WHS First Timer Build

[Boobs McGee]

If you are using the WHS as intended you should not need a beefy cpu. Folks have set theirs up to do many different things though. If you were streaming hd video to say a ps3 then you would need to transcode and that might require more power. If you are just running backups, storing files and sharing them around the house you should be fine with a lesser cpu.

 

[UpstartXT]

Originally posted by: Boobs McGee
If you are using the WHS as intended you should not need a beefy cpu. Folks have set theirs up to do many different things though. If you were streaming hd video to say a ps3 then you would need to transcode and that might require more power. If you are just running backups, storing files and sharing them around the house you should be fine with a lesser cpu.

Again, the main use will be streaming HD video to a HTPC. Does this not require transcoding as it would to a PS3 (sorry for noob questions)?

 

[Boobs McGee]

No you should be ok. Lets say you are using vlc on your htpc to watch a movie. You would be accessing the file from a location on your whs, but the htpc would still to all the heavy lifting playing the video. Very little processor power is used to send a file across the network. When you are using a device like the ps3 or xbox 360 they need the video to come through in specific formats which usually require transcoding in order to play them. This method would require more cpu power to do the transcoding on the fly.

I have a single core A64 3800+ in my home server. I have yet to try transcoding a move to my ps3 with it though. In all other tasks though it does just fine.

 

[UpstartXT]

Originally posted by: Boobs McGee
No you should be ok. Lets say you are using vlc on your htpc to watch a movie. You would be accessing the file from a location on your whs, but the htpc would still to all the heavy lifting playing the video. Very little processor power is used to send a file across the network. When you are using a device like the ps3 or xbox 360 they need the video to come through in specific formats which usually require transcoding in order to play them. This method would require more cpu power to do the transcoding on the fly.

I have a single core A64 3800+ in my home server. I have yet to try transcoding a move to my ps3 with it though. In all other tasks though it does just fine.

Ohhh I understand now. Okay yes so you are right, for my application using HTPC the low power processor is a better choice because the HTPC will be the one doing the work (I will need to make sure my HTPC is beefy) and not the WHS machine.


Well I am going to go ahead and purchase this thing. Thanks to everyone who has replied, the advice was so helpful I am really happy (and underbudget) with what I am ending up with!

 

[UpstartXT]

Actually, sorry LOL, one last question. Let's assume I add two SATA controller cards and slap 15 hard drives in this thing, am I going to need a beefier power supply? I see this happening as I will be ripping Blu-Rays on a HTPC to a shared folder on my WHS machine in uncompressed form, so I will need a lot of HDs. Shouldn't I get a PSU with expansion room now instead of spending money twice?

 

[yh125d]

That PSU should be able to run your regular hardware plus 10 HD's no problem. The most any single HD would pull is probably 15w, during spin-up and seek. Unless you have all the drives spinning up at the same time it shouldn't be a problem


Although when you buy a new controller card, you might want to get one that supports staggered spin up if you plan on having that many drives

 

[UpstartXT]

Originally posted by: yh125d
That PSU should be able to run your regular hardware plus 10 HD's no problem. The most any single HD would pull is probably 15w, during spin-up and seek. Unless you have all the drives spinning up at the same time it shouldn't be a problem


Although when you buy a new controller card, you might want to get one that supports staggered spin up if you plan on having that many drives

Thank you very much! You have been unbelievably helpful! Next step is getting this baby up and running, and then on to a HTPC build!

 

[yh125d]

And as for the talk about the HTPC, it's not really that you need burly hardware to handle it, you just need to have the right hardware. An Athlon X2 II + 2gb ram + 4350 can handle 1080p playback perfectly. An AII X2 + 780g could also do it fine, but I prefer to recommend a 4350 for HTPC builds because it allows 7 channel LPCM pass through HDMI. And it's only an extra $30, so why the hell not


Alternate intel solutions would be an e2x00 + 2gb ram + geforce 9300/9400 mobo, or e2x00/ram/any motherboard + 4350

 

[UpstartXT]

Originally posted by: yh125d
And as for the talk about the HTPC, it's not really that you need burly hardware to handle it, you just need to have the right hardware. An Athlon X2 II + 2gb ram + 4350 can handle 1080p playback perfectly. An AII X2 + 780g could also do it fine, but I prefer to recommend a 4350 for HTPC builds because it allows 7 channel LPCM pass through HDMI. And it's only an extra $30, so why the hell not


Alternate intel solutions would be an e2x00 + 2gb ram + geforce 9300/9400 mobo, or e2x00/ram/any motherboard + 4350

Oh whoops, I just made a preliminary list and a new thread about it. I am wayyy over-specced then!

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2330471&enterthread=y

 

[yh125d]

Well if your HTPC is also your gaming rig as mentioned in your other thread, then yeah you would need beefier hardware