Need some help with the best way to go about doing what I want to do. I have been building computers since I was a kid and have been using XBMC from my main computer for the past two years. We are purchasing a house and I want to setup a server and also two more HTPC's - one for the kids and one in the living room.
I spent time reading here and on the lime forum and decided on this for the Unraid server -
-Trendnet 8port Gigabit Switch
-AsRock A785GM mATX
-AMD Sempron 145
-Kingston Value Ram 2GB 1333MHz DDR3
-Antec Neo Eco 520W 8 Plus
-Case will be my full tower I am repurposing or a mid tower I might still have. I don't see the point of buying a new case at this time since the server will likely hide somewhere in the house.
I also purchased 2 WD Green 2TB drives and have one existing I will toss in for 3 drives total and I recently bought 2 OCZ Vertex 3 120GB SSD's. Unsure where I want to put these yet but it was a good deal and I've been wanting SSD.
What I am not sure about is what to do with the parts I currently have. I wasn't sure until last night what my old PC had in it.
Old PC
-Intel Core Duo E6750 2.67 GHz
-2 GB Ram
-Asus P5N E-SLI (I also have another Asus P5N32 AiLife board)
-Thermaltake 600W Pure Power AP
-Enermax Liberty modular PSU #ELT620AWT (spare)
-Nvidea 7900GT OC x2
I was half tempted to send back the stuff I just bought for the server and turn the Old PC into the Unraid but it also occurred to me that I can just purchase a case and make this one of the HTPC's - likely the living room one. Perhaps using a Silverstone type case? My only concern would be it is a ATX board rather than a mATX board. Also, the mobo doesn't have onboard video so I would have to add a card and I am unsure if the Nvidea card will clear a smaller case. And the CPU has a very large cooler master heatsink on it which would definitely need to be replaced with a smaller cooler.
For the kids room I would like to use an Antec ISK 110 case but am not quite sure yet what to place inside it. All it really needs to do is play videos from the main server but it might be nice to have a blu/dvd type player. For simplicity I think a basic video player would work.
Thoughts?
ATX Cases -
nMEDIAPC Black Aluminum / Acrylic / Steel HTPC 6000B ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - $73
LINK
LIAN LI Silver Aluminum PC-C60A ATX - 25% off until tomorrow makes it roughly $130
LINK
APEVIA Black / Silver SECC Steel - $70 / $50 after rebate
LINK
SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum / Steel Lascala Series - $130
LINK
APEVIA Black SECC Steel / Aluminum X-MASTER-BK/500 - $70 / $55 after rebate
LINK
Would like to keep it under $100 and also have it be wife approved.
go lianli, you will need a noise canceling case with that hardware...
(2012-10-25, 20:45)RaggSokk3n Wrote: [ -> ]go lianli, you will need a noise canceling case with that hardware...
Or I could get a cheaper case and just upgrade the mobo + CPU?
It would nearly be the same price I think either way. Which is better?
Why not just use your old PC for unraid and then get all new h/w for your HTPC?
(2012-10-26, 01:07)wsume99 Wrote: [ -> ]Why not just use your old PC for unraid and then get all new h/w for your HTPC?
My ignorance?
I was unsure if my old PC would be a good candidate to be left on 24/7 and I am unsure if what I purchased for the unraid would work in the HTPC box. If I am going to move forward with the Lianli box I have until tomorrow. I'm still undecided.
I am going to go play tonight and install OpenElec 2.0 on the Old PC. My plan is to remove the current hard drives and install it on a USB stick so I can see how it works on that machine.
Well here is what I decided on.
Unraid Server:
Case: Using my old case - I'll post photos later.
Mobo: ASRock A785GM-LE - $66
CPU: AMD Sempron 145 - $39
Mem: Kingston ValueRAM 2 GB (1x2 GB Module) 1333MHz DDR3 - $25
PSU - Antec NEO ECO 520W 80 PLUS Certified - $47 (thought about using one of my old ones but decide to buy a new one)
Total without hdd's = $177
hdd's and unraid license
Purchased (2) 2TB WD Green drives for $89 ea, (1) OCZ Vertex 3 SSD 128gb for $90 = $268
Will use another 2TB WD green drive I have already along with some other drives laying around
Unraid Pro license: $119
Total: $387
Unraid server total of all: $564
I also needed to upgrade my network so I purchased a Trendnet 8port Gigabit Switch for only $25 new on Amazon.
I am also building my first dedicated HTPC and decided to go with the uber cheap model. This will likely be the build for our kids room. I will use this experience to decide how to go about building one for the living room.
Minimal HTPC build (copied from another XBMC post
Case: APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W $46
Mobo: ECS H61H2-M2(1.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $50 (w/$15 rebate) = $35
CPU: Intel Celeron G530 - $49
Mem: G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 - $20
OS: openelec (free)
usb stick: reusing = free
Total (including rebate): $150
Also, decided to give my old PC to my mother in law. I bought a cheap case on Newegg for about $20 ($30 with shipping).
(2012-10-30, 21:15)oxymoron Wrote: [ -> ]Minimal HTPC build (copied from another XBMC post
Case: APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W $46
Mobo: ECS H61H2-M2(1.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $50 (w/$15 rebate) = $35
CPU: Intel Celeron G530 - $49
Mem: G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 - $20
OS: openelec (free)
usb stick: reusing = free
Total (including rebate): $150
Unless I missed something, you have a Micro ATX mobo and Mini-ITX case.
(2012-10-30, 21:51)RealDealNeil Wrote: [ -> ] (2012-10-30, 21:15)oxymoron Wrote: [ -> ]Minimal HTPC build (copied from another XBMC post
Case: APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W $46
Mobo: ECS H61H2-M2(1.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $50 (w/$15 rebate) = $35
CPU: Intel Celeron G530 - $49
Mem: G.SKILL NS 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 - $20
OS: openelec (free)
usb stick: reusing = free
Total (including rebate): $150
Unless I missed something, you have a Micro ATX mobo and Mini-ITX case.
Doh! Yeah the build was supposed to be: APEX DM-318 Black Steel - $40
Well, I just ordered that and I can/will use the Mi-008 for my living room build when i get to that.
Built the server last night and had two problems. First was I purchased the incorrect RAM but luckily I had extra DDR2 from prior builds. Then I was having issues booting and found from researching online that it is likely a memory problem. I performed a memtest and the memory was failing all over the place. I was able to take a stick out and get the system running. Since I already precleared the discs on my old pc the rest went fairly smooth. I ordered more memory today from Newegg.
(2012-10-31, 18:48)oxymoron Wrote: [ -> ]Built the server last night and had two problems. First was I purchased the incorrect RAM but luckily I had extra DDR2 from prior builds. Then I was having issues booting and found from researching online that it is likely a memory problem. I performed a memtest and the memory was failing all over the place. I was able to take a stick out and get the system running. Since I already precleared the discs on my old pc the rest went fairly smooth. I ordered more memory today from Newegg.
I am thinking about building a low cost system using this motherboard as it basically has everything I need. I just wanted to take a second to see how yours worked out. At the price for the motherboard, it makes me nervous it will perform well. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.
(2012-11-18, 18:37)FNwoz Wrote: [ -> ] (2012-10-31, 18:48)oxymoron Wrote: [ -> ]Built the server last night and had two problems. First was I purchased the incorrect RAM but luckily I had extra DDR2 from prior builds. Then I was having issues booting and found from researching online that it is likely a memory problem. I performed a memtest and the memory was failing all over the place. I was able to take a stick out and get the system running. Since I already precleared the discs on my old pc the rest went fairly smooth. I ordered more memory today from Newegg.
I am thinking about building a low cost system using this motherboard as it basically has everything I need. I just wanted to take a second to see how yours worked out. At the price for the motherboard, it makes me nervous it will perform well. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.
The system for the unraid server has been running fine without a hitch. I used to build gaming rigs that sounded like an airplane and I can barely hear this one at all. I have zero complaints.
I was going to ask how people hook more than 6 drives since the power supply has 6 SATA and 6 IDE but then I decided to search for adapters and found these:
IDE / SATA Adapter
Also, to update my post I ended up building two HTPC's. The one I mentioned in my post but I used an APEX DM-318 case. It is a lot bigger than I thought it would be but it works. I am only having it boot from a flash drive and using openelec. Once I finally figure out how to get mysql and the thumbnails working I'll feel better about the build but right now it works and my wife can watch movies so she is happy.
2nd HTPC:
Case: APEX MI-008 Black Steel Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 250W $46
Intel Core i3-3225 - $130
AS Rock LGA1155 DDR3 SATA3 USB3.0 A GbE Mini-ITX Motherboard Z77E-ITX - $150
4 GB Crucial memory (used from another bulid)
128GB OCZ Vertex 3 SSD - $80
I was a little surprised at how everything is crammed in the 2nd HTPC but I love how small it is and how fast it boots! It booted in 6-7 seconds. I didn't like how hot it was at idle with stock cooler (I think it got up to 60 Celsius) so I shoved a 120 fan on the side and it fits and cooled it down by 10 Celsius. Other than building it I haven't had much time to do anything else. I am thinking about putting windows 8 on it and using it to not only watch movies but to also play games, etc.
I also purchased a bluetooth dongle and am waiting for Rosewill Windows Vista Certified Media center Infrared Remote Control. I am hopeful I can get the 2nd HTPC to turn on from the remote from other posts I have read. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out how to get the Dolphin emulator running on my main PC. Lots to do!