March 24, 201511 yr Hello all, Hopefully this is the correct area to post. I have been interested in building a NAS for a while now and have been researching recommended parts. Please find below my aims, current build idea and questions. Aims Store DVD/Blu-ray rips Store Music Stream to 1 or 2 devices via Plex Accessible from anywhere Sleep after inactivity WOL CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor (£52.78 @ Ebuyer) Motherboard: ASRock E3C226D2I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard (£177.94 @ Amazon UK) Memory: Kingston Technology ValueRam DDR3 1600 MHz ECC DIMM - 8 GB Memory Module w/ Thermal Sensor (£62.92) Storage: SanDisk SDCZ33-008G-B35 8GB Cruzer Fit USB 2.0 Flash Drive (£4.19) Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case (£62.76 @ Scan.co.uk) Power Supply: Silverstone Strider ST45SF-G 450W 80+ Gold SFX Modular Power Supply (£79.74 @ Scan.co.uk) OS: unRAID 6.0 Plus (£46.35 - converted price in dollars to pounds) Total: £486.68 Questions [*]Are there any glaringly obvious flaws in the build as it stands? [*]Would that PSU provide enough power once there are 6 HDDs? [*]What hard drives would you recommend? I am going to add more over time but initially plan to start with 2. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
March 24, 201511 yr In a mini-ITX case you'll have far better airflow if you use an SFX power supply. I'd use the Silverstone 450w SFX unit instead of the one you've listed. ... and yes, it has plenty of power for 6 hard drives. I'm a big fan of the WD Red series. Depending on how much total storage you're hoping to build up to, you could use either the 4TB or the 6TB drives. Unless the cost is outside your budget, I'd use the 6TB units.
March 24, 201511 yr In a mini-ITX case you'll have far better airflow if you use an SFX power supply. I'd use the Silverstone 450w SFX unit instead of the one you've listed. ... and yes, it has plenty of power for 6 hard drives. I'm a big fan of the WD Red series. Depending on how much total storage you're hoping to build up to, you could use either the 4TB or the 6TB drives. Unless the cost is outside your budget, I'd use the 6TB units. That's not true with the Node 304; intake fans are on top of the PSU, so they are not affected by an ATX PSU.
March 24, 201511 yr I'd still think filling the lower compartment (under the drives) with a full size ATX unit is a bad idea in terms of thermal flow. I've yet to see an ITX case that didn't "feel" much easier to work in with an SFX unit instead of an ATX supply. Most makers "say" their cases can accommodate ATX units, but they're REALLY tight fits in an ITX case. The Node 304, for example, requires ATX units no longer than 160mm ... and shorter if they're modular. So many units won't fit; and those that do are definitely going to be pretty tight with no space around them for additional airflow.
March 24, 201511 yr ... The Node 304, for example, requires ATX units no longer than 160mm ... and shorter if they're modular. So many units won't fit; and those that do are definitely going to be pretty tight with no space around them for additional airflow. This is true. The PSU may be no longer than 160mm (140mm if modular) IF you use a long GPU card. The airflow of this case is pretty simple; a huge 140mm fan in the rear for air outtake, and two 80mm fan for the air intake/hdd ventilation. A standard ATX PSU shouldn't have a determinant impact on that.
March 25, 201511 yr Author Thanks for the feedback. Comparing the width and height of the SFX PSUs to the ATX, would I need any sort of adapter to fit it into the case? Edit: Just seen that it comes with a mounting plate for ATX cases! Will take a look into the Reds, thanks for the recommendation.
March 25, 201511 yr Thanks for the feedback. Comparing the width and height of the SFX PSUs to the ATX, would I need any sort of adapter to fit it into the case? Edit: Just seen that it comes with a mounting plate for ATX cases! Will take a look into the Reds, thanks for the recommendation. A 150mm should be fine IF you're not using a long PSU. Take a look at a Corsair RM450: If you are going with the SFX, take a look at the Silverstone ST45SF-G: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w-silverstone-sst-st45sf-g-strider-sfx-modular-80plus-gold-psu It comes the ATX adapter bracket.
March 25, 201511 yr While Seasonic does make a nice SFX unit, I prefer the Silverstone units. They make very nice SFX units in both 300w and 450w versions. ... and the case will have FAR more working space/airflow than with an ATX unit ... as you can see from even the very short Corsair shown in the picture above.
March 25, 201511 yr ... also just noted that despite SAYING he was recommending a Seasonic, the unit actually linked to is the excellent Silverstone unit I suggested
March 25, 201511 yr ... also just noted that despite SAYING he was recommending a Seasonic, the unit actually linked to is the excellent Silverstone unit I suggested Yep, just confused them.
March 25, 201511 yr Author Perfect, thanks. I have updated the build to reflect the change in PSU. I think PC Part Picker had hidden that PSU because of the compatibility filter and it not being aware of the ATX mounting bracket. Would it be worthwhile adding a CPU cooler? Or is it something to worry about further down the line? With regards to HDDs, I think I will go for the WD Red 4TB. This should give me 20TB of usable space if and when I fill the case.
March 25, 201511 yr Agree ... the stock Intel cooler is fine. And the 4TB Reds are an excellent choice.
March 25, 201511 yr I see that you are planning to run plugins or dockers (Plex). What are your plans with regards to a cache drive? Not use one, use one? One of the worst things about these ITX cases is having to give up one of your limited drive bays for a non array disk. If you want a cache drive and to maximize storage space, I recomend something like this. It's what I am using in my Node 304 build (though I don't have all of the 6 bays filled yet.) It's not an immediate need since you plan to start with few drives and build up but if you find yourself wanting to have a cache and 6 array disks you might want to look into it.
March 25, 201511 yr There are several adapter cards that provide a SATA port for an on-card SSD ... but for not much more than the combined price of the adapter card and an SSD you can buy a PCIe interfaced SSD that eliminates the SATA bottleneck entirely. e.g. this 256GB SSD has 770MB/s read performance and 580MB/s write performance and can sustain over 100,000 IOPS ! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W02KN0897
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