Hi there, first post. I'm a college student, I work in the IT department here. Currently, I have an ATX microtower that is starting to show it's age. So, it is time for a new rig. I think what I want to do is to put my old rig in a 4U case and also put the new one in a 4U case. The biggest question is can I use audio racks for these? I can get one a lot cheaper than a traditional server rack. Here's what I have possibly picked out for the new rig: DVD Burner: NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE/ATAPI http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827152058 Hard Drive: 2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822148065 RAM: Transcend 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 333 (PC 2700) ECC Registered http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820208140 Power Supply: HIPRO HP-E4009F5WR ATX V2.0 True 400W Power Supply - OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817174019 4U case: CODEGEN 4U-500-CA Black Aluminum/Steel 4U Rackmount Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811182566 Video Card: ASUS EN6200TC 512/TD/256M Geforce 6200TC 256M (Effective memory 512M) GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Low Profile Video Card - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814121010 CPU: AMD Opteron 146 Venus 1000MHz HT Socket 939 Processor Model OSA146BNBOX - Retail http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103598 Motherboard: TYAN S2865ANRF Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX Server Motherboard - Retail http://www.newegg.com/product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813151156 How does this look? I'll probably add more ram and another HD if I can afford it. perhpas a processor upgrade. Vid card upgrade is not really worth it since I don't game. So long as I can watch dvds, i'm happy. This is the audio rack i was thinking of: http://www.music123.com/Middle-Atlantic-RK-Series-19--Laminate-Racks-i74475.music I have a question or two about configuring the network setup in the suite next year, but that's a question I'll post in another thread. Thanks, Matt
I'm unsure about the audio rack. However, if it's got the same width as the rackmount cases do, it should work. As far as the build, most of it looks good, but there's a couple things that you might want to rethink: 1.)Power supply. Hipro isn't a company that comes to mind for a good power supply. I haven't heard any horror stories about them, but I would suggest looking at another power supply from the likes of Enermax, Antec, or Fortron. They'll have models above 400-450W that can give you what you need. this Enermax is one idea. Fortron also has a AX400-PN and AX450-PN that run $40 and $50, respectively, and are great power supplies for the money. It's not that much more for a good power supply, and it's one of the two most important parts in a computer. The other would be the motherboard---and you've picked a good company to go with. RAM: I'm just curious as to why you went with PC2700 instead of PC3200. The difference between the PC2700 and PC3200 is pretty minimal in pricing, and you'll get the best performance by doing so. Also, you might want to buy 2x 512MB instead of a single 1GB stick. The Opteron will have more memory bandwith this way because you can make use of the dual-channel memory function available.
Thanks for the info about the power supply. I think i'll use a better one. As far as the PC2700 goes, it was simply a matter of accidentally adding the wrong one to my shopping cart. Haven't purchased anything yet (i don't want to set it up until I'm in the dorm for good). On the newegg site, I see that it looks like the case has part of a rail attached to it on the side. Does anyone else notice it? I assume that I have to buy normal rails (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811997302) i guess? Does that mean that I'll be able to remove that piece that's on there? I'm still a little confused with the mounting. I found out from a friend that audio racks are indeed the same size. I'll try it because I can get one from someone in my family and I may as well save some money.
