Ivan747

It has one time payment options!!! Someone should’ve told me before!!! what do worries me is that I don’t keep both computers turned on, and I only have one monitor. The MacBook requires to detect the mouse and keyboard connected (either usb or Bluetooth) for it to work while closed (I already purchased a dock for it. I found some multi-device keyboards and mice from Logitech and dell. Maybe I should get one of those and switch the monitor manually or via DDC/CI with some software. Any other suggestions are welcome though!

Hi guys, So I have a laptop with a dock and a desktop PC I want to use on my setup. I want to switch between them. I need a KVM but I’m on a budget. Do any of you have good experience with a good HDMI/USB KVM under US$50? I kind of need one of those that make the computer think a monitor is always plugged in. ivan

Yeah, I'll need a SATA interface card if I ever want to fill the 10 drive bays. But hey, many mobos support 6 SATA ports, that's enough for us at the moment. How's this? I only need to check if the motherboard/chipset support hardware RAID. Otherwise I'll probably do XFS or some type of software RAID. PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/B8Z24q Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/B8Z24q/by_merchant/ CPU: Intel - Celeron G4900 3.1 GHz Dual-Core Processor ($44.69 @ Amazon) Motherboard: ASRock - B360M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($78.99 @ Amazon) Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Tactical 4 GB (1 x 4 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($33.99 @ Amazon) Storage: ADATA - XPG SX6000 128 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($31.99 @ Newegg) Case: Fractal Design - Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($119.98 @ Newegg) Power Supply: Corsair - VS 450 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Amazon) Total: $344.63 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-18 15:27 EST-0500 International shipping is gonna kill me on the case but I'll let it be. It's only an extra kilogram vs. the 304 and the micro ATX really opens up some nice possibilities, like expansion in the future. This system could easily last 10 years of service on the same B360M platform with small upgrades if the hardware holds up. It could also double as an HTPC with a modest video card for casual games. I haven't checked if the PSU can sustain this many drives. It probably doesn't, I need to check. If it does 4 drives then it's good for at least 3 to 5 years. The upgrade paths: 6 SATA ports, with that I can start with one RAID 5 array, then add another RAID 5 array (assuming the M.2 drive is NVMe, which I think it isn't and I have to address) 4 RAM slots, allowing me to go from 4GB to 8GB, then to 16GB if we decide to use this for gaming. Having lots of RAM slots also allows us to use this as a virtualization host, so we can have servers in here. 4 PCIe slots, allowing me to have a GPU, SATA controllers, network cards, etc. So I can take this NAS and turn it into an HTPC, a TV gaming PC, a very large NAS, a small server farm or a network applicance, and possibly some combinations of those.

The 304 is $30 cheaper, and a bit smaller. The total price is going to end being the same, since the $30 I save on case will end up spent on a mini-ITX motherboard. So size or capability, pick one...

Niiice. Ouch! Pricey! I can try to justify it with all those drive bays.

I have a relative that is getting serious with backup solutions since he's growing his software small/home business. I convinced him to have an actual x86 PC as a NAS instead of buying a commercial one, so that we can have Linux and run some scripts and automatically back up the NAS to a different NAS that we have offsite, via FTP. With that in mind, I need a good case for this new NAS. The main requirement is wife appeal, as it's a home office and it is going to be seen. I also require at least support for two 3.5" drives, 3 or 4 drives is better because we can use RAID 5. I am expecting to use a mini-ITX motherboard but any solutions are welcome, even barebones or off the shelf products. I have already looked at these cube mini ITX cases, like the Core V1 or the Elite 110. The Elite 110 is good because it supports three 3.5" drives.The V1 doesn't look professional (with the plastic window and all that), so that doesn't help me persuade him that all of this being a good idea haha. Towers are way too large. I considered an ASrock DeskMini barebones, but you can't find many large capacity 2.5" drives, let alone fast drives specialized in NAS/server applications. Plus they're only two drives. Trying to keep the total budget at US$300 +/-$50 without counting the storage drives, but counting a small M.2 boot drive. RAM is going to be 4GB, the boot SSD about 64GB to 128GB, and I don't think I'll need anything more than a Celeron. The MoBo might have dual Ethernet interfaces, because I might use this as a firewall and/or content cache (though I don't know if combining a firewall with a NAS is good practice).

That crossed my mind for a moment, so I thought I'd ask what times are other people getting. Will try, thanks! BTW, I disabled "Ultra fast boot" and my BIOS time was 12.2 seconds.*facepalm*. If all I get is 1 second off and I lose my ability to press F2 to enter BIOS then I am disabling this. What a shame...

Hybrid drive. I am planning to switch to SSD, but if fast boot is really that bad, it is going to be something against and SSD.

Hi, I recently built a Ryzen system and installed Windows in UEFI mode, with fast boot disabled. I later enabled "Ultra fast boot" on my motherboard... but it doesn't feel fast. It feels just as slow as any other UEFI. So... What are your BIOS times? Open task manager > click Startup > post your "Last BIOS time" Here's mine: BIOS time: 10.9 seconds CPU: Ryzen 5 1400 Chipset: B350 Motherboard: Asrock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac RAM: Single channel 2400MHz, 8GB (don't think it matters but whatever) I also have a 3rd gen Intel ultrabook. That one has a BIOS time of 1.8 seconds, basically imperceptible. On my desktop the UEFI takes just as long as Windows to finish loading (and I am using a SSHD). With this I am trying to determine if there's something wrong with my system, so that I can start looking for the problem and then for the solution. BTW, if you have suggestions, plase share them. Again, Windows is installed in UEFI mode (and it uses a GPT partition), I have checked. I am using a GTX1060 SC graphics card from EVGA, which, according to GPU-Z supports UEFI and therefore fast boot. In theory I am fast boot compliant. I have noticed that sometimes when restarting the computer the UEFI screen will be loaded in 1080p and some other times in 1024x768. I am wondering if both this and the fast boot issue are caused by some type of GPU incompatibility. Best regards, Ivan

Thanks to both Cyracus and you for your confirmation. Do the RAM sticks tell the BIOS somehoe of their timings and frequencies? Or is it a more iffy, delicate process if I have mismatched RAM?

So an upgrade. I bit the bullet and made a Ryzen 5 + GTX1060 system. Most parts are on their way. I have not yet purchased RAM or storage: I will leave that for the end. Since this thread no longer has to do with pre-builts, I will start another when I start the physical build. Here's the parts list if you are interested: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Ivan747/saved/JkjBP6 As you can see, international shipping cost, the premium case and being ITX has brought up the prices for the system above the cost of the prebuilt (also the dual storage solution is an important contributor, right now I'm going for a 2TB HDD and 128GN SSD). I don't mind the cost at this point, my finances are turning out a bit better than planned, Plus, I like the FT03 mini and I have a better system that should be upgradable. PS. Storage and RAM are still subject to change.

Hi, I have been speccing my system. Here's the build so far: CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1400 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor Motherboard: ASRock - AB350 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard Memory: G.Skill - NT Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory Storage: SanDisk - X400 128GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive Storage: Hitachi - Deskstar 7K2000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB SC GAMING Video Card Case: Silverstone - FT03B-MINI (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case Power Supply: FSP Group - 450W 80+ Bronze Certified SFX Power Supply I have purchased the mobo and the CPU. I have not yet purchased the RAM. I am not sure what type of RAM to get. I remember from a few years back that RAM nowadays benefits from working in pairs, and that Ryzen needs DDR4 at a high-ish clock frequency. What else is there to know, am I missing some other critical spec? I want to use a single 2400MHz, 8GB stick. That way I can add a second module (of the same characteristics if necessary) a few months or years down the road. Here's a link to my motherboard's specification page. https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming-ITXac/index.asp#Specification I am not 100% sure that I undestand this page correctly, so I'd like some confirmation. Please see below. TL;DR Using these motherboard specs https://www.asrock.com/MB/AMD/Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming-ITXac/index.asp#Specification Please tell me if these things I am assuming are true or false: * I can use a single stick and add a second one later on as long as it is the same model or identical rank, same amount of chips (2x8, 1x4, 2x4, etc.), same frequency and same CAS latency. * I can use a single, 2400MHz, unbuffered, non-ECC RAM stick with either single or dual rank configuration on this motherboard. Thank you very much -Ivan

Yep, case, motherboard, GPU and CPU on the US. I will bring the case via air freight. The rest, I’ll ask my relatives. The thing is that ITX is a rather niche format, so the mobo can only be found overseas. I also chose the GPU and the CPU because they’re small and usually pay import duty. The local market is aware of the import duty situation, so it’s reflected in the price.

Yep. You guys pretty much changed my mind. I’m strongly considering a system built around the FT03 mini, no matter the compromises. In regards to purchasing locally, the hard drive and power supply are almost certainly going to be local. RAM and SSD might be too, depending on the price. The SilverStone case supports a slot loading laptop optical drive. I will look around for a used one locally, the should be cheap so why not!?

Total budget is $1000. I’m not sure what do you mean when you asked about the cost of building in my country. I can build the PC myself. It’s just that I was looking for something I thought only pre-builds could offer. As for the cost of electronics? It’s usually 150% of the cost that you find in the USA. That means up to 1.5 times as much. For PC hardware, if you look hard enough it might be something like 140%, but the selection of components is pretty poor. You won’t find a large selection individual components in big box computer stores anymore, it’s mostly laptops and business-oriented desktop computers. Edit: I am taking a serious look at the “Silverstone FT03 mini” case. Dimensions: 188.9mm(W)x 397mm(H)x235.1mm(D), 17.6 liters7.44" (W) x 15.63" (H) x 9.26" (D), 17.6 liters The IO is at the top, and it’s rather clever.