New build requirements

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Dannywallace

n00b
Joined
May 29, 2011
Messages
10
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
My current PC's HDD capacity is completely maxed out so I need to build a new rig to cater for ~8-10 HDD's which will act to store my media which will be used to stream to my HTPC running XBMC over a gigabit network.

I plan to run Windows Home Server 2011 on it and stream 1080p across the network but have low running costs as I will still have a desktop PC and macbook hitting into my electricity bill. I'm not looking for too complicated a setup and think this approach will suit my needs although I'm not sure if I have to access WHS remotely or can use my existing monitors in conjunction with my desktop AND macbook which also uses the dual screens. I was originally planning to replace my desktop with this new setup but reading around and seeing a posters reply it seems a more sensible approach to split the desktop/file server duties across multiple setups.

I've tried reading a number of threads about what to get including Danny Bui's post here http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1674047&highlight=build but couldn't seem to locate all the parts for the UK and someone may be able to supply something more accurate for my requirments which I've posted above

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Approx. £300-£500 including tax and shipping (say $500- $800). If it goes slightly over so as to have a better rig then go for it but no more than than £100 ($150) over. Don't worry about including HDD's or O/S in this as I can cater for those seperately.

3) Where do you live?
UK but if you can only use American sites to show parts no problem. I plan to use any UK site for purchasing if they can supply the hardware.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

All hardware (i.e. case/PSU/motherboard/CPU etc) except HDD's / O/S, monitor/keyboard/mouse.

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

All HDD's will be transferred across to new rig.


6) Will you be overclocking?
No

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
2 x 22inch widescreen

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
As soon as possible as my HDD's can't handle anymore space!

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.

A modern board with features such as USB 3.0 would be preferable.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I have a 32bit Vista or 64bit Windows 7 Home Premium .. Windows 7 will be used in this new setup.

Thanks in advance if you can help in any way
 
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Have you thought about separating the rolls of file server and desktop PC?

Low power motherboards with lots of SATA ports are available. I'm using this for my file server, and had really good luck. It has a PCI-E slot so it should accept a number of different expansion cards; you won't find a single motherboard that takes more than 6 hard drives usually, without using marvell ports.

The whole file server for me cost less than $300 minus drives, and includes a nice antec case and power supply, this motherboard and memory.
 
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As I stated in my original post, I was concerned about having 2 pc's (desktop + file server) running due to the cost .. If you believe that this approch won't actually cost that much more I am happy to hear options, especially if it does mean I could keep my original rig (which I do like) and then have a low cost effective file server which would be a cheaper option than buying a multi-purpose PC ..
 
Would an external enclosure work?
I just searched newegg and there are several 8-bay enclosures.

Just determine:
Drive type: Sata or Sata+SAS
Interface: USB 3.0 (don't use 2.0), esata, or SAS
Raid?: Hardware, Software, JBOD
 
Dannywallace said:
As I stated in my original post, I was concerned about having 2 pc's (desktop + file server) running due to the cost .. If you believe that this approch won't actually cost that much more I am happy to hear options, especially if it does mean I could keep my original rig (which I do like) and then have a low cost effective file server which would be a cheaper option than buying a multi-purpose PC ..
Click to expand...

You can do an entire file server for under $500 without any fancy RAID controllers. Single disks formatted in NTFS is simple and easy to recover from should you have a disk failure; replace failed disk and restore from backups, and good backups are key to this being successful; there isn't much else to fall back on. Any other single component is relatively cheap to replace if it fails as well.

I would say if you want to leave your file server on 24/7 [like i do] you can avoid running a high end CPU/GPU when you want to watch videos and movies.

I would like to think my file server idles at 20-30w when not in use, and I've measured it to something in that range, making it costs just a few dollars a month to run.

Looking to do more than that you're opening a big can of worms. There are many different ways to approach your "problem", RAID arrays, ZFS, Linux software RAID, Disk pooling with various pieces of software.
 
Yeah a low power file server doesn't cost much to leave running 24/7. If you already have a desktop you are satisfied with, build the server to be cheap and low power. Leave it running. Put the desktop to sleep whenever you aren't using it. Will probably save money over a powerful 24/7 "on" desktop.

As mentioned, backups are the key to data problems.
 
Thanks guys these are all really useful replies. I plan to simply back everything up to external drives so don't need any fancy RAID setup and will keep all HDD's as seperate drives .. My drives are currently NTFS so think I will leave them as that for now ..

Based on the above decision to go with that approach can anyone recommend an entire hardware list to purchase? Think I will go ahead and purchase soon so I can finally start having some more HDD space available !! :)
 
How much disk space do you want, and do you have a preferred form factor? [ATX, mATX, mITX]
 
I currently have 4 x 2TB and 1 x 1TB ..

As I plan to have approx. 8-10 HDD's in total I plan to purchase another 2TB to keep me going for a while and then either some 3TB / 4TB once prices come down further.

I'm a complete n00b for what I would need re: motherboard / towers etc for all of those so have no idea what my preferred form factor would be !
 
Ok I didn't get any replies so have given some more thoughts by looking around at what may/may not work.

What do you guys think of the following build?

CPU - £45.68 Intel Pentium G620 2.6GHz Processor, Socket 1155, L3 3MB, Sandy Bridge, 32nm
Case - £35.98 NZXT Source 210 Elite
Motherboard - £99.98 Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard
PSU - £60.74 Antec 520W High Current Gamer PSU
RAM - £38.76 Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CL9 1.5V Non-ECC Unbuffered
SSD - £33.89 Kingston S50 SATA2 16GB 2.5 Solid State Drive

System will run WHS 2011. System will be on 24/7 acting as a media server streaming up to 1080p on gigabit network.

I will then load it with a number of 2TB drives which I have already or will purchase on top of this.

Is that everything I need? Do all the parts work together? Is it over/underpowered for my needs?

Thanks for your help if you can ! :)
 
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RAM wise, you don't need DDR3 1600 RAM for a server. You should be fine with cheaper DDR3 1333 RAM rated at 1.5V.

SSD wise, that SSD is fairly small, of low quality, and of low performance. In addition, the minimum hard drive size for a WHS 2011 install is 160GB. So use a regular hard drive for the boot drive.

CPU wise, I'd up the CPU to the Pentium G840 if you want to.

Besides that, looks good to me.
 
Well if you still want to go for a SSD, then go for the Crucial M4, Plextor m3, Intel 520, or Samsung 830 series SSDs if you want something reliable.
 
Thanks guys .. all starting to come together ! To make it simple I will swap the SSD for a normal HDD and have changed some of the parts as recommended ... see what you think and then I should hopefully be good to go ! :)

CPU - £45.68 Intel Pentium G620 2.6GHz Processor, Socket 1155, L3 3MB, Sandy Bridge, 32nm
Case - £35.98 NZXT Source 210 Elite
Motherboard - £99.98 Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard
PSU - £60.74 Antec 520W High Current Gamer PSU
RAM - £35.37 Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz XMS3 Memory Kit CL9 1.5V unbuffered
HDD - £54.69 WD 500GB Caviar Blue Hard Drive - 3.5" SATA-III 6Gb/s - 7200RPM 16MB Cache
 
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Hmm...it appears that the motherboard is out of stock. Are you planning on buying it elsewhere?
 
Oh dear .. looks like we took so long in getting to the decision its sold out !!

It looks like there is 1 left at ebuyer and some left with amazon .. is this the exact same version as the one sold out at overclockers?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0055057HG/ref=asc_df_B0055057HG7837260?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B0055057HG

http://www.ebuyer.com/271792-gigabyte-ga-z68xp-ud3-z68-socket-1155-onboard-hdmi-7-1-channel-audio-atx-motherboard-ga-z68xp-ud3
 
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I went ahead and purchased the motherboard and case as both were low in stock on the sites I was using.

One quick question about the PSU .. It says it has 6 x SATA connectors .. What do I need to do for it to support another 3-4 drives ? Do I need some sort of converter of some kind?
 
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