Quote:
Originally Posted by GuardedLegacy 
BACKUP YOUR STUFF!! Got it!! Wow!! This is awesome!!
Almost like a skydiving experience. Stoked to go and jump and learn more until now you're pushing me up to the door and I'm actually looking down at what I'm getting myself into and I kinda wanna just back up, sit down and shut up again.
(maybe tandem jumping would be a good start)
Man... I would have been content to buy a list of parts, put a running machine together and then figure out how to put DVDs on a drive and play them on my TV one at a time!! (shows how small my dreams are).
You're blowin' my mind man!!
Seriously though, that's basically all I wanted to do. I wanted to set up one central machine where I could store all my media and view/play things on basically any device in my house for just myself and my wife (and we'd probably be watching together). One thing at a time. My plans didn't involve friends or family just yet... (or ever at all... until now that you mentioned the possibility).
So I don't think I need the processing power right now.
But on that thought, I looked up your CPU and it got me thinking what I had been thinking all along, but hadn't actually looked into until now.
From the start of this "build a machine" idea, I wanted to go with an AMD processor, but I didn't know what I was looking at (AMD or Intel for that matter). I still don't, to be honest. Intel seemed to at least have a numbering system, so I didn't even look at AMD, just straight to Intel. Now after looking up yours, my original suspicion is confirmed. I thought I had once heard that AMD tends to be cheaper than Intel. Now I see it's true. I do know that the caches function differently. AMD has a group cache for all "x" number of cores, while each core in an Intel CPU has it's own cache, correct?
(that's about how vague my understanding of most things "computers" is)
I had a two week crash course preparing me to pass the 701/702 A+ exams. My knowledge is not in depth. Very much a crash course, pass the test sort of knowledge.
The instructor was very hands on and had us tear apart and reassemble a computer before installing the operating system (XP). I very much have faith in my ability to build my own computer.
But this project has been stepping me into murky waters from the start. I like it, and I want to learn, but I just want to stick with my minuscule "in home" (tandem jump) plans for now.
So nothing big or fancy. (not that I don't appreciate all the info I'm having a blast looking at all that you guys do and I am blown away by the machines you build!! I don't even know what half of them do!!)
I don't mind attempting to set up a RAID 5. I think I can figure that out (maybe definitely with all of your help) . But first, I want to build and turn on a machine.
To do that, I need to learn.
So... Question Time!! (YAY!! I feel like a kid in a candy store... where I'll start at dumb and take several steps back)
1. What kind of processing power do I need to build a machine that can rip, store and play media to multiple devices around my house? (I'll worry about mobile devices outside of the house later)
2. How do I look at CPU specs and know if that is a good CPU or not? (translating all the numbers, what are the key specs to check when shopping for CPUs?)
3. (basically 1 and 2 for motherboards) How do I know what I need from a motherboard, and how do I look at the specs? (what specs to look for?)
4. Perhaps I should bring up PSUs and Memory... maybe next time.
5. For the sake of experimenting... How do you rip DVDs to 720p/1080p, and when you rip them, does it keep the menu and features, or is it just the movie? (I'd like to keep the menu and features if possible)
I'll stop there for now. This has been enough nonsense for you to deal with, and it's late and I should be getting to bed.
I really do appreciate all of your replies. You are extremely helpful and I really enjoy learning from all of you.
BACKUP YOUR STUFF!! Got it!! Wow!! This is awesome!!
Almost like a skydiving experience. Stoked to go and jump and learn more until now you're pushing me up to the door and I'm actually looking down at what I'm getting myself into and I kinda wanna just back up, sit down and shut up again.
(maybe tandem jumping would be a good start)Man... I would have been content to buy a list of parts, put a running machine together and then figure out how to put DVDs on a drive and play them on my TV one at a time!! (shows how small my dreams are).
You're blowin' my mind man!!Seriously though, that's basically all I wanted to do. I wanted to set up one central machine where I could store all my media and view/play things on basically any device in my house for just myself and my wife (and we'd probably be watching together). One thing at a time. My plans didn't involve friends or family just yet... (or ever at all... until now that you mentioned the possibility).
So I don't think I need the processing power right now.
But on that thought, I looked up your CPU and it got me thinking what I had been thinking all along, but hadn't actually looked into until now.
From the start of this "build a machine" idea, I wanted to go with an AMD processor, but I didn't know what I was looking at (AMD or Intel for that matter). I still don't, to be honest. Intel seemed to at least have a numbering system, so I didn't even look at AMD, just straight to Intel. Now after looking up yours, my original suspicion is confirmed. I thought I had once heard that AMD tends to be cheaper than Intel. Now I see it's true. I do know that the caches function differently. AMD has a group cache for all "x" number of cores, while each core in an Intel CPU has it's own cache, correct?
(that's about how vague my understanding of most things "computers" is)
I had a two week crash course preparing me to pass the 701/702 A+ exams. My knowledge is not in depth. Very much a crash course, pass the test sort of knowledge.
The instructor was very hands on and had us tear apart and reassemble a computer before installing the operating system (XP). I very much have faith in my ability to build my own computer.
But this project has been stepping me into murky waters from the start. I like it, and I want to learn, but I just want to stick with my minuscule "in home" (tandem jump) plans for now.
So nothing big or fancy. (not that I don't appreciate all the info I'm having a blast looking at all that you guys do and I am blown away by the machines you build!! I don't even know what half of them do!!)
I don't mind attempting to set up a RAID 5. I think I can figure that out (maybe definitely with all of your help) . But first, I want to build and turn on a machine.
To do that, I need to learn.
So... Question Time!! (YAY!! I feel like a kid in a candy store... where I'll start at dumb and take several steps back)
1. What kind of processing power do I need to build a machine that can rip, store and play media to multiple devices around my house? (I'll worry about mobile devices outside of the house later)
2. How do I look at CPU specs and know if that is a good CPU or not? (translating all the numbers, what are the key specs to check when shopping for CPUs?)
3. (basically 1 and 2 for motherboards) How do I know what I need from a motherboard, and how do I look at the specs? (what specs to look for?)
4. Perhaps I should bring up PSUs and Memory... maybe next time.
5. For the sake of experimenting... How do you rip DVDs to 720p/1080p, and when you rip them, does it keep the menu and features, or is it just the movie? (I'd like to keep the menu and features if possible)
I'll stop there for now. This has been enough nonsense for you to deal with, and it's late and I should be getting to bed.
I really do appreciate all of your replies. You are extremely helpful and I really enjoy learning from all of you.
I'll try to keep this one shorter, lol.
1.) I would recommend a quad core. No matter if it's Intel or AMD, it will do what you want. The new AMD Trinty CPUs are nice, but Intel vs. AMD is your call. For what you need, you should just look at the number of cores...and the clock speed. FSB, cache, and TDP probably won't mean much to you...so don't worry about them. Also, if you are looking at Intel CPUs...check for HyperThreading. I'd say a quad core with 3.0Ghz or higher...will do you more than fine.
2.) Pretty much answered right above.
3.) Decide Intel or AMD, find your CPU, then find a motherboard of the same socket. For something like a file server...all that really matters is the amount of SATA ports. Most non mITX or mATX boards will have 6 SATA ports, while some have 8. You will want something that uses DDR3 RAM, which is recent...but other than that...nothing specific comes to mind.
4.) Google for a PSU calculator. Put in your CPU, number of hard drives, etc...and it will tell you the minimum needed. A modern CPU/motherboard combo with 8 spindle hard drives...I would say look in the 600w range. As far as RAM...RAM is cheap. Get at least 1600MHz, and get at least 4GB. More RAM never hurts...and it's cheap. I wouldn't bother with 16GB, and I would recommend 8GB (just for future proofing)...but I would say 4GB at the minimum. RAM IS CHEAP.
5.) You will need a CD drive...a Blu-Ray reader if you are ripping Blu-Rays. Nothing fancy is required...but a higher speed means ripping is done faster. I don't rip DVDs myself, so I don't have recent information on this...but I do know there is a plethora of various software out there, that rips DVDs. Google can find you some.
Main PC
(17 items) |
VMHOST01
(9 items) |
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD FX-8120 | GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 | PowerColor Go! Green AX5450 512MK3-SHV6 Radeon ... | Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600 32GB (4 x 8GB) |
| Hard Drive | Cooling | OS | Power |
| Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 60GB | Crucial Ballistix Active Cooling Fan | Windows Server 2008R2 | Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W |
| Case | |||
| Rosewill RSV-L4000 | |||
| View all | |||
|
Main PC
(17 items) |
VMHOST01
(9 items) |
| CPU | Motherboard | Graphics | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD FX-8120 | GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 | PowerColor Go! Green AX5450 512MK3-SHV6 Radeon ... | Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600 32GB (4 x 8GB) |
| Hard Drive | Cooling | OS | Power |
| Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 60GB | Crucial Ballistix Active Cooling Fan | Windows Server 2008R2 | Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W |
| Case | |||
| Rosewill RSV-L4000 | |||
| View all | |||
--- $89.99 (Amazon)
