Check my Build Before I Buy

talking_walnut

Hey guys,

Can anyone double check my build before I go and order it to see if forgot anything? I'm looking to put together a microserver/HTPC. I considered getting one of these (they're going for around £109 these days) but I already have an AeroCool M20 case lying around so it'll probably be handier to make one myself. I also have an old Zalman 300W PSU from an old computer that I think should provide the needed power for the time being.

It's going to sit under the TV as a HTPC and (down the road) a NAS so keeping the power consumption down is important. I've tried to leave some wiggle room for upgrading in the future if needs be. I already have case, PSU and HDDs so I think all I need is:

CPU: Intel Pentium G2010 (should be more than fast enough I think)
Motherboard: ASUS H61M-PLUS (primary requirement being it has a HDMI port)
RAM: Corsair 8GB XMS3 (not sure if I need so much but I've never complained about a computer having too much RAM!)

I'll add a Blu-Ray drive, internal HDDs and possibly a video card at some stage but not for a while. Cost is coming in at just under €200 so it'll be more expensive than buying the HP Microserver but it'll have more scope for upgrading so it'll last longer.

Anyone any comments on the build? Is there anything I'm missing? Do all these components work together

marco_polo

All seems fine in terms of compatibility, you're probably as well off with the G1610, as there is not much in the difference outside of the smaller cache and slightly lower clock speeds, for a HTPC/NAS you wouldn't be losing a great deal of performance but it substantially cheaper and would be even better for power consumption than the pentium.

If you also get 4GB of something like thisas well, you will have knocked over €30 of the price of the build without sacrificing much performance.

I honesty I couldn't see this machine ever needing 8GB RAM, and if I am wrong it would be a very simple thing to add another 4GB at a later date .

talking_walnut

Nice one. Cheers for that. That set-up will probably wipe about €40 off the price and it'll make it about the same price as the HP Proliant

Serephucus

I have my server running off a G550, and it's doing a few other heavier things than HTPC duty, so you'll be grand.