HTPC/FileServer/NAS (if possible) parts/build guidance

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Olah brothers!

I've been recently been fascinated by the Silverstone SG07-B case and was looking forward to a build.



Approximate Purchase Date: 2 months from now, if not, in September

Budget Range: $700 will want to keep it within that...but will splash more if needed

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 1080p HTPC/function as a fileserver on which i can download torrent content. Include a dedicated GPU as i might game on it...with big titles @medium-high settings :)

Parts Not Required: Processors (whatever route i choose), I can get them here in Bangladesh, but a recommendation would be good to go with the mobo.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: will buy products from Malaysia when i'll go there or i'll ask my relative to send it

Country of Origin: Bangladesh

Parts Preferences: really am in a dilemma, Intel's H67 range or AMD - J&W MINIX™ 890GX-USB3

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1080p LCD TV or 1080p monitor

Additional Comments:

1| I live on one floor, about 3200SFT, and have multiple 10" walls between rooms - will want to do Wi-fi and I'd like a Wi-fi capable rig.
2| I'd like a quiet/energy efficient PC with low power draw as all it'll do is just download torrent content and maybe be used for web browsing...but may also run HD movies on a 1080p LCD tv.
3| No tv tuner needed, these days there's nothing good to see on the tele (we have cable though) but emphasis is on watching movies via the lil rig.
4| I know there's room for only one 3.5" drive in the Silverstone SG07 but i think i can snag an SSD, a 5000GB/1TB laptop drive and a 2TB HDD or 2x500GB/1TB laptop drives (am not nitpicky about bootup times).

* once I've got my rig up and running, my pals will go ahead with the same build up ,i.e 2 more of the same, but only one of them will want his rig to be capable of playing games @ 1080p resolution on a monitor but being able to run it on his LCD would serve as an added bonus :D

Who doesn't love bonus points/features?

Thanks for taking the time :) though there's a nominal window of opportunity, i think the advanced querry will help fixup my bugdet.
 
Solution
Typically a NAS is very low powered doing nothing else but being storage. Newer offerings from companies are far more like file servers running additional services like bit torrent etc.

There is little reason why a low powered PC couldn't be used both as a NAS and as a general PC.

In stark comparison, a gaming machine does not care much for power consumption and demands higher performance. So the more your system becomes a gaming machine the further it deviates from NAS system sensibilities.

I think just about any H67 board will do you really. Zotac, as you mentioned, make some great mITX boards packed with plenty of features.

Not really sure what you are proposing to do running both wired and wireless on the same machine. I've...

Rusting In Peace

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My initial comment is that a gaming machine and NAS have very conflicting requirements. Do you think you'll be having this machine on for long periods of time?

The H67 and an i3 should give you a low powered HD capable system. You'll be able to do some gaming on it but not newer titles at 1080p.

You will absolutely need wireless N if you want to stream video from this device. Wireless G with multiple walls will have your video stuttering something awful.
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Do you think you'll be having this machine on for long periods of time?
yep 24/7 if not 18hrs a day...

My initial comment is that a gaming machine and NAS have very conflicting requirements.
erm I'm not that familiar with NAS...just a brief understanding but i think i understand what you've mentioned. Then ok, i can have the NAS as another machine...while i have the OP rig as the one to do the torrent/gaming duty.

The H67 and an i3 should give you a low powered HD capable system. You'll be able to do some gaming on it but not newer titles at 1080p.
so any recommendations for the H67 mobo with an i5 (2nd gen) cpu combo? just as a question on topic :

the MINIX 890GX has dual lan ports...am i just better off with one RJ-45 and have the rest being trafficed via the wireless n cards( found on most H67 mobos e.g: zotac)?

You will absolutely need wireless N if you want to stream video from this device. Wireless G with multiple walls will have your video stuttering something awful.
any recommendations for the winner : linksys, tp-link, d-link,netgear ? i was looking at the linksys E3000 series router
 

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Typically a NAS is very low powered doing nothing else but being storage. Newer offerings from companies are far more like file servers running additional services like bit torrent etc.

There is little reason why a low powered PC couldn't be used both as a NAS and as a general PC.

In stark comparison, a gaming machine does not care much for power consumption and demands higher performance. So the more your system becomes a gaming machine the further it deviates from NAS system sensibilities.

I think just about any H67 board will do you really. Zotac, as you mentioned, make some great mITX boards packed with plenty of features.

Not really sure what you are proposing to do running both wired and wireless on the same machine. I've heard of using multiple ethernet connectors but never wired and wireless. Perhaps you meant that this machine had a wired connection to the router and the other machines were connecting to the router by wireless?

I've always used Netgear network equipment and haven't had any issues but I'm not up to speed on what's available right now I'm afraid!
 
Solution

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
In stark comparison, a gaming machine does not care much for power consumption and demands higher performance. So the more your system becomes a gaming machine the further it deviates from NAS system sensibilities
Yeah that made alot of sense, i forgot all about how power hungry gaming rigs are...lol, thanks for the reminder!

Not really sure what you are proposing to do running both wired and wireless on the same machine. I've heard of using multiple ethernet connectors but never wired and wireless. Perhaps you meant that this machine had a wired connection to the router and the other machines were connecting to the router by wireless?

lets take this diagram as an example:

x ---------------- router ----------------- x

^ ^
Rig 2 (in my profile):A New proposed rig:B

ok now suppose I have the Maximus III Formula (A) connected (wired) to the router. While Rig B is connected to the router wirelessly. Can i acces the files on Rig B from Rig A ?

in essence, I'd want to do gaming and swap files from Rig A/B and also view media from either rig. And to ask further can i access the movies for viewing from rig B when needed?

I've used Netgear and Belkins...but i found that Linksys and netgear are user friendly...belkin however has a learning curve :) IMO though i consider myself a noob, how do i use the dual wireless cards in a real world situation (sorry for a silly question) ? will i need the onboard RJ-45 Lan?
 

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Assuming the new machine was to share something on the network then it doesn't matter how other machines are connected to the router they'll be able to access the share. You'll be able to save things to this share and view whatever file you like on it - this includes movies.

Perhaps you mean dual band wireless cards? I've never seen anyone using multiple wireless cards as means to speed up the connection.

You'll need the RJ-45 if you aren't going to use wireless. But it being there won't interfere with any wireless connection!
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Perhaps you mean dual band wireless cards? I've never seen anyone using multiple wireless cards as means to speed up the connection.

Bro i'm familiar with the RJ-45's capabilities :) just want to know if the dual band wireless will be used to its full potential...in fact, what scenarios can i utilize them (the dual band wireless)?