[WinstonKennedy]

Hi All,

I've been reading this forum for probably 6 months now thinking that I would like to start upgrading my storage and viewing solution for media.

I've used various things in the past, from a firmware hacked dvd player with USB input, to Sumvision Micro players, but now I'm looking to spend some real money and get an XBMC client & server setup going.

My total budget for both builds combined (plus some harddrives) is $1000. I'm not massively technical (i have never built a pc before), but I've fixed xboxes, changed components in my PCs and I am technically minded enough to learn as I go with most things electronic. I'm planning on definitely building the server, i'm still not sure what the best route is for HTPC. I may buy an off the shelf solution and revert it to linux and boot XBMC off there... I'll start a new thread when I get around to those decisions though!


Currently, I have two harddrives:

- 1.5Tb Samsung Storybook
- 2Tb Buffalo DriveStation.

I'll be looking to break those drives out of their external cases and utilize them
in the build, but other than that, I have nothing as of yet towards this build.

I do intend to initially buy 2 harddrives to add to my existing capacity to bring my current storage capacity to a max of 9.5TB storage (assuming I can get 3TB drives soon) until I need to expand again. I'm going to account for those in my budget and bring it down a notch, so resulting budget is now $700.


A couple of months ago, I donated a few bucks and picked up a .pdf HTPC/Server guide from Renethx @AVS Forums, which has been quite helpful. I'll be using that, and information from here as the basis for my setup. The thing that seems most difficult is ensuring all parts are the latest options, as sometimes i'll read a recommendation and it ends up being from a year or more ago.


So all that said, here's my idea so far....


Server Setup:

[OS] UNraid Pro ($119)
[CASE]Xigmatek Utgard Window CPC-T90DB-U02 ($59.99 + $15 shipping)
[PSU] Corsair TX650 V2 650W ($84.99 + $0)
[MOBO+GPU] ASUS M4A88T-M AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX ($79.99 + $0)
[CPU]AMD Athlon II X2 260 Regor 3.2GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor($68.99 + $0)
[RAM]Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ($19.99 + $0)
[4 in 3 Bays]XIGMATEK CCA-EMFCB-U01 4 in 3 HDD Cage Extra Hard Drive Bay ($26.99 + $0 x 3 Quantity)
Total = $528.92



Being honest, I used mostly eskro's "cheapest 12-bay setup" with a few small tweaks, if there are any unnecessary or inappropriate components, PLEASE let me know!


Thanks for any help you can provide! I'm looking to purchase & start this build in the next couple of weeks.


/mod: Edited to amend ram to 2 x 2gb ram on advice of gabbott.
/mod2: Edited to bulk up processing power with dual core processor recommended by eskro

[gabbott]

Get the 4gig ram kit. Should only be a few bucks more. If you ever plan on running a bunch of add-ons or a mysql server and whatnot on your unraid box the extra ram could come in handy and isn't much more in price.

[WinstonKennedy]

Get the 4gig ram kit. Should only be a few bucks more. If you ever plan on running a bunch of add-ons or a mysql server and whatnot on your unraid box the extra ram could come in handy and isn't much more in price.

okay, definately sounds like its worth it.. I'm hoping to set sabnzbd+, sickbeard, etc up on it so would make sense.

[eskro]

well, its not only about RAM,,,
if u plan on using sabnzbd+ specially,
getting a Dual-Core CPU is more appropriate...

and i suggest Cooler Master 4 in 3 HDD Module Device

[gabbott]

For using it as just a file server, 2gigs is plenty. But these days people are using their unraid boxes for more and more with lots of addons coming out. You'll see over at the unraid forums that users that start utilizing their boxes for more, they are upgrading from 2gigs as there is a need for it in some cases. Since that board runs DDR3, the cost of going to 4gigs is minimal so might as well just go with 4gigs.

sabnzdb+ can be cpu intensive and a dual-core could help in that instance.

That sempron is a really nice chip for low-power. If you don't do any processing while you do your streaming it will do, but the more you start to multi-task with something like sabnzdb+, the more a dual-core makes sense.

The cooler master 4-in-3 boxes are what i use in mine, they work well as long as they are compatible with that case.

[eskro]

indeed, thats why i specified
'MySQL Database/SABnzbd/CouchPotato/Sick Beard users, Upgrade CPU & RAM accordingly'
in my unRAID guide

[WinstonKennedy]

indeed, thats why i specified
'MySQL Database/SABnzbd/CouchPotato/Sick Beard users, Upgrade CPU & RAM accordingly'
in my unRAID guide

hm, fair enough... would someone mind recommending an apropriate upgrade for CPU to handle the above?

[eskro]

dual-core athlon 260

[WinstonKennedy]

Thanks for that, I've updated accordingly.

looking at the price now, I'm cutting into my HTPC budget significantly.. argh, why can't there be more money! Might have to shelve one of the HDDs until later on.

Thanks for the help everyone, if anyone wants a copy of the guide I got, drop me a message.

[wsume99]

Not a big deal but you might want to go with 1x4GB or RAM instead of 2x2GB. A single module will use less power (maybe only one watt or so but every bit counts) and if you ever upgrade you can get a second 4GB stick. Probably not a big deal since your MB has 4 RAM slots but that's what I would do if it were me - especially if I only had 2 RAM slots.