Thoughts on cheap HTPC/VMware/NAS PC

[JustMe21]

I was looking a putting together a relatively low cost, low power system that I could use for training on VMware, then later use as an HTPC or a NAS. Let me know what you think. I'm still deciding which drive to go for, but these components were my main concern.

CPU - AMD A8-7600 - $91.99. It's a quad core, can run at 45W @ 3.1 GHz, and will allow IOMMU. Intel requies an i5 to enable IOMMU for virtualization.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113371

Motherboard - ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ FM2+ - $93.99. Supports IOMMU and has the Realtek ALC1150 audio chip for HTPC purposes. Granted, not as good as the ALC898 chip, but better than most other ITX MBs which only offer the 892 or less chip. Supports RAID 0/1/5/10. Also, ITX board for HTPC purposes.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157464

NIC - Intel Gigabit CT adapter - $32.99. VMware doesn't work with Realtek or Atheros NICs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106033

Memory - Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 2 x 8 GB DDR3L 1600 RAM - $92.99. Low power RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226693

Power Supply - SeaSonic SSR-360GP 360W PS - $64.99. 80 Plus Gold and semi modular. Also, check out the review of the PSU from Hardware Secrets
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/seasonic-g-360-power-supply-review/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151117

Case - Cooler Master Elite 110 - $39.99. ITX case that can fit 3 x 3.5" hard drives so you can do at least RAID-5, yet is 8.2" x 11.1" x 10.3"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119299

 

[piasabird]

Wait till you try to route all the wires inside that case! I think this case looks cute and all but be careful. What kind of drives you plan on using? Does this require hard drives or SSD or what?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Looks okay. I'm lazy enough that I'd probably throw that all in a mATX minitower just to have more drive bays. Cramming 3x 3.5" drives in that case might be supported, but... wow, it'll be a tight squeeze.

The other option would be a used tower server / workstation kinda thing. Those usually are better quality / cheaper, depending. Make excellent ESX hosts and NAS, but a little ugly for the living room.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Thin...ntel-Xeon-E3-4GB-DDR3-500GB-HDD-/291140796467

I'm a little gunshy because I've had some bad experiences when trying to get 24/7 reliability from budget consumer parts.

 

[JustMe21]

I haven't tried it yet, but 2 of the 3.5" hard drives would go on the side of the case where the PCI-E slots are and the other hard drive would go in upside down above the PCI-E slots. The cables would all be bundled together right in front of the PSU and supported by the hard drive bracket and Velcro. The case is vented on the sides and top, with a 120mm fan in the front, so I would probably go with 3 x 4-6 TB 5900 RPM hard drives for when I do a NAS and just an SSD for testing VMware and for an HTPC.

While the parts are cheap in price, the quality of the parts doesn't seem bad. Plus, with keeping the thermals low and using an 80+ Gold PSU, that should help it life expectancy.