Hi all. (I'm new here.)
I'm working on planning this build (more or less) as a combo HTPC, small NAS, and emulator box (16- and 32-bit). I originally found this from a
Lifehacker article describing a suspiciously similar box...
First, my components.
[APU] AMD A6-3500 3x2.1Ghz/2.4Ghz HD6530D FM1 65W ($70)
[MOBO] ASRock A75M-ITX FM1 CIR USB3.0 SATAIII UEFI mITX ($90)
[RAM] Corsair 4 GB DDR3 240-pin Server Memory Kit CMV4GX3M2A1333C9 ($22)
[CASE] Apex MI-008 ($45)
[PSU] picoPSU -
see below
[FAN] SilenX EFX-12-15 120mm 1400RPM 74CFM 15dBA ($12)
[SSD] Some 32GB SSD ($40)
[HDD] Western Digital Caviar Green 3 TB ($140) -
one for now, possibly more later
[OPTICAL] Some Blu-ray drive ($50)
[SOFTWARE] Windows 7 ($30 through work), XBMC ($0), something free for NAS ($0)
TOTAL: $499 + picoPSU
As you see above, I'm planning on a picoPSU. I know the stock PSU is adequate, but I've got a couple reasons:
- I'm gonna need better air flow and lower temps with all those components, especially if I add more drives in the future. The stock PSU seems obstructive and adds a fair amount of heat, from what I hear.
- I would already have to spend $40 on the Scythe Kozuti if I used the stock PSU... Why not use the stock heatsink and spend that money on the more efficient pico? (I know, the savings won't even out for a few years. )
- The picoPSU is
awesome. I hadn't heard of it before planning this build. (Last time I built a computer was 11 years ago...)
All that said, here's my main question:
What size pico do I need? I can't seem to find a good way to estimate it. It'll need to power all of these components:
- Mobo & CPU
- Blu-ray drive
- One SSD
- One HDD to start
- Extra capacity for a future second HDD
- Case fan, etc.
It feels like a lot to me. If the 120W would just scrape by for this, I would probably get the 160W, just for the sake of future expansion. Which would you pick?
Other question: Once I've got the picoPSU,
what adapter cable do I need for it to power up to four SATA drives? I'm having trouble finding a clear answer. (If possible, a link to a specific product would be greatly appreciated!) Right now I'm assuming I just need to buy a pico, a brick, and one adapter cable for the drives. Is that correct, though?
Big thanks to eskro for making this build and to everybody else in the thread for their great information!
(Also, sorry for the massive first post...)