Jonny.Wong.16

Just for people who may come across this thread in the future, here's are the parts I went with.

Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini-ITX (Black) Desktop Case ($71.24)

MB: Asus H87I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($107.34)

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 Dual Core 3.0GHz Processor ($65.99)

RAM: ADATA XPG v1.0 DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 2x8GB Dual Channel Memory Kit ($139.99)

PSU: Corsair CX Series CX430W ATAX 12V 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply ($23.99)

USB: Kingston 8GB USB 3.0 DataTraveler 100 ($5.24)

MISC: 4xSATA Cables ($15.98) / 2xMolex to SATA Cable Adapters ($2.38)

Total: $432.15 CAD

I try to buy everything in-store instead of online since NCIX and MemoryExpress are both 5 minutes away from where I live. With price matching/beating, there's not reason for me to buy online. (And we have the same sales tax in-store or online.)

Anyone have experience with Windows Server 2012 vs. FreeNAS? I am registered with Dreamspark through my school where I can get Windows Server 2012 for free.

Maybe something like this with 6 SATA ports instead?
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($65.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Asus H87I-PLUS Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($108.87 @ DirectCanada)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 (White) Mini ITX Desktop Case ($89.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $264.85
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-01 18:48 EST-0500)

More expensive CPU/motherboard, but I save a couple hundred on the RAID card.

Also, does adding an SSD add any tangible performance to a NAS? Or running FreeNAS off a USB drive is fine?

Anyone? 

*crickets*

It worked for me. Same method as some previous posts.

Use http://www.fakenamegenerator.com/ for address and credit card. I just used an incognito window to sign up for Amazon (so it wouldn't conflict with my real account). No need for proxy or hiding IP address (I'm in Canada).

Cool. I could use a new SSD.

I want to build a NAS to replace my Javelin-S4. My main concern is to have enough CPU power for Plex transcoding (1080p bluray) with a budget ~$400-500. I already have the hard drives (6) as well as a Corsair HX650W power supply (WAY overkill) and 2x2GB of Patriot Memory laying around.

Here are the parts I've pick out so far.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Celeron G1610 2.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($46.82 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H61N-USB3 Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($78.98 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 (White) Mini ITX Desktop Case ($89.99 @ NCIX)
Total: $215.79
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-27 15:27 EST-0500)

Will the CPU be enough for transcoding videos as well as the 4GB of ram? Also, I will probably need a RAID card to connect up to 6 hard drives?

Another question, what is the best free NAS software/operating system to run Plex? FreeNAS?

I also recommend the Asus RT-N66U. I have one and it's great.

The one provided by my ISP sucks as well. Since it's a router/modem combo, I had to contact them to change it into "bridged mode" (ie. just a pass-through) so I could use my own router.

I'm happy with my RT-N66U.  :huh:

My Vengeance 2000 broke and they wanted me to ship it overseas so they can replace it. There was no way I was going to spend $50 to get a replacement on a product that shouldn't have broken to begin with. Note: It didn't take them long to bring out the Vengeance 2100 with design improvements to help with the build quality... *sigh*. Just a quick Google search of "Corsair vengeance 2000 cracked" and you'll see how many problems they had with them.

My h80 is running fine however.

Same thing happened to my Vengeance 2000. I just got an RMA today. (Good thing I don't live overseas).

I also haven't had a single problem with Corsair support. They've also replaced two parts on my 800D for free, no questions asked.

I had some TV shows in the folder that i forgot about so I made a seperate tv show folder and that worked perfectly.

Thanks so, much this is awesome. I appreciate you walking me through the process.

Thanks again.

No problem, don't hesitate to message me if you have any more questions.

And some of my movies aren't being detected and others are being labed wrong is there anything I can do about that

You can follow this guide on how to name movie files so Plex detects them properly:

https://plexapp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/200381023-Naming-Movie-files

Glad I could help.

I have an account set up and I installed the software on my server (and added the movies) how do I set access permissions and stuff?

thanks for the help

If you go to https://plex.tv/servers, you can add users by email and select the sections to be shared with that person (that person will need to sign up for a Plex account).

The one drawback is you can only set permissions for an entire section. ie. If you have all your movies in "Movies", you either have to share all your movies, or none. A way around this would be to separate your movies into two folders "Movies 1" and "Movies 2", that way you can choose to share just one of the sections.

(Quote me when you reply so I will get a notification)

Have a look at Plex.

To address all your questions:

- It should be able to stream from your Windows server to your phone, xbox 360, and blu-ray player (as long as it is DLNA enabled)

- You can use your phone as a remote

- It will play .mp4 and .mkv files

- You can set up different access permissions for each user

- It can stream over LAN or WAN (even in a web browser)

I hope this is what you're looking for. Let me know if you need any help setting it up. 

Try "Magic actions for youtube".

 

It's a very "under appreciated" youtube pluggin imo.

I second this. It's a great extension.

Fair enough... I don't know why, but I could have sworn I heard that they were all compatible, you just lose bandwidth

Some mobos implement open end 1x slots so that they are compatible with expansion cards that have larger connectors. I believe you can also cut the end wall off a 1x slot and use the slot normally but that might not be your cup of tea 

Yep, as shown on LTT.

I have this from IKEA http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/S49001965/

Enough for my three monitors and a laptop.

I've been waiting for the Asus Zenbook Infinity (UX301) since CES. I was really hoping it would be out for the holidays.

Too bad I can't make it to the livestream since I have an exam at noon. =(

If you have extra SSD space... MOVE IT. I find that when attacking I can usually plant one, if not both bombs before the other team arrives in rush. Basically cheating 

 'Tis true. I usually get in before everyone else.

Geeze, how do they expect you to live with 25GB/month? When I lived at university, we had a 5GB/day limit, which I still hit all the time. The limit seemed to be tied to a MAC address instead of the login, so I just changed the MAC address every time I hit the limit. That might or might not work for you depending on how your university set up their network.

I did it with my laptop. Like everyone else said, just get a caddy for cheap on eBay. You should be able to take the cover off the optical drive and attach it to the caddy so it looks like an optical drive instead of having a hole there.

My 800D is on a rug...

I used the Vengeance 2000 and they are pretty decent. I got a wireless headset so I could actually get up and move around. I've pulled out cables, and knocked over a few things on my desk, from forgetting to take off a pair of wired headsets before getting up.

Mine turns itself back on right away after I put it to sleep - I have no idea what is causing it. So I just leave it running 24/7.  :unsure: