System upgrade

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Hezu
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2007 11:51 am
Location: Finland

System upgrade

Post by Hezu » Mon Nov 14, 2011 2:26 pm

Since I have managed to somehow mangle this Debian GNU/Linux installation (ok, perhaps I shouldn't run "unstable" branch) into form that I'm seriously considering a reinstall, I have starting to think that perhaps I should also update the hardware.

At the moment the highlights of the setup is:
- Antec P182 case
- Nexus NX-8040 400W power supply
- Gigabyte 965P-DS3 motherboard
- Intel Core 2 E4400
- Xigmatek Achilles S1284 CPU cooler (sans attached fan, but both rear and top case fan is in use)
- 4 GB memory
- MSI Nvidia Geforce 9500 GT Silent providing image to two BenQ G2400WD LCDs
- 2 × Terratec Digiviritin Cinergy 1200 DVB-T PCI cards
- Optiarc DVD-RW AD-7173A
- WD Caviar(?) 500GB, WD Caviar Green 1×1.5 TB, 2×2 TB, Seagate Barracuda Green 1.5 TB

Now, I suppose I will keep the case, the power supply, monitors, DVB cards and all but the smallest HDD. I would also like to keep the rarely used (and then quite loud) DVD-RW drive, but since it is PATA device and pretty much all new motherboards do not provide PATA, it looks like I will have to pick up the cheapest new SATA burner too. Similarly I might continue to use the same heatsink if I can still attach it to the new motherboard and CPU.
I am thinking that the new CPU will probably be Intel i5 (or maybe i7), but I am bit puzzled about motherboard choice. Definetely the motherboard should be full ATX, have couple PCI slots (since I don't want to dump the existing DVB cards), USB 3.0 and 8 SATA connectors. The last requirement is dictated by my wish to keep the current number of HDDs and add a SATA optical drive and perhaps also SSD as a system drive. Any suggestions for suitable boards?

The next big question is the graphics card: the current one is quite sufficient for my needs (the primary uses are photo editing, DVB recording/playback and generic desktop usage), but would a more modern card be more energy efficient? I also think I may want to continue with Nvidia solution since I like the Nvidia Linux drivers. Or could this kind of dual head setup archived also with just the onboard graphics?

And if it isn't obvious as I ask in SPCR forums, the system should be quiet...

quest_for_silence
Posts: 5275
Joined: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:12 am
Location: ITALY

Re: System upgrade

Post by quest_for_silence » Mon Nov 14, 2011 3:52 pm

Hezu wrote:Any suggestions for suitable boards?

What about the Intel DP67BG?
Hezu wrote:would a more modern card be more energy efficient?

I don't see any compelling needs to change that card.

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