Totally confused on choosing system(s) to make everything more integrated

[crashtech]

Maybe there isn't as much of an advantage to the µATX as I thought. Pricing and availability is subtly different in the UK, which contradicts a bit of my US-centric price-performance knowledge.

I don't think the SSD is really critical here, and one with some room is expensive. 64GB is a bit small these days, imo, but whichever way you want, the price difference is not that steep.

 

[complexpcsetup]

It's a rip-off here in uk. If not an SSD, then I don't need a hard drive as I've got a 250gb hdd and I'll use that instead, saving me £35. The only reason I was going for an SSD was quick boot-up times, but I guess it's not that bad with normal 7200rpm drives - so total cost will be approx £270

Thanks to your dedication in helping me, this has solved the HTPC issue.

Next, I need help from you guys choosing or building a low wattage NAS that can smoothly handle 2 simultaneous 1080p movies.

1. I don't mind slightly older NAS, for example from ebay, if it means cheaper

2. I would like to have a NAS that runs 24/7 and uses very low power.

3. I don't mind building one if it means I get it cheaper, lower wattage or more power for my money.

4. The NAS can be any size as I'm going to hide it away in a cupboard.

 

[crashtech]

Do you have a budget for that?

 

[complexpcsetup]

Morning,

@ crashtech - After reading your question (Post #28) late last night, I began to think...I originally had a £550-£600 budget.

As the current pc build is already adding to almost £300, I only have £200 left from my £600 budget. I'm thinking, is it possible to reduce the PC costs further to a much more basic pc to help meet the costs of a building/buying a NAS? If necessary, I'm willing to buy a USED PC from ebay to save more money.

What can you suggest?

 

[crashtech]

Perhaps taking Cerb's advice would be best, to stay within the budget. This might mean switching to a larger HTPC (or other large case, depending on location) case and adding drives:

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/1BoOM

=NAS+HTPC

 

[complexpcsetup]

okay, your right mate...I guess I will have to compromise.

Thank you for the parts list. I have to be honest, but I don't like the idea of a HTPC acting also as a NAS as this would be problematic...kids would accidently turn it off or others will go and mess about with it. I want a NAS that is totally seperate to the kids pc as then I can keep it in my room.

I think first and foremost I need your help in building a separate NAS as this will then give me an idea as to how much I can spend on the PC, so what components can you recommend?

 

[aigomorla]

id keep the NAS + HTPC separate, unless u only intend to require the usage of the NAS when the HTPC is on...

And how many drives do you intend to house your digital library?
If its just 1 or 2 drives, maybe a consumer grade NAS might be your best solution.

If you see yourself wanting a larger NAS, building one is probably your best route, or you can look for a HP Microserver
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/proliant-servers/product-detail.html?oid=5336619#!tab=features

Load up more ram... add drives... install FreeNAS on a USB and you would have a pretty powerful NAS.


The DYO route would pobably cost almost the same... yet give u a more powerful processor.

 

[complexpcsetup]

Since this is my first NAS, 2 x 2tb at the most. In fact I was even thinking of 2 x 1tb.

I don't mind a consumer grade NAS, but if I could get more power for my money by building it, then I'd rather have that. Also I need it to handle at least two 1080p movies playing simultaneously as well as having reasonably low wattage.

Remember, I don't want to get overkill parts...just what can do the above.

 

[aigomorla]

well as i said if u dont need a complex NAS, then just look for a western digital or seagate 2 disk NAS.

However you will be limited to 2 disks.

the more expensive, but better quality will be to go qNAP style, or Synology NAS.
But those will cost as much as the microserver i listed.

The microserver route tho will give u fairly powerful NAS, if u want to take the time to learn software outside windows like FreeNAS or Openfiler.

So possibly its best to see how much of a budget u have together... and then allocate the HTPC machine first as its easier to get minimum of what you need, then dump the excess on the NAS.

 

[complexpcsetup]

Is your link the same spec as this one? :-
http://www.box.co.uk/HP_ProLiant_MicroServer_704941-421_N54L__1341681.html

A quick question. What is the HP Microserver like in terms of performance/power consumption, compared to this spec:-

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220T 2.8GHz Dual-Core Processor (£96.96 @ Dabs)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard (£73.94 @ Dabs)
Memory: G.Skill Value Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£25.00 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case (£26.40 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £222.30

 

[lehtv]

The i3-3220 is around two to two and a half times faster and consumes twice as much power.

 

[complexpcsetup]

Thanks for clarifying that lehtv, so what cpu is more closer to the HP Microserver?

I know you must be thinking why I'm asking, I'm just working out if it's better to build my own NAS that matches or exceeds the specs of the HP microserver, but still works out cheaper or same price or more.

Also I forgot to aigomoria if the microserver would be able to handle playing 2 1080p movies simultaneously without slowing down.

 

[mfenn]

Is your link the same spec as this one? :-
http://www.box.co.uk/HP_ProLiant_MicroServer_704941-421_N54L__1341681.html

A quick question. What is the HP Microserver like in terms of performance/power consumption, compared to this spec:-

CPU: Intel Core i3-3220T 2.8GHz Dual-Core Processor (£96.96 @ Dabs)
Motherboard: ASRock H77M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard (£73.94 @ Dabs)
Memory: G.Skill Value Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory (£25.00 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case (£26.40 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £222.30

It looks like the HP microserver is half that price after discounts, so that's a better deal. It can handle two 1080p streams at the same time no problem assuming they're in a reasonable compressed format like h.264 and not something huge like MPEG-2.