[brentbizzle]

Hi All,

I'm going to be doing a combined XBMC/Fileserver build just using ubuntu with a ZFS pool shared over the network. I need the storage more than an HTPC, I'd like an HTPC, so throwing a video card into the same build is the most cost effective compromise.

Anyway, I'm at a loss to how much CPU power I'm going to need for a build like this. I'd like to keep the cost down as much as possible, as well as power consumption. Obviously I won't need a quad-core i7, but I know that I can't just grab a mini-ITX combo either.

Can someone help with a couple processor recommendations so I have some place to start? Thank you!

EDIT: I should add that it will be used to play 1080P compressed mkvs, will be running SAB and Sickbeard (maybe a couple other simple daemons as well), and as far as remote file access, will only need to support 2-3 concurrent users, but there will be VERY little network I/O.

EDIT 2: I found this guy on newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...X80623G530

The cheapest Intel chip really, but from reviews people are using it in budget gaming PCs.Seems like this would be enough computing power. Any advice?

[cat0]

I'm using a i3-2120 with an Asus P8H77-i mini-itx motherboard. Not using Linux/ZFS though, but as I understand ZFS is far more heavy on the ram than the cpu? Anyway, this setup is more than enough. I'm usually running XBMC, SABNzbd, Sick Beard, Couch Potato, HeadPhones, iTunes and utorrent along with one or two virtual machines in Virtualbox. No problems whatsoever. Without Virtualbox running, I'm idling at ~1% CPU use. I would guess that the Celeron G530 would be sufficient, but an i3 does not cost that much more.

[brentbizzle]

The CPU you mention is 3x the price. I'm sure something cheaper than that will suffice. Thanks for your input though.

[Dougie Fresh]

A Pentium/Celeron with the ASUS P8H77-I would be a good combination since it has 6x SATA on-board. The on-board video will be sufficient for XBMC. If for some reason it's not sufficient, a cheap HD6450 card will fix it (if for instance you need better deinterlacing of SD content), For 1080p though it'll be rock solid.

This is a great deal on a Pentium CPU from a good retailer: http://www.directron.com/bx80623g860.html G860 $69.99