New WHS build - multi-purpose with heat/power concern

[mazeroth]

I would like to build a WHS box that will function as a one stop storage solution for all my ripped movies, music and pictures. It will be housed in a media closet outside of my theater room that will also include my HTPC, receiver, amp and Xbox 360. Thus, I would like it to be rather energy efficient and not put out a ton of heat. My current HTPC has an AMD 7750 dual-core that runs pretty damn hot. Plugging it in it idles around 110w with 780G onboard video and 3 hard drives. I am definitely going to be updating my HTPC but am not so sure I should reuse the mobo+processor in the WHS as it draws mucho power.

I live 15 minutes from Microcenter and they have some great bundles, like a motherboard and X2 560 BE for $89. While that CPU is overkill the combo is cheaper than an Atom or E350 that has 4+ SATA ports (going to run 3 internal HD's) so it would be hard for me to pay more for less. I'm curious as to how much less power that would draw than my 7750, which has a TDP of 95w. I'd even consider underclocking and undervolting it to draw less power and put out less heat.

So, I'm thinking I could sell the 7750 and ASRock board, put that into the X2 560 combo or something else that's better. THEN, take the X4 630 out of my main computer and put that into the HTPC. Then, either Sandy Bridge or Bulldozer for the main rig.

What do you guys think? Do the X2 560 combo or suck it up and pay a little more for an E350 that will definitely use a lot less power?

 

[Zap]

AMD Phenom™ II X2 Black model 560 has a TDP of 80W, so it will be a bit more efficient than the 7750.

Zacate has a TDP of 18W and that includes the IGP (basically Northbridge).

Look, it isn't just about cost, but about drawing less power (assuming your media closet is powered by one circuit) and creating less heat (always a good thing for a bunch of electronics crammed into a closet).

Right now (for maybe a few more days) Zacate is the only AMD part that is good at energy efficiency. For Intel, any socket 1155/1156 dual core would be very energy efficient.

You may want to wait a week or so because supposedly AMD's Llano comes out really soon. It is an APU like Zacate, but higher performance with both CPU and GPU part. I also expect it to be good at energy efficiency like Zacate, not as low TDP as Zacate but much lower than Athlon II/Phenom II.

 

[mazeroth]

Zap, thanks for the info! That helps me a lot.

On a totally unrelated note, well, not totally unrelated, about 2 minutes ago I just bought 24GB of DDR3 (PNY for $46/8GB after rebate), two 2TB Hitachi HD's ($59 each after rebate) and a Kingston V100+ 96GB SSD ($94 after rebate). I only intended on buying the hard drives for the new server. Son of a bitch!

 

[Darknite39]

The 24GB RAM wasn't for the media server, I hope.

 

[mazeroth]

The 24GB RAM wasn't for the media server, I hope.

Yes, the 24GB is for the media server. Is there a problem with that?

Kidding! I got in on the PNY 8GB for $46 deal so I bought 24GB of that to rebuild a few computers. Probably going to put 16GB into my new PC (waiting for Bulldozer to see how it performs) and 8GB into the new HTPC. The 96GB SSD will go into the main PC.

 

[mazeroth]

I got to thinking and thought of an alternative to the Atom and Zacate offerings. I have an HTPC that will not be used for ~6 months (building theater) that has the AMD 7750 power hog in it paired with this ASRock motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157149

I live close to Micro Center and they have the Sempron 140 on sale for $32.99. According to this review:

http://www.servethehome.com/amd-sempron-140-sargas-whs-review/

an idle system running Win7 runs at 31w with this chip, about the same as a dual core Atom setup. Checking on ebay I can fetch about $50 for my retail 7750 in used condition. Yeah, amazing. So, I sell that chip and get the lower power Sempron 140 and pocket about $10. Also, I have 2GB of DDR2 in that board so I won't need to buy any DDR3 for a new board.

Now, I do have one concern. I was pulling 100-110w at idle with that ASRock and the 7750. The numbers don't add up. Is it because it has a 780G chipset with onboard that it's pulling high numbers? Will this setup with Sempron 140 maybe only pull 20-30 watts less at idle? If I can keep it to 50-60w with 3 hard drives I'll be happy.

I needed to get rid of that 7750 setup anyhow as when the theater is complete my X4 630 is going into the HTPC and I'll be getting a Bulldozer or Ivy.

 

[mfenn]

The 7750 is a pretty hot chip, so I could imagine that it uses quite a bit of power even at idle. The 780G should be in the same ballpark as the 6150SE used in that review, so I'd expect that you can get close to 30W idle with no hard drives if you enable all the power saving features.

 

[mazeroth]

Any more input before I go and buy it early tomorrow morning? I have two young children and MC is a 45 minute drive. I got permission from the wifey to go early so if it's not going to be worth it please speak up.

Thanks again for all the input.