Non-gaming - meida/nas/vm build

[neovox313]

I'm looking for some processor/mobo advise on a non-gaming system build. The primary use for the system will be for storage/ftp/NAS services. However, I will also be using it for serving media (Jukebox for basement rec room). I presently have 3 ancient PIII machines that I'm using separately for for the services mentioned above plus a low-traffic web server. I plan to consolidate all of this on to the new machine using VMs.

Thus far I've mostly been looking at the Asus P5Q Pro or Pro Turbo mobos. I like the idea of the HW RAID on these boards. Anyone know how well it works?

I've been considering something along the lines of an E7400 proc. Although since I'll be using VMs I thought perhaps a Q9550 quad might be a better way to go. Plus newegg has a pretty nice price on that proc right now.

Trying to keep the price for mobo + proc + ram + case + psu under $500. Actually the lower the better but I don't want to short change myself either.

Thanks.

M

 

[Proximon]

Yeah you should just go AMD then. Better onboard video for much less. Less expensive quad core.


AMD X4 920
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GPM-UD2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit
Antec Sonata case with EA500 PSU

 

[agillis]

For a NAS I would recommend a low power Atom box because they are powerful, cheap, and don't use much power. Since your using it for a media server I would recommend a VortexBox appliance. It's a prebuilt NAS system running Linux. VortexBox can will also autorip CD's for you. Just put then in the drive and a few minute later they will be ready for playing on whatever player you have. The VortexBox appliance has Gigabit Ethernet and uses only 24 watts of power perfect for running all the time. It also has a built in player so just install it in your media room, connect it to your amp, and use you iPod touch to control it. VortexBox is an open source software project so you could also download the software for free and load it on a regular system.

 

[calinkula]

The atom would be a bad choice if one wants to run several virtual machines. I would go with an AMD quad (cause it's cheaper, you could go intel if you really wanted) and load the thing up with a good amount of DDR2 800. (cause it's cheap)

You really don't need the best/fastest components for what your trying to do, so you should be able to hit way under your $500 budget. Although depending on what type of storage your wanting that could set you back.

 

[agillis]

I agree. An atom is a bad choice for VMs but you could run them all in one OS. You don't need VMs for what you want. An AMD quad is a fast and inexpensive machine but it will cost you about $300 a year to run 24/7. The Atom will cost you about $25 to run for a year. So that Atom machine will pay for itself in about one year in power savings.