Case: LIAN LI PC-Q08B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case HDDs (x2): Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR1066D3K2/2GR Mobo: ASUS AT3IONT-I Intel Atom 330 PBGA437 NVIDIA ION Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo Looking at building a home NAS that's capable of streaming 1080p+ video over Gigabit Ethernet, running Jumbo Frames for file transfer, iSCSI for 'local' file sharing, RAID 1 mirroring for a bit of redundancy, and the possibility to be used as HTPC at the same time. I've pretty much got everything picked out side a boot drive, though I'm interested to know if anyone has any suggestions for other hardware? I'm more concerned with low-power than initial price (basically price over time vs. up front cost), so I went with a dual-core Atom setup + ION which should be capable of running 1080p as an HTPC server without any issues while still keeping the power footprint low. My main concern for efficiency is the PSU since it won't hit the optimal wattage for efficiency, though there's very few PSU's that are lower-rated at the ATX size rating. Not sure how much of an effect it will have overall... For the RAM, I went with 2GB since it's cheap, and I don't think I'll need more than that for both HTPC and NAS running together. Any experience to prove otherwise is welcome. Most of the LARGE (backup) file transferring will be done at night when the HTPC portion is out of use, so I'm not too concerned with the Atom being enough power to serve dual purposes (especially considering the ION platform will be doing the decoding for the HD video content, and not the CPU). I also don't see built-in RAID 1 using too many CPU cycles when transferring since it's just mirroring, however again any experience to prove otherwise is welcome. Quiet setup is also important, hence the passive motherboard combo. The only moving parts will be the fans and the hard drives. I'm open to other case suggestions as well, though I do not want to go smaller than 120mm fans for noise reasons. Also open to suggestions for OS, as I've not decided one way or another on Linux or Windows. I'm familiar with both, but most Linux distro's are free, so it's a definite option using XBMC as a front-end for media. Thanks in advance.
For the OS I'd recommend Windows 7, certain features of XBMC (like most of the visualisations which use DirectX) aren't available on the Linux version.
personally i would throw Win7 on there just to make migration of files easier. If your streaming stuff then the atom is more than capable, and the ION makes for an interesting low power HTPC, having said that i've been having nothing but nightmares with enabling GPU acceleration with blue-ray software.
Might have to take a look at Win 7 then... Next question, since the board is only capable of a max of 4GB of RAM, do I go for the 32 or 64 bit version? I know the Atom can handle the 64 bit instruction, but what's going to be the better choice... (Oh, and 2GB of RAM or 4GB of RAM?) Also, I'll probably end up using MPC-HC for playing video files... I rip all of my Blu-ray and DVD videos to my HDD then convert them to MKV files for playing. I haven't had any issues with MPC-HC not being able to use video acceleration. I would like a nicer front-end, though it's easy enough to add a Bluetooth dongle and sync my PS3's Logitech combo keyboard / touchpad to it in place of a remote of some sort.
The retail disc has both versions I believe. Go for 64bit, I can't think of any disadvantages, with vista I had problems, but 64bit Windows has been a dream =). I should think 2GB would be plenty and you can always upgrade later and make use of the full 4GB.
I never buy the Retail version of the OS, only the OEM version. I guess if there aren't any disadvantages I'll go for the 64-bit version. Just toyed around a bit more with XBMC, and it looks like it should play all of my re-encoded Blu-ray and DVD files without any issues. Sweet!
Alright, one more question... After looking a bit, it seems I can pick up an i3 and a Gigabyte motherboard for about $75 more total than the Atom + ION setup. Would it be worth the upgrade to the i3 with the integrated graphics, if for nothing else other than futureproofing? Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard CPU: Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3530 Should be able to undervolt the processor without any issues to bring the power use down (albeit not to the Atom level), and the motherboard has USB 3.0 for possible external drive additions in the future (along with an eSATA which the Atom board is missing)... Seems like a better solution in the long run. Opinions?
It could be because you mentioned the f-word . If you want to future proof you should wait till sandybridge arrives and either buy a new system then or wait until the price of i3 / i5 drop. From what you said you want the system to do then the atom/ion system will be fine .
Sandybridge is a waste for an HTPC, and my desktop won't need a refresh for quite some time. The price of the i3 setup total is only $75 more than the Atom for a considerable performance increase... I just can't make up my mind whether it would be worth the increased power draw and initial cost over the life of the setup to go for the i3 over the Atom. I know the i3 will be able to run any future OS's, though I have my doubts about the Atom... Dunno, just looking for reinforcement either way.
I'll throw in a vote for win7 x64 with xbmc for front end - mainly as that's exactly what I run I've tried a few media front ends and so far nothing come close to what I get from my xbmc setup.
Hi Late to this one, Win 7 MCE, 64 bit & MyMovies. 4Gb Ram & Liteon Blu Ray drive. Mine ticks along just fine. I use thegreenbutton.com which is very good for all things HTPC, you may get more response there. (I'd post on both) Bit tech seems more tech based. Seen polls pointing to sagetv, but not used it.
Win7 seems like overkill for this. One of the lightweight linux distros may be a batter choice. All you really need is a very thin OS.
I've already decided on Win 7 and XBMC. Don't need a Blu-ray drive in the system (though I may pick one up anyway) as my desktop and PS3 are both capable of playing / ripping them. Linux was an idea, though honestly for daily ease-of-use I'll just stick with Windows. If I was JUST running a NAS, I would definitely go for a Linux distro. I've already had those decisions settled, though I appreciate the help! My only concern right now, is whether I should stick with the dual-core Atom, or move to the i3 setup... The i3 has more features and would certainly be more future-proof than the Atom, though I dunno if the extra power cost and initial cost are worth the extra features. So basically, Atom or i3 for the setup... Planning on using on-chip GPU processing on the i3 if I go that route. The Atom is using an nVidia ION setup.
How about a Sempron 140 + the Asus 880G mini-itx board? Better performance than the Atom, possible dual core, easily undervolted, similar price..
I would seriously look at MyMovies. As for hardware, I'm using the coolest quietest I could find. If you dont need the CPU power for HD tv output, adn you're not gaming why do you need it?
Semperon 140 is a single core... Here's what I'd have to do for a dual core setup. Mobo: ASUS M4A88T-I Deluxe AM3 AMD 880G USB 3.0 HDMI Mini ITX AMD Motherboard Proc: AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor ADX245OCGQBOX I'd prefer the 'e' series processor since they're 45W instead of 65W, but then I'd be in the i3 price range again. Plus, I get the feeling the total TDP of the 45W Athlon + the integrated HD 4250 in the motherboard is going to be similar to the 73W the i3 + integrated GPU has, while the i3 has much better performance. So then it's back to square one... Do I go for the higher power use and cheaper initial cost by way of Athlon II X2, or slightly higher initial cost with the Athlon II X2 'e' series for lower power use, or slightly higher still initial cost with the i3 using roughly the same power as the previous with better performance and future-proofing needs? I've pretty much ruled the Atom out at this point... I've looked at MyMovies. While all of the extra features are well and good, they're useless in my case. On top of that, I don't like their points system. If I'm going to use a program, let me buy it once or give it to me free (ala XBMC). My HTPC system is also my NAS system in this case, so I won't need the ripping and transferring capabilities... All I need the system to do, is play the videos. I use my desktop (workhorse) to convert DVDs and Blu-ray movies to MKV format. After I convert them, it's easy to just transfer them over to the HTPC. The system isn't just going to be used for playing videos. File transferring uses CPU, as does running a RAID array without having a dedicated card. So when you get into watching HD videos while transferring some gigabytes worth of data over to the RAID array all at the same time, I don't want any hiccups. Plus, as I said I would like something that can easily run future OS's and programs. PLUS, I can undervolt and underclock the processor (whichever one I end up going with) for lower power use and heat (and noise). If I run into a case where I need that bit extra power, I can raise the speeds back up without overclocking.
Not G6950? Cheaper than the i3 by $10 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116283 You can underclock/volt both to drop their power btw. I've had an i5 Clarkdale running at 1V/2GHz. Check with boards have profile saving for "low power" and "OC" - I think ASUS does with its TPU. That means if you need the grunt it's just a button to click on the desktop.
