topic Re: Computer parts:) in Off-Topic

Computer parts:)

Liquid — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:19:45 GMT

Right so I'm building a f@h rig to help support some of the good things coming from this project:)

I need suggestions for cheap computer supplies I have a fairly set list but I'm open to shopping around:)

hey if I save enough money I could run two machines:(

Ill happily share specs if people are interested but I'd imagine it would bore most haha

So suggest some good quality sites for me:)

Re: Computer parts:)

perksie — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:32:12 GMT

I've always had good service from here:

http://www.cclonline.com/

Computer fairs are useful, I used to visit the one at Bowlers, Manchester which has about 300+ stalls.

http://www.computermarkets.co.uk/

Re: Computer parts:)

Liquid — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:33:28 GMT

Thank you as always mr perksie you've just saved me £10 on a couple of items:)

Re: Computer parts:)

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:34:06 GMT

Total agree perksie with ccl you beat me too it. The big warehouse is based not far from me and very cheap and reliable been going a few years aswell

Re: Computer parts:)

perksie — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:35:42 GMT

@Liquid wrote:
Thank you as always mr perksie you've just saved me £10 on a couple of items:)

Just made a note in my diary about that!:smileyhappy:

Re: Computer parts:)

Liquid — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:36:44 GMT

Haha well you've paid for the first week of electricity this thing will eat:) thank science for solar panels:)

Re: Computer parts:)

perksie — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:41:00 GMT

Bowlers is amazing if you can get there, TVs, PC parts & software, printers, radios, cameras and even vacuum cleaners, there's little they don't have.

Re: Computer parts:)

Liquid — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:42:59 GMT

I will have to check it out:)

Is a cash only kind of affair? There's very limited information on what companies to expect there. Is it a good selection?

Re: Computer parts:)

perksie — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:47:09 GMT

No most take plastic, and most pc parts suppliers from around the country get there at some stage.

It's huge and you can even get breakfast there, I used to allow about 4 or 5 hours to get around.

Re: Computer parts:)

Liquid — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:48:26 GMT

Very nice:) ill have to check it out thank you:) saves the scary 24 hour period of is your parcel from DPD going to arrive in one piece of two haha:)

Thanks:)

Re: Computer parts:)

perksie — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:55:10 GMT

That's true, it used to be very handy if you were stuck for older parts no longer being made, loads of second hand stuff too.

Plenty of mother boards, power supplies. cables just about all you could need really.

Re: Computer parts:)

Liquid — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:58:53 GMT

The misses is always bugging me to take her shopping. I might have to give in finally and take her to Manchester mwhaha;)

•soon to be single•

Re: Computer parts:)

jonsie — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:02:44 GMT

Bowlers is a great afternoon out, fully recommend it.

Re: Computer parts:)

sheepdog — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:16:38 GMT

I don't mind being bored with specs. I'm a bit of an expert at finding really obscure parts that are slightly off the beaten track that I tend to think of and that I really need. Got a pci-e esata card for external drives I thought I needed for my server project ordered from America via ebay. But then once ordered, I managed to find a couple cheap pci-e SAS interface cards (real bargain if you know what they're for). Ironically, its now sat in my cupboard awaiting funding for the new motherboard I decided I need to cater for them.

But best not ask me for advice as I'll get the bug to build another system just for the sake of it!

Re: Computer parts:)

Liquid — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:16:24 GMT

Amazing:) £56 saving from that site:) now just to try and find the more specialist stuff cheaper might be able to turn this into a dual core machine:)

Talking big numbers:)

Re: Computer parts:)

Liquid — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:22:52 GMT

Well sheepdog:) nice to hear your knowledgeable on servers could help:)

Currently own
•i7 3930k watercooled
•2 xmsi 7970 lightening watercooled
•1500w corsair psu
4 x 360 mm 45mm thick radiators
•enough fans to cool an average nuclear power plant haha.

I'm considering another two 7970s and another 3930k will probally be getting 32gb of ram, a SSD for speed and a few large HDD for data.

Any suggestions would be appreciated:)

Re: Computer parts:)

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:25:48 GMT

You can always get a good curry in bradford liquid if you decide to visit ccl

Re: Computer parts:)

sheepdog — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:07:08 GMT

I take it SSD will be your boot drive? Not that I've tried it myself yet but ever considered using a couple of SSDs and then having an SSD cache? If you're doing a lot of read operations that could speed things up.

If you haven't considered it yet, then you might want to think a bit about backing up your data or using RAID for speed. A combo of SSD boot + raid should give you a decent system plus backup of course. Though watch out on raid as it tends to be card specific if it breaks thus you lose everything. Unfortunately thats another complex subject!

Re: Computer parts:)

Liquid — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 17:18:30 GMT

I was under the impression SSD cache had a higher fail rate?(I'm probally wrong haha)

I will be running a raid 5 using 1tb Samsung greens apparently very low power devices.

SSD will be the primary boot drive I was considering useing it as a raid but they still seem rather extortionate:(

Re: Computer parts:)

sheepdog — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:12:22 GMT

SSD cache might be a bit cutting edge for the consumer market but worth having a bit of fun experimenting with if the funds allow. SSD's are not something you want as a RAID device to be honest as the read/write operations would probably shorten the lifespan.

If you think current SSD's are expensive try looking at enterprise SAS 2.5" drives on ebay. Price per GB is, er a lot, but you're paying for long term usage and higher speeds. I have 4x 10k 146GB in a ZFS raid (read that as 3x 146 for space as one is parity) more as a staging area for copying files onto before they get moved onto the slower 7200rpm consumer drives for long term storage. Works nicely for ripping and ftp but I think I'm digressing dangerously into nerdism!

BTW, watch the 'green' settings on the drives. Apparently they may power down when not active and in a RAID array that could be catastrophic.

This going to be running windows or Linux?