Well, the old Dell Vostro 220 mini tower I was using as my first Unraid server is finally getting replaced. It did pretty good for 3 years, but it only holds 4 drives, and I'm tired of deleting TV episodes weekly to make more room. Plus, I'd like to try a cache drive.

 

My goal is low power, low heat, budget-minded, but upgradeable.

 

Here's what I've put together quickly tonight:

 

CASE:  Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer  -  $95 - $25  MIR @ Newegg:

http://tinyurl.com/236jga

 

PSU:  CORSAIR CX430 430W ATX12V  -  $45 - $20 MIR @ Newegg:

http://tinyurl.com/3asm3a2

 

MOBO:  MSI 970A-G43 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD  -  $67 @ Amazon:

http://tinyurl.com/o4o236l

 

NIC:  Rosewill RC-404 Ethernet Card 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps  -  $8 @ Newegg:

http://tinyurl.com/nb8cdmr

 

CPU:  AMD Sempron 145 2.8GHz Socket AM3  -  $38 @ SuperBiiz:

http://tinyurl.com/q5xth7w

 

RAM:  G.SKILL NS 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM  -  $25 @ Newegg:

http://tinyurl.com/2faa4cg

 

I will just use HDDs I already have until I get closer too running out of space. Then I'll start watching the sales for 3 or 4TB drives. I currently have:

 

A 2TB Seagate Green as my parity drive.

2 X 2TB Seagate Green for data.

2 X 2TB WD Green for data.

2 X 1TB WD Green for data.

1 X 120GB Fujitsu 7200RPM 2.5" for a cache drive. (from a Dell laptop that got upgraded with a SSD). I don't typically write more than 100GB per day, so this should suffice until I decide to spend some coin on a SSD (right??). 

 

Please let me know what you think of this budget build. It will cost me $278 out of pocket, with $45 coming back in mail-in rebates.

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Hopefully you can help me remember before I order everything. 

 

I will be using this to store and stream mostly movies & some TV. I also use it as a backup of pictures, home videos, and documents that are stored on my office PC.

 

Addons I use with Unraid now are SABnzbd, Couch Potato, SickBeard. I plan to use MySQL at some point, and maybe Crashplan. I could always spend an extra $15-$20 for a second 2GB stick of memory if 2GB isn't enough for the addons. I believe the unraid wiki says to get 1GB for Unraid, 2GB if you plan on running addons.

 

Thanks for looking!! 

 

Matt

(a)  You don't need a NIC card => the motherboard has a Gb NIC that's supported by UnRAID

 

(b)  With the add-ons you're planning to run, that's a very low-end CPU.  If you want to stay with that motherboard, step up to something like this:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103911    It's got ~ 4 times the CPU "horsepower" as the Sempron you listed.

 

©  Ditto the RAM.  With the add-ons you plan to run, more is better ... and with UnRAID moving towards 64-bits the add-ons will only get more "memory hungry".    I'd get a pair of 4GB modules (8GB total) ... which should last you well into the future.

 

(d)  I'm not a fan of the CX series Corsairs -- the TX and HX are FAR better.  But it's certainly a bargain price -- so with your modest power needs it should be okay.

 

Hey Gary,

 

According to the wiki, the Realtek 8111E has some issues with Unraid:

 

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Hardware_Compatibility#Network_Interface_Controllers

 

 

Also, I thought Unraid only used one core of the CPU. My thought on the Sempron was low power/heat. I guess I could spend the extra $32 just to be safe, though.

 

As far as RAM, I'll just get 2 X 2GB for now. I can always add 4GB later if necessary.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, Gary!! 

 

Matt

 

2 x 2GB is fine for the RAM.  I think you'll be a lot happier with the level of performance that will provide.    It's not necessary for core UnRAID, but you're planning on running several add-ons that will do much better with a bit of RAM "headroom."

 

Linux supports multiple cores, so the processing load will be distributed among the cores.  Not sure if UnRAID generates multiple threads, but the add-ons you're using will definitely use your additional cores.

 

I've decided to change my motherboard, CPU & RAM. This Gigabyte board has 8 Sata III ports, so I can install every drive I have without needing a Sata card yet.

 

MOBO:  GIGABYTE GA-F2A85XM-D3H  -  $80 - $10 MIR at Tigerdirect:

http://tinyurl.com/ok7zros

 

CPU:  AMD A6-5400K  -  $60 @ Amazon:

http://tinyurl.com/nuz75ej

 

RAM:  G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB)  -  $40 @ Newegg:

http://tinyurl.com/cnzhful

 

Also, I won't need the NIC, as this motherboard doesn't seem to have the dreaded Realtek 8111E.

 

This will bring my total to $320 (or $265 after MIR)

 

Not bad for a budget build, huh?

 

Nice build for the price -- and a much better CPU than you had originally planned.

 

I just got this case to move my current unraid server into. (looks out of stock right now though)

 

What i really liked about it (besides it being 20% off AND a $20 GC back) is that it holds six hdds, sideways (much easier to get in and out if needed) and it even has 2 more spots for 2.5" hdds (my recycled ssd that I use as cache). It also has 3 5.25" bays to add in another 5in3 caddy down the road. It also came with two big fans blowing right on my hdds, so that they stay cooler than in my old case.

 

WIth the sale, i ended up at $35 for the case after rebates. Just thought you'd like to see another possible case option.

 

Looks good so far, i'm still rocking my GB board with a c2d on it

I finally pulled the trigger!! It was tough today. Lots of items were selling out quick. I ended up really skimping on my case, so I could afford better parts. Here's what I settled on. It cost me about $287 out of pocket, and hopefully I'll be getting $40 back in the mail:

 

CASE:  Rosewill LINE GLOW ATX Mid Tower Computer Case  --  $39.99 - $20 MIR @ Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147170

 

PSU:  CORSAIR CX500  --  $44.99 - $20 MIR @ Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027

 

MOBO:  GIGABYTE GA-F2A85XM-D3H Socket FM2 Motherboard  --  $84.99 @ TigerDirect:

http://tinyurl.com/kd25w2a

 

CPU:  AMD A6-5400K  Dual Core 3.6GHz  --  $49.99 @ TigerDirect:

http://tinyurl.com/l6t8all

 

RAM:  G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)  --  $67.99 (after 15% off promo) @ Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231455

 

 

I also saved an additional $20 at TigerDirect by spending over $100 and checking out with V.me.

 

I'm not too picky about the case. I don't tinker much after initially setting everything up anyway. The case has 8 internal 3.5", which means I can install every drive I have without buying any adapter brackets. Down the road as I need more space, I'll get a "5 in 3" to expand my storage. The included fans in the case seem like they'll keep everything cool enough inside. All my drives are green, and the CPU is only 65W.

 

All in all, I'm happy with the choices. I bought some SATA cables, and a couple molex to sata adapters for a total of $13.

 

Not bad for under $250 when it's all said and done. 

 

I'll take some pics, and report back with internal temps, etc.

 

Thanks again to Gary for the pointers! In the end, I took his advice and went with 8GB of RAM. I'll have to wait until the next big sale to upgrade my cache drive to a SSD!! 

 

Thanks,

Matt

...nice parts....looks like you did a good deal digging this up.

 

Here's an alternative based on intel 1155 socket:

 

mobo: ASRock B75M R2.0 -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157356  @ USD65.00

CPU: Intel Pentium G2020 Ivy Bridge 2.9GHz -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116886 @ USD68.00

 

The mobo also has 8 S-ATA ports confirmed to go with unRAID and the CPU will idle a bit lower at slightly better performance than the AMD, I think.

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Pentium-G2020-vs-AMD-A6-5400K

 

Definitely a nice build for < $250 

 

I tend to be a bit less price sensitive, but it's always neat to see just how low you can go (you're too young to remember Chubby Checker and the Limbo  )