Thread: Need advice about building a new computer? Ask me!

If you would like to build a new custom computer, but don't know where to start or need advice on parts, post your question here. If you have specific needs or a budget, post that as well. I will try to help you choose the best parts for building your own computer, whether it's a workstation or a gaming computer!

let's see what you got....though this isn't necessarily a computer question.

I have an HDTV downstairs connected to a Samsung BD-C6500 Blue Ray player which has a wired connected to a gigabit router which is also hard-wired to my computer. With my current setup, can I stream through HD content through the blu-ray to my TV? If yes, how? If no, what equipment do I need?

Originally Posted by HatTrickHeroes

let's see what you got....though this isn't necessarily a computer question.

I have an HDTV downstairs connected to a Samsung BD-C6500 Blue Ray player which has a wired connected to a gigabit router which is also hard-wired to my computer. With my current setup, can I stream through HD content through the blu-ray to my TV? If yes, how? If no, what equipment do I need?

You need to install Samsung's PC Share Manager software, which you get get using the CD that came with your TV or through Samsung Download Center. After you install this, there should be a shared folder on your computer. You should be able to access content inside this folder from your TV. Samsung's software has a few problems, however. You are unable to share folders on a hard drive other than your computer's main drive. People have also reported problems with it randomly disconnecting.

An alternative would be to get the Apple TV, which does a good job streaming audio and video from your computer or iOS device directly to your TV wirelessly. The new generation of the Apple TV supports 1080p as well. It has gotten pretty good reviews, and it seems to be a very solid choice.

I just read an article about the Apple TV, but I don't want to give my Apple cult wife the satisfaction of buying an Apple product for the house :p

I'll try out the Samsung suggestion you mentioned and give that a go. Thank you!

Any recommendations for a RAID 5 subsystem? Must work with VMWare, Windows 7, and Server 2008. Should be at least SATA 300, preferably SATA 600. Option to cache to an SSD would be nice. Must support large drives with the new 1 TB platters (e.g. the new 3 TB drives from Seagate). The plan is 8 Seagate 3 TB SATA drives (consumer class, not enterprise $$$).

If you don't have any answer, don't sweat it. I've got a short list I'm working on. But an expert opinion is always appreciated.

For the RAID controller, I recommend a motherboard with the Intel ICH10R southbridge. The ICH10R (not ICH10, which doesn't support RAID) has Intel's Matrix Storage Technology, which actually allows several RAID configurations at one time (you can have some drives running RAID 0 and others running RAID 5, all on the same motherboard). Using the motherboard controller is recommended because if the motherboard fails for some reason, you can still transfer your setup to another ICH10R motherboard and it should work fine. This is different for the separate hardware RAID controllers because if one fails, you need an exact replacement due to the fact that they often use proprietary formats.

As far as the HDDs go, I would actually not recommend getting the 3TB hard drives. If one of the hard drives fails, then it will take a much longer time to rebuild. During that time you will be vulnerable if something goes wrong. Also, these larger drives often have higher error rates, which would also lead to problems with the RAID rebuild. I would recommend the Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB as an alternative. As far as I know, there is no way to really use an SSD as a cache to a RAID setup, but if you use the WD Caviar Black drives, it should be very fast.

If you really need the larger storage capacity, you should know that with 8 x 3TB drives, there is about a 10% chance that there will be an error during a rebuild and the data will be unrecoverable. If you are willing to take that chance and the data is not too important, then go with the 3TB drives. If you need that much space and good data safety as well, then you should look into using a RAID 6 setup with a separate hardware controller.

I hope this helps.

Interesting. I'll check that out. It sounds like you know what you're talking about.
Thanks for the detailed answer.

You're welcome, HatTrickHeroes and U2Fan. If you guys have any more questions, feel free to ask again!

Boodog, I want to thank you again. I wish I could leave more rep points at this level. You're advice has saved me from heading down the wrong path and probably wasting thousands of dollars. You definitely know your stuff.