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Small living room server -- Please check my parts before I buy


MrAdams

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Hello,

 

I am planning to build my first unRaid server -- in fact, this will be my first time building any computer at all. The system's purpose will be to host movies and music to be played on my HTPC running XBMC, while also running sabnzbd and sickbeard. Because I am living in a rental apartment, keeping the server tucked away in a closet isn't an option, so I would like a box that is small, attractive, and very quiet.

 

After reading over as many posts as I could find on this forum, I've come up with the following list of parts to purchase:

 

Lian Li PC-Q08B -- $119.99 (Newegg)

SeaSonic S12II 430W -- $59.99 (Newegg)

SuperMicro X7SPA-HF-O -- $219.99 (Newegg)

Kingston ValueRAM 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 -- $41.99 (Amazon)

WD 2TB WD20EARS -- $89.99 (Amazon)

Seagate 2TB Barracuda ST32000542AS -- $99.99 (Newegg)

 

Total w/ tax and shipping: $655.09

 

I also have a 1TB LaCie external USB drive that I was hoping to remove from its enclosure and add to the new system, if that is possible.

 

Since I'm new to this, I would really appreciate it if some of you could comment on this setup to make sure I'm on the right track before I buy everything. Is there anything else that I need that I am forgetting? In particular, I am concerned about the following issues:

 

1) As far as cooling, do I need anything else such as additional fans? Or will everything stay cool and quiet as is?

 

2) Is the Atom processor the right choice for my needs (sabnzbd, sickbeard, and media hosting)?

 

3) Is the S12II an appropriate PSU for this system? I chose it based on a number of positive reviews, in particular the fact that it seems to be extremely quiet. I also considered the Antec EarthWatts 380W and the Corsair CMPSU-430CX.

 

4) What additional cables do I need to buy? Or will these parts come with everything I need?

 

Thank you very much in advance for whatever help and advice you can offer. I have already learned quite a bit from all of you from reading these forums, but as you can tell, I am still extremely new to DIY system building and want to make sure I avoid as many mistakes as I can.

 

 

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I guess it all depends on what your final goals are for this server. Achieving a relatively quiet server is not that difficult if you keep the number of drives down. Each additional drive adds additional heat and noise to the system, which necessitates possible additional cooling, and so forth and so on.

 

Going with the Atom minimizes both power consumption and therefore heat generation. Personally, I'd be much more likely to go with a Core i3, even on a MiniITX build. At idle, it hardly consumes any more power than the Atom, while having heaps more processing power available. The Gigabyte H55 MiniITX board has received rave reviews. Your total cost would essentially stay the same, but you'd have a much more flexible system, so if you wanted to repurpose it later, you'd have more possibilities, like running it as an HTPC, for instance.

 

The only additional cables you would need would be SATA data cables. You'll probably get a couple with your motherboard, but they're often low grade ones that don't lock into place. No lock means it's easier to accidentally dislodge them. Gigabyte ships locking SATA cables with their motherboards. In any case, you'll probably want to have a bunch of these on hand for future expansion, so put in an order at Monoprice.com. You can color coordinate them in whatever way makes sense to you.

 

Depending on the model, the LaCie drive may be two 500GB drives in a JBOD array. That won't matter, but it will add two drives rather than one to your system.

 

I'm not familiar with that Lian Li case, but it doesn't look like it allows for a lot of additional cooling. Check the specs and see, but it may not need it anyway.

 

The Seasonic PSU is a very nice one, but a poor choice for unRAID. It has two +12V rails of 17 Amps each, which would probably be adequate for a miniITX build, but it costs more than the Corsair 430CX, which I believe is actually built by Seasonic, but has a single +12V rail with 28 Amps, which would be adequate for 10-12 "green" drives. The Corsair has been on sale a lot lately, for as little as $20.

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I considered the Supermicro Atom board as well when I was first considering my build.  For me, the relatively small power savings couldn't offset the price difference up front.  If you haven't already, check out Raj's prototype designs.  He is basing his 3-, 4-, and 5-drive servers off of the ZOTAC GF6100-E-E miniITX motherboard, currently $44.99 after $10 rebate.  Pair that with a 45W Sempron 140 for $32.99 and you've now got a comparable (if not more capable) system and saved over $100.  The stock Sempron CPU fan is plenty quiet IMO. I am using that heat sink plus 4 standard issue 120mm Cooler Master fans in a CM590 case.  It's about 3 feet from my desk and I can barely hear it running.

 

If you do decide on sticking with the Atom board, double check that the RAM you've chosen is on the QVL for that board.  Supermicros are notoriously finicky about memory, I'd hate for you to have your first build soured with memory RMA's.

 

I'd echo kenoka's suggestion of the Corsair CX430.  It's the afternoon shell shocker at newegg for $15.99 today.  There is some question about the fan in that PSU being sleeve bearing instead of ball bearing, but several people here have been using it without any problems so far.  For the price, it's hard to beat.

 

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I agree with everything said above.  Either the i3 or the Sempron 140 will give you more processing power for close to the same low power consumption.  I recommend the Sempon 140/Zotac mobo combination as you'll save a lot of money that way, and nothing you've said so far indicates that you'll need the extra grunt of the i3.  Still, if you don't mind spending the extra money, the i3 is pretty much the ideal unRAID CPU at the moment, and it offers the most 'future-proofing'.  I haven't looked into the Gigabyte board that kenoka mentioned.  As long as it doesn't have HPA enabled by default, it should be fine.

 

I also agree that the CX430 is a better choice for a PSU, especially at the $15.99 price.  Jump on that deal.

 

While it does look very nice, I personally don't like the Lian Li PC-Q08B as it forces you to use all internally mounted drives.  Well, I guess you could have one external drive, but that doesn't seem too worthwhile.  My 6 Drive miniTower design (check the link in rich's post) ends up being larger and probably a bit uglier, but it gives you 6 externally mounted drives for cheaper than what you've proposed.  If you put a bit of money into a nicer case, you could end up with something that is attractive and more functional.  Just look for a case that has four consecutive 5.25" bays.

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Thank you very much for the replies, especially about that deal on the CX430. I will definitely jump on that this afternoon!

 

I've been admiring all of Raj's designs, and considered just following the 6 Drive miniTower exactly. My only hesitation was that Raj mentioned in the other thread some concerns about heating problems with that design. Would choosing a different case be enough to alleviate those concerns? Externally mounted drives in hotswap bays sound very, very tempting, but then I'm still worried that switching from the PC-Q08 to a larger case would end up with something that looks out of place in the living room.

 

I appreciate the suggestions about alternatives to the Atom board. I was drawn to the SuperMicro because it was one of the few boards that I could find with built-in support for 6 SATA drives, which is my eventual goal even though I'm starting with just a couple drives. Should I not be worried about how many drives the moterboard supports for now and just add an expansion card later?

 

Again, thank you for all of your replies!

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Actually it was my original 5 Drive miniBox design that had heat issues.  These are easily solved by using a better quality 5-in-3 than the one I originally chose.  The Supermicro one I link on my designs page is one good option, the Icy Dock 5-in-3 is another good option.  The Icy Dock is the quieter but more expensive choice.

 

My 6 Drive miniTower design hasn't had any heat issues.  On the prototype model I have at home I did replace the stock 4x40mm fans with 3x40mm fans from a RAM heatsink kit that I picked up for $5 from a member of these forums.  I did this to make the server quieter, though, not cooler.  Cooling with the stock fans was adequate, and it is still adequate with the new fans.

 

In both servers the case was not the issue, the drive cages were.  Replacing the case or case fans could possibly lead to a server in which the drive cages don't need dedicated fans, but this is probably unlikely and may be more trouble than it is worth.  The only server I've built so far that didn't need dedicated drive fans is my personal server, the 9 Drive Budget Box (still haven't posted any pictures of that one, sorry).  One of my 7200 rpm drives breaks 40C once in a while, but all my green drives and all the other 7200 rpm drives stay comfortably in the 30s.

 

I'm not really trying to dissuade you from the PC-Q08, just expressing why I personally wouldn't use it.  If you don't mind internally mounted drives and you like the aesthetics of it, I think it is a good choice.  Lian Li makes very high quality cases.  I think it is also a good choice for a small desktop or HTPC build.

 

If you are thinking about starting with 6 drives but allowing for future expandability, then I would recommend a different build altogether.  Take a look at these expansion paths I laid out.  I highly recommend the 5 - 10 - 15 Drive Budget Box path as it is easy to follow and very flexible.  The Zotac motherboard maxes out at 6 drives, so it is not a good choice if you want the ability to expand past 6 drives.

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After giving it a lot of thought, I decided to go with aesthetics over the convenience of external drives and stick with the Lian Li case. I also decided to take Raj's suggestion of the Zotac GF6100-E-E and Sempron 140, which shaved around $130 off of my cost. I switched to this Kingston RAM and I ordered 6 of these SATA cables from Monoprice.

 

Thank you again for all your help. Hopefully everything should arrive next week and I can start putting it all together.

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I've got everything assembled, and currently running preclear on my two disks. I'm very happy that I went with the Lian Li case -- it is smaller than I even expected, and I think it looks very nice in the living room. Just had a few questions that came up during the build:

 

1) What direction should the PSU face? Right now I have the fan facing the inside of the case, toward the motherboard.

 

2) The case has two fans, but the motherboard only has one system fan header. Should I plug one of the case fans into that header, or just keep them both plugged directly into the PSU?

 

3) My only complaint so far is that it is a bit louder than I would like. It's acceptable, but definitely audible from across the room. Any suggestions for how to make the system quieter?

 

Thanks again for all the help. I'll try to post some pictures once everything is completely done.

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I've got everything assembled, and currently running preclear on my two disks. I'm very happy that I went with the Lian Li case -- it is smaller than I even expected, and I think it looks very nice in the living room. Just had a few questions that came up during the build:

 

1) What direction should the PSU face? Right now I have the fan facing the inside of the case, toward the motherboard.

 

2) The case has two fans, but the motherboard only has one system fan header. Should I plug one of the case fans into that header, or just keep them both plugged directly into the PSU?

 

3) My only complaint so far is that it is a bit louder than I would like. It's acceptable, but definitely audible from across the room. Any suggestions for how to make the system quieter?

 

Thanks again for all the help. I'll try to post some pictures once everything is completely done.

 

1) I always face the PSU fan towards the inside of the case.  It can then pull hot air from inside the case and vent it out.

 

2) Up to you.  If one of the fans is plugged into the motherboard, then you have the possibility of letting the motherboard control it's speed based on heat (see the temp based fan control thread).  You will have no problem if you plug them both into the PSU, though, it just means that both will run at full speed all the time.

 

3) Again, see the fan control thread.  You could also try disabling one of the fans and seeing if your drive temps still stay in an acceptable range.  Finally, you could replace the fans with quieter models.

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