General spec feedback, and 3TB hard drive compatibility

[Anthony Filmer]

A couple of things:

(1) How does this spec seem, in general, given that I'll be using it for media, gaming (though not so much for the 3D graphic-hungry FPS etc) and tab-heavy internet browsing and general multi-tasking. Is it coherent? Are any elements of it under-used or not being taken advantage of owing to some other element of it? Any recommendations?

(2) I read a bit about the 3TB hard drives needing an extra pci-express slot or something, because otherwise not all of the space is recognised. Can I get two of those hard drives and get them working, to their full capacity, on the motherboard and general rig that I currently have selected?

Any input would greatly appreciated..

Case
COOLERMASTER ELITE 310 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3550 (3.3GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® P8Z77-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - 3D Vision Ready
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 330 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 500MB/sR | 450MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
3TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD30EZRX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
3rd Hard Disk
3TB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD30EZRX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

 

[keynes]

1) Do you have a budget? I'd probably get a caviar black, the caviar green is more for storage and more energy efficient but slower than the caviar green. A better case for improve cable management/cooling and at least silver warranty (£5) to increase free collection/delivery of your pc in case there is a fault from 1 month to 1 year.
2) Your motherboard has enough PCI-E slots for 2 caviar green 3tb, I'd expect the configurator not to let you chose the hdd if it is not compatible with your system.

 

[Anthony Filmer]

I don't really have a specific budget, no. Obviously the cheaper the better though. The reason I was going for the bigger ones (the caviar greens) is that I do mainly use it for storage. But then I suppose I'm not going to have much space unless I have one thats quicker, so maybe one caviar green and one caviar black - that wouldn't be a problem, right?

And with regards to the case: I'm not going to be putting it together, I assume, so wouldn't the compatibility configurator thing have said something if it wasn't doable, with that case? Or is it just better to get a different one?

 

[Rakk]

so maybe one caviar green and one caviar black - that wouldn't be a problem, right?

Wouldn't be a problem at all, and sounds like a good plan.

And with regards to the case: I'm not going to be putting it together, I assume, so wouldn't the compatibility configurator thing have said something if it wasn't doable, with that case? Or is it just better to get a different one?

It is doable, it's just a better case will make for better cooling and a happier PC in general , and gaming does tend to heat up the GPU.

 

[keynes]

And with regards to the case: I'm not going to be putting it together, I assume, so wouldn't the compatibility configurator thing have said something if it wasn't doable, with that case? Or is it just better to get a different one?

If it it not doable then PCS would contact you to give you other options. I'd go with a different case for better cooling and space, I think the 310 coolermaster comes with only 1 chassis fan.