Building a new nas/htpc to replace my HP N40L

randombar · 30-06-2014 1:39pm #1

Hi Guys,

Just wondering what you think of my spec below.

Item|Price
ASUS B85M-G (C2)|€59.90
BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Gehäuse - weiß, ohne Netzteil|€70.49
Intel Celeron G1820, 2x 2.70GHz, boxed|€29.95
Corsair CS Series Modular CS450M 450W ATX 2.3|€54.99
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€234.32

1. What is your budget?

< €300

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer?

NAS/HTPC

3. Do you need a copy of Windows?

No (Ubuntu)

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer?

Yes
4 x 3TB Green WD
2 * 4GB Crucial Ram
1 x 120GB Samsung SSD
1 x DVB-T2 PCIe
1 x DVB-S2 PCIe

5. Do you need a monitor?

No

5a. If yes, what size do you need.

No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future?

Yes >= 27" 2560 x 1440

6. Do you need any of these peripherals?

No

7. Are you willing to try overclocking?

Yes

8. How can you pay?

Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser

9. When are you purchasing?

Flexible

10. If you need help building it, where are you based?

Cork City

randombar · 02-07-2014 2:47pm

randombar · 06-07-2014 9:07pm

Any advice here lads. Probably going to take the plunge tomorrow.

DERPY DERPFACE · 07-07-2014 9:18am

You could save a few bob on the PSU unless your looking to add a GPU later.

randombar · 07-07-2014 9:21am

Dont really know enough about PSU's won't be adding a GPU anyway so what PSU would you recommend? Looking for something efficient.

Wcool · 07-07-2014 6:11pm

Is that motherboard fitting into the case?

Looks like the board is micro-atx while the case only supports m-itx?

Wcool · 07-07-2014 6:14pm

Sorry ignore, you already changed it

randombar · 07-07-2014 6:45pm

Yup the prodigy M, looks like the same physical size but can take the uATX boards.

Dont know why they sell mITX cases with 2 x pci slots when you can only get one pci slot on the device.

randombar · 07-07-2014 9:44pm

Thinking I could save some money downgrading the PSU to:

Corsair 430 Watt Builder Series CX 430 Modular Power Supply (46 euro)

Another thread going here people seem to recommend it.

Anyone recommend anything about the processor?

Upgrading the i3 will add another 80 to the overall cost, that's a big jump, but if I want to run plex as well as the usual will I need it?

Intel Core i3-4330 Box, LGA1150

Wcool · 07-07-2014 10:24pm

I think the 2 slots are to support a GPU that takes the space of 2 PCI slots (but uses only 1) i have one myself.

I think you can downgrade the PSU even more if you don't use a dedicated graphics card, 200 watts should be plenty with a Celeron.

I have no idea if the Celeron will be enough for transcoding but I suspect yes.

wheresmybeaver · 07-07-2014 11:08pm

The celeron will definitely transcode a single 1080p stream and possibly 2 lower bitrate streams, but you risk a bit of buffering if there's a lot going on at the same time!

I would say go for the celeron now, you can always upgrade the cpu in a year or two if need be.

randombar · 08-07-2014 10:42am

So bought the gear anyways this morning.

Well I've ordered it, I've to do some bank transfer with hardware versand instead of credit card for some reason??

Redfox25 · 08-07-2014 7:41pm

GaryCocs wrote: »

So bought the gear anyways this morning.

Well I've ordered it, I've to do some bank transfer with hardware versand instead of credit card for some reason??

you can use paypal but they charge you 3% more i believe.
bank transfer is no doubt cheaper for them, its easy to do too if you have an online account.

randombar · 16-07-2014 2:46pm

Hi Guys,

Just wondering about the standard heatsink that will come with the chip?

Should I look to get something from here:

http://www.adverts.ie/for-sale/computers/desktop-hardware/other-hardware/504/q_1150/sortby_price-asc

Any recommendations?

Thanks,
Gary

serious · 04-11-2014 7:51pm

If you have not got this don yet and you want a reasonably priced processor for overclocking go with the intel pentium anniversary edition g3258.
I hear its the nuts for overclocking. But I think its serious overkill for a this. Its for heavy users who want 4ghz plus

The new processors have god cooling on them now so no need to upgrade in your instance I think.
If its quiet you want try noctua nh-l9i

randombar · 10-11-2014 3:17pm

Ya have it all set up now a couple of months, working nicely but upgrading the hard disks (reducing from 4 to 2) at the minute so getting a different case.

Anyone interested in the prodigy case just let me know.

http://www.hardwareversand.de//en/Mini/60295/BitFenix+Prodigy+Mini-ITX+Geh%C3%A4use+-+wei%C3%9F%2C+ohne+Netzteil.article

Building a new nas/htpc to replace my HP N40L

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