Help choosing components 'LAN-PC' / HomeServer

[Source]

Hello,

I'm looking at the options to make a NAS-like PC.
I want to know if i could make something likethis (http://www.netgear.com/Products/Storage/ReadyNASDuo/RND2000.aspx?detail=Specifications) as a PC?

And what are the best components for it?
Does the Intel Atom has enough power?


It should have place for several Harddisks, energy efficient as possible, dead quiet, should play HD but not (yet) a must.

Around what budget am i looking? And which components?

Want to make use of the components i already have, if possible.
Have 4GB of PC6400 Corsair Twin2x memory of my system that i replace.
Could i use 2GB of this in the setup or? Other 2GB i want to use in other project.

Thank you.

[gimpster123]

by LAN pc do you mean a gaming rig for lan parties? or are you talking about a computer for networked storage?

[B.E.E.F.]

Something AMD. I like the 4450e, 4850e, and 5050e processors. 45W TDP. Combine that with an 780G chipset for HD playback. Very energy efficient and cheap. You can also try the lower clocked 45nm Intels like the E5200 but the chipset is going to drain more and it runs hotter. You have a choice of GeForce 8xxx and 9xxx IGPs. If I had the money, I would get a GeForce 9400 IGP and an E5400 and clock them for power consumption.

Dead quiet, get a passive heatsink. The Thermalright HR-01 and a couple of large, quiet case fans. Noctua, Nexus, or Yate Loon.


Check out SPCR, Silent PC Review for more info. This is what they do.

Also, I would put this in a nice mATX package.

[3Z3VH]

Hello,

I'm looking at the options to make a NAS-like PC.
I want to know if i could make something likethis (http://www.netgear.com/Products/Storage/ReadyNASDuo/RND2000.aspx?detail=Specifications) as a PC?

And what are the best components for it?
Does the Intel Atom has enough power?


It should have place for several Harddisks, energy efficient as possible, dead quiet, should play HD but not (yet) a must.

What do you mean by "Several Hard Disks" ? For some people, 3 is 'several'... while for others, 15 is 'several'. This is important in the decision-making process.

Also, you seem to want to do a lot with this one PC... Are you looking for it to offer a lot of storage on the network, AND play video ? The idea of hosting a lot of storage on a network means you already have other computers on that network. It would be a better idea to look at just buying a NAS unit like the one you linked, to host the files, and building a cheap HTPC that connects to that NAS over the network to get it's files. In the long run it would fit your needs MUCH better.


Around what budget am i looking? And which components?

Want to make use of the components i already have, if possible.
Have 4GB of PC6400 Corsair Twin2x memory of my system that i replace.
Could i use 2GB of this in the setup or? Other 2GB i want to use in other project.

Thank you.

The budget depends entirely on the scope of what this machine/machines will do, and how many disks you want. As far as re-using hardware, all you listed was about $25 worth of RAM, which won't cut your costs all that much.

Give us some more details about all the things you hope to accomplish with this, and we can give you a better idea of what to expect, price-wise.

[Source]

Thank you both for the reactions.

The main reason/work that this unit should do is share files for as little as 5 PC's.
Also a must is that the unit serves as a print server for our USB printer, so all PC's have access to it, but i'll guess this requires almost to none performance.

In the near future i want this unit to send files (movies (perhaps HD in future) / music / pictures etc) to a media receiver that's placed by the TV.

------

I have seen people making little home servers with there old PC's, even as old as Pentium III machines.
So wherefore do i need a AMD Athlon X2 CPU and high(er)-end chipset?

If the energy-consumption stays low and the price is ok compared to the lesser CPU's/chipsets then it's fine ofcourse, but if every component cost €15,- more then it pills up for a much higher cost then what i hoped for.


And what exactly are the needs to play back HD movies?
Aren't there Motherboards with an energy efficient and future-proof chipset?
So i'll buy an slower/cheaper CPU now, only for file sharing and 'normal' DIVX/DVD-R movies, and when we get a Full-HD TV, a better CPU for playback of Full-HD material.

------------

About the case, I was thinking about this one: Antec NSK1380 (http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MTE0NQ==)
But you (B.E.E.F.) talked in my other topic that for the sweet spot of efficiency i should buy a nice 200Watt 80Plus power supply.
This one has a 350Watt 80+ PSU, Guess Earth Watts is ok but is it better then to buy a 200Watt 80+ PSU?

And any suggestions on a nice M-ATX case like the one above (or smaller)?
^- That fits a nice PSU / has one in it.

Thank you

[Serra]

Thank you both for the reactions.

The main reason/work that this unit should do is share files for as little as 5 PC's.
Also a must is that the unit serves as a print server for our USB printer, so all PC's have access to it, but i'll guess this requires almost to none performance.

In the near future i want this unit to send files (movies (perhaps HD in future) / music / pictures etc) to a media receiver that's placed by the TV.

------

I have seen people making little home servers with there old PC's, even as old as Pentium III machines.
So wherefore do i need a AMD Athlon X2 CPU and high(er)-end chipset?

If the energy-consumption stays low and the price is ok compared to the lesser CPU's/chipsets then it's fine ofcourse, but if every component cost €15,- more then it pills up for a much higher cost then what i hoped for.


And what exactly are the needs to play back HD movies?
Aren't there Motherboards with an energy efficient and future-proof chipset?
So i'll buy an slower/cheaper CPU now, only for file sharing and 'normal' DIVX/DVD-R movies, and when we get a Full-HD TV, a better CPU for playback of Full-HD material.

------------

About the case, I was thinking about this one: Antec NSK1380 (http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MTE0NQ==)
But you (B.E.E.F.) talked in my other topic that for the sweet spot of efficiency i should buy a nice 200Watt 80Plus power supply.
This one has a 350Watt 80+ PSU, Guess Earth Watts is ok but is it better then to buy a 200Watt 80+ PSU?

And any suggestions on a nice M-ATX case like the one above (or smaller)?
^- That fits a nice PSU / has one in it.

Thank you

I can't comment on the case, but...

For HD movie playback, iirc Intel/AMD generically state that they recommended a "2GHz processor" (apparently of any family), but modern video cards can do it in hardware and take the load of the CPU anyway. I don't keep up with specific models, but I would bet there exists a passively cooled low-end video card that could handle it.

As to the overall size - I have a similar issue right now. I have an HTPC case that I love (Thermaltake VB2000BNS) that I would love to use as a storage area for movies and such... but being an MATX case, it won't accept the 5 hard drives I'll be putting into it (or at least not with everything else that will be in it) so I've had to put it in my STC-T01 unfortunately. If you want a PC that will act as a mass storage PC, I expect you will run into the same issue with an mATX case where basically you may get away with 2-3 hard drives initially... but the second you want to expand you storage you immediately run out of room. Just a thought.

[HiJon89]

Just buy this combo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.172410
For $195 you get a mobo with HDMI output that will decode HD content up to 1080p L5.1 with 5% CPU usage and a CPU w/ 45W TDP (Should never get under much load with what you want to do anyway). It's in a tiny Mini-ITX form factor to boot.

[B.E.E.F.]

I have seen people making little home servers with there old PC's, even as old as Pentium III machines.
So wherefore do i need a AMD Athlon X2 CPU and high(er)-end chipset?

Depends how much work the server is doing at peak. A pentium III is perfectly fine for light loads. Consumption, heat, and noise is not so great compared to whats available now.


And what exactly are the needs to play back HD movies?
Aren't there Motherboards with an energy efficient and future-proof chipset?

Yes. The 760G chipset is nice. And the 780G chipset is great. If you want to play HD movies off Blu-Ray then get the 780G, otherwise the 760G is slightly cheaper. The 760G lacks the UVD for decoding HD video.

These chipsets are incredibly efficient compared to similar offerings by Intel and Nvidia. ~0.9W idle power consumed by the graphics processor.



So i'll buy an slower/cheaper CPU now, only for file sharing and 'normal' DIVX/DVD-R movies, and when we get a Full-HD TV, a better CPU for playback of Full-HD material.

Whaa? You need to be clear what it is you want it to do. File sharing, video playback? What does it do.



This one has a 350Watt 80+ PSU, Guess Earth Watts is ok but is it better then to buy a 200Watt 80+ PSU?

And any suggestions on a nice M-ATX case like the one above (or smaller)?
^- That fits a nice PSU / has one in it.

First you need to get the parts listed. Then case, power supply, and lastly cooling.

Can't match a power supply unless you know exactly what you're matching it to.


Myself, I put together the following:

1. Athlon X2 5050e. (had a choice from 4450e for $73CAD up to 5050e for $75CAD)
2. Jetway 780G ATX size.
3. 4GB DDR2-800 Kingston. (dirt cheap :D on newegg)
4. FSP power supply. 80plus 350w. I plan on putting in a HD4870 when I'm done with it.
5. Sonata case. Nice and quiet.
6. Western Digital 640GB hard drive SE16. Fantastic performance and value.

[Source]

The original idea was only a fileserver for around 5 PC's with USB-print server support.

But if everyone suggest a AMD X2 CPU and AMD 780G chipset, i'll guess i can make it play video's right?
Then i'll hook it up to the TV, so i'll guess i need a TV tuner for that?

So it comes down to this:
- File sharing
- USB print-support
- Files to TV (Video/music etc)
- Recording from TV

Since i assume that i don't need an media-player for the TV anymore, i have a little bigger budget.

And since it's placed by the TV now, i'll go with an HTCP/Desktop size case, any suggestions?
- Ofcourse, i agree that those Silverstone (as example) cases look awesome, but then i'll look at around €120,- for a case and not even one with a PSU in it.

Edit, i found those two cases below that are somewhat affordable, any comments on one of those? Specs about the PSU are included.
Silverstone SST-LC11 (http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_contents.php?pno=lc11&area=usa) (m-ATX & 300Watt TFX PSU (http://www.silverstonetek.com/downloads/PSU/TFX_300W_FSP300-65LD_specification.pdf))
Silverstone SST-ML01B-R (http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/p_spec.php?pno=ml01&area=usa) (m-ATX/Mini-ITX/DTX & 300Watt TFX PSU (http://www.silverstonetek.com/downloads/PSU/TFX_300W_FSP300-65LD_specification.pdf))


----------------------

Also, i found those two Barbone from Asus:
Asus P2-M3A3200 (http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=1&l2=3&l3=483&l4=0&model=2562&modelmenu=2) (NB: AMD RS780G / SB: AMD SB700 / Graphics: ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics)

Asus P3-P5G31 (http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=2072&l1=1&l2=3&l3=409&l4=0) (NB: Intel G31 / SB: Intel ICH7 / Graphics: Integrated GMA 3100)

Is one of those any good? Since that's Case/PSU/Motherboard in one for a lot cheaper, so is it comparable to a PSU/Motherboard/case that i buy seperate?

[zanzabar]

i like the antec ones they are basically the same. and stay away from the NV IGP systems (especially the 8200 on amd, and anything on intel from NV). the amd 780 chipsets are nice just dont get one with display port

[B.E.E.F.]

Since i assume that i don't need an media-player for the TV anymore, i have a little bigger budget.

OK. This just got a whole lot more complicated. We'll solve it.

1. You need a blu-ray drive.
2. What inputs does your TV accept?
3. Do you already have hard drives you want to hook up or do you also need those?
4. What about data redundancy? A file server IMO should be mirrored raid should a drive fail.
5. Since you want a media pc, I'm guessing you need some kind of remote control and software to control all of that.


And yeah, what Zanzabar said. The GeForce 8200 mGPU isn't that bad, its just weak compared to ATis. The Geforce 9200 mGPU is more powerful but runs really hot compared to ATi. Intel IGPs are not an option obviously.

You can also go the Intel route.

45nm CPU
P43 or P45 chipset
ATi All in Wonder GPU/Capture card

[Source]

OK. This just got a whole lot more complicated. We'll solve it.

1. You need a blu-ray drive.
2. What inputs does your TV accept?
3. Do you already have hard drives you want to hook up or do you also need those?
4. What about data redundancy? A file server IMO should be mirrored raid should a drive fail.
5. Since you want a media pc, I'm guessing you need some kind of remote control and software to control all of that.
1. What do i need the Blu-ray drive for?

2. Our current TV only got Component Video and S-video i believe (got to check on this question).
^- Our new TV will be a Full-HD TV with HDMI and all current standards.

3. We already have 2x a Samsung F1 Spinpoint 1TB drive.

4. How much drives are needed for that? And is the Onboard RAID controller good enough for that?

5. Yes that would be handy, and what OS is best on it? :)

[zanzabar]

onboard raid is good for convention drives on raid 0/1/10.

and i would suggest p2 8xx (what ever is in the budget) and an amd 780g board, that way if u want u can get new cpu if u want more and ur looking at a 2.1-2.14 ghz tri core cpu for under $100 with an IGP that can do full 1080p and better andr, just make sure that u dont get display port (it messes up HDCP if u have it) and i like the biostar matx boards for that platform

for OS i like server 08 but its kind of pricey, home server may be an option but i havnt used it

[3Z3VH]

Trying to put a computer with this much storage in a home theatre would be a huge mistake. It will be VERY noisy for a theatre room.

I think you are trying to do too much with a single machine.

If all you need is a large bit of files hosted on the network, you could go with a NAS appliance like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822102017

It runs super low wattage (about 35W draw on 110v AC power) and hosts a LOT of storage for VERY cheap.

Don't worry about the print server capability, as most printers now offer networking built-in, and all you need to do is put it on the network and connect each machine to it.

For the Media Center part, you really want a purpose built system, or even something simple like a PS3 that already has the BluRay drive, and the capability of accessing DLNA certified media servers (like that NAS I linked). That way the theatre is kept quiet, you use a minimum of power, you get a lot of network storage, and all your needs are met.

If you plan to record live TV onto your NAS, you can use Windows Media Center and have it record directly to that NAS since it has built-in iSCSI support. It even has eSATA in case you want to plug it into a TiVo.

[B.E.E.F.]

Blu Ray for HD movies.