This paper discusses the desktop PC build that I just completed.  You will find a detailed listing of the components that were used along with links for each item.  I will also share some of my thoughts and experiences on specific components as part of the build.

The "Need" :

The new build was actually in the planning stages for about 6 months prior to it's start.  The main reason I originally choose to do a new build was the fact that my nearing 5 year old P4 was really starting to "creak" when running CPU intensive applications (like GIMP and other multi-media processing apps).  Additionally, I was nearing an interesting point in my storage requirements and needed to either do the nasty upgrade to replacement hd's in the old box or build capability into the new box.

The critical driver occured in mid December when the P/S on the old desktop decided to take a "swan dive".  This resulted in the buildup of my required applications and servers in my wife's PC (primarily XP with Linux reserved for on line financial transactions).  My continued use of her PC would not be an enabler for continued maritial bliss.  The timeline for starting the build now shrunk to days.

The Requirements:

Since this replacment PC was going to have to serve me for several years, I wanted to make sure that I had adequate processing power to handle the frequent multi-tasking that I do.  I also wanted a rather serious upgrade in the video output.  The last major requirement was that the new PC have adequate storage space up front with good expansion capabilities down the road.

The Hardware:

The following components were selected and used for this PB Build.

Case : Antec 1200 Full Tower Case Description Link

CPU : Intel Core 2 Quad Yorkfield 2.83 GHz LGA 775 95 w  Description Link

Motherboard : ASUS P5Q Deluxe ATX Description Link

Memory : 4 Crucial Ballistic Tracer 240 Pin DDR2 (8 G Total) Description Link

Hard Drive 1 :  Western Digital Caviar .75 TB 7200 RPM 3.0Gb/s 32 M cache Description Link

Hard Drive 2 :  Western Digital Caviar 1.0 TB 7200 RPM 3.0Gb/s 32M cache Description Link

Optical Drive 1:  Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD SATA  Description Link

Optical Drive 2 :  Samsung 22X DVD/CD SATA Lightscribe Description Link

Power Supply : Corsair 850W ATX Description Link

Deskset : Kensington 27MHz Wireless Description Link

Hardware Comments:

Antec 1200 Case

This build is #4 that I have completed.  All of my previous builds have contained Antec cases.  I have continued to be impressed with the quality and durability of these cases.  Because I wanted expansion capability with this build I decided to upscale to a full tower from the mid tower cases I had used in previous builds.  Quite honestly, I was unprepared for the size of the 1200.  The inside space is immense.

It has 4 compete bays in the front for use as either hard drives (3 per bay)  or up to 3 opticals per bay.  The case has googles of fans for cooling purposes.  What I found particularly neat was the front fans.  They allow direct cooling of the mounted hard drives.  If you use opticals in the bay, you do loose the fan for that bay.  There is a 200 mm beast mounted at the top of the case along with 110 mm's mounted at the rear.  There are also provisions for mounting another 110 mm fan on the side panel.  Additionally each fan has it's own speed control.  So far, I have not had to throttle any of the fans to a speed higher than the lowest setting.  This case is a lot quieter than the Sonata that I was using in my old PC.

Cable managment is possible up to a point with the case.  There is ample room in the back side panel to do a good job of cable management.  The problem that I ran into was, given the size of this case, a lot of the power supply connections just couldn't reach to their destination by going through the back side panel.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention... this case comes with a clear side panel.  For me this was not a requirement by any stretch.  However, after firing up the PC for the first time, I did happen to "notice" that the front and rear fans also have led lights on each fan.  There's enough embient light from all of the internals to read a book.

CPU:

I decided to stay with Intel for the CPU.  I've used Intel exclusively in the past with no problems.  With this build I wanted to stay at the forefront of technology without getting a nose bleed.  So far after several weeks of use, I have not really stressed the processor yet.  I do have over clocking capablities if needed in the future.

About the only negative I can offer on the CPU centers on the cheapo fan and heatsink that comes with it.  I fell into the same trap that has happened in past builds with the Intel H/S - Fan. That being that it is next to impossible to mount the H/S assembly to the M/B with the M/B installed (unless you want to risk stessing and possible cracking the M/B).  If you mount the H/S assembly before mounting the M/B to the case, you should be able to provide enough support to the backside of the M/B to avoid any damage.  Hopefully, someday Intel will get the message on this shortcoming.

Motherboard:

This was my first use of an ASUS M/B.  Up to this point, I had used Intel M/Bs exclusively.  What drove me away from Intel on this build was the fact that I couldn't find any Intel M/Bs with a decent number of SATA connections in my price range.  The ASUS met this requirement.  It also came with some favorable reviews which I also relied on.

The build with the ASUS P5Q Deluxe went very well.  I was impressed on all fronts with the ASUS product. The layout and marking on the board were great.  There were so many minor features that were built into the board to facilitate the build.  The entire feature list definitely had the PC builder in mind.  One example of what I'm talking about is a restart button located right on the M/B.  No futzing with shorting pins as you're diagnosing on restats with the side panel removed.

The documentation (an actual book) that came with the M/B was some of the best I've seen in recent years.  It was presented in plain English with an ample portion of graphics.

About the only negative that I've found with the M/B is the fact that 2 of the SATA connectors are side mounted right at the edge of the M/B.  Why this configuration was choosen is a wonder.  These connectors prove to be a pain to use.

Hard Drives:

Being a long time Seagate customer, I decided to take a chance on this build by going with Western Digital instead.  Quite frankly, given all of the bad press and problems with Seagate drives of late, it was time for me to seek greener pastures in the hard drive department.

So far both drives have performed quite well.   They are both quiet and doing a great job on the seek times.  The months ahead will tell the tale more completely as I stress the drives on a daily basis.

Opticals:

Not much to say about either drive as the DVD /CD opticals have become almost generic.  Both drives are working well at this point.  I haven't used the "lightscribe" function yet but plan to explore this shortly.

Power Supply:

Up to this point in previous builds I have used Antec power supplies exclusively.  For this build, I wanted to go to at least 800w as I didn't know where I will end up in the expansion department.  After considering the price (NewEgg sale price on the Corsair) couple with the reviews, I decided to make the switch to the Corsair.

The power supply is as advertised with lot's of connections.  What I found a bit goofy is the staggered orientation of the SATA power connectors on each leg.  What  Corsair did was to alternate top and bottom orientation on a rotating basis on each SATA cable (4 connectors on each SATA cable).  With the orientation of the opticals and SATA HDs on the 1200, this left 50% of the SATA connectors unusable.  I was tempted to remove the outside sleeving and hopefully be able to re-orient the SATA connector to the orientation that I needed.  For now, I'll settle for the 50% use on each SATA cable.

In retrospect, I now realize that it would have been much better from a cable management standpoint to go with a modular power supply.  This would have eliminated the "birds nest"  of unused P/S cabling that now resides on the bottom of the case.

The Build:

I spent about 2 days doing the build-related activies.  The actual build itself probably took between 2-3 hours.  I did a lot of experimenting with the placement of H/Ds in different bays as well as the placement of the opticals.  I also made an earnest attempt at effective cable management, but I'm not 100% pleased with the end result.  I'll probably dress the SATA cabling when I install the next internal H/D.

All in all, the build went well and it was a lot of fun.  It's been a couple of years since I did a build so, naturally, a lot of things have changed from the last build.  At this point, I'm confident that I will get many years of service out of this PC.  The "acid test" came when the PC fired up successfully the first time ... whew...