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Piers · (This post was last modified: 2014-02-27, 08:37 by Piers.)

I've ordered a HP N54L Microserver from here. From what I've read it should have no issue accepting 4x3TB green drives, however after further reading I can see that it could also be used to replace a Q6600 HTPC I have in the bedroom - all I need to do is add a low-profile passive GPU.

I have a spare Windows 8 license so would like to use that, the CPU and 2GB of RAM should be fine, now the issue is deciding which card to get. What I need is:

Less than 25W
Preferably AMD, haven't used Nvidia hardware for over a decade
Low Profile
Passive Cooling
Windows 8 (don't care about Windows 8.1 as I tried the upgrade once and hated it, all my PCs use W8)

The only use of this box is to serve the 12TB and connect to an AVR via HDMI (plus a little browsing) for XBMC - no gaming, no folding, nothing else.

I don't want to end up buying the wrong card so would appreciate the opinion of some of the hardware experts on here - I'm fine with large gaming towers but this is my first microserver.

bluray · 2014-02-23, 20:44

(2014-02-23, 18:42)Piers Wrote: [*]Preferably AMD, haven't used Nvidia hardware for over a decade
[*]Low Profile
[*]Passive Cooling

This "SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6450" fits your descriptions. I have used it in the past, and it is a great GPU for HTPC..

Piers · (This post was last modified: 2014-02-25, 19:06 by Piers.)

I bought the cheapest AMD GPU from the local shop - Asus 5450. Works great, although didn't come with a low profile plate Sad

- sellotape to the rescue!

The N54L didn't like the drives at first - it saw them but not the content. So after moving drive by drive (copy files locally, unplug drive, put in N54L, format, move files back over) it's working...

Now the fun part of waiting a couple of hours for all the artwork etc to be downloaded, then another hour for trakt to sync my watched status.

fla_jax · 2014-02-26, 02:27

How well does it run Huh

Piers · 2014-02-27, 08:36

(2014-02-26, 02:27)fla_jax Wrote: How well does it run

Like a dream. I was going to put more RAM in there, but as a file server and HTPC I see absolutely no need at all.

If anyone is looking for a small HTPC which uses barely any power then, so far, I can highly recommend it. I think I'll buy another one!

Wolfy ZA · (This post was last modified: 2014-02-28, 11:50 by Wolfy ZA.)

I have one of these babies myself running Openelec 3.2.4 like a dream.. Can even do 3D.. Totally worth the price. Just one question, can this puppy take 4TB HDD's (excluding the top bay of course) by any chance? All my 2TB's are slowly but surely reaching their limit.

noggin · (This post was last modified: 2014-02-28, 12:18 by noggin.)

(2014-02-28, 11:47)Wolfy ZA Wrote: I have one of these babies myself running Openelec 3.2.4 like a dream.. Can even do 3D.. Totally worth the price. Just one question, can this puppy take 4TB HDD's (excluding the top bay of course) by any chance? All my 2TB's are slowly but surely reaching their limit.

With regard to 3D - presumably you're watching SBS or TB 3D content in OpenElec (which is effectively exactly the same as 2D 1080p or 720p content and thus playable on anything that will play 1080p or 720p conten)? So the 3D in this case is a bit of a red herring.

Or are you watching 3D full resolution MVC stuff outside of XBMC (under Windows using PowerDVD or similar?), as it isn't supported in XBMC (and thus OpenElec) yet.

Piers · 2014-02-28, 15:07

(2014-02-28, 11:47)Wolfy ZA Wrote: I have one of these babies myself running Openelec 3.2.4 like a dream.. Can even do 3D.. Totally worth the price. Just one question, can this puppy take 4TB HDD's (excluding the top bay of course) by any chance? All my 2TB's are slowly but surely reaching their limit.

Yep, even without a modded bios it can support 4x4TB (main bays) as well as 16 GB non-ECC RAM, or - from what I've seen - 8GB ECC RAM.