Upgrade for Parents

[Fix Me]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Web browsing, Office Suite usage (Outlook, Word, Excel), nothing high end. They use this PC for personal email and some home business. They're moving and want a smaller case. So, they need a mATX motherboard and a mATX case

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

Would like to keep it around $150 - $200 not including tax and shipping - all parts from MicroCenter if possible.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Cincinnati, OH, near MicroCenter

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

mATX motherboard, mATX case

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

i3 4150 w/stock hsf
4GB (2x2) Corsair DDR3 1600 (unsure of exact make and model)
Corsair CX430 PSU
PCI-E x1 RAID card (mirrored drives as they use this PC for business)
2x 500GB Seagate SATA HDD
external WD USB HDD for backups

6) Will you be overclocking?

No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

Not sure, but it's 23" or 21" Not really relevant anyways since no gaming.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

This weekend

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.

Onboard video, onboard sound, and a slot for the PCI-E x1 RAID card. USB 3 would be good, they'll probably upgrade the external drive at some point, I think it's USB 1 or 2 currrently.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Yes, Windows 7 Home Premium x32 (I'll probably upgrade them to a 64-bit OS with Windows 9, but they're staying 32-bit for now)

More detail: Basically, I already upgraded my parents to an i3 processor and Gigabyte Z97 HD3 mb after a lightning strike blew up their old AMD motherboard and some other electronics. It was around 5 or 6 years old anyways. However, after I had updated, they started asking about a smaller case. I think the best way to do that is to go mATX. Fortunately, I bought the new ATX mb last week and I can return the motherboard to MIcroCenter, then buy a new mATX mb and case as well. I'm sure they'll charge me a restocking fee since there's nothing wrong with the mb, but so be it. Someone will get a nice Open Box deal. Anyways, their current case is a Thermaltake mid-sized tower and the other cases we were looking at aren't much smaller in the ATX world.

This is what I was thinking about for them, let me know if there are any other thoughts or objections. I'd like to get the parts from MicroCenter, but we can order stuff if there is a better deal or equipment out there:

Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H http://www.microcenter.com/product/432996/GA-H97M-D3H_LGA1150_mATX_Intel_Motherboard - $89.99
- I realize there isn't a x1 slot, but I can still plug the RAID card into a x16 slot since they're using onboard video, right?

CoolerMaster N200 MiniTower mATX case http://www.microcenter.com/product/414482/N200_Mini_Tower_mATX_Computer_Case_-_Black - $49.99

 

[sinisterDei]

You can definitely plug an X1 device into an X16 slot. If you want to save $10 and go with the ASRock, the H97M Pro ( http://www.microcenter.com/product/433110/H97M_Pro_LGA1150_mATX_Intel_Motherboard ) looks to be a pretty equivalent device to the GIGABYTE. I've been using lots of ASRock mobos in my recent system builds and they've done quite nicely.

I like your case choice as well, and it allows you to keep the option of using full-height PCI-e cards. If your RAID card is low-profile, though, you could consider an even smaller (thinner) case, though Microcenter will severely restrict your selection in that regard. Things like this - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108109 - could be in the cards.

 

[Dangman]

Yes you could plug in the RAID card into a x16 slot. Although it sounds very odd: Why bother with the PCI-E x1 RAID card in the first place? Unless that card happens to be a certain Areca card, it's probably some cheap-o raid controller that you found for less than $40 that uses the Silicon Image controller. As such, you're better off just using the onboard RAID found on Intel motherboards since those are far more reliable than many Silicon Image controllers out there.

With that said, if they're worried about data security/safety, then they should have a NAS/file server and/or cloud backup as well. RAID 1 doesn't help at all if the data is corrupted, infected, or deleted. If it's data uptime you're worried about, NAS/file server combined with the Intel RAID 1 would be better.

The case is a solid choice. As for the motherboard, just flip a coin between the ASRock and Gigabyte. They're about the same in terms of quality AFAIK.

 

[Fix Me]

Thanks guys. I went with the Coolermaster case and Gigabyte board. Everybody is happy.

The reason I got the RAID card is so that if their MB dies, it's easier to get them up and running again. All I have to worry about is finding a new RAID card if the one they're using dies rather than worry about a whole new motherboard. They're not going to spend the money on NAS or anything like that for their small business. At this point, they're in their 70's and basically retired. Their backup runs onto an external drive and they're happy with that. I am going to discuss offsite backups though in case of fire or whatever.

 

[fantabulous]

Parts already bought, just go with it at the point. I did want to point out that Intel onboard RAID is pretty easy to handle, though. Just plug the drives into another Intel board that supports Intel RAID, or even get fancy with a Linux rescue system that understands the Intel RAID metadata.

Arguments to be made for whether the RAID controller or a reasonable Intel motherboard are easier to replace down the line. The concern with those cheap x1 RAID controllers is getting a replacement down the line that still understands the particular flavor of RAID metadata. Less of a concern if the controller is an Areca or Adaptec controller vs a cheap Silicon Image.

 

[Fix Me]

It's an Adaptec