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New Server in a Fractal R4


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This is a follow up to some questions I had about hardware and I finally pulled the trigger.

 

Here is what I ended up with.  After saving money and credit points all year I ended up with some decent deals and a pretty overall low cost for what is essentially my primary source of digital entertainment.

 

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TbNJRB) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TbNJRB/by_merchant/)
 
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [intel Core i3-4330 3.5GHz Dual-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i34330) | Purchased For $24.98 
**Memory** | [Kingston 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-kvr16n11h8) | Purchased For $11.55 
**Storage** | [Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd30efrx) | Purchased For $115.00 
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd3200aaks) | Purchased For $30.00 
**Case** | [Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/fractal-design-case-fdcadefr4bl) | Purchased For $10.74 
**Power Supply** | [Rosewill Capstone 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/rosewill-power-supply-capstone450m) | Purchased For $64.00 
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-885370635003) | Purchased For $0.00 
**Other**| Asrock H87WS-DL| Purchased For $109.00 
 | | **Total**
 | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $365.27
 | Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-15 23:58 EST-0500 |

 

The CPU/RAM/Case came to such ridiculous prices after applying credits to my purchase.  The 320GB Blue 7200 was paired with my existing 320GB Blue to create a Raid 1 for Windows 8.1.  I already had 2x 3TB WD Reds so I thought adding a third (for now, of course) would be sufficient.  I had a 400w PSU but I wanted a modular gold, so I got one.  Why the Fractal R4?  Well, I got it for $10, it's by far the best case I have ever built in and it is completely silent.  I might miss hot swap bays when I'm changing out HDDs, but I don't care, I like opening my case and fiddling around.  So, overall, I spent about $50 out of pocket up front and I picked up an 18 month no interest credit card to pay off the remainer at $19 a month, sure beats a satellite bill.

 

I took my existing 640GB out of the pool and turned it in to a backup for my OS install and other critical data.

 

Coming from a Core 2 CPU with a crap sata controller on PCI-E 1x, this new system is so incredibly satisfying to remote in, manage media, transcode, it just does it all exactly how I envisioned it would.  Oh and I like easy and Win 8.1 delivers that experience.  Finally, here's some pictures: 

 

http://imgur.com/a/PN1xZ

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sweet design for the price.

1 thing I would watch out on though is WD blue is NOT recommended for 24/7 use.. if this is a storage box my recommendation is a Kingston V300 series ssd I bought one last week and im doing remote access for drivepool and scanner.

I bought the 120gb ssd wich is on newegg for 59.99 it increased my performance 10 fold easily. also u may want one more of those 8gb Kingston ram sticks to enable dual channel mode then windows will fly.

 

otherwise sweet build

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sweet design for the price.

1 thing I would watch out on though is WD blue is NOT recommended for 24/7 use.. if this is a storage box my recommendation is a Kingston V300 series ssd I bought one last week and im doing remote access for drivepool and scanner.

I bought the 120gb ssd wich is on newegg for 59.99 it increased my performance 10 fold easily. also u may want one more of those 8gb Kingston ram sticks to enable dual channel mode then windows will fly.

 

otherwise sweet build

 

Thanks for the tip on the Blues, I wasn't aware it was not recommended.  Fortunately it's in a Raid 1 with a backup to an external so I'm not terrible worried.  A couple of SSDs, another 8GB and more WD Reds are definitely on the list, but if you couldn't tell, I'm on a budget :)  Performance is more than adequate at this point of time and I feel like I have plenty of upgrade options moving forward.  Thanks for taking a look! 

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No problem... your system is solid ... I mentioned the ssd as a future upgrade. I'm running mine as a single drive for the os because there is nothing of importance on it. if the system crashed I reload windows reinstall drivepool and scanner and my data is back. thank you stablebit....(still keep backups)



btw don't run a red as os drive... I tried with the 1 TB 2.5 inch and it was painfully slow..

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