Quiet/Low Power PC/Server

[Minjin]

Hi guys,

I want to build a home file server (to transfer files both ways on the net and at home between PCs and HTPC) that is both quiet and as energy efficient as possible. I don't think I need much in the way of speed. I'm guessing that the best place to put money would be in the harddrive because that would be the bottleneck on a home network. Keep in mind that I also want to do it as cheaply as possible. I was thinking along the lines of picking up an old laptop with a broken display off of ebay, upgrading the ram and harddrive, and putting it all in a larger box with bigger (quieter fans). If at all possible, I'd like to go fanless.

Any ideas on this? I know this is the opposite of what most of you guys do. I really don't think I need much in the way of processor speed to keep it from being a bottleneck. So, I'd think that a quiet and frugal server should be attainable.

I welcome any insights or comments.

Mark

 

[imported_itr]

look for about a 300mhz p2 on ebay. then upgrade the hdd if it isn't sufficient.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Mac Mini. Use some larger external USB/Firewire drives for storage.
*-ITX from VIA. Probably more expensive than the Mini.

 

[ribbon13]

The bottleneck on a home network is going to be the network... most people use a 10/100 switch at most. Got gigabit?

 

[imported_Kensai]

That should work out, but if you want to spend a bit more, get a m-ATX board based upon the Intel 855 chipset and grab yourself a ULV Pentium M with a max TDP of 7W (Somewhere around that), and a 2.5" HD. Use a temporary optical drive to install your operating system and there you o. (That's assuming you've got DDR266/PC2100 or higher lying around.)

 

[imported_itr]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
Quiet and energy efficient as possible == Seasonic PSU

he wants this to be as cheap as possible.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Mac Mini. Use some larger external USB/Firewire drives for storage.
*-ITX from VIA. Probably more expensive than the Mini.

If you want truly fanless, VIA's the only way to go. Not as expensive as the Mini, but still pricey.

I say pick up an old S370 board - any Celeron/P3 can be run fanless with a modern cooler and ambient airflow - then just concern yourself with a case that has enough bays and cooling for your drive desires.

Yeah, external Firewire and kooky solutions like that look cool, but the tab runs up. Fast.

- M4H

 

[Tiamat]

Well, just to give you an idea, not something you might want to invest in as there are other less pricy possibilities...

I plan on underclocking my 1800+ to 1.0ghz and 1.0V on my NF7-S and getting an SI-97 and try to run it passive with a rear 120mm fan. If it gets to hot, then, i would put a 5V 92mm Panaflo M1BX on it. and just have the psu as exhaust. Maybe a 7V panaflo 80mm as spot cooling for 1 hdd.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Mac Mini. Use some larger external USB/Firewire drives for storage.
*-ITX from VIA. Probably more expensive than the Mini.

If you want truly fanless, VIA's the only way to go. Not as expensive as the Mini, but still pricey.

The worthwhile VIAs are expensive. You're looking at $100USD+ for the motherboard. You still need RAM, a hard drive, case, PSU, etc.

Yeah, external Firewire and kooky solutions like that look cool, but the tab runs up. Fast.

- M4H

There are instructions to pop'em open out there.

 

[Minjin]

Thanks for the ideas, guys. With current spare parts, I've thought about doing something similar to one of the above suggestions.

ABIT KR7A-133 RAID (already installed a passive northbridge heatsink)
my good 1700+ B core that I had up to nearly 2.6 gig.
pc2700 ram since you can't take fsb over about 150.

Then seeing how high she will go with minimum Vcore. Maybe splurge on a Zalman flower heatsink...

But I recall that the KR7A was fairly power hungry. I'll have to give it a try and see what happens. I have a Kill-A-Watt, which is a device that measures power consumption so I can do direct comparisons.

Oh, and when I said that the harddrive was the bottleneck, I figured that if we accept the standard 10/100 as a constant, the next bottleneck would be the drive. I'm certainly not splurging on gigabit nor do I think I'd see any real gains in doing so. Anything faster than the speed needed to stream a DVD image would be a waste.

Thanks again, guys. I'll keep an eye out for some of the recommendations.

Mark