Home server build advice

[JohnnyTX]

I am ready to build my home server and I have the following "spare parts". I am looking for advice on what combination to use for a home file and media server. Whatever I don't use will go towards rebuilding my HTPC.

Mother boards
Biostar A880G+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138283

ECS A880GM-M7 V2.0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135278

Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128566

Processors
AMD Athlon II X2 255 Regor 3.1GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103896

AMD Phenom II x4 640 Propus 3.0GHZ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103871

AMD A8-5600K Trinity 3.6GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113281

Thanks in advance

 

[Dangman]

Well scratch off the Gigabyte and AMD A8-5600K as those are far more suitable for a HTPC than a server. Out of the two remaining mobos, I'd go with the ECS for the file server since it has six SATA ports which means more drives in the server. Now for the CPU, that's largely dependent on what you're going to be using the server for. If you're planning on doing any kind of re-encoding, transcoding, using ZFS, any kind of software RAID, or running multiple VMs, go for the AMD Athlon II X4 640. Otheriwse, the AMD Athlon II X2 255 will be fine for file storage.