever. All of those are 30 dollars or less and are mATX, meaning smaller form factor.

So now peripherals. Need a monitor? No you don't, plug it in to your TV. HDMI just like a console and consoles don't come with displays. You might have a monitor already.
Controller/input devices? PCs can use the old controllers you have laying around. Here's a keyboard and mouse recommendation anyway if you want one or don't already own them since most people own a computer for stuff outside gaming. That costs around half the price of an OEM console controller and KB+M is a more accurate input method. Controllers are a comfort thing and are best suited for driving games, but point and click with a high DPI sensor is much more intuitive and accurate than a controller with bad input filtering and clunky auto aim. Microsoft tried cross platform and keyboard and mouse destroyed gamepad/controller players. The only real cross platform right now is Rocket League because controllers are the better input method for driving so it's equal footing. But if you're playing Rocket League on PC, you load in faster. You'll be sitting on an empty field while you wait for other players to connect before the countdown and stuff starts, kinda neat. Also, that one I recommended has a button to change DPI/sensitivity on the fly, no need to bother with settings menus. Seamlessly go from sniping to roaming to driving. The keyboard is back lit and has a few color options.

Operating system? GNU/Linux is free and is getting more and more gaming support every day. It's not as hard as people make it out to be. Get a basic/user friendly distro like Ubuntu and all you really have to do is install. If you're a masochist, a developer, or a masochistic developer get a tougher distro like Gentoo. Funny thing as well, games with Linux support run better on Linux since it's such a great operating system on the software level. SteamOS is also free. Want Windows? Download the OS and put it on a disk or flash drive, install it on the new computer and enter the product key. Where do you get a product key? Don't buy it from a big box retail store for 100 bucks or likely more, you're getting gypped. You can buy 100% legit product keys online. r/microsoftsoftwareswap sells them for 20-25$ and the keys are straight from Microsoft

Also, all of those listings are from Amazon and are Amazon Prime eligible (for the other guy that replied to you that wants to complain about rebates/shipping/living next to a MicroCenter). You can find a lot of those parts cheaper and/or with free shipping. I recommend NewEgg. So you can do even better than the price I'm about to give you (which also means you can get better hardware for better performance):

Here's the itemized list with the prices: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/QBVRNG

$448.51 total for a PC that is massively better than current gen consoles. Drop the unnecessary DVD drive and the keyboard+mouse combo and the PC itself comes in at $402.93.

So... brand new parts from a large online retailer with a great support system. You can get even better deals on the parts if you checked other great online retailers like NewEgg. Ten years ago consoles absolutely made sense, but now leaps in hardware design have made better hardware cheaper and the tables have turned.

Does that "come close without cheating"?

Here's a few more kickers now that we have the hard price set:

AMD and Nvidia are about to launch a new line of GPUs, meaning current prices will drop (better performance at lower cost on that build I just gave you) and AMD is specifically focusing on lower/mid range market with higher performance and efficiency. It's going to be great for mainstream gaming rigs.

PC gaming is usually cheaper over time because Intel/Nvida/AMD don't charge development fees (they can't), neither can EVGA/ASUS or whoever makes the parts, neither can Microsoft. Steam takes a cut, but so do stores like GameStop. Stuff like that is why Steam can have massive sales consoles can only dream of and the developers can still profit from a sale. The only reason PC games are 60 dollars like their console equivalents is because it's the standard and they can "get away with it" (especially if you're Microsoft trying to expand Windows 10 and not alienate XBox), but they can make the same or more per sale at a lower cost.

PCs also have the largest game library of any platform and the massive free to play library that comes with it as well. And it's really free, not 'pay 50 a year for a subscription and get to play a game for a month' free

PC is, in theory, forever backwards compatible. Want to play CoD4? Don't shell out the money for Infinite Warfare, just install CoD4 and play on the servers PC still hosts. Games that came out upwards of 10 years ago can still be installed and run with no issue.

You don't have to double spend. No buying a console and a computer for work/school. Put your 300 dollar home computer and 400 dollar console prices together and you made a huge leap in budget to built a killer PC. You also get a much more versatile platform capable of running much more stuff and you get so much more control over your experience.

Oh shit I just realized you have a graphics card on top.

Dude, you can get a better full ATX case for $30, and probably less for the micro ATX you've likely got in there, simply by shopping on Amazon.

Edit: here's a cheap micro ATX case for dirt cheap on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LIDU5S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Ov40BbMTG4BHX

Some other options if you got prime and don't want the case or don't have a fry's nearby.



Rosewill Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case SRM-01 - $21.99

Xion Performance mATX USB 3.0 Tower Case Black/Blue XON-310_BK - $22.99

Linkworld Electronic Micro ATX Case with USB 3.0 72723-2121FUV3 - $23.97


Xion Performance ATX Tower case, USB 3.0, Black/Blue LED Cases XON-350-BK - $24.99

No Prime Needed : Rosewill Dual Fans MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case FBM-01 - $20.99

it is really easy to track planes yourself within line of sight.

http://www.satsignal.eu/raspberry-pi/dump1090.html

http://planeplotter.pbworks.com/w/page/79995023/Dump1090

https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/rtl1090/


hardware needed
https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-Mini-Compatible-Packages/dp/B009U7WZCA/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1512064336&sr=1-4&keywords=RTL2832U

$20 - RTL-SDR - see /r/RTLSDR, ability to listen to a wide range of frequencies, including the VHF/UHF ham bands, but also scanner activity and everything else in between.

$52 - HF upconverter for the RTLSDR - Add HF listening to the RTLSDR - this is where all the good stuff is (in my opinion), the shortwave, DX, data modes, CW, weather fax, etc etc.

$36 - Baofeng UV-5R - transmit/receive on 2m/440, might not be as nice as the B5 model, but it's $20 cheaper. And quite frankly, I think once you get a taste of HF, your HT is going to collect dust. These keep on getting cheaper and cheaper, they're almost disposable at this point. So if you really dig having an HT and want a B5 or a newer model down the road, it won't break the bank. I've got a hand mic for mine and it's hooked up to an outdoor antenna - talks to all my local repeaters quite easily. Get the USB programming cable and maybe an after market antenna.

I don't think there's a lot of hardware to buy. I haven't looked in a while but the SDR receiver is about $20 (here's one but there are a bunch), and there are instructions to make your own high-gain antenna. With the receiver and a 5' regular antenna (came with it) I was picking up AMI signals and mapping flights nearby from the ACARS data. /r/rtlsdr knows more I'm sure, also this.

Turn your laptop into a real-time wireless spectrum analyzer and sniffer!
https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-Mini-Compatible-Packages/dp/B009U7WZCA

If anyone wants to receive and decode their own ADS-B and ACARS transmissions from aircraft to understand how this kind of stuff works, buy one of these for $20:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009U7WZCA/

Then check out http://sdrsharp.com/index.php/downloads

Considering that with $20 and a laptop you can receive and decode this stuff, one of these days there will probably be lots of people recording it all.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N6GD9JO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Ae6LBb0NK025S

Loque’s Website is so confusing. I bought mine from amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/LOUQE-Ghost-S1-Ash/dp/B07FSKXG4F/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ghost+s1&qid=1569405385&sr=8-1

Loque Ghost case - https://www.amazon.com/LOUQE-Ghost-S1-Ash/dp/B07FSKXG4F

If any of you want to do this for your own computer, it's pretty simple depending on the resources you have available.

Here's what you'll need (disclaimer, I hardly know electronics. If you notice something wrong correct me, please):

• Some wire (I think it's 22 gauge? I'm not quite sure) and (optionally) heat shrink
  
• Access to a soldering iron, wire cutters, wire strippers, and solder. Optionally, a heat gun, if using heat shrink.
  
• At least 8 Female dupont connectors
  
• At least 4 housings for the dupont connectors
  
• Two switches of your choice
  
• The 3D-printed (or laser cut -- make sure your material is around 1.5mm thick!) switch holder. If you want the STL, just ask, but it's just a 1.5 mm thick plate with 14mmx14mm square holes cut out for the switches and 3mm circular holes for screws. The gap between switches is 5mm.
  
• Two 2x3x4mm rectangular LEDs (other kinds work; use what you'd use in a regular switch)
  
• Two resistors if necessary. Check the voltage your motherboard supplies to the LEDs and adjust as needed. I contacted my motherboard's manufacturer (MSI) with my motherboard ID and they responded within a day with the voltage.
  
• Two keycaps
  
  Instead of getting the wires and dupont connectors, you could also just buy a power button, cut off the wires, and solder them to the switches. This will probably be more cost effective. I recommend this power button, as it has a reset switch and both LEDs (and thus, wires for all of them).
  
  Once you have the materials, it's just a matter of soldering the wires to the pins, really. The orientation of the wires doesn't matter for the switches (i.e. you can attach them to the power button pins on your motherboard in any order), but make sure you get the right order for the LEDs (positive is the long leg, usually). I'd recommend cutting the LED legs to size as well.
  
  Also, if you need a resistor, what I did was just solder it to the LED leg and then to the wire. That's probably the worst way to go about that, but like I said, I don't know electronics well. I'm sure someone else has a better idea.
  
  EDIT:
  
  If you can't find a way to mount this on your case, you can always 3D print (or laser cut, or fashion using regular tools) a box for it, run the wires through it, and place it on your desk.

Do yourself a favor and get one of these for each of your rigs. Much easier and convenient than jumping pins.

I just built my first NAS/PLEX server and things are going great. Total cost was around $1300

SilverStone Mini-ITX NAS case

32GB DDR3 ECC RAM

4x HGST Deskstars

this sweet mobo ties it all together. It's got a quad-core Atom processor, 12 SATA ports across 3 RAID controllers, and supports 64GB of RAM, all in a Mini ITX form factor.

I'm running FreeNAS with a Plex jail

Thanks! I’ll do ya one even better https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q

HDHomerun + Plex.

If you plan to use an ITX board, the Fractal Design Node 304 is quite small and gives you more options for expansion. If you want something that's insanely future proof, you can go with a Silverstone DS380B. Again, I'm assuming you are using an ITX board.

Build your own

4u Case: https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-R4000/dp/B00N9CXGSO/

Throw in 12 drives, a mobo/cpu/psu/ram, and bob's your uncle.

With ~$2000 as budget, you can find A LOT, if all you need is a JBOD.

$200 with rails:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055EV30W/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DGZ42SM/

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RSV-R28LX-Bearing-Sliding-Rackmount/dp/B0795Y3QM3/

E:

Or $300 for 12 hot swap bays: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=twister_B079C7QGNY

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RSV-R28LX-Bearing-Sliding-Rackmount/dp/B0795Y3QM3/

Link just goes to the Newegg.ca homepage.

From what I can tell, only one it's on is the NZXT S340 Matte Black / Red Steel Case.

Note that the regular black version of this case has dropped down to sub $70 on Amazon in the past.

In stock on Amazon right now

Ghost S1 (Ash) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FSKXG4F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_hwyxDb6TDKJ51

https://www.amazon.com/LOUQE-Ghost-S1-Ash/dp/B07FSKXG4F/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=LOUQE&qid=1558699631&s=gateway&sr=8-2

Was looking at this for my case first computer, but ended up on Cooler Master HAF 912 because it was a third the price.

I highly recommend all Cooler Master cases, my wife is using this one for her Mini-ITX build.

This one: https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-Mini-Compatible-Packages/dp/B009U7WZCA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1472959087&sr=8-3&keywords=rtf-sdr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaKEYEyrRgk is a really good example

You can use REALLYYY cheap SDRs to get a very accurate picture of what's going on in the RF spectrum. If you're a windows user you can use SDR-Sharp.

https://smile.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-Mini-Compatible-Packages/dp/B009U7WZCA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1502224074&sr=8-4&keywords=rtl+sdr ($20 Prime, but you can get them ~$10 from China) There are many other varieties.

It's not worth $80, it's too expensive for what you get. The cable is hard wired, if it breaks you need a repair (not worth the cost) or replace it. It will only work with Macs that don't have an optical drive, which could be a deal breaker too (and I'd like to know the reasoning behind that decision, it's an artificial limitation built into the firmware). Say you also have a Mac with an internal drive, if that one dies you can't even use the external one. Whoever decided that needs a punch in the face. Sorry for the rant, I just think it's not a good idea to buy one.

It seems strange that the one you got didn't work. Any drive should work. I needed to read a few optical discs recently. I just bought an eternal enclosure on Amazon for 8 bucks and ripped the drive out of some old laptop I had lying around. This one is the best seller on Amazon. The reviews are good and some mention it'll work with Macs.

looks good.

if it were me...I'd probably get a different case, like the CM HAF 912 for $60 or the Antec 900 for $70.

cases are largely personal, but your system is pretty badass. For me, I'd hate to have regret over a cheap-ish case when you could get a badass case to match the rest of your system for another ~$35...but it's all up to you, and the case you have would probably be just fine, especially if your on a budget. ~my 2 cents

after reading some reviews for your case, you might not have regret for getting this one... looks like a a pretty nice case as far as $35 cases go

Shipping will always be the reason to avoid deals like this.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-Computer-RC-912-KKN1/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347224075&sr=8-1&keywords=cm+HAF

New, free 2-day shipping with Prime.

Those bays will fit in the same manufacturer's 4u rack mount cases.

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-R4000/dp/B0055EV30W/

One of the options listed already includes 3 of them. If you already purchased 2 of the holders, the least expensive option will be $99 for the dual bay case.

Looks like this one, if it's the same as I bought

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055EV30W

So when I originally moved in to my house last year, I set things up in a very temporary setup that became more permanent than I was hoping. I also had to bring another box home from my office when we moved locations and we no longer had a dedicated internet connection so I couldn't expose anything directly to the internet.

I've been looking at setups from everyone for a while now, getting ideas of what I needed and I finally settled on the following:

• NavePoint 4ft Open Frame 19" 22U 4-Post Network Server - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A6JQO4A
  
• TP-Link 24-Port Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Switch - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003BU0EKW
  
• Keystone panel - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F8NLZ4Z
  
• 2U shelf - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008X3JHJQ
  
• 1U shelf - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A6JQYDG
  
• Rosewill 4U case (8 bay) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055EV30W
  
• Rosewill 4U case (6 bay) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07957B2VF
  
• 80mm quieter fans - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NTUJZ36
  
• 1U PDU - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075TQS7XC
  
• 1U Blank - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0779M2D96
  
• Velcro! - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E1Y5O6
  
• POE injectors - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NRF9GQO
  
  I don't intend on purchasing full sized rack mount servers as I just use desktop class hardware for the most part but I took the two systems that I had in desktop cases and put them in the Rosewill cases that I've seen a lot of people use and a coworker recently suggested them as well as he recent did a rack setup. Since I don't need full size servers, I decided to go with a 4 post "network" rack as I don't really need the extra depth. I'm just using a 1U blank to help stabilize the servers in the rack so they're not just hanging from the front.
  
  If anyone is looking to get some of the same components, I would say that the 1U shelves that I bought don't really work that well as I had to get creative with the brackets to make them work and they do extend out the back a bit but I knew they would do that when I purchased them, I just didn't realize I would have to flip around some brackets to make it work.
  
  My network is really basic so I went with a 24 port unmanaged gigabit switch. I did have to get some POE injectors for my 3 WAPs as I did have a 8 port switch that had built in POE before but I knew that 8 ports wasn't going to cut it and I wanted to go with a rack mount switch.
  
  Future plans are to replace the 3 regular PSUs with something rack mountable. Right now I have one PSU for each box and then the 3rd is for all of the network equipment. I'd also like to get a KVM but for right now I have HDMI cables ran to the side where I can easily switch them out and the keyboard I only plug into the front panels if I need it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FFJ0H3Q/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687462&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00FB45WPI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0WQE8VPD73SMRZ6MEYD5

Yes. I have also cut the cord with the help of this subreddit. I pay for my internet bill, Netflix, Hulu Plus, and I have Amazon Prime as well.

I also bought one of these antennas and an HDHomeRun and after several hours of struggling with software, I have a really nice setup to watch and record broadcast television with a full TV guide similar to digital cable with DVR. I just have my computer plugged into my TV. It took some time and money to setup, but now I'm saving almost $100/month.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352027

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112339

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Mini-ITX-Computer-DS380B/dp/B00IAELTAI

https://www.amazon.com/Norco-Mini-ITX-Computer-Storage-support/dp/B012UO63TK

Since you specified vertical I'm assuming you've already seen and dismissed Rosewill's offerings?

The build looks solid, just a few things

• The same monitor is $20 cheaper at newegg. https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824160167
  
• Get a 500watt 80+ Bronze PSU from EVGA, seasonic, or corsair. Modular is up to you.
  
• For case, I can suggest two that are ~$90. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B011A2LWZI/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_yaORAbYJZ1R7Y https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00NGMIBUU/?tag=pcp0f-20
  
• Keyboard, never heard of the brand, apparently cherry mx blue equivalent, sounds sketchy.
  
• You probably should get a HD unless you already have one, 250GB ssd is only enough for few games.
  
  Edit. I found a $25 network card because I don't know you're willing to spend on one. https://www.amazon.ca/TP-Link-TL-WN881ND-Wireless-Express-Adapter/dp/B0079XWMEI/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1521507801&sr=8-7&keywords=network+card
  
  Edit 2. There is a 15%OFF Everything On Ebay. https://pages.ebay.com/promo/2018/0320/7019.html
  So I found this equivalent which should be $194 after the coupon without tax or you can get other ram. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Team-T-Force-Vulcan-16GB-2-x-8GB-288-Pin-DDR4-SDRAM-DDR4-3000-PC4-24000-Desk/201694919705?hash=item2ef5f43c19:g:GnsAAOSwa8dZ0P4~

Keep in mind that a lot of what you're reading is just random people's opinions. It sounds like you know you want a 303 clone, so watch some demo videos on YouTube and get one that appeals to you. Buy it used, so if you decide you don't like it you can sell it for the same price. No financial risk!

As for audio interfaces, I use a sound card like this and it's worked great so far.

Oh my god please don't do a prebuilt from here and not likes Dell prebuilt like someone built it here. You can learn so much but buying the parts, and researching it can be a bonding experience with your son!
Edit: SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR A WALL OF TEXT!
anyway lets get this build started!
Idk what you want but for a case that looks super sexy the NZXT S340 would be a good start, cheap and nice.
CASE:NZXT S340 Mid Tower Case CA-S340MB-GR Matte Black/Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T4BWUUY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_wR12xbKDZPNE8
Note: $74 Jet.com has it cheaper. (GET THE BLUE AS I MADE IT A BLUE BUILD)
CPU:Intel Core i7-2600 Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 8 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80623I72600 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EBUXSU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_nT12xb7BECNJC
Note: $164
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P8H61-M LE/CSM R2.0 LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008NA1K0S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_b112xb1T6M7HK
Note: $94
RAM: PNY Anarchy 8GB Kit (2x4GB) DDR3 2133MHz (PC3-17000) CL10 Desktop Memory (BLUE) - MD8GK2D3213310AB-Z https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012DT0IB6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_h412xb3VC5JNW
Note: $45
POWER SUPPLY: EVGA 500 W1, 80+ WHITE 500W, 3 Year Warranty, Power Supply 100-W1-0500-KR https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H33SFJU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_E512xb56068FP
Note: $37
GRAPHICS CARD: ASUS ROG STRIX Radeon RX 460 4GB OC Edition AMD Gaming Graphics Card (STRIX-RX460-O4G-GAMING) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K1JVQI4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_z712xbFGF2Y2T
Note: $140

TOTAL: $554

Edit 2: As your budget is $600 and I don't know how lenient you are with going over or what, but an Asus RX 470 would be a better graphics card and would increase the total to around $650.

Edit 3:
AFTERMARKET CPU COOLER:Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005O65JXI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_E-12xbR7ZCHBK
Note: $28

Edit 4: If you want peripherals that's gonna be around $1000 in total for decent crap. I would suggest a 1080p 60hz monitor, a mechanical keyboard ( I use a G. Skillz KM780 RGB and it is fabulous), a nice pair of headphones HyperX cloud 2, and a nice set of speakers Logitech Z506. Also idk what you have but get a wifi adapter as well unless you can hook up to Ethernet which is highly recommended.

Edit 5: If any other questions just PM me glad to help you out more.

Edit 6: shit I forgot drives and OS. I'm too tired to link things anymore so I suggest getting a 128gb Samsung PRO SSD for your OS and main shit then get a Seagate 1TB HDD and you're good to go. Hopefully I covered everything.

Honestly 500-600 wouldn't make a very decent computer for a first rig. You can make one and well I made one just right now but that doesn't take into account peripherals. If you wanted 500-600 WITH peripherals that would have been the hardest budget build of my life. To maintain quality and performance, I'm cringing just thinking of it.

I bought an adjustable standing desk base from Amazon or Wayfair, you want something electric like this.

A standing desk mat is also a must-have. Spend the extra money and get a higher quality one than the Amazon basics. Those flake apart and break down fast. I have been using this one for about 2 years now and it's holding up great.

After a week or two you can stand all the time at your desk, no issues. I find it much more enjoyable than sitting. I stand 99% of the time now.

If you're like me and your job is more about getting your work done than making sure you stare at a screen for 8 hours a day, then I would also suggest a switchable USB hub that lets you change your mouse/keyboard between your personal PC and work PC easily. This also helps save a ton of space. Something like this.

As far as monitors, I just use different inputs and use the same monitors between work/personal PCs. Work on inputs 2, personal on input 1.

If you find you can't focus when you need to then you might need to separate work and personal computers/setups more.

You can get USB switch ICs that will switch the data lines

https://www.mouser.co.uk/Semiconductors/Integrated-Circuits-ICs/Switch-ICs/USB-Switch-ICs/_/N-7591u

Or products like this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Sharing-Keyboard-Scanner-Printer-Black/dp/B01N6GD9JO
Search for: usb switch box

The products are designed to switch devices between different hosts, not different devices per host, so I assume they just switch a USB hub between each PC. I doubt they make one to switch the output as it's USB - everything shades the bus.

Put physical switch on the power lines to the drives is probably the simplest way. Or use a microcontroller + MOSFET

You could wrangle this somehow: https://github.com/mvp/uhubctl

Or get a USB RAID enclosure

This is what you need:

UGREEN USB 3.0 Switch, 2 Computers Sharing 4 USB Devices USB Sharing Switch Box for Mouse, Keyboard, Scanner, Printer with 2 pcs of 4.9ft USB 3.0 A to A Cable https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01N6GD9JO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_A6GOAbFKVM0AX

Saw the Q300L is back in stock on amazon. Can we expect sales on that next week too? It's the last piece before I can start my build.

They restock every so-often, you just have to keep an eye out for them. NCase M1 V6 is supposed to be coming out soon, and Louqe Ghost S1 just had a pretty big restock on Amazon a few weeks ago.

Looks like the ghost is still in stock in Ash on Amazon at the moment

• Smallest ATX cases are:
  
• Riotoro CR1080
  
• Fractal Design Node 605
  
• Jonsbo RM1

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/505tzw/whats_the_smallest_case_that_fits_a_full_atx_board/


https://www.amazon.com/RIOTORO-Compartment-Support-Dedicated-CR1080/dp/B01D205IXS

I have a two Mac setup (one for work, one that’s mine) connected to a wireless mouse and keyboard running through one of these switches and it works flawlessly. It could easily work with a Mac/pc setup. I actually had it working that way before swapping my work windows machine for a Mac.

Edit: because I left out “mouse”

Get a Pluggable USB-3 dock, a male DVI to female VGA adapter, a USB 3 sharing switcher, and a female USB 3 to male USB-C OTG cable. I promise absolutely nothing

• Install the appropriate DisplayLink drivers on each computer
  
  
• Plug the computers into the host USB ports of the USB sharing switch (use the USB OTG cable to connect the Mac)
  
  
• Plug the Pluggable dock's host USB cable into a peripheral port of the sharing switch
  
  
• Plug the DVI to VGA adapter into the DVI port of the Pluggable dock
  
  
• Cable up the monitors
  
  
• Pray
  
  Plugable USB 3.0 Universal Laptop Docking Station for Windows (Dual Video HDMI & DVI / VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio, 6 USB Ports) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ECDM78E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_30Q1Ab3BX3P9J
  
  UGREEN USB 3.0 Sharing Switch Selector 4 Port 2 Computers Peripheral Switcher Adapter Hub for PC, Printer, Scanner, Mouse, Keyboard with One Button Swapping and 2 Pack USB Male Cable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6GD9JO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_53Q1AbPGC4FS6
  

Cooler Master Q300L.

They also have Q300P if you wanna RGB it up, but I prefer the Q300L mostly because it'll have better airflow

It just released the other day, and backorder on newegg.

Someone on Amazon is selling it as well

Airflow is another important characteristic. You wanna get something like the Meshify C.

Also, you gotta like how it looks!

Is this the Meshify c you speak of?
Fractal Design FD-CA-MESH-C-WT-TGC Computer Case https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BPP9KYD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_QOw3Cb4GQZSAK

There seems to be many variants and I’m a little confused as to which one makes the most sense.

It's available on Amazon at the moment.

https://www.amazon.com/LOUQE-Ghost-S1-Ash/dp/B07FSKXG4F/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=LOUQE+GHOST+S1&qid=1566496800&s=gateway&sr=8-1

They are on sale now $242 via Prime. I expect these listings to be pulled within hours and relisted on 5/30

https://www.amazon.com/LOUQE-Ghost-S1-Ash/dp/B07FSKXG4F/

Ghost S1 is in stock at Amazon right now.

>I can't tell if it includes the tophat or not

It doesn't, appears that is an additional $50 charge.

>it's made of magnesium alloy or something

They claim it is made of 'aircraft grade aluminum' earlier, I'd imagine it's Aluminum-magnesium Alloy, not true magnesium alloy (IE 50+% mg instead of 50+% Al). They specifically call out 6061, which is the same material the iPhone 6 frame wase made of. Which is funny, because that's not typically aircraft grade, the 7XXX series is, 6xxx series is more cars/boats.

I'm sure the case would be fine - but don't forget to factor in shipping. I'm not sure I would go with a Ghost over it - but I probably trust TaoBao agents more than I do Loque at this point having dealt with the former and only watched people generally struggle with the later. But the Ghost is currently on Amazon for not much more - so it may very well be the better option.


Some other comments:
Reviews of it observe it has similar issues with paint mis-matchin as the ghost did.
There are a few reviews comparing it directly to the S1 - stating the S1 is superior quality (in part due to the steel frame)

I have a 5.25" ODD that I would like to migrate to be external, so I can get a fan controller/more fans for my case. It isn't pressing, but if at some point in the future I want to do this, I know what to get.

Any good external enclosures for a SATA ODD? This is what I have, for reference.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F3I7HNM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There two work a lot better. Although the Plextor is the better one, it's also 3x more than this.

I use EAC in a Windows VM and dvdbackup on Fedora..

Don't need a full tower for Crossfire/SLI. It just helps. You can get a HAF 912 for $55 right now. It even has a removable drive cage if you're worried about card length.

650w or so should be enough for two 6950s. You can get an Antec HCG 620w for $50 right now, after rebate. Non-modular cables aren't harder, it just looks cleaner when you have fewer in there. A solid modular PSU in that wattage range is going to be a bit pricier. But the total of that PSU and the HAF 912 would be about the same as the NZXT Phantom, so...

Thanks man! Here is the link to the case. It's a Rosewill RSV-R4000, which as you can see has quite a few variants to fit your needs. Highly recommend it!

This one is a useful option. There are plenty of variants, some with hot swap bays. I use it with a SSI EEB board, and it fits it all just fine.

Also, most rack servers have removable ears, so they can easily work outside of a rack. And even with the ears, they stand up just fine in my experience.

The top one is https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0055EV30W/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1 housing an AMD Epyc 7281.

Underneath that is my NAS chassis, https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00N9CXGSO/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1.

They've been pretty solid. I replaced the fans with quieter ones. Same goes with my USG. The whole setup has a nice quiet hum 😊

It is a Rosewill case that I found on Amazon. I only got it last week. I wanted to clean up my rack and my 3U case has a GPU that was too tall to put the cover on. So I got this cheap 4U and put it in there, and will put something else in the 3U case later.

I saw a few posts over the last few days that have the same case (My cover is open so it looks different).
https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/atzj4e/just_recabled_the_home_lab_rack_im_quite_proud_of/
https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/aun5qx/could_use_some_advice_on_device_placement_to/

Just about to post that. Like this

So, it's 4 in the morning over here, so my grammar and typing might be off, but here's what I got:

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Wired-Keyboard-Mouse-Bundle/dp/B00B7GV802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499668820&sr=8-1&keywords=amazon+basic+keyboard

Amazon Mouse and keyboard combo - $15.00

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009421&cm_re=Acer_G236HL_Bbd_23-Inch_Screen_LED-Lit_Monitor-_-24-009-421-_-Product

Monitor $90

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-DDR3-1600-PC3-12800-CT2KIT25664BA160B-CT2CP25664BA160B/dp/B006YG88YY/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1499672261&sr=1-4&keywords=2gb+ddr3+ram

Reliable company and you can make use of dual-channels

$29.99

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0088PUEPK/ref=twister_B01MU9EG5O?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Get a Western Digital hard drive, both a hair cheaper and more reliable.
$47.99

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LUH1N4O/ref=psdc_229189_t2_B00CPLGFM4
AMD A8-7600 Quad-Core Get it on amazon or newegg, these sites have good return policies in case something happens. Superbiiz charges $8 for shipping so the cost is the same. $65.00

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-DDR3-2GB-Graphics-GV-R724OC-2GI-REV2-0/dp/B00JRSPXMQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1499671186&sr=1-1&keywords=amd+r7

Graphics card - $57.99

There is a $10 rebate going on so you can get it for $47.99

Although this is a low-end graphics card, you can crossfire this with the APU to get better performance.

MOBO

http://www.microcenter.com/product/446287/GA-F2A68HM-H_FM2_ATX_AMD_Motherboard

This allows for a dual graphics set up. - $49.99

Power Supply

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F5LX55K/ref=twister_B01G69E69E?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

A good supply - $37.99

https://www.amazon.com/ROSEWILL-Computer-plastic-computer-FBM-01/dp/B005LIDU5S/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1499674177&sr=1-3&keywords=rosewill+case

Annnnnnnd a case - $31

The total cost is $415...

Edit: after looking at u/Wings0fLiberty 's post, the power supply ( I decided on a similar one) could be found for $26.99 on newegg, and a case for $24.99.

With these changes, the build would be withing budget.

cheap case:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LIDU5S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Better budget memory:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TY6A1P0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've been using RTL-SDR with the Ham-It-Up. You'll need to get one of these SMA to MCX to connect them. After that I just built a simple wire dipole and strung it up in my attic. I can now do Rx on all bands. Furthest signal I've received so far was from Pakistan and I routinely listen to the shortwave broadcasts out of Cuba and the Bahamas. Best $100 I've ever spent in the hobby for sure.

I'm using Acurite temp/humidity sensors and a USB RTL-SDR to sniff the signals. Then a neat little piece of software called rtl_433 decodes the radio signals and can output in json format over mqtt. I have home assistant listening to the topics and just view the data there. I'm sure there is an easy way to get data into grafana as well. I ran that setup on a Rpi no problem but have since switched to a NUC and things are still going great.

https://www.amazon.in/Raspberry-Plus-Motherboard-Combo-Variation/dp/B07C6SN8PL/

https://www.amazon.in/NooElec-USB-Stick-RTL2832U-R820T/dp/B009U7WZCA/


I'm not sure locally where the best palce to get this stuff would be or what you costs are, maybe someone from India can help.

It would probably be a good idea to get a USB optical drive anyways for situations like this. They're pretty cheap: https://www.amazon.com/Electronics-Portable-Rewriter-External-GP60NB50/dp/B00C2AMK2M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1474446267

Your best bet currently would be using another computer to rip the disc to an .iso file and mount it as a virtual drive on your new PC. I would be wary of installing onto another PC and copying the installed files.

• Seriously wait to learn about Ryzen 5 (3 days away). The R5 leaks are making me really second guess the 7700k I bought.
  
  
• ATX case means loads of room. Consider a mATX or mITX if you dont plan to do SLI (Dont do SLI anyways). I assume you're college-age ish. A smaller case means a lot in a dorm room.
  
  
• If you stick with mATX or ATX, you have loads of room, zero need for a m.2 SSD, get a traditional 2.5" SATA SSD for half the cost. If you go the mITX route, switch the internal 3TB HDD to an external HDD
  
  
• Consider a used 1070 100% in your price range if you dont get the m.2 SSD that I seriously dont think you'll need.
  
  
• I built my mITX in december of 2016 and was terrified to not have a CD drive, so i bought this. I'll be honest, I dont think I've used it since I installed the drivers.
  
  Summary -- Consider a smaller motherboard mATX or mITX which allows a smaller case, drop the m.2 for a 2.5' SSD, look at used 1070s, wait for Ryzen 5 to announce, honestly think about the last time you used a CD.
  
  Check out reddit.com/r/sffpc
  
  

It's way more than $1500... the build you linked isn't the same at all and doesn't include peripherals nor some other add-ins.

/u/forrealimadetective linked a pretty accurate build here which comes out to about $1900. Add the capture card ($150), upgrade the optical drive to the external DVD writer (+$15), anti-virus ($30), flash drive ($10?), t-shirt ($10?), and the value of the warranty ($100++?) and the total is at least $2200 in parts alone, or more if you consider the fact that the case is custom designed for this build and isn't otherwise available.

Still a better deal if you build it yourself, but not nearly as bad of a deal as a $1500 PC for $2750. Honestly this ends up not being that terrible of a deal for someone who isn't tech-savvy enough to put together this list of products and assemble them, and install OS/software.

Also, the better spec you linked would be something like $2400 if you also include the keyboard, mouse, monitor, and capture card.

As much as I like new toys, if it were me, I'd bite my lip and do the responsible thing by getting AppleCare for the computer. :P

If you already did get AppleCare, I'd say go for the external drive; optical media is falling quickly out of usage, but you can get a much better deal than Apple's SuperDrive if you choose to in the future. The Apple Store does have a respectable selection of third-party drives, on the other hand.

Based on what I understood, the new laptop doesn't have a CD drive? Fear not my friend, I got you: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Portable-External-SE-218CB-RSBS/dp/B00DBV28TG

If I had one, I would have sent it your way already

This is the one I bought when my CD tray broke on my laptop.

It's a little bit above your $20 range, but it works amazingly and it's prime so you'll save a bit on shipping anyway.

I'm currently building a gaming PC for my nephew using mostly pre-owned parts from some of my friends that were upgrading their PCs. I bought a Cooler Master Case that was on sale at the time for approx $75, and bought a refurbished GIGABYTE GA-AB350-Gaming 3 motherboard for $40. I got a Ryzon 5 CPU from a friend that was upgrading his own to a Ryzon 7, I had a NVIDIA GTX 960 from when I upgraded mine to a GTX 1080 TI. I had a 800 watt power supply salvaged out of another PC. Currently the only things that it is missing is RAM and a harddrive which will cost around $300 if bought new, but I'm actively looking around for refurbished or a decent sale to lower the cost.

https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B00GY0UB54

I don't use this, but use their other device which works with a cable card. Built my own DVR using a Windows 7 PC. It relies on Media Center which is not available in newer Windows versions.

Why not grab the shield TV, and grab a hdhomerun to consolidate what you are doing to one box instead of two so you aren't switching inputs? The shield has a several different DVRs built in. Also if you wanted to you could use plex with the shield?

https://www.amazon.com/NVIDIA-SHIELD-Streaming-Player-Remote/dp/B075RXV2VR/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1510506499&sr=8-2&keywords=shield+tv

https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B00GY0UB54/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1510506517&sr=1-1&keywords=hdhomerun

www.plex.tv

Get this instead https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B00GY0UB54
It's awesome, watching morning news on it right now through it's app on my shield

If you want to get REALLY fancy in the future, buy a HDHomeRun Connect: https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B00GY0UB54

Hook your antenna up to it somewhere out of sight and use Channels on your AppleTV to watch Live television: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/channels-live-tv-anywhere/id1117689474?mt=8

There's an AppleTV version and it works EXTRMELY well.

For live content you're better off with Kodi/SPMC with a homerun device. There are others like Tablo, but they're buggy & have subscriptions. Or... I use a cheap HDHomeRun CONNECT wth TVHeadEnd on Linux. Plex has a channel to watch Live TV both from TVHeadEnd or HDHR Viewer & the recordings are seen just fine in Plex too, even tho they have to be transcoded to view on a lot of devices. You can even get fancy & use comskip to remove the commercials for ya. :-)

Android TV very good setup and will fit your budget read the reviews from the buyers that's only opinion that matter from people that actually own these products.

:

TCL 55S405 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Roku Smart LED TV (2017 Model) $349.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MTGM5I9/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

:

NVIDIA SHIELD TV Gaming Edition | 4K HDR Streaming Media Player with GeForce NOW $199.00 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N1NT9Y6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

:

SiliconDust HDHomeRun CONNECT. FREE broadcast HDTV (2-Tuner) $73.95 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GY0UB54/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

:

[2018 Latest] Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna Long 65-80 Miles Range – Support 4K 1080p & All Older TV's Indoor Powerful HDTV Amplifier Signal Booster - 18ft Coax Cable/USB Power Adapter $27.95 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FVLXHYV/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Power on can also be accomplished with WOL, assuming you have a phone or some other device to trigger it and an Ethernet connection.

You can even set a PC startup time in some UEFI's—I know my ASRock Z370-based motherboard has it.

But, shut off (when you've got a system freeze) is going to need a hardware button. They sell 'em...here's a particularly gaudy one:

Uxcell a13112600ux0340 Computer Case Power Supply Reset HDD Button Switch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HG7HO22/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qaUxDb29YEN45

If you've got a place to mount, you can build your own:

KNACRO 16mm Chassis Switch With 1M/3.3ft Cable Blue LED Ring With Switch Symbol For DIY computer switch and restart button https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076CWLVS5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gcUxDb4ER7HG5

I'm going to say that you can easily replace the power button.

you can go cheap, just cut the header pins and then jump the thing like they jump cars in movies.

Or you can get one of these things for like $8, which is still cheap, run it through the back of the case and just have it sitting on top (I have a bunch of these for machines that are in hard to reach areas).

A Silverstone DS380 might be right up your alley. It's not as small as some ITX cases (like Corsair's, TT's etc), but it's still a compact case.

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Mini-ITX-Computer-DS380B/dp/B00IAELTAI

Supports:

• SFX PSU
  
• 11" GPU
  
• 8x 3.5" hot swappable hard drives
  
  You can check out my build using this case here:
  https://www.reddit.com/r/sffpc/comments/3o3z3f/i732gbgtx960265tb_itx_servergaming_build_xpost/

> My main purpose for it is really to do backups with a RAID setup and photo and other file storage.

RAID is not a backup solution. It is simply a way to utilize multiple disks to increase storage space or overall performance. You will still need some kind of backup, whether that is some kind of external USB drive like a WD Passport or using a cloud-based service like CrashPlan, that's up to you.

> I’m willing to spend about $300-$250 on the case and any components needed for it.

If you're planning on building your own server, $300 won't get you very far at all. Depending on the size you're looking for, the hard drives alone will cost more than that.

> If I wanted to “build my own” how are NAS cases usually sold?

Unfortunately there aren't a lot of NAS-centric cases around.

The SilverStone DS308 is kinda neat. It has 8 hot-swappable drive bays.

What a lot of people do is go with some sort of tower case and some hot-swap trays like these.

>Is it likely that I’ll need to buy a power supply, RAM, fans, or any other components for them?

Unless you already have an old PC laying around that you can use, then yes.

>If I built my own how hard is it to install software, etc. to run it?

Do you have experience installing an OS on a PC or laptop? I would recommend going with some flavor of Linux like Ubuntu Server. The installation process is very easy, especially if you're doing it on a brand new computer where you don't need to worry about overwriting anything important.

>What’s the minimum processor speed and memory I should aim for?

Unless you plan on doing things like Video Transcoding or running Virtual Machines, CPU speed and RAM aren't really that important. What's more important is the network hardware and your SATA controller. You want to make sure it has a good 1Gbps network card (Intel is preferred). You also want to make sure that it has SATA-III and that there are enough ports for each hard drive.

>Am I likely to get better performance by tailoring it to better specs (faster processor, more RAM) by building my own then buying a “diskless” setup?

Almost certainly. It will also be more flexible and able to do more things. It will also give you valuable knowledge and experience that you can use in the future.

>Even if I buy a "diskless" system am I going to need to buy an OS? Which one would be best?

No, you will not need any separate OS. These systems are basically little self-contained PCs with an ARM (or sometimes an x86) processor and some sort of Linux-based OS running on them. They're pretty much Plug 'n Play, just load them with some hard drives, set up networking and they're good to go.

> If I just wanted to buy one that’s completely setup, or a “diskless “ that I would add my own NAS HDs too what would you recommend?

Whatever is the least expensive, highest rated and has the features you require. The rest does not matter.

Ultimately what you decide to do depends on your goals. Do you want to learn about building and configuring a server? Then you might consider sourcing the parts and building something yourself. This will be the more expensive approach but it will also be more flexible, have much more performance than a pre-built solution and give you knowledge you can use in the future.

If you want something that Just Works™ then I would go with a prebuilt NAS like the DS216, it looks like a decent system and will give you the features you require.

Hope that helps!

SilverStone DS380B, its a fantastic case. It supports up to 8 hot swap drives and 4 SSDs internally. Its mini ITX too. Fantastic air flow through it. I've had 6 drives in it since day one with no issues. Its not the cheapest considering its size but it does have all the hardware for the hot swap and if I'm not mistaken also supports SAS drives.

I guess other than it being smaller there is no advantage to it over something like this. Silverstone Tek Premium

I'd use this ($250) as your case. Throw in 4-5 4TB HDDs ($500), add other internals ($400 for cpu + ram + mobo + psu + cables). You still have $850 of budget to play around with after that

Are you looking to build one from complete scratch, or are you looking to buy one that already has some of what you need(hdd trays, caddys, etc)?

for my last NAS build, I ended up getting myself a 4U chassis. A good one that I can recommend is the RSV-L4500 You can also pick something like the RSV-L4000 for something with a horizontal bay if you like. Or If you know that you want it full of Drives and are comfortable stopping at 12 hot swap bays, Rosewills RSV-L4412 would be ideal from the get go, as you wont need to replace the bays that it comes with at any point.

I ended up purchasing 3 3x5.25 to 5x3.5 bay hdd caddys for a total of 15 drives. Looks exactly like THIS

After you get the case, you can put the parts that you like in it. Just read what size motherboard fits, get an appropriate power supply for the number of drives you'll be using, get an HBA that does JBOD and can can connect to the number of drives you'll be getting, and you're good to go.

Specifically for freenas, you can put the OS on a USB and run it from there, however because Small USB tend to be hit or miss, i recommend a SATA DOM or two, plugged directly into the motherboard instead of via the HBA. Two if you want to mirror the OS. Remember, do not use any form of hardware raid when using freenas.



Edit: words.

I feel your pain about Supermicro's EEATX standard. I misread it as EATX and purchased a used X9DR3-LN4F+ and stuffed in dual Intel Xeon E5-2670s with 192GB Samsung ECC PC3-12800R and then went to drop it into my Rosewill RSV-L4412 case...and...it extends into where the PSU goes. Crap.

I purchased some nylon risers to keep the top edge of the board from leaning too much, but it's not going anywhere and then I decided to order SFX-L SilverStone 700W PSU and it fits RIGHT in between the motherboard and the top of the case. I need to create a bracket for it, but it fits nicely above the board and will supply enough power for everything. Just gotta wait for the wires & connectors so I can make some custom cables, but this has been a sweet setup so far.

Picture (with SFX psu standing in/doing nothing): http://i.imgur.com/0NUvo64.jpg

Another picture: http://i.imgur.com/7Rpwg7V.jpg

You could use a server case. They would be perfectly flat and could be put on a shelf/used as one.

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-R4000/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487828404&sr=8-1&keywords=rosewill%2Bserver%2Bcase&th=1

Potential alternative - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N9CXGSO

I'd consider looking into the Rosewill RSV-4412 4U rack mount server chassis. Has ample space for a motherboard and has 12 drive bays :)

It's a NZXT S340 this is actually the same computer case I have as well but black. It has plenty of space and overall very nice case. Nothing too crazy but is simple. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NGMIBUU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_MKPOBb9EAWP08

Any of the cheap ones on Amazon with good reviews. You may want to upgrade to a proper amp in the future, but this will help with bad PC board sound for now:

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1539687159&sr=8-6&refinements=p_72%3A2661618011&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=usb+sound+card&dpPl=1&dpID=31I6PjG412L&ref=plSrch

A USB sound card will act as a standalone device.

You would have to connect the speakers to the USB sound device for it to work.

Fractal and Corsair are pretty much the top dogs when it comes to pc cooling. Lots of room for fans and they are open enough to provide ample airflow to cool all your components.

NZXT would be the runners up. Their cases are very attractive and they have the PSU and HDD on the bottom so its not obstructing the Mobo/CPU/GPU up top. the only thing is their cases are not as open, so your airflow isn't as good as it would be in a corsair. However, that is a minor gripe, I use a NZXT case and my temperatures at idle are 25c-28c (CPU) and 25c-30c(GPU).

Style, color, and size all come into play when getting your case. I'd argue getting the right case is the most crucial part of any PC build. It has to look good, it has to have enough room without looking like a barely furnished house, and it has to have the right type of airflow going through it.

Those cases you listed are all very good ones though. Can't go wrong with any of them. ;)

edit: I'll go ahead and recommend the case that I personally use, the NZXT s340 It's a decent size and I managed to fit everything nicely and the airflow rate is superb.

Here it is up and running. (I like showing it off, don't judge)

Yes I ordered cases many times. And I recommend it.

But why amazon UK? Amazon USA sells the case with shipping to Saudi Arabia. Find the link

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T4BWUUY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_c1stybDJYWXY3

Your best option would actually be to kick down your screen size requirement to 14" and go for the Lenovo Y40.

It's lightweight at under 5lbs, it's quite thin at under an inch, it gets ~7hrs of battery life, and the graphics are well powerful enough to run your games. It does not have an optical drive, though. This is a common characteristic of new, thinner laptops that focus on efficiency.

Fortunately, most people don't use optical drives very often and it's really easy and cheap to get an external optical drive.

Right, those seem to be like the old cases from quite a while back when you would put the monitor over the case. They are like horizontal computer cases.

​

Here are a few I could find after a quick search, doesn't seem to be nearly as many cool ones as a vertical case.

​

Cooler Master MasterBox

Thermaltake Core P5

Silvertone Grandia

Cooler Master LAN Box

Antec Blazer GT - Doesn't seem like this is out yet

​

Edit: Though I am thinking you could buy any nice looking tower and put it on its side. Just put some rubber feet on the side of the case and set it down.

Cooler Master HAF XB EVO (up to E-ATX unofficially, ATX officially, fits Xtreme perfectly!)

They still make and sell the second version I think OP painted his.

First thing that comes to my mind for a short, wide case:
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Computer-Radiator-RC-902XB-KKN2/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q, but not sure if that's too big for what you're planning. It's only got 4 front accessible drive bays though, and I don't recall seeing many cases nowadays that have 6 up front. Are you looking for SFF sized cases or something that can accommodate a full sized atx board?

Cooler Master HAF XB II EVO

Either he got it in white or he painted it.

No matter what it's a sexy beast.

> I came to the realization that the PCI slots don't all have the same bandwidth (so I'm hoping this discovery may be a good thing)

It is! You'll now be able to use your SLI more efficiently. Just make sure there's no other damage to the board, but from what you said it seems ok now.



>Now, the big question for me: are these video cards too close together?.

Yeah, the top one is blowing hot air directly onto the PCB of the other one, hindering the top one's cooling and cooking the other. Look into getting them watercooled. I would stop using SLI until then if I were you.



>And a follow-up question: does anyone know of a better CPU fan than this.

Yes.



BONUS

This case is pretty much wife-proof especially if you swap out it's mesh top panel for a plexiglass one. Those are kinda hard to find but not impossible. Coolermaster may sell them directly.

39 different Cooler Master cases sharing the same reviews.
It's annoying.
Also makes the questions/answers mostly impossible to use because you have to click each one to see the actual model the question talks about.

Like my CM case but that amazon page is a mess.

There's really not much in the way of ATX compatible cubes. The only ones I know of are :

Coolermaster HAF XB EVO (ATX)

Corsair Carbide Air 540 / Corsair Carbide Air 540 Arctic White (E-ATX)

Corsair Carbide Air 740 (ATX)

Thermaltake Core X9 / Thermaltake Core X9 Snow Edition (E-ATX)

Thermaltake Core X5 TG / Thermaltake Core X5 TG Snow Edition (E-ATX)

Something like the Thermaltake Core G3 Slim or the Cooler Master HAF XB II EVO (the latter of which has handles) might be a good call.

The Cooler Master is slightly larger, but still quite mobile while also relatively cheap (Amazon link)

Direct link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GY0UB54/

what kind of antenna are you using?

i use this one
1byone
i velcroed it to the back of my entertainment center. i get great signals on some of the networks, but some are spotty. when that happens, i pull it out and move it around to higher areas until i fix the signal. i rarely can't get a channel when i try.

i know people who swear by this pricier box, but i've never used it.
SiliconDust HDHomeRun

and if you're not up for doing the antenna thing and cable's too expensive, there's tons of streaming options out there that get basic cable and local channels. pretty sure they can be as low as 20/month.

youtube tv, sling, playstation vue, directvnow, the list seems to be getting bigger everyday.

> I don't pay for cable so I have nothing to record

I don't pay for cable either. I use an antenna and I get about 30 channels.

>Private torrents have every show I've ever wanted basically unless it's some weird British show that I couldn't even DVR here even if I had cable ..

Well I happen to work in the industry, and I feel for me to pirate that programming would be a bit hypocritical of me.

AFAIK, however, you don't really see much pirating of shows like Meet the Press, nor do I easily see any ability to get any locally produced programming via pirating, including programs I worked on.

There's also a lot of oddball stuff that just isn't out there, or shows I just want to casually use as sort of background noise.

And then there's the fact this isn't using up some of my bandwidth cap with my ISP.

>I understand how the DVR is useful, but it's a lot of money/setup and again I don't want to pay for cable.

Well good news, it's not that big a deal. There are very basic and simple DVRs like the HomeWorx HW-150PVR, where all you have to do is add a USB hard disk. Pop an antenna and you're set. All done!

Or you can go a little more advanced. Get yourself a used computer for like $100 (I see some Core 2 Duo Mac Minis going for $100 and under on eBay, if you want something smaller), add a TV tuner (HDHomeRun Connect going for $77 on Amazon) and an antenna (I like the Winegard Flatwave since it has VHF elements in it and I live on the far side of the metro from the towers, $35 on Amazon, but depending on where you live you might only need an straightened out paperclip) and load it up with some software. You could use NextPVR if you want to stay in Windows, or if you're crafty you can use MythTV in Linux. If you like Linux, but aren't super confident you can use a pre-rolled distro like MythBuntu that has MythTV preinstalled and steps you through everything.

So that's about $200, plus $25/yr if you want more robust TV listings from SchedulesDirect (which I recommend). That's not that expensive, especially when you consider that's the price of a mid-range gaming GPU, and people spend twice that much on game consoles.

You could probably get that down a little cheaper if you look at busted laptops or trawled Craigslist for used PCs. You could run this on a Raspberry Pi if it had more RAM and faster USB disk access.

>Plus most WEB-DL's often look way better than any 1080p HDTV rip I've seen lately.

You should check your local broadcasters. They may be better than you realize.

If you want to be able to integrate it into your Plex server, you can use a HDHR Connect, and you'll be able to record OTA with your Plex server, (and also access it with your Roku devices if you have the Roku synced up with your Plex server. Of course, you'll need adequate HDD space to store the shows that you want to archive.

You'll need a USB ATSC TV tuner that is supported under Linux ARM and run something like tvheadend. It'll mean a lot of messing about with selecting the right tuner and then getting the right driver compiled for the kernel. TV tuners under Linux is fairly complicated still as the kernel provided drivers tend to be old.

How much do you really want to tinker though? I'd suggest just buying a dual tuner HDHomeRun box instead for $94. USB ATSC tuners looks to be ~$35 by themselves. The cheap TV tuners that say RTLSDR or DVB aren't compatible. The HDHomeRun boxes work very well and it is all ready to go for a reasonable price if you're looking for dual tuner capability.

Kodi supports streaming TV from a tvheadend server or HDHomeRun. I'm unsure how you'd get it to work on a Roku box though. AFAIK it doesn't support streaming the necessary TV broadcast codecs directly so you'd need a server somewhere transcoding. The HDHomeRun does support DLNA so you should be able to get it to stream to your Xbox directly.

Have you considered some under the counter tvs? These were popular in the kitchen before the age of tablets.

Speaking of which, if you already have a tablet with a wifi setup, may I suggest HDHomeRun. By connecting this device to an antenna and your home router, you can stream OTA channels to your PCs and mobile devices.

>eed these locals in Chicago. Channel 9 is WGN, one of the biggest local stations in the US, previously owned by Tribune and now Nexstar.
>
>Channel 11, WTTW, is our main PBS station.

I use one of these bad boys hooked up to an antennae. https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B00GY0UB54

Allows your phone, DNLA devices etc. to access the tuners over the network. It's actually so integrated into the Sony Bravia that my TV acts like I plugged the antennae right into my television even though it's just a box on the network.

I used it mainly for cubs games on WGN (and ABC used to be blacked out but the most recent year it wasn't) but now with the Cubs getting their own network (Marquee) probably won't even use it anymore. PBS is supposed to be coming to all of YTTV quite soon.

My Model: HDHR4-2US is supported and working.
My old HDHR-US does not work with live channels.

Works - https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B00GY0UB54/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=hdhr4-2us&qid=1572549566&s=electronics&sr=1-2

Doesn't work - https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-HDHR-US-Networked-Definition/dp/B0010Y414Q

So do I. just need a computer and one of these https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GY0UB54

They have the 2 Tuner SD (1080i) version for $69. Which is still 40% off the normal price.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GY0UB54/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't know if it's the cheapest, but the HDHomeRun Connect does two tuners with an HD antenna for $99. There are ones with more than two tuners but you'll pay more.

I've used those types of tuners in the past, as well as Hauppage cards for desktop pcs. Recently I picked up one of these, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GY0UB54/ and feel like a sucker for using tuner cards all those years. Plug it into your router, hook up your antenna and you can have OTA TV on your laptop, phone, tablet, anything on your network. I use with Emby for DVR and also remote access.

Get one of these, I have one for each of my pcs. https://www.amazon.com/Uxcell-a13112600ux0340-Computer-Supply-Button/dp/B00HG7HO22/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=power+button+for+pc&qid=1564412849&s=gateway&sr=8-4

You can either go the free method and start it with a screw driver, or get an external power button like this.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FBRSE4G

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HG7HO22

Or just search PC power switch. If you have old computers laying around or a junkyard just pull out the power/reset buttons and accompanying LEDS if you like and make your own.

You can install something like this and put it somewhere hidden from your kid, leave the case's power button unplugged.

Get a long distance power button:

https://www.amazon.de/SODIAL-Desktop-Computer-Stromversorgung-Schalter/dp/B00HG7HO22/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=Laomao+Desktop+PC+Computer+Power+Switch&qid=1567783447&s=computers&sr=1-7

Hm. Okay. That sounds good for the Wi-Fi part of it. Any ideas about the power button and USB ports? I saw that the had external power buttons but I don't want some huge honking button sitting in the middle of my desk. And that doesn't solve the USB problem either. I'm think that the only way I could do that is to get a cheap case, cut off the little plate with the stuff, and then stick that on the side. But I don't really want to do that.

P.S. I assume that Wi-Fi card isn't Mac compatible?

You could also get a wired version that interfaces directly to the motherboard header.

If you go with that option, you will likely have to configure your wake events for PCIe, which is possible.

Another thing to point out, is this category also allows you to wake the computer by keyboard, such as simply pressing space bar.

You should add a small reset button right next to it!

Use a race switch or a whole race start switch panel!


Edit: Also found this cool thing.

I've used a layer of masking tape to dim them.

I've seen people use colored film to shift the color somewhat as well.

Ultimately in my case I got an external button and don't use my case's because it was prone to getting stuck down.

https://www.amazon.com/Uxcell-a13112600ux0340-Computer-Supply-Button/dp/B00HG7HO22

wonder if you couldn't hook up the pins of a pc power button like https://amzn.com/B00HG7HO22 to some of the gpio pins?

I've wired simple buttons before with a software pull-up, no need for soldering a resistor in the circuit.

No problem. They do also make similar but wired kits:

http://amzn.com/B00HG7HO22

There are a few. I actually have the [Norco ITX-S4] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J353KH8/) that I use for my NAS and is around the same size as the U-NAS. There's also the Silverstone DS380B, Chenbro SR30169 and Supermicro CSE-721TQ-250B that are slightly larger.

Are you looking for rackmount? You aren't likely to find anything with 120-140mm fan support. Most rackmounts have tiny, but loud fast spinning fans.

It's not supermicro, or rackmount, but something like this might work well. Can hold 8 x 3.5 drives, and also has space for 4x 2.5" drives inside. The only thing it doesn't have is ATX PSU support. It needs a SFX power supply.

Silverstone DS380

If you need Rackmount, maybe take a look at some Norco cass. This 4U Norco case might fit the bill. You'd just need to get some adaptors to put in the 2.5" drives.

TLDNR; Without having more info on what I described in the first paragraph. I'd say just buy a couple 10TB Easystores on sale ($180ea) and use your current SBCs and smaller server setups. After I wrote all of this I saw that you are from AUS(I think), so no clue if you can get close to $18 per TB in your area, but prices are coming down every year so sometimes better to just save $$$. It is super fun to think about a new and more powerful setup, plus buying it and putting it together, but as you can see I've done a lot of this thinking already. You are also probably feeling guilty that you have to make use of all your 2TBs, but lots of little HDDs do require more electricity to power up and cool. You need storage density and you cant get around that. Upgrade to 10TB and use the 2TB as a cold storage (backup). You are at a heck of a crossroads because the cost to go from SBCs to a "Proper" server plus buying storage isnt a cheap one. Currently there are limited stepping stones, but more powerful SBCs and Ryzen Embedded are here and on the way so wait if possible. Either way you go, you will spend more money and use up storage faster than you planned... The more powerful SBCs arent always cheap either, once you factor in cost of: memory card, power supply, case, possible heatsink/extra heat sinks, a fan, etc. Their lower price starts creeping into the middle range...


What brand, how many, and how long have the 2TBs been powered on for? It sounds like you are currently swapping out the 2TBs for others depending on what you want to watch and on which HDD it is? Do you have any projected storage numbers and what is your current and future budget? You mentioned that you have a small dedicated server? Is that another SBC or what is with that setup and how many sata ports? I'd forgo the transcoding ideas and nix buying any sort of new "Server" options. Focus on reusing what you have or going with a "Used" setup, so you can start saving that money for when 8TB or 10TB Easystores go on sale.

IMO for a true new build you'd want to price in ECC RAM, UPS, and I personally prefer a case that has hot swap access to HDDs. The Rosewill that meemo linked cant be beat for the price especially since it comes with 7 fans, but it requires extra steps to access the HDDs (internally only), which may be fine for you. There is Mediasonic (JBOD version only) that you could plug into your SBC, but that technically isnt hot swappable either, plus it is USB 3.1 to USB-C which isnt the worst but it isnt the best... I know you wanted to get away from SBCs, but if you disable transcoding there are some SBCs that use SATA to SATA connections that are very viable. Any SBC or standalone storage that uses USB is a potential risk, since USB can suffer connection issues when doing rebuilding, parity, and scrubbing maintenance (same if your power goes out, hence a need for UPS). Helios4 is a time restricted option, since they only open up orders once or twice a year (they are currently taking orders). *I saw a post saying that since the Helios4 is a 32bit processor, so it is limited to 16TB volumes. You get 2GB ECC + 4x SATA and I believe you can use any HDD size with that (double check tho), so 4 separate 10TB volumes (4x$180sale=$720+tax), not including parity... I'm not sure how the 32bit and the 16TB volume limit effect drive pooling... I gotta research more into that. I'm not familiar with the UnRaid, FreeNAS, or the other options that you mentioned, but OpenMediaVault4 has MergerFS drive pooling and Snapraid plugin, you could run 3x storage HDD and 1x parity or you could forgo parity for now. If you prefer Windows (You can also run omv4 on windows in a VM) there is Stablebit Drivepool (Not free) for pooling and then Snapraid (not completely novice friendly) for parity. Depending on the HDD type you could reuse the discarded Easystore enclosures and put your 2TB drives in there (still USB connection). If they are a different brand (non WD/HGST) I think you have to desolder something on the Easystore board? I lost the link on how to do that. You could also just keep the 2TB as cold storage backups, but that still carries a risk, but it's cheaper. You could also get 2nd Helios, but for about the same price you could use that money on a 10TB. That would replace 5x of your 2TB drives... Not too mention the extra electricity to power and cool 5x drives vs 1x drive... As you can see, storage density starts coming into play here, big time.
UPS https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00429N18S/
Mediasonic https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078YQHWYW/
Helios4 https://shop.kobol.io/collections/frontpage/products/helios4-full-kit-2gb-ecc-3rd-batch-pre-order?variant=18881501528137
https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/as17od/helios4_batch_3_available_for_preorder/

There are other SATA SBCs that you could use and you could also do a janky setup and put the SATA SBCs inside a hot swappable case like this Silverstone one. There are other cases, but this is the only name that came to mind. This case also doesnt have any power supply or fans to cool the HDDs so there will be extra cost there, plus you'll need a power supply, PLUS a way to turn on your power supply (with a power board), since that SBC setup wont have a motherboard. You can also make your own "Dumb" JBOD HDD enclosure and connect that to your mini server. Another option to SBCs is the ASRock cpu+mobo line: J3455-ITX, J4105-ITX, annd J5005-ITX. The issue with this that it appears you are still limited to 4x SATA or other variations of these boards have a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot at x1 or x2 transfer lanes/speed instead of x8 or x16... Also you have to factor in the price of ram and a mini PICO power supply. There is a subreddit+website that focuses on used parts for cheap server setups, but you might want to verify the power consumption of those setups when they are idling. With the NAS killer option, you gotta make sure all of the parts are still available on ebay or refurb sites, plus make sure you have time to build your setup to verify everything is working plus stress test it before the return window closes to weed out any weak used parts.
Silverstone https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IAELTAI/
HDD enclosure option https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-5-25-Inch-3-5-Inch-Hot-swap-SATAIII/dp/B00DGZ42SM/
Power Board https://www.amazon.com/Super-Micro-Computer-Supermicro-Cse-ptjbod-cb2/dp/B008FQZHZE
J3455-ITX https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=13-157-728
https://www.serverbuilds.net/nas-killer-v30/

Another option if you really want transcoding and a more powerful "Server" would be a Dell Optiplex 7010, which are used business computers that are "Refurbished", but I think they just take them from that company and wipe the hard drive, nothing else. The Minitower Desktop version is roomier than the slightly cheaper SFF (SmallFormFactor) version, which might be important if you want to swap out the power supply, watch the youtube video to get an idea of what you are getting into. Since a cheap power supply is a weak point plus a potential hazard I'd recommend swapping in a new power supply, but you could risk it with its current power supply. Everything else should last for a good while. You'll also need to install a HBA card. You can get Genuine used cards that were in good working order or you could get a new knock off from China. Both options are viable, but personally I prefer the used option. Theartofserver, ebay seller, also has a youtube channel, so I purchased from him, but I have also purchased from other sellers and got good working parts (I think Ebay still has the most honest and accurate rating system out there?). Since the Optiplex doesnt have room for internal HDDs then you are left with a few options with various HBA cards (internal vs external), expander cards, and adapter setups (SFF-8087 to SFF-8088). If you want it to look "Proper" there will be a lot of wasted money on 2x adapters (1x Optiplex + 1x external HDD enclosure) and an extra SFF-8088 cable between the two. I'd just go janky with it and get a longer reverse breakout cable of 3.3feet (4x SATA to 1x SFF-8087), which should be long enough to go from your external HDDs setup into the Optiplex case and internally connected to the HBA card, like the popular 9201-8i. The janky part being that you'll have the reverse breakout cable snaking directly into each case, instead of plugging into an adapter in the back.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K0GNUOG/
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-Breakout-SFF-8087/dp/B018YHS9GM
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-LSI-6Gbps-SAS-HBA-LSI-9201-8i-9211-8i-P20-IT-Mode-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/162958581156
Single adapter https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816133055
Double adapter https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GPD9QEQ/
SFF-8080 cable https://www.amazon.com/Norco-Technologies-C-SFF8088-External-SFF-8088/dp/B003J9CZCK/

I have a ds380 I am currently buying parts to build my nas in here is a link for amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IAELTAI?pc_redir=1397498794&robot_redir=1

Edit it has 8 3.5 hotswap and 4 2.5 drives

ASROCK C2750D4I
Hitachi NAS Drives
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IAELTAI/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008VQ2Y4K/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Some DDR3 ECC RAM, Should be 1gb of RAM per 1tb of Storage in the NAS, and then Just have a small SSD run FreeNas in the system.

I went with something like this without the hotswap bays...

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Server-Chassis-Rackmount-Metal/dp/B00N9CXGSO/

Yes. Mine still are. ;)


https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-L4412/dp/B00N9CXGSO

I got this: Rosewill 4U Server Chassis / Server Case / Rackmount Case, Metal Rack Mount Computer Case with 12 Hot Swap Bays & 5 Fans Pre-Installed (RSV-L4412) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_n5QfzbMQAZH8M

It's a little pricey, but solid.

RSV-L4411 I'm pretty sure, and I'm not sure what the difference is between that one and the newer version:

http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Thickness-Rackmount-Black-RSV-L4411/dp/B0091IZ2L4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_pc_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=183SZX6JQVAQC25VQCX1


http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Thickness-Rackmount-Hot-Swap-RSV-L4412/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1415704197


It was also on sale for $200 when I purchased it.

Just picked up two of these guys, upgrading my parity drives of 3TB to these in unRAID.

I have the Rosewill 4U 12 Hotswap bay case and these drives worked without any modification. The case uses molex connectors to the HDD bays.

Can't help you about the UK, but I bought one of these cases (also available at Amazon)
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811147233
and I took off the rack flanges, and use it as a tower no problems.

Amazon Link

Video of it running on youtube

Thanks to your recommendation I'm now looking at the roswell 12 bay hotswappable case. I quite like hotswappable cases as they make life easy.

Would I simply buy the optiplex and stick the hardware in there and it would work out of the box?

Sounds quite appealing, if it's the case.

Here is a link to the case: https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-L4500/dp/B00N9CXGSO?th=1

EDIT: Would there be any problem in using 10TB HDDs? I know sometimes drives of high capacity create some problems.

This is the one I got. It's got hot swap drives up front with decent sized fans pulling air through the front with a filter on the cover. But I'm sure other have good suggestions too. I think I've got 9 drives in it at the moment.

Rosewill 4U Server Chassis / Server Case / Rackmount Case, Metal Rack Mount Computer Case with 12 Hot Swap Bays & 5 Fans Pre-Installed (RSV-L4412) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_zfnLzb5T6KE30

Eeek... so that budget is going to be eaten up by just drives. NAS can use consumer drives... but it is far and away better to use drives designed to be in RAID. Otherwise you might spend more as multiple consumer drives die over time.

12-bay hot-swap 4u case: https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-R4000/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1504592127&sr=8-2&keywords=rosewill%2B4u%2Bcase&th=1

15-bay non-hot-swap 4u case: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0091IZ1ZG/ref=psdc_572238_t1_B00BQY3916

You could look for craigslist deals for NAS - but they usually use SFF (2.5" 10-16k rpm) SAS drives. Also can be loud.

Rosewill 4U Server Chassis/Server Case/Rackmount Case, Metal Rack Mount Computer Case with 12 Hot Swap Bays & 5 Fans Pre-Installed (RSV-L4412) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_xF1TDbFYBM5AG

I think they are trying to say it's more money/not possible to do it in a 1u as it's not designed for that and uses custom parts. You are on the right track but you just need a bigger case.

Certain tasks these old servers would be great for, but it sounds like this is something that will not work for your use case. You can still piece it together from cheap eBay parts, just get the 1u idea out of your head. Even 2u would be a more standard profile for regular sized PSU and room for GPU.

Why are you so set on 1u? I just got a 4u rosewill case and it's amazing and can accomplish all the things you want.

Rosewill 4U Server Chassis/Server Case/Rackmount Case, Metal Rack Mount Computer Case with 12 Hot Swap Bays & 5 Fans Pre-Installed (RSV-L4412) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YzGRCb06HGQQJ

It should be fine. However, I would recommend the NZXT S340. Plenty of space to work with and a great minimalistic design, I use one myself with a 1070.

Okay, I was wrong about your case, looking at the picture, it's only 10.6 inches from the rear ports to the drive cages.

It might be a tough fit for your EVGA card. You may barely get it in there. You might be fine, but it'll be close. I had the same issue with my Antec case in one of my PCs.

You'll want to check if you can remove those drive bay cages. If you can, then you're fine. I know some Coolermasters are pretty modular and let you remove stuff easily.

On my Antec, however, it was drilled into the case so it was going to be a tough to remove as I couldn't simply unscrew the cage.

If you want a popular case (often recommended here), that will be easy to work with and for sure will fit your card (and much larger ones, too), you can try the NZXT S340 case which is about $10 (canadian) more than the Coolermaster on Amazon.ca. I'm from the US so I don't know what places have the best deals in Canada.

edit: added Amazon link

It has two built in fans, one in the back, one one the top. But no LED lighting.

Here is the link. It looks pretty damn good if you ask me.

The NZXT Source 340 is popular (also found in white).

Also the more expensive Fractal Design Define R5 (also found in Titanium Grey and white).

Many enjoy the cheaper NZXT Source 210 (also found in white) and the bit more expensive NZXT Source 210 Elite (also found in white).

And of course NZXT H440 (also found in other colors and the Razer edition).

Also Corsair have made some nice cases. Especially their Obsidian series.

In the end it depends on your budget and I have just linked some of the most popular which should be for every budget!

Thanks for this! I ended up ordering one that matches the macbook. It's times like these that I'm extra thankful for dongles.

There are a few <$10 USB dongle sound cards on amazon. I've never used one, but they generally have pretty good reviews, and they are tiny.

https://smile.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=sr_1_41?ie=UTF8&qid=1468787901&sr=8-41&keywords=usb+dac

https://smile.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/ref=sr_1_59?ie=UTF8&qid=1468787923&sr=8-59&keywords=usb+dac

https://smile.amazon.com/external-Adapter-Windows-Microphone-SD-CM-UAUD/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1468787875&sr=8-5&keywords=usb+dac


There are more expensive ones too, but I think I'd try one of the ~$10 ones first just in case they happen to be decent.

You can use a clip-on mic, e.g. Sony ECMCS3, or a desktop mic, e.g. Audio-Technica AT2020USB, Blue Snowball, Blue Yeti, Samson Go.

To connect a clip-on mic to the controller, you need a TRRS Y-splitter:

• https://www.amazon.com/Headphone-Splitter-EALNK-Microphone-Earphone/dp/B07C8CCCT7/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1536260428&sr=8-4&keywords=trrs+y-splitter&dpID=51tApdAug4L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
  
  If you want an in-line mute switch:
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0185CVTDG/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
  
• https://www.amazon.com/DualShock-Controller-Fosmon-Headphone-Playstation/dp/B01N2T5MQ7/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1505627462&sr=1-2&keywords=Fosmon+audio+controller
  
• https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia-headset-audio-controller-for-playstation-4-black/8703029.p?skuId=8703029
  
  To connect a clip-on mic to the USB port on PS4, you need an audio USB adapter:
  
  
• https://antlionaudio.com/collections/accessories/products/antlion-audio-usb-adapter
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Headphone-Splitter-BEBONCOOL-Headset-Adapter/dp/B072L22RWH/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1533150825&sr=8-3&keywords=TRRS+Y-splitter
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1533151414&sr=1-8&keywords=audio+usb-adapter
  
• https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-External-Headphone-Microphone-Desktops/dp/B01N905VOY/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1533151104&sr=1-3&keywords=audio+usb-adapter
  
  As for desktop mics, they are plug-and-play.

Well damn. Sorry you have to deal with that stuff! That is really frustrating!

My last suggestion, if you are willing, is to get a cheap USB Sound Card and completely bypass your internal jack. As that could be the issue as well.

It is a really cheap test and it would let you know if it is the headset or the jack or the adapter.

Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/

Or this:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Adapter-Windows-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/

Anyway, good luck on solving that issue man. And if they USB Sound Card works you could try some different headsets/headphones. Just remember that those USB Sound Cards are very basic and offer little to no amping. So you wont be getting the best sound quality. But it would definitely be equivalent to the onboard sound of laptops. And let you test your situation.

If you want to do a serious upgrade in sound quality, get the Sound Blaster Omni 5.1.

I have it and it amps all my headphones perfectly and has so many features and options and is rock solid. It does have an integrated mic into the unit and does noise cancel quite well but I wouldn't recommend it if you can use one on a headset as that would probably be clearer.

https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Performance-Headphone-Integrated-Microphone/dp/B00EZT7RE4/

Just letting you know of the options, and sorry about all the info.

The reason I thought it could be the adapter or port is because I have the Game One and the SHP 9500's which are VERY open and leak sound substantially and I never get the mic picking up the audio from the headphones when using voice activated on PC or even on PS4 which is only voice activated.

Also, I just noticed something from your wording and just want to clarify something.

You are saying that when you are on a voice chat program with someone, they hear coming through your mic what is playing on your headphones right? It's not that you are hearing your mic in your headphones right? Just being sure. Because if you hear your mic in your headphones that is a completely different issue and can be disabled by going into your speaker settings and muting the mic playback which plays back to your headphones for closed headphones so you can hear yourself without having to yell it's called sidetone. Anyway, this is probably definitely not the issue but I just want to clarify so we can rule out everything else.

Setting up a windows share on your Windows 7 system where your music is located. First three steps of this link:
https://www.howtogeek.com/176471/how-to-share-files-between-windows-and-linux/
How to set up Volumio:
https://volumio.github.io/docs/User_Manual/Quick_Start_Guide.html
In Volumio, click on the gear icon in the upper right, and go to My Music. And set up the Network Drives section so that it points to your Windows 7 system share.

Instead of using Windows Shares, you can use Your Windows box as a DLNA Server:
http://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/bd/faq/DLNA.html
Receiving DLNA on Volumio:
https://volumio.github.io/docs/User_Manual/Stream_audio_to_volumio.html

Other Pi music distributions:
http://www.pimusicbox.com/
https://www.max2play.com/en/
http://www.runeaudio.com/

Cheap USB sound card:
https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics
Better USB sound card:
https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Input-Output-Audio-Interface/dp/B00S668FWK/ref=sr_1_3
Cheap DAC HAT that wil work on a Pi 1B+:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/3016
Other Pi DAC HATS. Need to make sure that they work on a Pi 1B:
http://raspi.tv/2016/dac-review

I'm using an iMac. Both with on board sound card and with Chinese crap usb mini soundcard it works ok.

That sounds more like a driver or hardware issue IMO. If you're still having the issue, I'd recommend consulting this thread, and if that doesn't work buying one of these. Pretty cheap and pretty useful, was a big help when my soundcard starting shitting itself.

Hmm... I'm assuming by directional sound you mean the ability to tell which direction sounds are coming from? This is more software based and not hardware. Sound cards are pointless, amps are nice but really used more for high end monitoring headphones. The way your brain works (since you only have 2 ears), you judge direction by time delay, wavelength, and tone. For gaming, the in game sounds will simulate this effect, so special headphones are not necessary.

> My motherboard is MSI Z170-A PRO I read a little about this and allot of people said your motherboard can affect this.

It's not ideal or audiophiles, and can also cause static due to electric interference. If you're just gaming, something like this is a cheap and effective solution.

I have an Antlion Modmic and I had the same hissing issue, but to solve it I just bought a $5 usb-to-3.5mm adapter from amazon and plugged the mic jack into there. Mic sounds great now, and my headphones are still through my DAC.

Here's the exact adapter I got if you're curious, no issues on Win10.

I had noise leaking from my modem into my on-board sound one time, and no matter how much I tried to insulate it, some noise got through. My solution was to buy a USB sound adapter and disable the on-board completely.

NZXT S340 $80

https://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Tower-CA-S340MB-GR-Matte-Black/dp/B00T4BWUUY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1467473523&sr=8-3&keywords=s340

you can pick up an S340 they have a real nice black with a touch of red.
https://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Tower-CA-S340MB-GR-Matte-Black/dp/B00T4BWUUY/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1465779912&sr=1-1&keywords=nzxt

It comes with 2 exhaust fans i think on the back and front. As for cooling for the CPU you should be fine with the stock fan it comes with.

Well all depends on your taste. Personally if your wanting a mid tower the best one that comes to mind is the NZXT S340. Has a basement for your PSU and wiring.

Link-http://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Tower-CA-S340MB-GR-Matte-Black/dp/B00T4BWUUY/ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1458687127&sr=1-7&keywords=mid+tower+case

NXZT s340

All midtowers are basically the same size really. They don't really get much smaller.

The only one I can think of thats smaller is this.

The only way I know to do an external GPU is through a thunderbolt 3 connector which I have not yet seen built in to a desktop motherboard. You would need something like this to get the thunderbolt 3 port and then something like this to plug into it. I assume you have a full ATX motherboard and not a micro ATX. A case like this one would probably be a good option and keep your GPU internal. Cases that size always have some restrictions though like GPU height and CPU cooler height.

I remeber seeing a video about a super small ATX case:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFyrSSNldBI


Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D205IXS/

After a real quick google search, this is the best I got: https://www.amazon.com/RIOTORO%C2%AE-CR1080-Compartment-Support-Dedicated/dp/B01D205IXS/ref=sr_1_10
Edit: Not sure about your graphics card....

You're looking at 2400Mhz RAM, but I could never get it past 1866 on this motherboard.

The waterblock is nifty looking, isn't it? It's the Deep Cool 240. Just an nice AIO. No, there isn't a fan on it.

You're in luck! The case I upgraded to is a RIOTORO CR1080. It has an inverted layout, but it's smaller than most mATX cases and... guess what... It supports full size ATX! Pain in the ass cable management though... Here is the link, though I think they've got an updated model now. https://www.amazon.com/RIOTORO-Gaming-Compartment-Support-Dedicated/dp/B01D205IXS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537811208&sr=8-1&keywords=Riotoro

Biggest problem is 4x RAM. All LGA 115x mini ITX board have 2 RAM slots.

A smaller ATX case may be easier solution.

https://www.amazon.com/RIOTORO-Compartment-Support-Dedicated-CR1080/dp/B01D205IXS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFyrSSNldBI

Not sure if the video card fit that one.

NZXT S340 and Corsair 400c are also relatively compact and may be small enough for your need.

This question has been asked before, and I believe the answer was the Riotoro CR1080

A lot of mid-sized towers (and specially designed compact ATX towers) support both, so I guess a large portion of it is user preference. Take for example the following compact designed case designed to fit full ATX boards:

Amazon Link

I can't really attest to the quality of this case, but just as an example, as long as you find a tower with supporting ATX board sizes, it'll work (also good to consider the size of your CPU cooler, that's why they can't get too small - in the example of this case, your current fan wouldn't get the clearance it needs, but you could go with an alternative like...

Amazon Link)

Although that might be more than you want to spend, so just check the CPU cooler clearance required in the case you get, and it should be fine!

As for the CPU, if hyperthreading isn't a big deal to you, it's totally fine - that's one of the core differences between this one and say... the i7-6700k. If you want a higher clock speed out of the box too without having to OC, that's one thing to consider. But if those aren't that important to you, I'd say your choice is a sound one (many, many people will argue for the merit of hyperthreading these days though - and I can't say they're incorrect in their reasoning). However, if you're comparing dollar-to-dollar value, invest that extra savings into your GPU.

And finally, onto your GPU, pretty solid choice. Especially if you're not considering options like the 1070 or 1080. I lean more towards GTX cards, but that's entirely my biased choice, and so I won't influence you that way. There's a number of arguments that go both ways, so I'd say for sanity sake (you could literally dig for hours on the comparisons), that you'd be safe going either route (and if DX12 is the big factor for you, AMD seems to be doing better in some games, not as good in others, and around the same in even other games, so there seems to be a LOT of variability in regards to this factor - AMD seems to be excelling better on more recent games, but it's hard to say if that will remain the trend or if it will shift).

Again, hope this was helpful :)

I've always wanted to get this for a really compact system with support for a full ATX board. Haven't gotten it yet but it seems to have really good reviews. Probably one of the smallest cases you will find with support for a full size ATX board.

For a cheaper solution, use something like this for your usb devices on 2 PCs. https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Selector-Computers-Peripheral-Switcher/dp/B01N6GD9JO/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=ugreen+switch+hub&qid=1562308220&s=gateway&sr=8-3

But u still gotta switch monitors separately.

Sure: ugreen usb3 hub

Yeah sorry I realised it wasn’t the easiest to follow when I read it back! Nope nothing special about them but they don’t appear to support Remote wake for USB so I can’t get my setup to wake either laptop by moving the mouse unfortunately which would have been a nice to have and to save from opening the lids of the laptops should either be powered down.

Here is an Amazon UK link to the USB 3.0 UGreen switch, the other is the same but only USB 2.0:

UGREEN USB 3.0 Switch, 2 in 4 Out Put USB 3.0 Sharing Switch Box Box for Mouse,Keyboard,Scanner, Printer with 2 pcs of 1.5m USB 3.0 A to A Cable https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N6GD9JO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Zmj0Bb2MCNZXR

Does your display have multiple inputs? If so you can take advantage of that and switch inputs directly from the display.

As for the USB side of things, try one of these: https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Selector-Computers-Peripheral-Switcher/dp/B01N6GD9JO/

You may need an adapter to go from USB C to the USB A port of that hub/switcher, but I have the USB 2 version of that and it works just fine for switching peripherals between my two computers.

Reposting without referral thing in URL. Apparently I can't be lazy w/ copy and paste around these parts.

The PC and Laptop use HDMI (laptop) and Display Port (PC) and the input set to Auto (only have one on at a time).

As for the keyboard and mouse, I bought this on Amazon.


UGREEN USB 3.0 Switch, 2 in 4 Out... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N6GD9JO?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Works great, would recommend.

/u/_Asthenos

Actually there are some ways you can do this. A KVM would be best (not sure how you can afford an alienware tower and a macbook pro, but not a simple peripheral device...)

These are just examples of the device types im talking about, i have not used these and will not suggest using them. Do your own research before buying stuff:


https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Selector-Computers-Peripheral-Switcher/dp/B01N6GD9JO


and


https://www.amazon.com/HDMI-Switch-4K-Splitter-Bi-Directional/dp/B079JQ9XXV/

Sort of. I bought this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6GD9JO?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Here's one I've seen someone use, I learned about them from my in-laws, but don't know which one he uses currently.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6GD9JO/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?psc=1

Get a cheap usb switch, like this, you plug one input into host, one input into passed through (physical) guest usb controller, and you have 100% reliable switching between host and guest.

|Component|Title|Price|
|:-|:-|:-|
|CPU|Ryzen 5 3400G + Vega 11 GPU|$149 (Amazon US)|
|GPU|XFX Radeon RX 570 RS XXX 8G|$159 (Amazon US)|
|RAM|(2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000|$74 (Amazon US)|
|Motherboard|Gigabyte B450M DS3H|$70 (Amazon US)|
|Storage|Crucial P1 500GB|$66 (Amazon US)|
|Storage 2|Empty Storage|$0 (Amazon US)|
|Power Supply|Corsair CX550M|$69 (Amazon US)|
|Case|Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L|$35 (Amazon US)|
|Monitor|Empty Monitor|$0 (Amazon US)|

Generated by BuildCores on August 18, 2019 11:48 PM

I went ahead with the Meshify C because it's pretty cute and seems to be pretty solid from reviews https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-FD-CA-MESH-C-WT-TGC-Computer-Case/dp/B07BPP9KYD?keywords=meshify+c&qid=1540674214&s=Electronics&sr=1-1&ref=sr_1_1

$50 cents more but with Prime shipping on amazon

The white Meshify C case could be a nice look if you are going for black/white: https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-FD-CA-MESH-C-WT-TGC-Computer-Case/dp/B07BPP9KYD?keywords=White+Meshify+C&qid=1537244988&sr=8-1-fkmrnull&ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1

Otherwise the build looks great and a 1080 would pair very well. Should see them a little cheaper when the new cards get released.

If you're not dead set on overclocking her computer you could also go i5 8400. It will rip 1080p 144hz gaming no problem and could save you some $$ for the video card.

Here are some other white cases for you

Its a cheaper case. I used it to help my mom build her computer, it was more than roomy enough for her older and larger hands to get everything through, with AMPLE cable management. My other recommendation would be a Meshify C, I personally used this one when I did my upgrades this summer, but I found it to be a little small with my specific power supply unit -and- also using the HDD cage.

So you folks have me thinking.

And thank you for that...

So I just cooked up this...


|Component|Title|Price|
|:-|:-|:-|
|CPU|Ryzen 7 3700X|$329 (Amazon US)|
|GPU 1|EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 Black Gaming|$498 (Amazon US)|
|RAM 1|(2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600|$75 (Amazon US)|
|Motherboard|Gigabyte B450M DS3H|$72 (Amazon US)|
|Storage 1|Western Digital Blue 2TB SSD|$219 (Amazon US)|
|Power Supply|EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G+|$134 (Amazon US)|
|Case|Fractal Design Meshify C Mini|$89 (Amazon US)|
|Monitor 1|Empty Monitor|$0 (Amazon US)|
| | | |
|Total Price|$1482| |
|Generated by BuildCores|BuildCores for iOS|BuildCores for Android|

Forgot to mention, if you really care about the case/aesthetics, Fractical Design's Meshify case has a lot of great reviews on it. It's on the more expensive side of course, but the ratings are very high. Tempered glass, magnetic dust filters, and plenty of space for cable management.

For anyone wanting the white one, it is on Amazon for $79.99

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BPP9KYD/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

White is 89.99 with 8.99 shipping on Newegg

I believe it averages about $99


Here is the Amazon price history: https://camelcamelcamel.com/Fractal-Design-FD-CA-MESH-C-WT-TGC-Computer-Case/product/B07BPP9KYD?context=search

good deed or wallet monster?

It’s listed on Amazon. Ash is available now. Limestone in stock 8/10.

Ghost S1 (Ash) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FSKXG4F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_JimsDbEC2G1TH

https://www.amazon.com/LOUQE-Ghost-S1-Ash/dp/B07FSKXG4F/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=louqe+ghost&qid=1564587075&s=gateway&sr=8-1

https://smile.amazon.com/LOUQE-Ghost-S1-Ash/dp/B07FSKXG4F/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=louqe&qid=1572597488&sr=8-1

​

It looks like they're in stock again now

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FSKXG4F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_83w1DbXZT3HMG

I was also planning to buy the collectors edition but didn't do it because of no steam keys... Big misser.

Internal: https://www.amazon.com/Asus-Serial-ATA-Internal-DRW-24B1ST-included/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1542809411&sr=1-3&keywords=dvd+drive

​

External: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-DW316-External-Optical-429-AAUX/dp/B00VWVZ0V0/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1542809411&sr=1-4&keywords=dvd+drive

​

I don't know about the protection in the retail game. But you could maybe download an ISO of the game and entering your own cd key? Not sure if the game even has a cd key. That's technically not pirating I think. PM me if you need some more info on that :)
Forget that. Game is protected.

The same ASUS optical drive is ~$18 on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD-RW-Serial-Internal-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1345945034&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+optical+drive

Comparisons and reviews show that the Gigabyte DH3 and superior models are bit better for SLI (and already comes with the cables). It's your choice, the ASRock is still very good.

The OC'd ASUS 660 Ti has been reviewed as the superior of the bunch - but again, your call. =)

You can find Z68 motherboards for less, like the Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 for $88.99 after $10 MIR with similar features

Not a big fan of Seagate - too many negative reviews online. Would shell out a little more for Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB drive.

Asus DRW24B1ST drive is cheaper than that LG one

For $69.99, you can get case with better cable management

Everything else looks good though

That makes it a lot cheaper:

pc-kombo shared list

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 1700 | $289.99 @ superbiiz
Motherboard | MSI B350 Tomahawk | $99.99 @ Amazon.com
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LED white DDR4-3000 CL15 (64 GB) | $599.99 @ newegg
Storage | Toshiba DT01ACA200 2TB 64MB 7.200rpm SATA600 (2 TB) | $62.99 @ superbiiz
SSD | Crucial MX300 (525 GB) | $148.99 @ superbiiz
Case | BitFenix Comrade Midi-Tower - white Window | $59.99 @ superbiiz
Operating System | Windows 10 Home (32/64-bit, USB Flash Drive) | $102.99 @ superbiiz
| Total | $1364.93
| Generated by pc-kombo 20.09.2017 |

You can add an optical drive of course, the board supports it and the case has the space. https://www.amazon.com/Asus-Serial-ATA-Internal-Optical-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ for example. All of them seem to have a black front :/ An external drive might be better, https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP65NB60/dp/B00ODDEABK/. Then the NZXT Source 340 would be an option, for a better case.

PS: The Samsung 960 Evo could replace the SATA-SSD, it is a faster NVMe drive, you have the budget and would profit from it.

I have no idea. It's a custom case, and the guy who made it said this one should work, but that's not available any more, and also seems to be a bit pricey. I found this one, but I'm not sure if it's the right one or any good.

I don't have an answer about the your AMD questions since I don't know a whole lot about AMD. As far as a case, I would go with the Cooler Master HAF 912 instead of the Elite. It has more options for cable management and probably better airflow.

edit: Also, for a dollar more you can get this cpu cooler, which is probably a little better.

edit 2: You can get this same speed RAM for cheaper. Maybe someone who has tried this combination can comment on whether there are any clearance problems between the cooler and RAM.

another edit: You can get a 320 gb drive for only 4 more dollars.

You might also consider geting a more powerful PSU if you plan to crossfire. 550 watts is pushing it.

To start, you're grabbing an unlocked CPU with a mobo that does not support overclocking.

Next, you should swap the GPU to a 6870 since it costs less and outpaces the GTX 560, drop the PSU to 600-650w, swap the case to something like the NZXT Source 210 Elite (in white or HAF 912 (which are nicer cases and $30 cheaper), and grab the OEM copy of W7 Home Premium 64 bit. Those should save you about $140, plenty enough to grab a much better mobo that actually allows you to overclock.

So there's a few things with this.

Firstly, you're not going to be able to get a great gaming PC for $400. You'll be able to play stuff with it but don't come into this expecting super max graphics ;)

As far as your PC parts go, so long as you feel your HDD is OK, that's the only thing to keep for a new build. That being said, if you're currently using it as the main OS drive for your current PC, consider doing a clean OS install onto the drive when you build the new one, assuming you have any important things backed up etc. first.

CPU: Intel G4560 ($70)

GPU: RX 460 ($90)

Motherboard: ASRock B250M Pro4 ($74)

RAM: 8GB DDR4 ($55)

PSU: [Seasonic S12II 520W](https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-S12II-520-BRONZE-SS-520GB /dp/B00390P1NO/) ($45)

Case: HAF 912 ($60)

Total Cost: $394

Just using mostly Amazon and Newegg for you. Keep an eye on pricing, I've quoted full prices yet these parts do have rebates on from time to time, which could save you more money :)

So my main choices for the parts was based like this. Firstly, you're not going to get a better CPU without spending another $50 onto the i3 7100. Because of the choice in CPU, the RX 460 is the best performance for the price. You could spend more onto a more powerful GPU but you're not going to see the benefit with that CPU. Motherboard is a modern board for the current Intel chipset, so you should be comfortably able to get upgrades for this for a good number of years to come. As part of that, I've given you a single 8GB stick of DDR4, leaving you plenty of free slots on the board to upgrade your RAM in the future. DO NOT USE YOUR OLD RAM. The PSU is powerful enough to be able to handle bigger CPU and GPU's if you want to do bigger upgrades to those in the future and the HAF 912 case gives you plenty of flexibility for size and design internally to cover that too.

All told, that's about as good as you're going to be able to do for $400.

First suggested upgrades would be to spend around $50 on a SSD to use as an OS boot drive to make the system a little bit more snappy. Next upgrade would be for a more powerful CPU some point down the line, followed by GPU.

This will save you about $30 on the PSU.

This will save about $25 on the case without sacrificing too much functionality.

I'd also drop the CPU cooler for now. You can buy one later on when it's starting to get dated and you want to overclock it.

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B003ZM7YTA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
I bought this case. The is quite large allowing for great airflow and room for cables.

Here's a component list:

• http://www.amazon.com/2-Post-Cabinet-Threaded-Components-SR2POST13/dp/B00NOTXZZG
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Raxxess-RAX-Unitray-Universal-Rack/dp/B0007OGTGS
  
• http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CPS-1215RMS-Rackmount-Power-Surge/dp/B00077INZU
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmountable-24-Port-1000Mbps-RNSW-11001/dp/B006P36CNA
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Server-Chassis-Rackmount-Metal/dp/B0055EV30W
  
• http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Deskstar-3-5-Inch-Internal-0S03664/dp/B00HHAJRU0

Bought this on Amazon two weeks ago for $93 then it went down to $73 so I had to buy it again and return it.

Edit: $70 on Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_NGghAbPG7K3N1

Edit 2: This one only has 8 hard drive bays vs the 15 bays for the case OP posted.

I use this case but there are a few similar ones with different options for drive bays.

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-R4000/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=rosewill%2Bcase&qid=1562677652&s=gateway&sprefix=rosewill&sr=8-5&th=1&psc=1

Your nvme Drive can be passed through as a unassigned drive. I do this with the two vm’s that I run. I also have plex and everything else running on it.

A major factor to consider is the cpu and how it’s setup. If you don’t properly isolate the cores needed for your vm plex will cause lots of lag due to the cpu spikes. If you have a newer 4 core 8 thread processor 4 threads for the vm and 4 for plex and UnRaid should be fine. I wouldn’t try this on anything else. I had my vm’s on a FX 8350 for a while and it worked but I would get random lockup’s.

My current setup is:

Ryzen 7 2700x

32GB Ram

2x 240GB SSD cache drives (one will work fine)

2x 500GB SSD passes through to each vm (one for each vm)

2x GTX 1650 (one for each vm)

12 other drives for storage


I have 3 cores/6 threads assigned to each vm and 2 cores/4 threads for plex, UnRaid and everything else. Each vm has also been given 12GB of RAM.

It’s a fun project that never seems to end as I can always find something new that I want UnRaid to do.

Little above 200 but fits alot including larger boards

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811165140

otherwise this is close to what i use, not many 5 1/4 but it can fit alot of hard disks

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-R4000/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500922482&sr=8-1&keywords=server+case

I built my NAS from this 4U case and I am very happy with it. It doesn't have hot-swap but you will pay a lot more for that. The case has plenty of room, holds 12 drives, and has several places for fans. Each 4-drive cartridge holds a full size fan, too.

bigger is better ;)

this is what i use

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055EV30W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

ABSOLUTELY.

The fact that it can even be done with stock parts (although granted it won't be aesthetically pleasing given the case restrictions), drives the point home, but that also limits profitability by the manufacturers, and like i said also makes them ugly, so it makes sense that companies like Valve are designing integrated-system boxes that can run smaller and trim the fat, thus making room for profit.

The other major sticking point is Windows, which is precisely why we have steamOS. I hope it catches on. Windows is a great general purpose OS, don't get me wrong, but it eats resources that could be used in gaming, and also would devourer $100 of your build unless you uh, have connections.

That being said, allow me to demonstrate:

PC Case & PSU: $50

CPU: i3-4150: $120

MOBO: MSI H81M-E33: $50

4GB Ram: Crucial: $36

WD Blue 1TB HDD: $60

MSI GT 640: $84

Grand total: $400

I'd bet that total it would smoke a ps4 or an xbone, too.

Edit: I can't math, I'm $16 over with the GT650. So here's a GT640 that makes it work. Still beats a console.

Edit 2: regarding lifespan, that's a silly restriction. First, I've gone through FOUR xboxes in 8 years. The last one has only lasted becuase i mainly switched to a PS3 in the last few (edit 3: Three PS3s, but IIRC only one was due to death, the first got sold). Having said that, I have every confidence the build above will last 8 years, provided it doesn't die in the first 3 months. PCs are like that. Either they croak right away because you did something wrong like not provide enough airflow or have a bad part, or they last forever, like the dell desktop I have sitting in my office with a Core 2 Duo from 2007, or the studio-pc my old band used to record our album that I'm SURE the singer never updated, and is running a Pentium 4 and Windows XP (he's of the if it ain't broke variety).

Besides, what someone else down the line said, if you're going to compare apples to apples, add xbox live/psn sub fees for 8 years in, that automatically adds another ~$400 to the cost of the machine. That's a HELL of a lot of headroom for upgrades. And this isn't even taking into account the general cheapness of games on PC vs. consoles. Games usually start $10 cheaper on PC and will tend to drop immediately after launch - if you can wait a day or a week, you can usually get most games for $35 or less, so figure an average of $25/game savings, lets say 4 games a year (hah), and we're talking ANOTHER $800 saved over the lifespan you are suggesting.

TLDR: PC is cheaper, but requires more commitment (duh). There is something to be said about the console's ease-of-use where even my 3-year-old son can figure out how to turn on the PS3 and watch a cartoon on Amazon or play Pacman, or turn on the Wii U and play NSMB or Pikmin 3.

This is what you should strive for: PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor | $109.99 @ SuperBiiz
Motherboard | MSI H81M-E33 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $44.99 @ Micro Center
Memory | Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory | $37.99 @ NCIX US
Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $50.40 @ Amazon
Video Card | Sapphire Radeon R9 280 3GB Dual-X Video Card | $199.99 @ Newegg
Case | Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case | $34.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | be quiet! 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $34.99 @ NCIX US
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $513.34
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-07-29 01:01 EDT-0400 |

You're going to need a bit bigger of a case. That APU is not going to perform well in games at all, and will struggle to run anything new. Does it absolutely need to fit in that tiny of a space? If so, your MBP is going to perform better. I just put mine next to the TV. A micro-ATX case should still be small enough for a backpack, at least. I used this for a build before, and thought it was excellent.

I've built in a lot of different types of cases and I have to say that building in a cheap case has been pretty much just as easy as the expensive ones. It seems people exaggerate the performance/ease of building in fancy cases. Actually my first PC I built in the same one you picked out, it is a nice case!

This case is pretty much the cheapest one you can buy but I've built in it a few times already and it's worked great.

There's also this one which is in the same series just slightly different design and comes with two fans for around the same price.

This is a really interesting case and was more difficult to build in because it's a mini-itx, so you would have to find a mini-itx mobo to fit but if I remember correctly a standard atx PSU fits in this one. It's a really unique case and has one big fan for good cooling.

I have a favorite budget case but it is no longer available which is sad because it was an amazing case for the price. You can get it on ebay though, which is better than nothing!

I found that going ~$30 above your limit drastically increases case quality and the looks of the case.
Heres what I found:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005LIDU5S/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1419712172&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX200_QL40

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00MHWVWHE?psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00COGDERY/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1419712305&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40
(This one has the best ratings and the best company)

Using https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-Mini-Compatible-Packages/dp/B009U7WZCA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1518873870&sr=8-2&keywords=sdr+radio&dpID=31hIXCwp63L&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

wxtoimg : http://wxtoimg.com/downloads/

sdrsharp : https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/sdrsharp/

orbitron: http://www.stoff.pl/

Here is how:

1 Buy one of these or similar

https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-Mini-Compatible-Packages/dp/B009U7WZCA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1523630442&sr=8-6&keywords=sdr

2 Download and install SDR Sharp ( https://airspy.com/?ddownload=3130 ) on the device you want to listen with (many sdr software available)

3 start tuning in for about 20$

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the airbands use AM. You can listen on an rtl-sdr like this.
If I am wrong and they are FM, you can get that or a baofeng transceiver and an amateur radio license(optional but you are in the amateur radio sub, we have to tell you to). Links for info on getting licensed are in the sidebar.

Edit: The airbands are AM. You should get licensed anyway though.

check out /r/rtlsdr lots of friends, advice and links to cool things that can be done with them.

There are cheaper ones out there that are most likely exactly the same chips...but this is the one that I purchased:

http://www.amazon.com/NooElec-Previously-Compatible-Packages-Guaranteed/dp/B009U7WZCA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1420983857&sr=8-3&keywords=rtl-sdr

If you want to cover even more bandwidth (ham bands) I also have one of these: http://www.amazon.com/NooElec-Ham-It-Up-v1-2/dp/B009LQT3G6/ref=pd_sim_e_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1CRMFJH1XA8H72GGV088

And depending on your OS of choice there are a few different free programs you can use to give you a front end.

windows: sdr#
mac: gqrx
gnuradio

Fellow openelec user here. I haven't set up TV, but have poked around enough to know it's possible.

You'll want to read up on their plug-ins here: http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php/OpenELEC_Add-ons_%28Official%29

Looks like the tvheadend plug-in is what you'll need.

Then you'll want to pick up one of these: http://amzn.com/B009U7WZCA

And make sure you have a sufficient power supply.

If you really want a "one-button" setup, the RPi isn't the device for that; it's more for the DIY-er.

Buy an external USB DvD player instead of doing some crazy set up with your PS4. Most will work with a Mac. External Blu Ray Players will need a third party app, which are sometimes unstable on the mac.

Here's an LG DVD Player for cheap on Amazon and it can write DvD and CD: https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-Rewriter-External/dp/B00C2AMK2M/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1484868919&sr=1-3&keywords=usb+dvd+player

If you must buy an Apple DvD player (though it's over priced at $79.99) here's the link: http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD564LL/A/apple-usb-superdrive

Actually no, not with those instructions anyway. The program they have you download to write the installer to the drive is only offered as a windows executable as far as I know. I don't know of any ways to prepare the flash drive on mac.

I'm sure you could find a way to prepare the flash drive. I don't know if you have access to any windows computers. I guess you could install windows to your macbook via bootcamp and run the program there but that'd be pretty roundabout.

It may not be a bad idea to pick up a disc drive. You could pick up an internal one for between $10-$20. Another option is a USB DVD burner. Since I hardly ever use DVDs apart from installing OSs, I only have one USB DVD drive that I move wherever needed. It comes in handy since hardly any portable computers come with optical drives anymore too.

So I altered the parts a bit few notes:

• Its kinda a waste to get a cd drive unless you absolutely need it So i dropped it and saved you a bunch on a still solid case (Im using the enthoo pro M and its amazing but too much for your budget) if you really need a drive i recommend a usb based external one.
  
• Added an SSD with savings
  
• Swapped to a 1060 6gb with 2 fans that should keep it much cooler since that EVGA one tends to have issues with heat and the air flow isn't incredible through that case but its sufficient.
  
  Other option I considered was dropping the SSD and getting the 2600x (plan on upgrading later pros: better performance cons: pain to migrate os, possible pain to update BIOS if you dont get one that is usable with the 2xxx series) I would prefer this but understand it would probably take much more effort on your part.
  
  
  PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
  
  Type|Item|Price
  :----|:----|:----
  CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor | £134.99 @ Aria PC
  Motherboard | MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard | £69.99 @ Ebuyer
  Memory | *Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | £68.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
  Storage | SanDisk - SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | £49.96 @ Amazon UK
  Storage | Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | £35.99 @ Aria PC
  Video Card | PNY - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB XLR8 Gaming OC Video Card | £239.23 @ Amazon UK
  Case | Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case | £59.15 @ Aria PC
  Power Supply | Corsair - CXM (2015) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | £47.99 @ Amazon UK
  | Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
  | Total | £706.29
  | *Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |
  | Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-04-29 20:18 BST+0100 |

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor | $229.99 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler | Corsair H100i PRO 75 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | $116.98 @ Amazon
Motherboard | MSI MPG Z390 GAMING EDGE AC ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $179.00 @ Amazon
Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $69.99 @ Amazon
Storage | HP EX920 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $112.99 @ Amazon
Storage | Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive | $94.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB WINDFORCE OC 3X Video Card | $499.99 @ Amazon
Case | NZXT H700i ATX Mid Tower Case | Purchased For $0.00
Power Supply | Rosewill 850 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply | Purchased For $0.00
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $99.95 @ Amazon
Wireless Network Adapter | Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter | $33.99 @ Amazon
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | $1437.77
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-09-22 19:27 EDT-0400 |

The 9600k and 9700k are fairly similar gaming wise as most games don't really make use of the extra cores/threads on the 9700k. No need for thermal paste, the cooler comes with it preapplied. The HP EX920 is the cheapest 1tb M.2 SSD with a cache and is only $5 more than the cheapest 1tb SSD with a cache (the 2.5" MX500). The i5-9600k+2070S is a better pair than the 9700k+1660ti.

The H700i, like many modern, stylish cases, doesn't have the 5.25" bay needed for an ODD. If one is needed, you can get a USB one for like $25(I've got that one on my desk right now and it works just fine). Mounting an AIO is fairly simple since it's one piece; all it is is mounting the waterblock like you would with an air cooler and then mounting the rad and fans to the case.

It's not that big an issue these days.

$20usd and you don't even have to pry open your case.

Yes, they make USB DVD drives. Here is one from LG for example.

it would be easier to get one of these.

In that case, are there external CD/ROM drives that are available and work through USB?

Absolutely! My laptop CD/ROM is toast and have been using the older version of this for a few years now,

This is the one I have. Nothing special and it just works.

> plug into his Navy laptop (which has Windows 7) via USB.

So, I'm going to be genuinely surprised if an asset like that is going to let you plug up a USB DVD drive (or even a thumb drive). The ports are very likely locked down to prevent removable media.

The whole Manning incident caused a lot of IT stuff to go on lockdown.

1. I'd be super cautious on sending him one as it could get him in trouble.
   
   
2. I'm curious why he's unable to purchase one himself
   
   Technically any of them should work, this one has decent reviews and is cheap:
   
   https://amzn.com/B00C2AMK2M
   
   Again though, if this is a military computer asset the ports/removable media are very likely disabled and if they aren't they likely are recording the devices that are plugged in and send up a red flag if they are not allowed (like thumb drives).
   
   Drivers are very likely going to be required but a basic one should probably be ok.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Portable-External-SE-218CB-RSBS/dp/B00DBV28TG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409861927&sr=8-1&keywords=Samsung+dvd+writer

Pretty much this.

As for your not-enough-sata-ports issue, you'll need an internal pcie card or a usb->sata adapter.

Card: http://www.amazon.com/Crest-Port-SATA-PCI-Express-SY-PEX40039/dp/B005B0A6ZS/

Adapter: http://www.amazon.com/Anker%C2%AE-Converter-Adapter-Cable-included/dp/B005B3VO24/

There's really zero reason to go the USB adapter route though, at that point you might as well just get an external dvd drive: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Portable-External-SE-218CB-RSBS/dp/B00DBV28TG/

The optical drive limits your choices. More and more manufacturers are dropping it. Nonetheless, here are some suggestions with a DVD drive:

Sony Vaio T15:

• 15.6 inch, 1920x1080p display
  
• Intel i5-3337U + 4 GB of RAM
  
• 750 GB HDD + 32 GB SSD cache
  
• Price: $799
  
  It's one of the lightest 15 inch laptops out there with an optical drive. With a weight of only 4.9 lbs it's quite portable. Battery life is stellar, but 4 hours should be doable, if you don't turn up the display brightness to a maximum. Would handle all your needs for several years and has enough storage for an extended music and video collectionn. It also would feel quite fast due to the SSD cache (a fast storage solution compared to spinning hard drives).
  
  If you want something smaller and more portable, you can take a look at the Toshiba Portege R935-ST4N01:
  
  
• 13.3 inch, 1366x768p display
  
• Intel i5-3210M + 8 GB of RAM
  
• 1 TB HDD
  
• Price: $749.99
  
  Very light weight, under 3.5 lbs, and with long battery life. One charge would carry you through the whole day. You can expect about 7 to 8 hours of usage till it shuts down. Due to it's size, it wouldn't be a problem to take it to class and make notes with it. The display isn't a high resolution one like in the Sony Vaio T15, but it's not bad for a 13.3 inch laptop. And the HDD is quite large with 1 TB of storage.
  
  And an honorable mention to the Apple MacBook Pro 13:
  
  
• 13.3 inch, 1280x800p display
  
• Intel i5 CPU + 4 GB of RAM
  
• 500 GB HDD
  
• Price: $999
  
  It's a refurbished model and still it's more expensive than the other two, but it's an Apple product. You can expect better build quality and better customer service.
  
  I don't know how often you use a DVD drive (optical drive), but if you just use it once or twice a month an external one could be viable option. You could get a laptop without one, which would give you a broader selection.

I very rarely use it, so I figured it wasn't worth putting one in the system, and I bought this. Plus it's nice because I can use it on different computers easily.

https://www.amazon.com/Asus-Serial-ATA-Internal-Optical-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518828946&sr=8-1&keywords=Internal+Dvd+player

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Serial-ATA-Internal-Optical-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=pd_cp_pc_0

Go with that one.. Now to be honest, if you're going to be playing games off of the disc most of the time, I'd recommend going to a higher quality optical drive.

Drive and Monitor

Thank you for this information. :) In that case, things should be grand. However, the OP may want to shop around. Cursory googling revealed that some places sell the relevant adapters for more than the cost of a DVD drive. I guess it's still fine if your primary concern is avoiding waste, but not so great if you want to do this to save money.

> keyboard sound horrible

• If you are hearing the clickity sounds of keys, get a mechanical keyboard with red,black or brown switches.
  
• if you hear static sounds try plugging the adapter to a different port,uninstalling headphone drivers and restarting the pc or disabling the rgb or reinstalling the rgb management software(if you have any)
  
  >I don’t care about quality as long as the notes sound like the notes they are
  
  Any cheap headphone is way better than small speakers. Notes won't sound like the notes they are with cheap speakers. Use your headphones and connect your organ to the pc via a midi to usb. There are plenty of guides for that last scenario.
  
  > just preferably white
  
  White drives went extinct way before dvd drives went extinct. :D Almost everyone stopped using white colored drives when black drives arrived since black drives look black and clean even after few years while white drives became beige or off-white. This is a good drive,its black though. I couldn't find a white drive.

Yes to use the installation disk you will need a disk reader/optical drive. You can purchase them that install into your drive bays or you can buy an external usb optical drive.

Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA Internal OEM Optical Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_SIGRyb8FVT88B

Well what you could do is go with The Asus ROG Strix B450 motherboard and you could then get this dvd reader/writer. You may need to buy some Sata cables as well.

I cannot find out what cables I need to power my [Asus optical drive](Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA Internal OEM Optical Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_TKDFub1QXJZ5X) . I have a sata right angle cable for the data plug I can't find the proper one to power the drive. What do I need to be looking for as every Amazon listing is of the big four pin molex ends.

NAH - tech guy sucks. Unless he's getting paid for it, your dad sending to him is fine... You're a little out of experience but fair to assume he won't fix it right.

Disk drives are $20 on Amazon.

Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA Internal OEM Optical Drive DRW-24B1ST Black(user guide is included) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dAxZDb2D0KR46


Other option is to download the driver and put it on a USB stick.

Building a new pc! Just a couple questions.

I plan to include an optical drive , a 1 TB hard drive , and a 240 GB SSD in this case.

What cables/brackets/other-ish will I need for installation that aren’t included?

Alright I made a build tell me what you think.

• Case: NZXT Vulcan Enthusiast $69.51 Free Shipping
  
  
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Intel Z77 G1.SNIPER M3 $161.35 Free Shipping
  
• Processor: Intel Core i7 3770K $338.98 Free Shipping
  
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB Ram $209.98 Free Shipping
  
• Hard Drive: Maxtor 500GB 7200RPM $34.51 Shipping: $5.49
  
• Solid State Drive OCZ Technology 60 GB $45.73 Free Shipping
  
• Cooling: Corsair Hydro Series H80 $80.00 Shipping: $6.99
  
• Power Supply: KenTek 1000W $64.51 Shipping: $6.54
  
• Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX690 $999 Shipping $7.98
  
• OS Windows 7 Home Premium $96.48 Free Shipping
  
• DVD Drive: Asus 24xDVD-RW $19.99 Free Shipping
  
  Price is $2,150 (Shipping included)

Would this be a good optical drive for DVD/CD reading and writing so I can burn things onto disks or this one?

Which DVD drive would you recommend getting? Or could I get any drive like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Asus-Serial-ATA-Internal-Optical-DRW-24B1ST/dp/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1449182400&sr=1-1&keywords=dvd+oem

Sorry to keep bugging you but ill need an optical drive to install windows and load up some older games. Would something like this work okay?

First timer here (again). If I order a dvd burner like THIS for my new build, will the data cable for it come with the drive or the mobo, and likewise will the power cable come with the drive or the psu? What about the two storage devices, will i have cables for those in either the storage device packaging or the mobo box?

I'll post my build again for reference; all parts should be here this weekend.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD FX-8120 3.1GHz 8-Core Processor | Purchased For $0.00
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | Purchased For $34.99
Motherboard | Asus M5A99FX PRO R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard | Purchased For $124.99
Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | Purchased For $68.82
Storage | Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | Purchased For $71.00
Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | Purchased For $43.99
Video Card | Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card | Purchased For $0.00
Case | Corsair Graphite Series 230T Orange ATX Mid Tower Case | Purchased For $55.99
Power Supply | Corsair Builder 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | Purchased For $76.46
Keyboard | AZIO L70 Wired Gaming Keyboard | Purchased For $24.02
Mouse | Razer Naga 2012 Wired Laser Mouse | Purchased For $0.00
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $500.26
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-05 16:17 EST-0500 |

I don't think this exists...

That being said, I've had one of these for almost a year and it has served me well. If you want an SD card reader you could get something like this. But if you really want the reader to be part of a drive bay (which I understand; I'll probably end up doing that eventually) you'll need something like this. I dunno about the silver plating though...

Well, Since yesterday I have been looking at deals left and right and this is what I bought:

This Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?SID=u133434t2873409f9fp0dd0c0s701&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&ItemList=Combo.632492 $176

This Combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?SID=u133434t2838759f9fp0dd0c0s701&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&ItemList=Combo.634440 $80

Micro Center: i5 2600k $194

Amazon DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033Z2BAQ $30

Do you think they will all be compatible nicely?

Also, looking for a good HDD now .... :)

Thanks

I want to build this PC too but I was wondering if I could add this to it and would it work/compatible?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=pcbuonabu-20&linkId=a443a59482c283585495c15a09344450

​

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498528218&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=cd%2Fdvd+drive+SATA&dpPl=1&dpID=31JpWsniizL&ref=plSrch

Would this work?

This is all that I have picked out atm, will these work together in this case?
And will it run smoothly? Keep in mind I already have the i5 Processor

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V4V4SFC/ref=s9_acsd_simh_hd_bw_b4Ok4_c_x_4_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=YAV3J147A638ED1FDJCY&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=0ae2f422-b2bf-5e3d-9ce8-e6051f3a726c&pf_rd_i=1048424
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J8CCUL2/ref=s9_acsd_simh_hd_bw_b1C5u_c_x_2_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=N0KMSCQMA11K09FMH4N0&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=ad112e6b-2646-5740-bcb2-f227e6e7d96e&pf_rd_i=284822
https://www.pccasegear.com/products/37597/corsair-value-select-cmv8gx4m1a2133c15-8gb-1x8gb-ddr4
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZXDOL6/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_b1C5v_c_x_1_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=WC80WMW66RG0XQ3VVHJV&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=202b99be-dd6c-5402-b007-d88175803d72&pf_rd_i=284823
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H33SFJU/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_b4sE4_c_x_2_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=6ANT2574KVWQF2V9KW5T&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=7e75590d-4a69-5772-b319-56dff81b4149&pf_rd_i=1161760
https://www.pccasegear.com/products/37360?gclid=CjwKEAjwq5LHBRCN0YLf9-GyywYSJAAhOw6ml6F1yrV8GI2P3fukMniqcDrnwsAd0levtuVDjgFQ_hoC2xDw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_b1PRY3f_c_x_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_r=Y8BCJFTCRVCDD7YPB6SD&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=d8716360-4766-5419-81fe-e3c48400ce8c&pf_rd_i=1292107011
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Deepcool-Tesseract-SW-Mid-Tower-Gaming-Desktop-PC-RED-Computer-Case-No-PSU-/322007039086?hash=item4af91d7c6e:g:eOMAAOSwKtVWvpBG

I have some experience building computer's, here's my recommended build that's just under $800.

CPU
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J2LIFBY

Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F8AFMDC

RAM
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006WAGGUK

Optical Drive
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033Z2BAQ/

Power Supply
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EON40CS

Video Card
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NAWD4DA

HDD
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EIQTOFY

Tower
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AAJ0ZGK

I just got this SATA to USB 3.0 Cable, and Asus 24x DVD-ROM Optical Drivel. I use it with Exact Audio Copy (EAC) on my AMD 3700X PC. Have it sitting beside my computer. I can rip a CD in 3 to 4 minutes on average with EAC set to High extraction and compression priority.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JGT17B8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was using an LG external optical drive, and it was much slower.

Oh man I got a bunch of junk:

• EVGA 500W 80PLUS Certified ATX12V/EPS12V Power Supply 100-W1-0500-KR
  
  
• 
  Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA Internal OEM Optical Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)
  
  
• 
  Rosewill Micro-ATX Mini Tower Computer Case with Dual USB 3.0, Dual Fans and 12.5-Inch Card LINE-M Black
  
  
• 
  ASUS R9270-DC2OC-2GD5 Graphics Cards
  
  I'm thinking $70 for GPU, but everything else I'm not sure.

First off, thank you a ton. I asked a friend of mine to look at the build (sorry, but I like to check things :P, I'm paranoid), and he said it looks great. I was curious though if you had the time to verify a few things for me. I couldn't find a few of the things you had suggested so I checked on some other things... Could you verify that they are just as usable for me please?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GQMHBI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A34FFV8YYDM571

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064GOQ86/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DHW4HXY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0088PUEPK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055QYKQO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1XBPHGHAXLHDG

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_10?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QBUL1C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0033Z2BAQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A30YNTVQ04HG16

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003HE260I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

And sorry for the late reply. I've been trying to ensure that I have the money together so that I can actually pay for it without running into issues haha.

Not sure if you need peripherals or not, so that will be a huge factor influencing overall price. Assuming you will reuse your current keyboard, mouse, and monitor, here is a setup for your price range.

Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ($55)

PSU: Corsair 650TX V2 ($85)

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LK ($148)

CPU: Intel i5-3570K ($230)

RAM: 8GB GSkill DDR3 12800 ($53)

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB ($103)

GPU: EVGA GTX 560 ($192)

DVD: ASUS 24x SATA DVD-RW ($22)

Total = $888

You can look to upgrade your Motherboard, CPU, or Graphics Card as your budget allows. You can also look to pick up a solid state HDD, which is faster but with less space, to store your operating system and favorite game.

This looks like a really solid build.

I would however recomend air cooling instead of water cooling, water cooling can be tricky to put together and it's not a whole lot better, plus it's more expensive. I recomend the ''Hyper 212 EVO'', It's the most efficent cooler for the money out there, it's only 35$ and keeps my I7-4790K around 70 degrees while overclocked to 4.7Ghz.

Hyper 212 EVO: http://amzn.com/B005O65JXI

Also, I don't know about you, but if you want to be able to put dvd's and such into your pc, which can be really helpful for installing drivers and such, you shouldn't forget the optical drive, they are only 20$!

Asus Optical Drive: http://amzn.com/B0033Z2BAQ

Other than that this looks like a really strong build, will max out almost everything, if you want more storage I would recommend the 4 Tb Western Digital Green, the green is twice as cheap as the black and sees almost no difference, (in my opinion). 750GB won't last forever, and if you want to be comfortable being able to record and download how much you want, mass storage can be a good thing.

WD Green 4TB: http://amzn.com/B00EHBEUZO

Welcome aboard the pc master race!

Is there any difference between this and this.

Is there room for a big GPU in that case? Also, the Cooler Master HAF 912 looks interesting, though I'm not sure there's enough room for a 240mm liquid cooler radiator.

I have an older version of this case, which is pretty spacious. I don't have the exact dimensions as I'm at work.

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-912-RC-912-KKN1-GP/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1510772993&sr=8-3&keywords=COOLER+MASTER+HAF+912

Concerning the RAM, I was just being over ambitious, don't really need that much.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-912-RC-912-KKN1/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=pd_rhf_eebr_p_d_8

Will this fit the motherboard and GPU?

this one is 59.99 including shipping

Cooler Master HAF 912 - Mid Tower Computer Case with High Airflow Design


FirePower ModXStream Pro 700MXSP 700W 80Plus Semi-Modular High Performance ATX PC Power Supply

However, I'm giving this computer away so I won't be reusing the power supply and case.

amazon has the same case for 50 without a rebate http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-Case-RC-912-KKN1/dp/B003ZM7YTA

i actually just saw this one how is this http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZM7YTA/?tag=pcpapi-20

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-912-RC-912-KKN1-GP/dp/B003ZM7YTA/

Case: https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-912-RC-912-KKN1-GP/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466035655&sr=8-1&keywords=HAF

PSU: https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-SuperNOVA-Crossfire-Warranty-110-B2-0750-VR/dp/B00KFAFRW6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466035610&sr=8-1&keywords=EVGA+supernova+b2

We would need to determine if your motherboard has standard mounting holes though.

EDIT: Apparently it doesn't have standard mounting holes and it uses laptop RAM. Could you run CPU-Z to confirm that it has a Desktop CPU or a laptop CPU?

EDIT 2: I'm gonna be honest, if the adapter is running you $699, then it's looking like the better option to either sell the thing and build a new PC or gut it for the CPU, SSD, and Graphics card, then get the extra parts that you need to make it whole. (This shouldn't be above $250)

It's a mid-tower.

Coolermaster HAF 912
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-Case-RC-912-KKN1/dp/B003ZM7YTA

or

Coolermaster 692
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119216&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Cases+%28Computer+Cases+-+ATX+Form%29-_-Cooler+Master-_-11119216

Where at in MI? Have a CM HAF 912 I can do for $40 if your near by.

so go for a bigger case? maybe a mid tower from cooler master?

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-912-RC-912-KKN1-GP/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538708441&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=cooler%2Bmaster%2Bmid%2Btower%2Bpc%2Bcase&th=1 maybe this?

​

Similar price, no it's hard to beat a 40$ case cost wise

I built in this the last time. It was ok, I'm still salty they discontinued the first case I ever built in it was amazing.

Cooler Master USA System Cabinet Cases RC-912-KKN1-GP, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_kleDCb43DTKW1


This one is pretty good as well.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/wc3yxG

This is the case that I have. It came with all the necessary hardware to install several hard drives and some other peripherals.

Literally the only tools I needed were a standard Phillips screwdriver, a coffee mug for holding screws, a small bag of zip ties, and a flashlight.

If you plan on repasting your CPU heatsink (which I recommend) you should also have a lint-free cloth (microfiber cloths work best.)

For example, the Samsung Spinpoint 1TB (note, not an SSD) is currently on a nice sale. Can get a CD Drive for $18 instead of $85, and $40 Coolermaster HAF912 for some easy, but large, savings.

First of all, you're probably going to want to get an unlocked processor (one that ends in a K like 2500k). Then you can overclock it. You already have the motherboard and after market cooler that will allow you to overclock, so there's no reason in not spending the small amount more to get the unlocked processor.

There's not much of a huge gain from DDR3 1333 to higher speeds of memory. Not really a reason to spend $20 more on 8gb of 1866 ram over 1600. And for normal use and gaming, you won't need more than 8gb. If you're video editing or doing something else that uses a lot of memory, then stick with 16gb. However, eliminating one of those 2x4gb gets you really close to being able to buy a 60gb solid state drive for your operating system and a few programs/games.

You can usually find 1tb HDDs for $90, or on sale for $80. If you really don't need the storage then 500gb is fine...

If you can find a 560 w/448 cores on sale for really cheap like $200-$220, then get it. However, the radeon 7850 can be bought for $250. The 7850 performs better and has more vram.

For the case, the HAF 912 is $40 after MIR and is generally regarded as a really good case. But really, the case is up to you. Buy whatever you think looks nice.

Finally, for a power supply, I haven't heard of the brand you have there. I would instead go with a OCZ modular psu that essentially cost $45.

You can get the cooler master for $39.99 on Amazon. I just bought mine.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-Case-RC-912-KKN1/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334042395&sr=8-1

Looks pretty good! If you don't care too much about appearances, maybe get a cheaper case. Most cheaper ones don't look as good but still function the same (good fans, good cooling, etc) Could save you a good amount, heres a nice one

Thank you! Is there anything interchangeable in this setup?

From going through old stuff I currently have

- ASUS M5A97 EVO Motherboard

- AMD 3.4 Quad Core CPU

- 2 8g sticks of ram

- And https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-912-RC-912-KKN1-GP/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1527401901&sr=8-2&keywords=master+cooler+case with the fan it comes with.

I know everything is a bit old and outdated but would anything be worth using for the new build?

would it fit in this case (link)?

Also, what kind of connectors would it require from the power supply? (ex 2x3, 2x4, ect)

As for cases...
http://amzn.to/1depaCv < - more expensive route

http://amzn.to/1i5U6cs <- cheaper route

For starter unless you want to do some serious overclocking go with the cpu cooler coming with your CPU and you be fine. If you do plan on overclocking water cooling is a must anyway. Drop the case Amazon has the Haf 912 for 59 bucks that 45$ less I love mine. Change the memory to 2 x 8GB of Corsair Vengeance 2$ more but you have two free Ram slot to bump it up to 32 later on instead of buying another full set of 4. Keep the rest and maybe drop the SSD for now.

cheap good quality case= http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003ZM7YTA/12-3-20?ie=UTF8

it's the lowest price point it's ever been at, and unless you have like 5 hdd 's you shouldn't need anything more.

Idk about psu though

CPU and case while I'm at it, here's my motherboard

Maybe I'm blind, but the specs says the mobo has 2 PCIE slots, one for 3.0, one for 2.0, but it looks like it only has one overall.

I'm currently using a PC case from 1992. It had 8 hdd bays and they seem to be supporting fewer hdd bays these days. When/if I buy a case it will probably be something like the rosewill 4u https://www.amazon.ca/Rosewill-Rackmount-Chassis-Internal-RSV-R4000/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=mp_s_a_1_3

https://www.amazon.ca/Rosewill-Rackmount-Chassis-Internal-RSV-R4000/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=sr_1_1?crid=60RRZPP7HQ3H&keywords=server+chassis&qid=1564890939&s=gateway&sprefix=sever+c%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-1

i think should to it(Canadian Amazon)

Solid on that end. Plenty of reach with the cables.

I am in GA.. got this for $1750

• i7-5930k
  
• 32GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance LPX 2666MHz (4x8)
  
• NVIDIA GTX 980 Gigabyte Windforce
  
• MSI XPOWER X99 mobo
  
• Corsair TX750 750W Bronze rated PSU (discontinued now)
  
• Be Quiet! Dark Rock 3 CPU Cooler
  
• Rosewill 4U server case (12 HDD bays)
  
• Corsair SP 120mm fans
  
• Basic wall mount 8U rack

I've looked for a while for something similar to upgrade myself; Unless things have changed much in the last two years, i never found something that i was happy.

In the end, i just went with a cheap server case that can house 8 drives. Its not super small or compact; but i'd figure, at my rate, i'll be adding another server after sometime, and i can get server racks to hold them all up.

http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Server-Chassis-Rackmount-Metal/dp/B0055EV30W

Not a bad price. I have the 8 bay version personally and have no qualms with it.

I'm no professional, but I feel like you could do a lot with these parts:

Empty Case:
https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-R4000/dp/B0055EV30W

Patch Panel
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Rackmount-Wallmount-48-Port/dp/B0072K1P8C/ref=sr_1_3?crid=13UXC513T93L&keywords=48+port+patch+panel&qid=1558021254&s=gateway&sprefix=48+port+patc%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-3

LED Lighting
https://www.amazon.com/BrillGlow-Multi-colored-Background-Waterproof-Controller/dp/B01A5DDDE6?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1

You could probably combine these three parts, in various sets of configurations to build something "Hollywood"

I used this for some inspiration

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1802&bih=990&ei=3oPdXIbaO6XI_Qa2lJ-wAg&q=datacenter+server&oq=datacenter+server&gs_l=img.3..0l3j0i5i30j0i8i30l4j0i10i24j0i24.1733.3829..4019...0.0..0.177.1362.16j1......1....1..gws-wiz-img.....0..0i10j0i10i30.c3zuc98LIQA#imgdii=uFbGHerwzsZbfM:&imgrc=6caHghE6mHfmCM:

This Rosewill case is one I've been fawning over for a while.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=twister_B01N5HO6X2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Rosewill RSV-R4000 will fit 3 of these

If your looking for something different and has a lot of internal room and can be sat just about anywhere (also rack mountable and very quiet) This rosewill case is a good one I've had experience with: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=psdc_572238_t1_B008SPOAXC?th=1

And if that's not your thing then go for something more along the lines of the always good NZXT H440, plenty of room for whatever amount of drives or pcie cards you need it to handle.
Ninja edit: https://www.amazon.com/NZXT-TowerComputer-Black-Window-CA-H442W-M1/dp/B015401IWE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1492700320&sr=1-1&keywords=h440&th=1

I have my gaming PC in my rack. This is the case I use: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_wDqgyb77BXYEN
It is big enough, that's for sure.

I also use this for my gaming pc through a hole in my rack because I keep my rack locked: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HG7HO22/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_xFqgybVHH39NF

• on my phone, not sure how to format links
  
  Edit: Looks like the price for the case has gone up $25 since I bought 3 of them.

Thanks.

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-R4000/dp/B0055EV30W/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=rsv-r4000&qid=1572673022&sr=8-3

A lot of that looks great - except that a 4U rack mount case is large, and will easily fit a full ATX motherboard and graphics card.

I've never overclocked before, so I guess what I'm mostly looking for is the following:

• A great Z370 motherboard that has lots of features (addressing the extra SATA ports was a great thought - I also had the Blu-ray drive I wanted to hook up, and that requires SATA. I haven't built a system in 8 years, so I didn't realize that the M.2 port can overlay a SATA port) but doesn't have to have all the fancy lights, armor, etc that just make it look pretty.
  
• It's going to be rack mounted 2 feet down from my network switch, so wireless isn't needed.
  
• Whatever cooler would be required to keep an i7-8700k cool under mild to moderate overclocking, preferably air-cooled.
  
  How does having the extra space available in the case change your recommendation, if any? I mean, I have a 7ft tall 42U rack in my basement - for this, space isn't really a concern, because I have about 30U available currently.
  
  Thanks again!

nice i did find this if youre interested.

http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RSV-R4000-Metal-Server-Chassis/dp/B0055EV30W/

I built mine with this 12 bay hot swap chassis, and it’s been solid. Plenty of room for airflow, and lots of room to expand.

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-R4000/dp/B0055EV30W

I use a melanox 10gb sfp+ card in it. I have the 8 core atom board, same one used by IXSystems in their commercial units, with 16gb of RAM. System is installed on a pair of mirrored sandisk cruiser thumb drives. I’m running 8 disks in it currently, using mirrored vdevs. Performance is great.

How about a rosewill? It's a little over the price range you mentioned, but i've had my eye on it for a few weeks. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055EV30W/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza

EDIT: Ignore the bot below, that one link has several chassis in it at different prices. Check out the 12 bay hot swap one.

RSV-R4000

You can do GPU mining in 4U cases. Here are 5 265's in a 4U case: http://i.imgur.com/xAJe6qP.jpg

It's much better with all the cards in the front of the case instead of one on the MB. This is a reasonably cheap Rosewill case. You have to upgrade the weak stock fans with something that pushes at least 2x as much air. I ended up used 100+ CFM fans and put one stock fan in the right 3.5" bays and one in the back where cards are normally screwed in (not pictured).

Hmm. Now that I think of it, that particular rack isn't important to me, I got it at less than half off. I could either go for a better (open-air or not) rack (only real requirement is wheels), or take the front and back off of this one. In light of that, I own this (empty) chassis already:

Rosewill 4U Server Chassis / Server Case / Rackmount Case, Metal Rack Mount Computer Case with 8 Bays & 4 Fans Pre-Installed (RSV-R4000)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055EV30W/

What I'm really looking for is a way to organize all of my equipment in one place, not on my desk:
this computer, (future) server/NAS, network equipment (switch, gateway, access point), UPC, power strip.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055EV30W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

just replace the fans that come with it with something quieter and it should work well but not the best cable management in the case

Something like this? It's only 13.9 inches tall. Kinda like a cereal box.

Rosewill FBM-01

Here's a cube if you want something more horizontal.

Thermaltake Core V21

We can go even smaller!

Thermaltake Core V1

Micro ATX

Edit: Mini tower, just like this one

My formatting is really bad, so I apologize ahead of time. This is what I've done research on and saved so far.


Monitor- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824160240&ignorebbr=1


CPU- (Dual core) http://www.amazon.com/Intel-G3258-Pentium-Processor-BX80646G3258/dp/B00KPRWAZQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455357130&sr=1-1&keywords=g3258&linkCode=sl1&tag=techsource02-20&linkId=11a30b5f30fd79c6d6919bca3aa14c1f


Ram- (16 gigs ram) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148545&cm_re=Crucial_Ballistix_Sport-_-20-148-545-_-Product


Motherboard- (Asus) http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-H81M--MicroATX-DDR3-Motherboards/dp/B00ESETQOK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455357170&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+h81m-a&linkCode=sl1&tag=techsource02-20&linkId=60be0ea7c8506bbb9c1dee32c151c0ac


Hard drive - (1 tb) http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/B005T3GRNW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455357232&sr=1-1&keywords=seagate+1tb&linkCode=sl1&tag=techsource02-20&linkId=87e7d08908036af45a70d409a29a6801


Video Card- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500349&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-TechSource%20Official-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=7899552&SID=


(other option) http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-Cooling-Graphics-02G-P4-2958-KR/dp/B013WQC9U2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455357501&sr=1-2&keywords=gtx+950&linkCode=sl1&tag=techsource02-20&linkId=cc7e6d2ede49ec0d489f64252ca2ef13


Keyboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1KT2FA2910


Case - http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-MicroATX-Tower-Computer-FBM-01/dp/B005LIDU5S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455357279&sr=1-1&keywords=rosewill+fbm-01&linkCode=sl1&tag=techsource02-20&linkId=e7076f52a8f3cfa59e8f7ecf39eb20f6


Power Supply - http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Continuous-Warranty-Supply-100-W1-0500-KR/dp/B00H33SFJU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1455357296&sr=1-1&keywords=evga+500w&linkCode=sl1&tag=techsource02-20&linkId=0c53362e4ccfc9d77d7c8c0203dd9f38

I'd lean towards an R9 390 around that price range, thinking something like this build partnered with most any MicroATX case (ie, this one https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-MicroATX-Tower-Computer-FBM-01/dp/B005LIDU5S) should give you a lot of power for under around $820.

What do you think of this case?

Rosewill Dual Fans MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case FBM-01

The build I want to make recommends this case: https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-MicroATX-Tower-Computer-FBM-01/dp/B005LIDU5S?ie=UTF8&tag=gcgctest-20
Can it be substituted for this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811353097

Actually I just ordered my last things and realized I'm $40 under budget, so I might return my crappy case and get a better one.
This is the one I have: https://www.amazon.ca/Rosewill-MicroATX-Tower-Computer-FBM-01/dp/B005LIDU5S/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=rosewill+fbm-01&qid=1557957879&s=gateway&sprefix=rosewill+fbm&sr=8-1-fkmrnull
If you guys know a good micro ATX case that is kinda cheap, meant for gaming, then pls tell me

That console is pretty low end to be honest. The problems are the RAM (only 4GB), and the graphics for this says "Custom Nvidia Maxwell GTX CPU". I would go custom build, but you don't want to :(. There are very few good cheap prebuilt PC's

This is an ok prebuilt PC

Try pcpartpicker, ask on /r/buildapc. Custom built are really the way to go nowadays :).

Check this out:

GPU

CPU

RAM

HDD

CASE

PSU

It's a pretty decent build. Not great, but inside your price range. I know it's definitely better than that console.

If you want a decent gaming PC, check out the subreddit buildapc.

Should be this one

this is my case if that helps.

http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-MicroATX-Tower-Computer-FBM-01/dp/B005LIDU5S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451412816&sr=8-2&keywords=computer+case+rosewill


13.8 x 6.9 x 13.9 inches

thank you.
Is it possible to use this case instead of the other case https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LIDU5S/?tag=pcpapi-20 and can you show me the 500GB hard drive I really do not want the ssd and I can not stretch my budget

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 7 1700X 3.4GHz 8-Core Processor | $445.81 @ DirectCanada
CPU Cooler | Cooler Master - Hyper 212 LED 66.3 CFM Rifle Bearing CPU Cooler | $24.90 @ Vuugo
Motherboard | ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $80.00 @ Vuugo
Memory | G.Skill - NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $84.99 @ Newegg Canada
Storage | Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $54.99 @ Memory Express
Video Card | MSI - Radeon RX 570 4GB ARMOR OC Video Card | $299.99 @ Memory Express
Case | Rosewill - Galaxy-02 ATX Mid Tower Case | $34.99 @ Newegg Canada
Power Supply | Corsair - CX (2017) 450W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply | $49.99 @ Newegg Canada
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home Full - USB 32/64-bit | $144.75 @ Vuugo
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1255.41
| Mail-in rebates | -$35.00
| Total | $1220.41
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-09-25 16:37 EDT-0400 |

Hyper 212 LED because the 1700x doesn't come with a cooler, and wraith coolers go for around $30

Cheapest ATX B350 Board, 2400MHz ram, Case, and PSU, and RX570, and it is still $1220 before taxes, so yes the Dell is a good deal, because you can at least get an RX 570 this way, whereas to buy one yourself is very difficult because they are out of stock everywhere.

Edit: swap out the ATX case for a mATX case

Maybe something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LIDU5S/?tag=pcpapi-20

This one.

thank you for all the info, what im gonna do is wait until i ran out of space, i have a better understanding now, however can you explained me the difference between Xpenology and drivepool ?. also one thing i dont like about Xpenology, freenas, etc is that in order to create the pool hdds need to be formated, ohh and btw im also working on my "nvr" project for my home security system. it is currently running on main computer but i decided to move it into a standalone system since it takes lots of my computer resources, and because soon i will be moving out by myself.

this is the parts for my nvr project:
ASUS M5A78L-M Plus/USB3:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FN9QT34/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Kingston HyperX FURY 16GB Kit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J8E8Y5C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
AMD FX 8-Core Black Edition FX-8300: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TR8YL4W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Rosewill Dual Fans MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case FBM-01
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LIDU5S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LIDU5S/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

Because the fact still remains that I despise the look of my case and will want to upgrade as soon as humanly possible. I...really don't know what I was thinking when I ordered it... Too late now though.

Here's the case I currently own. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LIDU5S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Maybe it's not as bad I as I make it seem, but I want my gaming computer to LOOK like a gaming computer too, you know what I mean? That's why I chose the 300r.

Will this case (no extra fans bought) keep my evga gtx 1080 sc cool? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LIDU5S/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Does bad airflow make your psu loud?
because i got this case and this psu and after putting my ear to every piece of my pc the psu is the only thig making noise
I think it's because my psu is top mounted

Just a guess but is this one bigger?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005LIDU5S/ref=psdcmw_572238_t1_B00SAYCFF6

Thanks for the reply! This looks pretty great. This is cheap and does the job.
How does this one look?

http://www.amazon.com/RTL-SDR-RTL2832U-Popular-Software-Packages/dp/B00C37AZXK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408850993&sr=8-1&keywords=USB+sdr+tuner#cm_cr_dpwidget

or

http://www.amazon.com/Receiver-Previously-Compatible-Packages-Guaranteed/dp/B009U7WZCA/ref=pd_sim_e_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=1GTFVRQ2YBC6P749ZN8T

Thanks for the input!

So something like this guy? Price is certainly right!

https://www.amazon.com/NooElec-NESDR-Mini-Compatible-Packages/dp/B009U7WZCA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538540479&sr=8-1&keywords=nooelec+rtlsdr+dongle

I have a laptop PC I could bring.

Here's a working link.

I use this one with a hf driver.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NooElec-NESDR-Mini-Previously-Compatible/dp/B009U7WZCA/ref=pd_vtph_bs_tr_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B009U7WZCA&pd_rd_r=ecbbd4d2-e4e0-11e8-93cf-ddad281862c8&pd_rd_w=XChGN&pd_rd_wg=tFNY2&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=4c7bb8c9-529d-45ea-842d-4e34757ae738&pf_rd_r=1254P47E1X95RGGH21YV&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=1254P47E1X95RGGH21YV

like one of these???

They're on different frequencies, and will never work with each other. You'll need one of those tunable radio USB dongles to specifically tune and monitor that 303.217mhz frequency for data.

I know this is kind of old, but did you find a scanner? I've been playing around with RTL SDR dongles and I've seen a huge performance increase. Take a look at this page.

RTL SDR dongles are muuuuuuch cheaper than a new scanner. I have two of the NooElec dongles and they are about $20 from Amazon.

If you just want to receive, then a $20 USB stick like this is a good place to start. From there you can experiment with antennas and see what you can pick up. Here is a Hak5 episode covering it.

If you want to transmit, you will need to get your license and a transceiver. You can get a dual-band Baofeng handheld on amazon for about $30 if you want to just try the hobby out. Hamstudy.org has the question pool for each license class (start with technician), then you need to find a testing session in your area when you are ready to take the test. Sessions usually cost $15.

Also check out the links on the sidebar. The IRC channel is also a good place to ask specific questions.

I‘m not really into radio-things, but I want to get into it. I want something that is able to hijack a radio-audio system (basically speakers with the audio being transmitted on radio) , at best as far away as possible. Can you give me any advice for that?
Is this good, or could I also go with the ones you linked?

You can use these with a RTL-SDR setup. It's well supported in linux.

> If anyone wants to receive and decode their own ADS-B and ACARS transmissions from aircraft to understand how this kind of stuff works, buy one of these for $20:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009U7WZCA/

I imagine these guys don't need to source amazon.com for a $20 antenna/receiver.

I bought one of these a couple years ago

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009U7WZCA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and got the SDR# software

but I never managed to get it working properly so I kinda gave up and ended up buying a uniden bearcat police scanner

This is the antenna I used https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B009U7WZCA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got the idea from these sites
http://www.whatimade.today/great-projects-for-your-spare-raspberry-pi-part-1-flightradar-live-worldwide-aircraft-tracking/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrNPDJIBZDc

While I do have a hack.rf, I was talking about one of the Rx only dongles.

Success! Ran cmake, make, make install and ldconfig. Looks like everything installed correctly!

Now I have a new problem. With the previous version I was able to run "modes_rx --rtlsdr" with my SDR plugged in and things would start happening. This time when I tried it, I got:

modes_rx: error: no such option: --rtlsdr

I just ran "modes_rx" to see what the command line options are and here's what I got:

user@ubuntu:~/gr-air-modes$ modes_rx
gr-air-modes warning: numpy+scipy not installed, FlightGear interface not supported
linux; GNU C++ version 4.6.3; Boost_104800; UHD_003.005.004-149-gc357a16e

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/local/bin/modes_rx", line 100, in <module>
main()
File "/usr/local/bin/modes_rx", line 59, in main
tb = air_modes.modes_radio(options, context)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/air_modes/radio.py", line 46, in init
self._setup_source(options)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/air_modes/radio.py", line 147, in _setup_source
self._u = uhd.single_usrp_source(options.args, uhd.io_type_t.COMPLEX_FLOAT32, 1)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gnuradio/uhd/init.py", line 122, in constructor_interceptor
return old_constructor(args)
File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gnuradio/uhd/uhd_swig.py", line 1716, in make
return _uhd_swig.usrp_source_make(args)
RuntimeError: LookupError: KeyError: No devices found for ----->
Empty Device Address

Just to make sure I wasn't crazy, I installed GNURadio 3.6 (using build_gnuradio -o) and the master branch of gr-air_modes, and the following command worked fine: "modes_rx --rtlsdr"

There's a good chance I didn't RTFM manual here, but I was working off the blog post in my OP which was easy as pie. So I'm fairly confident I'm screwing something up, but just in case, this is the device I use.

Rater than paying for FlightRadar24, I got one of those $20 USB RTL-SDR (https://amzn.com/B009U7WZCA) off of Amazon and set up an old PC to feed them data. In exchange for this you get a free Business tier subscription for feeding them airplane transponder signals.

The same setup can also send data to FlightAware and other similar services, which will also give you paid subscriptions for free for contributing data.

Anything that is about $20 on Amazon. There's not really any "cool new features" in optical drives anymore. Something like this will do:

https://www.amazon.com/Electronics-Portable-Rewriter-External-GP60NB50/dp/B00C2AMK2M/

The stock cooler works if you don't intend on overclocking. For the optical drive, I originally planned to use a flash drive to put windows on my build, but after seeing how cheap optical drives are, it doesn't hurt to have one. NZXT H440 doesn't have space for an optical drive so I bought this one. Depending on the case you might need an external one.

Short answer, it's not worth it.
You'll also need to power it which would be a PITA if the drive is outside the case. You could buy a cable like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005B3VO24/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_uXQ6xbYRC1SKZ
but for a similar price you could buy a USB DVD drive on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C2AMK2M/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_WYQ6xbG4VMNQM Just go with one of those if necessary.

The good news is that the discs that came with the hardware are obsolete and the updated software is available for download on their sites.

The bad news is some software, depending on the vendor, must be installed from the included disc because they do not offer a replacement on their site (to minimize how many people who don't own compatible hardware try using it). Creative and Canon with their DSLR's are two examples where proprietary software is exclusive to their included media and the website merely offers patches.

Also, your OS is downloadable and can be very easily installed to a USB drive of 8GB minimum capacity (it will be formatted to FAT32)

• Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
  
  
• Windows 8.1/8 Media Creation Tool
  
  With the spare storage on the USB drive, I would create a folder and place all your driver downloads there UNcompressed and sorted so your OS can find them when you point to it.
  
  If you are installing Windows in new hardware, remember to boot off the USB drive in UEFI mode (use opportunity to ditch MBR). After pressing the appropriate key on startup to dictate the boot device, look for UEFI next to the USB drive. Desktop motherboards allow you to boot with the typical BIOS/MBR method or the UEFI/GPT method without having to make any modifications, whereas laptops may require you disable "Secure Boot" before permitting booting
  
  
• Process to install Windows 10/8.1/8 via UEFI / GPT
  
  
• Process to install Windows 7 via UEFI / GPT
  
  Finally, remember to save this drive in a safe place for future use. Like in your motherboard box.
  
  That being said, if you still want to get an optical drive, here are five options:
  
  
• $29.99 Plextor PX-891SAF DVD burner
  
  
• $58.99 LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray Burner
  
  
• $65.99 Pioneer BDR-209DBK Kit Blu-Ray Burner
  
  
• $20.99 LG GP60NB50 USB DVD Burner
  
  
• $84.63 Samsung SE-506CB/RSWD USB Blu-Ray burner

Did you watch the video demonstrating the M-Disk media durability?. http://youtu.be/CfBEHlzvZnc Sure, a DVD is excessive to store a small wallet.dat file, but its pretty inexpensive when you consider its a total cost of $60, $30 burner http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP60NB50/dp/B00C2AMK2M/ plus $30 for 10 blank m-discs http://www.amazon.com/M-DISC-4-7GB-Permanent-Archival-Backup/dp/B005Y4NKE0/ If your ultimate goal would be for a family member who gets this DVD from safety deposit box to be able to retrieve the bitcoins, encrypt the wallet.dat w/ the built in pass phrase encryption found in the core bitcoin wallet, and possibly fill the rest of the DVD with a few thousand family photos to use up the rest of the space. You could have the pass phrase stored separately in a completely different document w/ a trusted 3rd party, or the family lawyer. Maybe you could hide the pass phrase deep within the family photos in a picture. It all depends how difficult you want the process to be to retrieve the coins, and how many secrets need to be combined to access them. Be creative, write clear instructions on how to access the bitcoins on the DVD with the wallet.dat, include bitcoin software, but don't be so clear about the password, or even that there is a password in the instructions with the wallet.dat file.. Have that be separated somehow if that is a concern.. but don't be so tricky that no one in the family is ever able to get the coins either.

We'll at least dvds won't fail on you (unless dropped), might be good to have that as a backup medium.

Here's external dvd rw: http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP60NB50/dp/B00C2AMK2M/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1405730381&sr=1-2&keywords=usb+rw

There's also cheaper models, just search. A blue-ray reader, or blue-ray rw will cost you about 90~$130 more. I don't think usb3 matters when max write speed is 24x.

LG Electronics 8X USB 2.0 Super Multi Ultra Slim Portable DVD Rewriter External Drive with M-DISC Support for PC and Mac, Black (GP60NB50) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C2AMK2M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_i_3iK5AbY1VC3TJ

External CD Drive something like this would work well, I have a similar one and it's really easy to use and when you don't need it you can store it somewhere else, to rip it to a flash drive you would just have to hookup a flash drive to your computer as well and then drag the files over

Yes, after some thought, I think I'll purchase an external.

I'm looking at this LG drive, and reviews I've read on American Amazon say it can play DVDs off of one USB port. This is fine, since I don't really intend to burn my DVDs :)

In case the included cable is too short -- I'm thinking of purchasing this cable to power the drive. The webpage says it's meant to power external hard drives, but it should be able to power external optical drives, maybe. Do you think that could work?

I'd like a long cable, because the desk I have has a second lower tray for a keyboard, and I can just place the DVD player on the lower tray if the cable's long enough.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C2AMK2M and use windows media player or vlc or whatever

This case does not have an optical drive slot, however there are a ton of great external ones. Like this one (Which i have personally) http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-External-GP60NB50/dp/B00C2AMK2M/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1418768712&sr=8-4&keywords=lg+optical+drive

1. Go for a different Card. you don't need all that money spent on a card for basic web browsing.I got my parents a radeon 240 but after multiple dead on arrival cards, I ended up getting them this MSI Geforce 210, which works great at 1920x1080, and even does some pretty good cs:go results on a similar, low cost build. It's only about $40, but works just fine for those purposes- web browsing, video, and probably is about equal to intel iris graphics, which I use as a daily driver for my macbook, and it works great on lots of stuff.
   
   
2. Maybe get 2x4gb ram (it'd be cheaper than 1x8gb), and you can also dual-channel it.
   
   
3. Storage- maybe consider spending a few extra dollars today for a 1tb, it's not that much more expensive, and it's better to have it and not need it than need it and then substitute speed for performance. You could also consider getting a 64gb ssd for os and programs, etc.
   
   
4. Consider getting windows 8, it's a bit cheaper, and windows 10 is just around the corner. link to price/buy
   
   
5. Optical- This guy hasn't failed me in the few months i've had it, and you can also plug it in to other places. Not sure about booting to install windows, but it should be fine.
   
   Other than that, it looks fine to me. Good cpu as far as I know.

Is this a desktop or laptop? If it's a desktop a new drive costs $13-$20 and is easy to replace yourself. If it's a laptop, the ones I've seen run closer to $50+. Another option is just to get one of these external DVD drives if you don't mind it not being inside the PC itself.

If you don't want to replace it yourself I'd recommend the external option since it'll be much cheaper.

I'm having similar issues with class, class work, and technology limitations. Can you print it to a pdf? Or, I think Fed ex and staples both have print to cloud and pick up options. Not super cheap, and still a hassle but probably less expensive than a new printer. Also, things like this exist. Can help solve your disc issue.

I don't know if it will be a cheaper or better solution but these do exist:

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Portable-Rewriter-GP60NB50/dp/B00C2AMK2M/ref=zg_bs_1292112011_1

You could always rip it at a friend's house, the public library, etc. Plenty of opportunities. I have an external drive that I bought for about $20 off amazon that does the trick:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C2AMK2M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If replacing the DVD drive is a hassle, there is also the option of purchasing an external DVD drive. One that's around $20-30 should be capable of burning discs and should be available at nearby stores. Best Buy in-store may also match the price from Amazon for this exact model, which they usually have in stock in most stores.

LG External DVD Drive - Amazon

It is also a good investment for the future when you may need a DVD drive in any computer that doesn't even have one built in.

Getting an external drive would be my preference than worrying about the internal drive, anyway. The internal would be just another component to cause potential issues in the future and suck up a few more watts of energy.

This case doesn't have a CD bay but I was hoping to install windows 10 using this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C2AMK2M/ref=ox_sc_act_title_14?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Try this maybe

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Portable-External-SE-218CB-RSBS/dp/B00DBV28TG/ref=lp_1292112011_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1406231161&sr=1-1

Strictly speaking there's nothing wrong with using a "gaming" desktop as opposed to an "office" desktop. The key thing with gaming computers is the presence of a dedicated graphics card...which you would find pretty useless.

So comparing these two machines the Avatar would have slightly better graphics performance since it's got the GPU, however the Dell actually has the superior CPU in it which is what you're going to care about. That and if it's something that customers might see it probably looks a little more professional than a gaming computer.

If you want to save a little more money, and those are more or less the most demanding things you're going to do with it I'd recommend something like this:

Dell Inspiron i3 8GB RAM

Main difference there is the CPU, which is an i3. However it's more than capable of doing office grunt.

This Inspiron is even less, with a two sacrifices. It's only got 4GB of RAM, which means that if you're the kind of person to have tons of programs running at the same time might give you some headaches. It also doesn't have a disk drive, which could be a problem for some. Nice thing at least is that external drives are cheap, and easy to use for the few times that you might need it.

I'd say overall the i5 is a little overkill unless you're really crunching a lot of stuff at the same time. So the i3 8GB model is probably your best choice, and it's a bit cheaper than the Avatar and the i5 model.

If you're feeling savvy you could try to look into the slim Inspiron model and just buy your own RAM to stick in it. I'm not sure how easy it would be to get in there though.

My main used to be a mid-09 13 inch MBP. The optical drive died on me about 2 years in so I replaced it with a SSD. I managed to go another 2 years before buying an external disc burner since I'm into music production.

I just upgraded to the mid-14 MBP (15 inch! Upgrade!) We'll see how much I'll miss the CD drive when I head back to school in the fall, but honestly I don't know if I even know where the disc drive is right now. I can honestly count on my hands how many times I've needed it. Most of those are (like you mentioned) renting movies from the library since school monitors network traffic.

As always YMMV but I think the retina display plus killer battery life in a package that's thinner and lighter than the 13 inch machine it replaces are worthy trade-offs.

>Who needs/uses a DVD drive anymore?

Most people do, dvd's are still the preferred method of watching a movie because buying on iTunes would mean DRM and Netflix requires a fast Internet.


> If not an external DVD drive is $13.

Where? A SuperDrive is 8x DVDA±R DL/ 6x DVDA±R DL / 6x DVDA±RW/ 24x CD-R / 16x CD-RW, I don't think you can find something with the exact specifications for 13 bucks, I say you need to shell out at least $30 for something similar.

>Not really. Playing your stuff right on the computer without needing some antiquated form of media "just works".

This is where you got it wrong because CDs aren't some antiquated form of media, they're still the safest and most durable way of storing data, only beaten by tape, so neither tape or cd is antiquated nor will they be antiquated until we come up with a better way to store data.

>As for the iMac yeah it looks pretty, and all it costed was the loss of a component that sees little if any use. If you really need it, again an external is cheap as hell and is not as much of a hindrance if you are using it on a desktop. If that is not enough get something else. You have choices. There are other computers.

This is complete fanboy talk. Instead of critiquing apple or being more critical of them you go "Well you don't have to use apple!" which is a mindset I'll never understand, why would anyone defend a company so vehemently? And it's not like Im bashing on apple either I'm just stating a matter of fact, they prefer form over function. And there a plethora of evidence to support that statement.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
Memory | Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory | $69.95 @ Adorama
Storage | Crucial M500 120GB mSATA Solid State Disk | $74.99 @ Adorama
Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) | $84.98 @ OutletPC
Other| Intel NUC (HDMI, Thunderbolt, Core i3-3217U)| $199.99
Other| 6FT Power Cord| $5.98
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available. | $435.89
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-27 22:13 EDT-0400 |

With this build You'd have a Nice i3, the 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a Reliable SSD, and windows! Not to mention a really small form factor, low noise/power consumption and HDMI and Thunderbolt ports!

PS: If he needs a CD/DVD Writer/Reader, he can choose from either this brand or the Samsung one. They work through USB

There isn't a lot you can do. Your only realistic options are to pick another case or, if you are really set on this one and definitely need an optical drive, go for an external drive like this.

Boot entry?

You should probably have an external DVD drive if you are using a laptop without one. After that, you should be able to run a live CD of some sort to edit your boot.ini file if that is what you are talking about.

This one works well but no Blu-Ray

How is this for an external?

More Power, lesser costs, ready for a second gpu, with air cooling (love noctua too!)
And here the same with water cooling
Oh, and if you really need a dvd drive, get something like this.

I got this onewhen it was $35 a few years back. Been working very well as a DVD+RW since all of my computers don't have DVD RW DVD burners

I have a USB DVD writer. Would that work for the drivers? Its this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Portable-External-SE-218CB-RSBS/dp/B00DBV28TG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418619547&sr=8-1&keywords=usb+dvd+drive

You can find external DVD drives for cheap (about $30) on your local store or on the internet, and if you want Blu-Ray functionality, you can get one like this.

In terms of the SSD, the location should not matter since the cable distance has very, very little effect on the speed. You should also notice faster speeds, even on SATA2.

i havent used a dvd in ages, so dont really need one, so have no experience with it.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Portable-External-SE-218CB-RSBS/dp/B00DBV28TG/ref=lp_1292113011_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1425843179&sr=1-4 one seems very highly rated.

and after reading one of the comments, i didnt even think about being able to connect it to tablets, so thats another plus to external vs internal.

Yes, you would have to buy an external optical drive, but they're pretty inexpensive; the SSD would provide very good performance, so we think it's worth the trade-off. You will most likely not use the optical drive on an everyday basis anyway.

I use this Samsung and it works great. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DBV28TG

I bought this a few months ago because I'm not ready to give up on physical CDs. I plugged it in and it worked right away.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DBV28TG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Looking for a rough estimate of the system as a whole and parted.

MSI H81M-P33 motherboard
i5-4690k
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO HSF
Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB DDR3 (PC3-12800)
Asus GTX970 (mini)
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD
Cooler Master HAF XB II EVO ATX Case
EVGA 500B PSU
Windows 10 Home

I think the case makes parting the system out a better bet. I love this thing and think it's damn cool, but it's certainly a departure from the usual box. Thanks for your time!

Cooler master haf evo xb

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-EVO-Motherboard/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q

Awesome, thank you for the input! Are there any components to you that stick out in this build, either under spec or over spec for this level of build? I appreciate your input on the Ryzen issue, overclocking in the future sounds good.
I looked at the case you suggested and I like the look of it, I got an NZXT for my last build that I mentioned. Love the look of both that case and the one you suggested. But, with the budget of the build, is there a cheaper case you like you can recommend? Thanks again.

Edit: Looked around at some more cases, it seems like that's a good price for a case. What do you think about this Cooler Master case vs the NZXT?

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HTPC-Computer-RC-902XB-KKN2/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1487971681&sr=8-1&keywords=Cooler+Master+HAF+XB+II+EVO&linkCode=sl1&tag=gpunerd-20&linkId=cf56e143d360026aa59a0722663ee46c

Yes something like that! Can't seem to find any pictures of the inside http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Power-Supply-RC-902XB-KKN2/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Do you know of any other "cases like that?" It looks great but am also interested in what else might be out there.

TYVM

question for you, would this build work with this case?
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HTPC-Computer-RC-902XB-KKN2/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492958321&sr=8-1&keywords=cooler+master+haf

So here is the new list.

Processor https://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-7600K-Desktop-Processors-BX80677I57600K/dp/B01MUGQFB3/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1500936058&sr=1-1&keywords=i5%2B7600k&th=1

MOBO https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N4LCX2D/?tag=pcpapi-20

Ram https://smile.amazon.com/DDR4-Leorice-2400MHZ-Desktop-Breathing/dp/B01G31SAFG/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1500936183&sr=1-2&keywords=DDR4-2400+Memory&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A10656894011%2Cp_n_feature_five_browse-bin%3A9559992011%7C677429011

case https://smile.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HTPC-Computer-RC-902XB-KKN2/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500911519&sr=8-1&keywords=Cooler+Master+HAF+XB+II+EVO%2C+HTPC+Computer+Case+with+USB+3.0+%28RC-902XB-KKN2%29


Thoughts? Thanks again everyone!

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Power-Supply-RC-902XB-KKN2/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01

Yeah, I have two Lian Li.

Corsair Carbide gets so close

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CC-9011030-WW-Carbide-High-Airflow/dp/B00D6GINF4

Cooler master as well but this excess edges makes no sense...
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HAF-EVO-Motherboard/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-HTPC-Computer-RC-902XB-KKN2/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q/ref=as_li_ss_tl?tag=gpunerd-20&ie=UTF8&qid=1487971681&sr=8-1&keywords=Cooler+Master+HAF+XB+II+EVO&linkCode=sl1&linkId=cf56e143d360026aa59a0722663ee46c
What about this? I could replace a monitor stand with it

I think ive decided to shrink the SSD. Trying to get the parts on prime so I can build while off work for New Years. Thoughts on [this type of case?]
(http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Power-Supply-RC-902XB-KKN2/dp/B00FFJ0H3Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1450764189&sr=8-4&keywords=haf+912&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011)

A small ATX case? Googled pointed me to this

No something must have failed in the cooling system. In a gaming computer, the GPU uses a lot of resources and can heat up relatively quickly. Dust cleaning and wire organization are key for a gaming PC.

Here is a case that has great ventilation. It is what I use

EDIT: Also it is good practice to keep the room relatively cool. I'm not saying to make it a winter wonderland but make sure the room doesn't get hot

Nop :(

What do you think of the

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00FFJ0H3Q/ref=ox_sc_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB

I would like to move over my computer to the Cooler Master HAF XB II EVO but I have a EATx board a Gigabyte G1 Sniper 5. A few years ago a guy on overclock.net did a build with a EATx board link but I do not recognize what board it is. does some one knows what board it is so that I could compare its size to mine or know weather or not mine would fit.

I'm building an Oculus Rift machine w enough high end hardware to choke Gordon Freeman. I don't know if I could get high end CPU/Graphics and cooling into a mini or micro. I did find Cooler Master HAF XB II EVO but there are reviews that are 5 years old so I don't know if case tech has left it in the dust. Not much real info on case tech besides air flow and cable management and this box seems to have that working pretty well.

Amazon is always a good bet. The Connect is cheaper but Extend transcodes for you.

https://smile.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-EXTEND-FREE-Broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B01IRJQB1C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1472829145&sr=8-3&keywords=hdhomerun

https://smile.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHR4-2US-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-2-Tuner/dp/B00GY0UB54/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472829145&sr=8-1&keywords=hdhomerun

So you'll take one of these for your Prime HD?

Does anyone know if the HDHomeRun Connect will still allow DVR on Plex?

https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B00GY0UB54

The AmazonBasics antenna won't work well on VHF. Your local NBC station is on VHF...

I've had good luck using the HDHomerun network tuner.

Yes. The HDHomeRun is the best device for the purpose, just be sure you get a model for over-the-air channels and not the one for cable channels. The older model HDHomeRun DUAL (model HDHR3-US) works well and is a little less expensive than the HDHomeRun CONNECT, though either should work. Amazon links are:

https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-Definition-Digital-HDHR3-US/dp/B004HO58SO

https://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-broadcast-2-Tuner/dp/B00GY0UB54

Both models have dual tuners so you can watch programs from two different channels at once, or if you have PVR backend software such as Tvheadend, MythTV, MediaPortal, NextPVR, etc. installed on a computer, you can record from one channel while watching another, or record from two channels at the same time. If you have any experience at all with Linux then I recommend Tvheaded, but that's a personal preference.

On your computer (or home theater PC, if you ever want to watch using a TV) you would run Kodi (please be sure you get the official Kodi from https://kodi.tv/download and not from some sleazy third party site that might contain malware), or you could even view the stream in VLC or possibly your operating system's media player, if that's your preference. Kodi just makes it a little easier.

The nice thing about the HDHomeRun device is it does not have to be connected to a computer; it streams directly through your network to whatever computer is requesting the stream. With a USB tuner stick you'd need to have it plugged into a computer somewhere to work. Also, you can locate the HDHomeRun wherever your antenna cable enters your house, as long as there's also a local network connection available. So if your antenna wire comes into the basement you can put the HDHomeRun there and still watch it on a computer in an upstairs bedroom, as long as there is a network (LAN) connection at both places, and electric power of course.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GY0UB54

Sure!

So, below are my system specs. The process is hugely CPU bound, so if you can get something better, I would. I'm thinking about upgrading to a dual-socket 16 core Xeon in a few months.

For software I use Windows Media Center (in 8.1). The scheduling manager is probably a 3.5/5, it's all there it's just a pain to use sometimes because it was designed to be navigated with a remote so you have to click a lot for some things. The shows come in WTV format, which I assume is an AVI-like container because the files are gigantic. The program MCE Buddy takes those files and can generate MP4/MKV with .NFO files auto-magically with filters and naming conventions. It's basically a scheduling manager wrapped around ffmpeg/handbrake.

To strip commercials it uses a program called comskip which does a decent job out of the box, but you can spend some time fine tuning it (I spent 5-6 hours one saturday to just get SLIGHTLY better precision on the commercials, I've just started accepting a few slips).

For the last step I wrote some software I called torrentula that extracts screens and crawls for additional meta-data before wrapping it all up in a RAR/ZIP/TORRENT file. It's not ready for other people yet, but I can throw it on github if you wanna give it a try....it's just really raw still. Shameless plug to my twitch stream where I do walk throughs a couple times a week for a few hours on how I program these tools.

Storage can be whatever, I just have simple volumes in Windows.

For Library management I've surrendered to the Plex machine. It's not the best, but it's good enough and works without much configuration. Too resource intensive for me though.

• i5 4690k @ 4.5 Ghz
  
• 8 GB G. Skill 2133 DDR3
  
• ASRock B85M-ITX LGA 1150
  
• 24 TB of WD Storage (3, 4 and 5's)
  
• Cooler Master HAF Stacker 915F
  
• CORSAIR Hydro Series H50 120mm Quiet Edition
  
• 3 x 120mm Rosewell 75 CFM case fans
  
• SiliconDust HDHomeRun PRIME 3-Tuner
  
• SiliconDust HDHomeRun DUAL 2-OTA Tuner

The price of the HDHR4 had gone up about $25 from $89 to $114 since the Plex announcement.

Plus they look out of stock on Amazon right now.


Last I looked, Micro Center had them for $79.


http://camelcamelcamel.com/SiliconDust-HDHR4-2US-HDHomeRun-CONNECT-2-Tuner/product/B00GY0UB54?context=browse

Could this work? uxcell 67" Desktop Computer Case Power Supply Reset HDD Button Switch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HG7HO22/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_hxEGAb003Q5A4

Hey it'd be cool to add somelike like this inside so you can power computer up from inside

My setup is very similar with the case on a large shelf on the top, I dealt with climbing a stool to power my PC for months (I know, I know...) until I bought this, which works wonders. I'll try to post my setup once I'm happy with cable management

Interesting! Well the obvious solution to me, would just be take out the original power switch and add that to your new case in some way shape or form. This will lead to your being able to add a new PSU and keep the old power switch. If you imagine the one you pull from your old chassis to act like this: https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Desktop-Computer-Supply-Button/dp/B00HG7HO22
It should work fine!

Alternatively to your battery backup idea, you could wire up an external switch and run it somewhere in your vehicle. I'm assuming the reason for asking about this is because you're going to put your NUC somewhere out of reach.

The subject of external power switch for NUCs comes up from time to time in various applications and there are solutions that come with varied degrees of cost and complexity. It all centers around supplementing or replacing the internal wires connected to what is called the "header" (located on the mainboard) and running them to an exterior switch. If you want to investigate this route go to Intel's website and find the "technical product specifications" for your model. This is not the users manual. Its a long technical document and in it will most likely be a section with the pinout specs for the header that controls the things on the front panel such as the power button, the reset button, and activity lights.

With the knowledge of what each pin does you can then go hunting for something like this or this (btw I'm not saying these will necessarily work for you, they're just an examples). Of course that solution depends on the ability to remove the original connectors from the header. I don't know how every NUC model is designed and so I cant say for sure that there doesn't exist an NUC model where these pins are soldered to the header and that you own such a model. If that be the case then the concept is the same except now you're faced with the task of soldering.

​

​

cheap:
https://www.cryptomined.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=253_81&products_id=69&zenid=cjerndlb55nltlv64rpl6hvgd1

expensive:
https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Desktop-Computer-Supply-Button/dp/B00HG7HO22/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1496573019&sr=8-2&keywords=power+button

Thanks for the reply.

1. Yes, I have been checking reviews and have an idea but like to hear what my fellow redditors have approved of! And to help narrow things down, I don't OC the cards myself, ever. And noise is NOT a concern. Every bunk has 1 - 2 fans going 24/7. No one can hear it but me and I game with a headset since guys may be sleeping.
   
   

2. Outside locker temps are decent. We keep A/C at like 68F 24/7/365 (South Florida). Concerns are the temps/hot air being trapped/causing back flow since the PC is pretty obstructed/flush against locker on all sides. Obviously the door remains wide open and air escapes, but perhaps it can escape better?
   
   As for 180 flip. Maybe? I'd have to drill some more cable holes and re-route, but the major concern is the 180 flip would place the power/reset buttons against back of locker and out of reach. I guess these exist and could be a solution.
   
   Now that you have my wheels turning I think the 180 flip might be the best idea ever! You sir are a mad genius! This actually can solve a bunch of other minor cable issues/annoyances.
   
   Plus I get to bring all the power tools in and practice my carpentry. =D
   
   I still need to pick the coolest GPU but I feel like we have solved my ventilation dilemma. Also, my case, I know it's not the best but I searched for a about 2 weeks to find something the the proper dimensions to fit on that shelf. At the time, it was the only MATX that would fit. =(
   
   Thanks for your reply sir!

https://www.amazon.com/Uxcell-a13112600ux0340-Computer-Supply-Button/dp/B00HG7HO22

Something like like this could work better

You can buy satisfying big buttons that wires to your front panel connectors on your MB and it on your desk (wherever you prefer in range). Looks great for a red led rig too lol. Heres an example from amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Desktop-Computer-Supply-Button-Switch/dp/B00HG7HO22

There is also a way to set up your pc to turn on via a magic packet (correct me if im wrong) which you can send over the phone via an app. I think the pc needs a LAN connection too (again anyone correct if wrong my friend has this setup so he can boot up while he walk into his house).
Not sure if they're amazing ideas but I hope it helps :)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/uxcell-Desktop-Computer-Supply-Button/dp/B00HG7HO22/ref=pd_sim_147_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51Yzd6qQoLL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=04D8WB85Z53R1QG6YP0V

You could use this:

http://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Desktop-Computer-Supply-Button/dp/B00HG7HO22

I use one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HG7HO22

no reset button on my case (node 304). But I've been thinking about buying one of these, and maybe now is the time.

Power button

Thanks for the response! This idea is still in its infancy and was actually prompted because I had to purchase one of these to move power from the front panel. I agree that extending a USB 3.0 to a hub is probably the better idea, as I'd probably only really need one or two up top. Also, when I refer to moving the computer to 'another room' I really only mean bridging to the opposite side of a wall, which adds probably a foot tops to the length of the cabling.

Audio quality is probably the one thing im truly skeptical about, and I may just end up running a dedicated cable for it.

I also use a smart strip and found this to turn the pc on and off (it also has a reset and hdd lights): http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00HG7HO22/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1462796120&sr=8-1&pi=SL75_QL70&keywords=external+pc+power+button

I recommend one of these. They're super convenient for testing rigs.

Desk: IKEA Linnmon/Oddvald. Pretty solid desk for the price, although leg room is a bit lacking, probably upgrading soon.

Chair: DXRacer Formula Series, really helped my posture and got rid of my back pain. Plus I'm a huge gear-head so it's very much my style.

Keyboard: Das Keyboard Professional w/ Brown Switches. This keyboard is fantastic, it's a treat to use every day, feels buttery smooth to type on and build quality is superb. I also have a CM Quickfire Ultimate that I use at work, also browns.

Mouse: Zowie EC2-A. Replaced my old Logitech G400 when it started intermittently cutting out, I think I like this mouse even more.

Mousepad: SteelSeries QcK+ for all that low DPI goodness.

Headset: Kingston HyperX Cloud II. I love this headset, it's super comfortable and has good directional sound.

Speakers: Cyber Acoustics CA-3602 FFP. I use my headset mainly but these are good enough for when I need them.

Monitors: BenQ XL2411Z flanked by two ASUS VS247H-P mounted on an Ergotech Triple Monitor Stand. Finally got the monitor stand this year after using two boxes to hold up my side monitors for far too long. However, the BenQ is probably my favorite purchase out of all of these, would've bought three if it served any real benefit to me.

Random Peripherals: uxcell extended power switch. I keep my computer under my desk so this is handy so I don't have to crouch under my desk to turn on my computer.

Inateck PCI-E to USB 3.0 5-Port PCI Express Card. My motherboard came with a fairly low number of USB ports so this allows me to plug in my printer and external hard drive, etc.

That would be my Power button/HD Activity Light/Reset button. You can buy them here. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HG7HO22/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Norco ITX-S4 - https://www.amazon.com/Norco-ITX-S4-Mini-ITX-Computer-Storage/dp/B00J353KH8/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1518033985&sr=8-7&keywords=nas+case

SilverStone Technology Premium 8-bay - https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Premium-Chassis-CS280B/dp/B01LQZI9J6/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1518034060&sr=8-11&keywords=nas+case

SilverStone Technology Premium Mini-ITX / DTX - https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Premium-Chassis-CS280B/dp/B00IAELTAI/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1518034060&sr=8-11&keywords=nas%2Bcase&th=1

This little guy is pricey and gets great reviews. I’ve always wanted to get one. Just waiting for my readynas to die.

This is not an affiliate link.

SilverStone Technology Premium Mini-ITX/DTX Small Form Factor NAS Computer Case, Black (DS380B) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IAELTAI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_EqGwDbW0J6SYK

Have you considered a Silverstone DS380? It will have 8 hot swap bays (guess if you want to add a raid card later that would be nice)

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Mini-ITX-Computer-DS380B/dp/B00IAELTAI/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_147_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CPRPV46XDXEYQVKG34V3

Silverstone and a few others make some very nice SFX power supplies (which that chassis will require).

There's also this one I've saw on server forums...

https://www.amazon.com/Will-Jaya-NAS-Enclosure-Expansion/dp/B01HE4G9YU/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=unas&qid=1564982817&s=electronics&sr=1-4

It's just a knockoff off the U-Nas NSC-410.

Amazon (US) has them listed for $150.

Sure, but it's two years old...
Intel G3220-dual core on a ASUS H871-PLUS MoBo (with 16GB DDR3) in a SilverStone Tek Premium Mini-ITX and eight 2TB WD NAS drives.


Running FreeNAS.

The DS380 is one I've been looking at. (https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Mini-ITX-Computer-DS380B/dp/B00IAELTAI)

I really like the Hot Swap bays, and the FreeNAS forums have stories of people who have used this case with lower powered Atom builds (C2550 or C2750). Some people say that the drives get warmer if you put higher end CPUs in place, but they mitigated that by adding cardboard to direct airflow.

I was choosing the 'L' CPUs not really for power consumption but rather for cooling needed as I would expect to be able to run with less noisy fans with those. Does that make sense or heat generated wouldn't change for the use cases mentioned above (prob CPU not running very high load).
What other cases do you have mind that would fit a nice little NAS? I looked as well at this SilverStone Mini-ITXcase or this Fractal Node 304

Based on the comments on this thread, looking into a e5 whitebox, but definitely not the e5-2640 - expensive CPUs even 2nd hand!

alot of depends on available $$ for the project, and design goals.
how much do you want to spend?
how much free RU space in the rack do you have
how wife-agro does it need to be/avoid?
heat/noise considerations.

example 1. this plus a mini itx board build. small lower power, quiet, reasonably modifiable.
example 2. i went this route netapp ds4243 disk shelf hooked up to a 2u supermicro machine. gives me 36 drive slots. pretty much the other way around, big, more power, uses 6U. after boot, its not very loud, a gentle hum. the disk shelf i got off ebay for around $100, plus another $50 i think for the drive caddies. there are 2U models from just about every major vendor like dell, hp, lenovo.

example 3. something in-between. a mid-tower case, 8+ internal drive spots, plus maybe 3 5.25 inch external slots that can be converted to 5 3.5 inch drive bays. any choice of cpu/mobo driven by price/power considerations.

i would shy away from the dl360 G5. its way old.
spare 1u chassis, just the case, or a whole server? if just the case, could build that out with a mini itx type board or some x9 based supermicro board, throw in a decent lsi card and roll.

Here:

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Mini-ITX-Computer-DS380B/dp/B00IAELTAI/ref=pd_cp_147_3?pd_rd_w=m2btz&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=9MGHG1DYF2GDKZFYH6RW&pd_rd_r=9e7c53ea-6f47-11e9-9381-ffdfe42e5ee6&pd_rd_wg=75dXv&pd_rd_i=B00IAELTAI&psc=1&refRID=9MGHG1DYF2GDKZFYH6RW

A few manufacturers make cases kind of like it but nothing as nice/complete. They are also generally very expensive since demand for them is seemingly low.

Silver stone makes a few, like https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Mini-ITX-Computer-DS380B/dp/B00IAELTAI

Chenbro used to make NAS cases, not sure if they do any longer. Nice, but expensive.

u-nas has some nice cases too

I think Sans digital has a 4 bay ITX case too.

• no need for the thermal paste, the cooler will come with it pre-applied
  
• Why 6000 series? That's a 3 year old CPU at this point. The i3-8100 is practically the same price and has twice as many cores?
  
• You're not using 1 expansion lot, but bought a full size ATX board, while say you want it to be small... Why? Look into mATX or ITX instead. Seems like it'd fit your use case better.
  
• I can't find any professional reviews for the 300W version of that PSU, and generally speaking, no one is making a PSU worth a damn under 450-500W right now. While you don't need the extra power, I'd recommend upgrading to a unit that's actually been reviewed, tested, and shown to be reliable. SeaSonic Focus and Focus Plus are good choices.
  
• That wifi adapter only supports N speeds, I'd recommend getting a newer AC network adapter if you have to use wireless. Gigabyte and Asus both make affordable WiFi options that support AC standards, have bluetooth as well, and come with relocatable antennas.
  
• For case, if you want something small with a lot of HDD expansion the SilverStone DS380 is pretty solid. Not very flashy, but solid. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IAELTAI
  
• OS really depends on everything you want to do. FreeNAS is a pretty popular choice these days for home file servers and is fairly user friendly for what most people need to do. Windows Server is nice if you want to run a domain network at home for some reason. UnRAID has some really nice virtualization and expansion options.
  
• UPS is a good idea for something you want on and stable all the time. I recommend looking into the Cyber Power PFC Sinewave lineup. Some of the best UPSes on the consumer market right now, and they have a few sizes depending on how much you want to plug into it, and how long you want it to run. If you do get a UPS, remember they need regular maintenance. Most people forget this. You'll need to replace the batteries inside it every 3-5 years.
  

How about mini-itx instead?

http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Tek-Mini-ITX-Computer-DS380B/dp/B00IAELTAI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418141421&sr=8-1&keywords=Silverstone+Tek+Premium+Mini-ITX+DTX+Small+Form+Factor+NAS+Computer+Cases%2C+Black+%28DS380B%29

Here is the desktop version of your link

Very cool. Another idea is to use this case. Add hot-swappableness.
http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Tek-Mini-ITX-Computer-DS380B/dp/B00IAELTAI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Seems like that octa-core 20W cpu will handle all I need. And with ram upgrading capability like this, virtual machines are a breeze. Appreciate showing me that mobo/cpu.

SilverStone DS380 is pretty compact, decent quality.

Extreme overkill here... You need nothing more than a new generation Atom proc. No fan noise and no major power consumption. Heres my build i posted for another person. And It handles transcoding multiple streams at once without breaking a sweat.

I have what will be perfect for you.. And it runs at 45-50 Watts. Easily runs 3 streams+ . Any low wattage Powersupply will work. I am using an ITX-case with 8 Hot-swap bays with backplane included. I am running FreeNAS as the OS, and also using a IBM Megaraid 1015 flashed to ITmode but it isnt necessarily needed. Case also has internal storage slots. On the FreeNAS os I am using Plex in a jail, transmission as the bittorrent client, in a jail with VPN, and couchpotato and sickrage for media search and management. Love this setup. and once again, 45w power consumption. Thats less than your average lightbulb

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F0YROSC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

32GB of this.
Kingston Technology ValueRAM 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L PC3-12800 ECC CL11 1.35V SODIMM http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CUYOGRM?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

SilverStone Technology Premium Mini-ITX / DTX Small Form Factor NAS Computer Case http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IAELTAI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s01

I am looking at rolling my own. Here are the components I am thinking about using.

Cables
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-Mini-SAS-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483843852&sr=8-3&keywords=sas+to+sata

Case
https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-L4412/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483843870&sr=8-3&keywords=rosewill+12

SAS Multiplier
https://www.amazon.com/HighPoint-16-Channel-Port-Multiplier-Rocket-EJ340/dp/B00DWV4SKM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483843893&sr=8-1&keywords=sas+expander

Case first then moved to rack mount

Rosewill 4U Server Chassis/Server... https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00N9CXGSO?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

12 bays hot swappable. Running 80TB right now with dual parity and 1TB of mirrored SSD cache. Intel Core i3 and 24GB of RAM. Very comfy.

It looks like the new version of that case is ~$250 new (https://smile.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-L4412/dp/B00N9CXGSO?ref_=bl_dp_s_mw_2530329011) as a reference point.

I've actually been looking at the case (or a variant from Rosewill) to build out my Unraid box so definitely not junk only mind.

Unfortunately no idea for the motherboard and other items.

Thanks everyone for the very helpful information. I think I've narrowed it down, and if anyone wants to chime in, please do. I really want to do this right, and to that end, I will have continued patience.

It comes down to this:

I really, really like the Fractal Define XL R2. The design is exactly what I am looking for. I shouldn't worry so much about its looks as it wont really be seen, but I can't get over how good it looks. That said, I can't seem to find any information about modifying the lower front fan locations to accept more front load hotswap bays. Sure, I have the upper 4 to use, but am unsure about the bottom.

With the above said, The Antec Nine Hundred will do exactly what I want, thanks to /u/zonedguy. But the look of the case itself is not appealing to me at all. I really need to stop worrying about that and get over it.

Lastly the Rosewill RSV-L4412 will do what I want, looks good, but I will have to get creative with where I put it. Yeah, its more than twice the price of the Antec, but its completely futureproofed. I was thinking of putting it on its side, strapped to a wall, or shelf for now. I can always add an abundance of rack hardware to it in the future.

The hunt continues. Thanks again for the help!

What I use is a Rosewill RSV-L4412, it has 12 hot swap bays and is rack mountable if you want to replace your current case. Just a suggestion.

I got this one, it's big, but it's a good starter case that has 12 bays in the case itself without needing a sas expander. You buy the rails separately so I purchased this for while I'm in an apartment, and I am using to to gauge how much space I would need for a full rack.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_bjlCzbBDGXBXK

Well, since I am just starting, and trying to make the cost as painless as possible, I sold some old servers and already got this, since I found it on sale at amazon for $179 (And rails for $25): http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Thickness-Rackmount-Hot-Swap-RSV-L4412/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1419713050&sr=8-6&keywords=rosewill+4u

And the thought is to get this mobo since its low power and has SAS built on:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132230&cm_re=atom_sas-_-13-132-230-_-Product

But the SAS controllers are Marvell, so I cant use FreeNas, my thought is to use OpenMediaVault... I want to do fiber channel connection to my Hyper-V box, and run all the disks from it, along with a file share with all my very legally acquired media.

For the price of that device I would go the xpenology route:

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Rackmount-Computer-Pre-Installed-RSV-L4412/dp/B00N9CXGSO/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=12+bay+chassis&qid=1571771184&sr=8-1

Put the guts of an old gaming computer, if you have one, inside and call it a day. For instance I put an older Intel 2700k/32Gb of ram inside; threw in a LSI 9208-16i and used an SAS to SATA breakout cable. I also had an old GTX 980Ti laying around that I flashed to remove the stream limit for transcoding.

The Asustor will be underpowered for Plex, especially if you start transcoding on it or running numerous streams.

What about building your own? I bought a Ryzen 7 2700x, Asus Prime x470 pro motherboard, Corsair 4x16GB RAM, Rosewill 600W power supply and Rosewill 4U 12bay hot swap chassis (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N9CXGSO?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share) for about $1000 USD.

I did already have the nvme (for OS), 9x8TB HDD for data and the storage controller for the additional drives.

It all depends on what you want. This system is silent and it serves as a KVM Hypervisor with VMs for deluge, sonarr, radarr, nextcloud, pihole, homeassistant, kubernetes, plex and even a Windows VM that never gets used.

If you want to just move your existing hardware into a rack mountable case with more hard drive capacity you could get one of these:

Rosewill 4U Server Chassis/Server Case/Rackmount Case, Metal Rack Mount Computer Case with 12 Hot Swap Bays & 5 Fans Pre-Installed (RSV-L4412) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N9CXGSO

I just rebuilt my Plex server in that in the last month. Takes any standard ATX/MATX motherboard.

two different models, the bottom one is RSV-L4412, its the older version. The other one is Rosewill RSV-L4312. it contains the newer front end, USB 3.0 etc.


Neither one cares about the 3.3v Pin on shucked drives

It’s 6.7k on Amazon

https://www.amazon.in/NZXT-S340-Tower-Black-Color/dp/B00NGMIBUU?tag=googinhydr18418-21

CPU - Intel i5 8600k $239.

CPU Cooler - Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO $30.

Motherboard - MSI Z370-A PRO $100.

RAM - Patriot Viper Elite Series 8GB DDR4 2400MHz $81.

SSD - PNY CS1311 240GB $70.

HDD - Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB $44.

Video Card - Zotac GeForce GTX 1050-Ti 4GB mini $200.

Case - NZXT S340 Black $70.

Power Supply - EVGA SuperNOVA G3 80+ Gold 550W $70.

Total Price: $904. Throw in Windows for an additional $90-$100. It's really hard to get a decent PC to be under $1,000 nowadays with the price of RAM and GPU's :( I think this build will suit you best though. It's definitely not bad,

I editied your build a bit.

changes i made

• removed thermal paste cause the coolmaster evo should come with some (look at unboxing videos on youtube!)
  
  
• got a cheaper mobo (unless there is a specfic reason why you want the asus one)
  
  
• I removed the 850 evo and put the pny ssd. its cheaper and just cause people dont seem to mention the drive, trust me its a good one. i put the same one in my cousins new build and she loves it, says her pc boots in 10 or so seconds.
  
  
• for the RAM, i removed the kingston and put the crucial because its clooked slightly higher (2400 mhz)
  
  
  Suggestions
  
  
• if you want a window case there are other optioons that are cheaper
  
• corsair 100r
  
  
• NZXT S340 - with this one you HAVE TOO get rid of the disk drive
  
  
• get rid of the disk drive (though since you said you work with music i guess you may need it)
  
  
  stuff idk about
  
  
• i dont know much about fans so i left it
  
  
  build
  
  PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
  
  Type|Item|Price
  :----|:----|:----
  CPU | Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | $227.99 @ SuperBiiz
  CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler | $24.88 @ OutletPC
  Motherboard | MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $132.98 @ Newegg
  Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory | $129.99 @ Newegg
  Storage | PNY CS1311 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $129.89 @ OutletPC
  Video Card | MSI GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GAMING X Video Card | $299.88 @ OutletPC
  Case | Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Edition w/ Window ATX Mid Tower Case | $94.99 @ NCIX US
  Power Supply | EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply | $78.99 @ SuperBiiz
  Optical Drive | LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer | $40.98 @ Newegg
  Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $84.88 @ OutletPC
  Case Fan | Cooler Master R4-S2S-124K-GP 44.7 CFM 120mm Fans | $6.99 @ Newegg
  | Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
  | Total (before mail-in rebates) | $1297.44
  | Mail-in rebates | -$45.00
  | Total | $1252.44
  | Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-26 17:51 EDT-0400 |
  

If you want to buy him a single part rather than just an Amazon or Newegg giftcard, I would recommend buying the case.

The case is the tower itself, where all the parts go. This is probably one of the easiest parts to choose, as it's mainly down to personal preference and aesthetics. I would recommend a case which says it is compatible with ATX motherboards, as this is the most common size of motherboard and will give him the most choice. Anything with "ATX mid-tower" is what you need. "Micro-ATX" and "Mini-ITX" are different, not what I would recommend unless you know for sure he wants motherboards of those sizes. You will also see "ATX Full Tower" cases, which will probably be much too big. These are mainly only used for massive system builds.

If you want my advice, I would recommend the NZXT S340. It's a very nice visually appealing case, has a large side window to see the components, comes in a variety of colours, is a reasonable price and comfortable to build in.

If you have no idea what to get or feel overwhelmed, you can just get him an Amazon or Newegg gift card.

If you need any further help, r/buildapc is a very good place to ask.



Edit: On a second thought, why not buy him a nice mechanical keyboard to game with? (Assuming he doesn't already have one). Here's a good one

Cases are a personal preference. This is something you're going to be looking at often. I recommend getting a mid-tower case so you can continue to use it in the future, especially if you decide to build a PC and want to get an ATX motherboard. Full list of cases in your price range. A few suggestions:

NZXT S340 - $70. One of the more popular cases on PCMR and for good reason. Steel construction, tons of airflow, and great cable management. However, you forfeit 5.25" drive bays (your current PC is a pre-built, so I'm certain you still have an optical drive).

Lepa LPC502 - $60. Mid-tower case. Comes with 2 blue LED fans. PSU shroud and lots of cable management options. Space in front for 2 120mm fans for intake. There was a black version, but I can't find it anywhere.

Why don't you buy this one?
https://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Tower-CA-S340W-B1-Glossy-Black/dp/B00NGMIBUU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467653981&sr=8-1&keywords=s340

Looks better and costs less!

I've done a QUICK search regarding that PSU and this is what came up first: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1988049/coolermaster-elite-500w-psu-dangerous-computer.html

I'd advise you to get a better PSU. I personally am buying this one:
https://www.amazon.com/XFX-ATX12V-EPS12V-Supply-P1-650G-TS3X/dp/B00I64OYM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467654108&sr=8-1&keywords=TS3X

You even get a 5y warranty!

for the ram use this:https://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperX-16-Memory-Skylake-Compatible/dp/B00TY6A1LY/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1475265516&sr=1-1&keywords=DDR4+Ram

and for the case use this (pick the color you want): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NGMIBUU/ref=twister_B00XJRNCVA?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

If these parts exceed the budget let me know

hai scelto lo stesso case che ho io, fa schifo, non prenderlo assolutamente. Io penso che cambierò con questo, vedi se va bene.

Do you know if this case is good? I was wanting a bit clearer case. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NGMIBUU/?tag=xtremegaminer-20

I like the build. Do you think The NVIDIA GTX 1080 works on that motherboard ? Also which country are you browsing from ?
Maybe I'll go 4K do you know good screens ?

edit: I believe you can share each part's product page. If it isn't too much asking.
I also saw the CPU on LDLC (http://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00221456.html)
Is this the RAM ? (https://www.grosbill.com/4-kingston_kvr21n15s8_8-682915-informatique-memoire_ddr4)
Don't I also need a SATA for space ?
Is this the (https://www.amazon.fr/Corsair-CP-9020097-EU-VS550-PLUS-Alimentation/dp/B00LMBWSI8) the PSU.
And this is the case (https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Computer-Glossy-Black-CA-S340W-B1/dp/B00NGMIBUU)
tis could be the GPU (https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-1080-GAMING-3DisplayPort/dp/B01GLYD7MG/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1487173061&sr=1-3&keywords=gtx+1080)

Oh, haha. Man, as soon as I added it to my cart in Amazon, they raise the price $30. Guess I'll have to find another one.

Edit: This one looks neat. Anyone have a suggestion?

Edit 2: Wait what, I don't understand the case I linked. Can't find the power button, dvd, and front air intakes?? Looks neat thought. Ah, okay. Found the NewEgg link. Looks like a top power button and no DVD drive. Guess I don't use one anyway, but how do I install Windows 8.1 on it?

• AZZA CSAZ-206S, 17.00" x 7.90" x 17.50", $40
  
• NZXT S340, 17" x 17.52" x 7.88", $85
  
• Lian Li PC-A55B, 7.4" x 14.7" x 17.9", $110
  
• Lian Li PC-V33B, 13.1" x 13.8" x 15.4", $225

Alright I'm guessing you have a pretty big budget so here's a list:

• Corsair Carbide Series Air 540
  
  
• Corsair Graphite Series 780T
  
  
• Corsair Graphite Series 760T
  
  
  
  
• NZXT H440
  
  
• NZXT S340
  
  
• Corsair Obsidian Series 750D
  
  
• Zalman Z11
  
  If you're on a smaller budget the S340 and the Zalman are great options.

Whoops, that card is out of stock on Newegg already. Can you recommend alternatives, or should I just order it from bhphotovideo.com ?

also, this case should work right ? https://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Tower-Computer-White-CA-S340W-W1/dp/B00NGMIBUU/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1499910874&sr=1-1&keywords=nzxt%2Bcase&th=1

Wow, you and your friends obviously did your research and know your stuff. Most people's friends on this sub are nvidia/intel fanboys.. As for the PSU, corsair is a great brand, and newegg is just letting you get a Mail in rebate. In reality it is a $55 PSU, which is about average for 500w. My only (very minor) complaint is the case. You could get a much nicer looking case for that price (Here are two great ones):
https://www.amazon.com/Phanteks-PH-EC416PTG-BW-Eclipse-Steel-Tempered/dp/B01N9JPUYW/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1493327921&sr=1-3&keywords=p400 ................................................................
https://www.amazon.com/Tower-Computer-Matte-Black-CA-S340MB-GR/dp/B00NGMIBUU/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1493327978&sr=1-1&keywords=s340&th=1

Other than that, great!

Not cheaper at Newegg. $7.99 shipping on $70 price. Also cheaper than Amazon at $73.

Monitor deals: http://www.pcgamer.com/cyber-monday-gaming-monitor-deals/

Cases: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854028&ignorebbr=1
The Phanteks P400 and P400S are great cases, looking to get a P400S myself.

https://amazon.com/NZXT-Tower-CA-S340W-B1-Glossy-Black/dp/B00NGMIBUU?ie=UTF8&keywords=case%20nzxt%20s340&qid=1480383765&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
This case is also highly rated and a good value (but not on sale)

https://amazon.com/gp/product/B017XPPHGG/ref=s9_zgift_hd_bw_b2Ore_g147_i7?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-12&pf_rd_r=RJJZ767TNQX3NCQD8XKW&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=c964ba4f-3a33-5fcb-be07-da7df14df9f4&pf_rd_i=572238
Interesting case and on sale.

https://smile.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Silent-Quiet-Tower/dp/B00RORBQSW/ref=lp_572238_1_11?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1480383832&sr=1-11
Best cheap case, also on sale.

The Fractal Design Define R4 has great build quality along with noise suppression. It has sound dampening material on the side panels as well as being very heavy; this allows the case to counteract fan and drive vibrations and to absorb sound easily. I have this case and everything runs very quiet even when gaming under heavy load.

Another case that I would recommend researching is the NZXT S340. This case along with the Fractal Design Define R4 are probably among 2 of the most popular cases for PC gaming. I just have a personal preference for the R4 as I have more experience with it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NGMIBUU/ref=twister_B019C7RTYQ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Vpdqqs/nzxt-case-cas340ww1

dopechess! dude. If you keep helping me out I'm going to donate some Eth to you.

1. That case doesn't ship to canada :( (edit: i think i found it... is this the case? https://www.amazon.ca/NZXT-S340-Tower-CA-S340W-W1-White/dp/B00NGMIBUU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504542817&sr=8-1&keywords=nzxt&th=1 )
   
   
2. people keep telling me I should get the ryzen 5 1600 for my CPU instead of the i5. what do you think?
   
   
3. will 850W be enough to handle my 3 1070s?
   
   
4. Im getting cold feet that I wont be able to make money with this setup. do you think Ill atleast be able to turn a profit. I dont care how much I just dont want to lose money. I'm getting electricity for .145 Kw/h
   
   

Im planning on buying this case: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NGMIBUU/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

My question is which size NZXT Kraken should I get? Is the Kraken size more based on the case or my cooling needs?

Kraken for reference: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L0YLJJG/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2LYX7FKX6AP16

Thank you, already pulled the trigger on NZXT S340. Hopefully it works out well for me.

No problem, good to see such a detailed response.

2x4 is going to be slightly faster than 1x8 because it utilises dual channel. I said that 1x8 is going to be better for expandability because going for 2x8 in the future will be faster than 4x4 (sounds unintuitive but it is because it is running in dual channel). Personally, I chose 16GB (2x8) because I'm interested in playing games such as PUBG which is known to struggle a bit with only 8GB due to a lack of optimisation, and my budget was a decent amount higher. Although, to be honest I don't think you will see a very big difference in terms of gaming performance (dual channel vs non-dual channel). If you think you will ever upgrade to 16GB, I would go with 1x8, otherwise 2x4 will do well. You can always upgrade to 4x4 in the future if you like. Sorry for not giving an easy solution but there is no correct answer here really. Feel free to take a look at some benchmarks (here and here) to see the difference. Basically any 2400MHz+ RAM with a 14 or 15 latency from a reputable brand will be fine.

I totally agree with the choice to go for 500GB.

That GPU will perform well, but is allegedly very loud. If that is something that will concern you then perhaps look elsewhere if you can, if not then it is a perfectly fine 1060 3GB. Just be conscious that it might really annoy you.

Case recommendations aren't my strong suit, I personally went with the NZXT S340, not because it was particularly great but because I couldn't find anything else that looked better in my opinion. You should try to find a case with good airflow, quality (and quantity) of fans, and a nice design. It also needs to be an ATX case that supports LGA1151 motherboards. I would recommend seeking additional advice from others on this subreddit.

Good choice on the PSU, looks fine to me.

Again monitors aren't something I know a whole lot about, you'll have to ask r/monitors about that one.

Always happy to help :)

Yeah I've decided to go for one 1080 for now, thanks for that! One last thing - would this be an okay alternative for the case, only due to it being on prime and time being a factor.

Ech writing at work in a rush yes i mean processor.

32gigs ddr4

Gigabyte LGA1151 board

NZXT S340 Mid Tower Case CA-S340W-B1 (Glossy Black)

i got you pal

I don't know, maybe this?

Thanks for the advice. Currently using AD-900X's from Audio Technica.

I have an adapter cheaply purchased from Amazon that does USB2.0 > 3.55mm headphone and microphone. (https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1510950437&sr=1-1&keywords=Sabrent+Aluminum+USB+External+Stereo+Sound+Adapter+for+Windows+and+Mac)

So sound goes from computer to monitor and out through the USB hub built into monitor to the adapter then I have a 3.5mm to RCA Stereo cord going to my Receiver. The DAC/amp looks like it could do what I need it to however I do not want both playing at once if I am trying to play music loudly through the speakers and do not want to blow my headphones. Maybe I will just mod my Audio Technicas to give them a removable headphone cord, get the DAC/AMP you mentioned and run a headphone extension cord (male side into the amp/female side to a fixed position near my chair) so when I want to go headphone mode I can flip the input on the receiver to an alternative input and plug in my headphones to the female slot nearby.


Does that make sense or am I rambling?

> his was also years ago when the community was much smaller.
> As for actual model, I don't have it in front of me and I can't find it online. I bought it years ago and it probably has been discontinued. It look

What do you think about this? :)
http://www.amazon.it/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&ref_=s9_simh_gw_p107_d0_i2

Most modern TV's have a picture off option in their settings (possibly in their quick menu too), you could try using a black screensaver and put the shield to sleep (although I'm not sure how music playing is affected). Another option would be to get a USB to phono adapter like this and then output the sound through some external speakers.

If all else fails, try buying one of these adapters for your headset, I had the same issue and tried everything but a friend suggested I get one of these adapters and it worked.

no it doesn't, BUT or this for the USB C macbooks.

>external sound adapter

https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/ref=sr_1_3?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1538818487&sr=8-3&keywords=usb+external+sound+adapter&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

​

Cheap and cheerful, I cant personally review it as I the one I own is fairly more expensive, but it seems to have very good score 4.5/5 and should solve your issue.

For your mic you don't necessarily need a jack port. If your laptop has a free USB port available you could get this cheap little thing and you'll get a clean sound out of it.

As for an amp, for a laptop i would personally go with something compact like the new fiiO K3.

I assume you are connecting it to PS4 controller right? If yes try to buy this https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-Aluminum-External-Adapter-AU-EMAC/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_3?crid=2GTRATE49FY6T&keywords=sabrent+aluminum+usb+external+stereo+sound&qid=1550868048&s=gateway&sprefix=sabrent+al&sr=8-3-fkmrnull
I heard this eliminates static

I did the same thing yesterday. Ordered one of the TonyMacx86 recommended ones for like $8 from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/

USB gets you around the microphone input. A good starter mixer is the Behringer Q802 USB. If eventually you need to get sound back in to the computer, you can get an adapter like this one: Sabrent Aluminum USB External Stereo Sound Adapter for Windows and Mac.

​

Full disclosure these are affiliate links.

Im looking for just a USB audio card since my headphone jack is busted on my laptop. Will this do the job? and none of these audio cards mention specs, should I be worried about loss of sound quality?

edit - good stuff, thanks for the reply! maybe this is why people still post suggestion threads :)

I was looking through amazon for a USB sound card and ended up looking at these tree:

https://www.amazon.de/Sabrent-Soundkarte-External-erforderlich-AU-MMSA/dp/B00IRVQ0F8/ref=pd_cp_147_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=GB845XHD5K9D6C8TYVCK

https://www.amazon.de/Sabrent-au-emac-Externe-Soundkarte-USB/dp/B00OJ5AV8I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1520703999&sr=8-2&keywords=syba+usb+soundkarte

https://www.amazon.de/Syba-SD-CM-UAUD-USB-Audio-Adapter/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520703999&sr=8-1&keywords=syba+usb+soundkarte

Do you recognise any of those and could give a recommendation/rule one out?

I also noticed the FiiO E10K Olympus 2 as an option to use headphones with, but i yet have to uderstand the DAC/amp concepts. https://www.amazon.de/FiiO-E10K-Olympus-Digital-Kopfh%C3%B6rerverst%C3%A4rker-schwarz/dp/B00LP3AMC2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1520702763&sr=8-1&keywords=Schiit

Edit: Also, would i still use my phantom power supply with the USB sound card?

Edit2: Said FiiO E10K is a DAC/AMP combo.