Building a Media server with spare parts

[newbie2]

Hi, all

 

I am new to building a computer, I have only recently built my very first PC and I am planning to build a media server with parts from my old PC, and some spare parts as well

 

I have the following:

- a prebuilt ASUS desktop - ASUS ROG GR8 II, i5-7400, 256GB M.2 SSD, 8GB DDR4 2400 RAM, GTX 1060)

 

- a pair of ADATA 16GB unbuffered non-ECC ram 

 

- I am planning to get a new motherboard, a new ATX case and power supply

 

I want to set up a media server.

So i can access media in my other devices such as macbook, iphone.

 

So what should i do or buy to setup such requirement?

[Bombastinator]

The problem with prebuilts is it’s not uncommon for them to have very unusual custom parts. Dells are known particularly for this.  Your case may possibly not even fit the parts you want to add.

[newbie2]

11 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

The problem with prebuilts is it’s not uncommon for them to have very unusual custom parts. Dells are known particularly for this.  Your case may possibly not even fit the parts you want to add.

thanks,

actually, I have taken out the CPU, M.2 SSD, 8GB DDR4 2400 RAM, GTX 1060(reference card)

will probably dump the case and the motherboard

 

and i am now experiencing difficulty in picking the right motherboard and case

[Bombastinator]

Huh?  Not sure what you are attempting.  You want to build a custom PC using parts from a prebuilt?  That can work.  Are you attempting to  build a media center PC using a prebuilt as a base and adding custom parts?

[newbie2]

3 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Huh?  Not sure what you are attempting.  You want to build a custom PC using parts from a prebuilt?  That can work.  Are you attempting to  build a media center PC using a prebuilt as a base and adding custom parts?

yes, i want to build a custom server PC using parts from my prebuilt.

[Bombastinator]

Seems like it would be cheaper and easier to just put everything back into the prebuilt, add some mechanical HD (unless you can’t.  Prebuilts can be like that) and use it that way.

 

i take it some component on the prebuilt was broken?

[newbie2]

6 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Seems like it would be cheaper and easier to just put everything back into the prebuilt, add some mechanical HD (unless you can’t.  Prebuilts can be like that) and use it that way.

 

i take it some component on the prebuilt was broken?

I cant, the motherboard is unconventional, cant even plug extra sata onto it. And the case is tiny, its a 4Litre case. Basically cant fit anything additional into it.

[jrsall92]

I'd just take whatever valuable from your previous pc, throw in a low cost mobo+case+psu (I'd spent around 200$ in total for those), install plex, done. You can additionally add more storage, just make sure the case you get supports more than a couple ssd's. I think Fractal has some quality cases, small in size but still able to stack some drives inside and you can get them for around 80$ or less. Add a quality low power psu for an other 50-60 and you're left with 60-70 for a mobo. Here you don't need to overspend, it's a locked cpu, so no need to go for a Z-series chipset. Just make sure it has enough memory slots (btw don't mix and match ram kits) and sata ports.

[newbie2]

5 minutes ago, jrsall92 said:

I'd just take whatever valuable from your previous pc, throw in a low cost mobo+case+psu (I'd spent around 200$ in total for those), install plex, done. You can additionally add more storage, just make sure the case you get supports more than a couple ssd's. I think Fractal has some quality cases, small in size but still able to stack some drives inside and you can get them for around 80$ or less. Add a quality low power psu for an other 50-60 and you're left with 60-70 for a mobo. Here you don't need to overspend, it's a locked cpu, so no need to go for a Z-series chipset. Just make sure it has enough memory slots (btw don't mix and match ram kits) and sata ports.

Thanks, I think this is what I am going to do.

Just one more question, anything in particular to look for in the motherboard?(besides having enough SATA port)

[jrsall92]

Just now, newbie2 said:

Thanks, I think this is what I am going to do.

Just one more question, anything in particular to look for in the motherboard?(besides having enough SATA port)

Just to be a quality brand. I've experience with Asus and Gigabyte from recent years and they're ok. Just make sure to figure out what chipsets your cpu is compatible with. Intel has a tendency to release new chipsets almost with every generation of cpus while not supporting previous cpus on the new platform.

[Bombastinator]

21 minutes ago, newbie2 said:

I cant, the motherboard is unconventional, cant even plug extra sata onto it. And the case is tiny, its a 4Litre case. Basically cant fit anything additional into it.

aha.  Well media center PCs are low power, quiet, and have a lot of storage.  They need a video card, but generally only enough to drive the monitor/TV. They also do audio, so the correct ports to fit your audio system would be handy.  You may be streaming stuff, so a solid connection system would help.  Will you be running wired or wireless?

[newbie2]

8 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

aha.  Well media center PCs are low power, quiet, and have a lot of storage.  They need a video card, but generally only enough to drive the monitor/TV. They also do audio, so the correct ports to fit your audio system would be handy.  You may be streaming stuff, so a solid connection system would help.  Will you be running wired or wireless?

mainly wirelessly, cuz I am also using it with my iphone and ipad. but can I also connect it "wiredly" with my main PC?

[Bombastinator]

Just now, newbie2 said:

mainly wirelessly, cuz I am also using it with my iphone and ipad. but can I also connect it "wiredly" with my main PC?

Like pc to pc, no router? Iirc it requires something called a crossover cable.  There may also be network confusions.  In theory, yes.  In practice, it’s complicated.  Unless for some reason it’s not.  I’m leaning towards complicated though.

[newbie2]

5 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Like pc to pc, no router? Iirc it requires something called a crossover cable.  There may also be network confusions.  In theory, yes.  In practice, it’s complicated.  Unless for some reason it’s not.  I’m leaning towards complicated though.

wow, the crossover cable thing sounds real complicated, i dont think i can handle it.

can I connect them with a router?

[UrbanFreestyle]

im not too sure whether you are wanting a HTPC or media server.

If you want the latter, Get a usb stick, slap OMV on there and have done with it.

[Bombastinator]

7 minutes ago, newbie2 said:

wow, the crossover cable thing sounds real complicated, i dont think i can handle it.

can I connect them with a router?

If they’re both on wifi you already do.  The WiFi is a router

[newbie2]

4 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

If they’re both on wifi you already do.  The WiFi is a router

was just thinking if i can get a faster connection if i connect the two computers to a router via cables

[Bombastinator]

Faster to each other.  Depending on connection type.  Good for machine to machine file transfers and stuff.

[jrsall92]

I would suggest you connect the server via ethernet to your wifi router, that alone should be enough for all of your other devices to have a signal as good as the interface used. What I've personally done was to get a second-hand, strong 5ghz router (netgear r7800) and also get a 5ghz pci-e 4x wifi card (usually sold at around 50) or find a mobo with decent 5ghz wifi included. I can now stream from my pc to any device on my network wirelessly with no quality loss. As mentioned before, I'm using Plex (free) to scan my media, organise them and stream anything to any device on my network. Alternatively, you could get a Raspberry Pi 4 and use that as a media server with some storage attached, but I haven't explored this option so I can't comment on difficulty and total cost.

Something that dawned me just now, if you built your own pc and still have a working prebuilt, why bother upgrade it instead of just using it as is?? It's performance should be more than enough for a dedicated media server, even a simple NAS.

[Bombastinator]

8 minutes ago, jrsall92 said:

I would suggest you connect the server via ethernet to your wifi router, that alone should be enough for all of your other devices to have a signal as good as the interface used. What I've personally done was to get a second-hand, strong 5ghz router (netgear r7800) and also get a 5ghz wifi card (usually sold at around 50) or find a mobo with decent 5ghz wifi included. I can now stream from my pc to any device on my network wirelessly with no quality loss. As mentioned before, I'm using Plex (free) to scan my media, organise them and stream anything to any device on my network. Alternatively, you could get a Raspberry Pi 4 and use that as a media server with some storage attached, but I haven't explored this option so I can't comment on difficulty and total cost.

Something that dawned me just now, if you built your own pc and still have a working prebuilt, why bother upgrade it instead of just using it as is?? It's performance should be more than enough for a dedicated media server, even a simple NAS.

Because he pulled the cpu.

[jrsall92]

2 hours ago, newbie2 said:

thanks,

actually, I have taken out the CPU, M.2 SSD, 8GB DDR4 2400 RAM, GTX 1060(reference card)

will probably dump the case and the motherboard

 

and i am now experiencing difficulty in picking the right motherboard and case

 

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

Because he pulled the cpu.

He pulled everything apart from mobo/case (and psu?) from his old pc. I'm just trying to understand what new parts are required and why? if the system is functional it should be enough to use that.

[newbie2]

3 minutes ago, jrsall92 said:

 

He pulled everything apart from mobo/case (and psu?) from his old pc. I'm just trying to understand what new parts are required and why? if the system is functional it should be enough to use that.

cuz my old pre-build has only 1.25TB storage and I cant add anything additional storage to it since the MB does not have any additional plugs. and the case is so compact that it wont fit anything additional into it.

here is what they look like

[Bombastinator]

Ah.  Super SFF prebuilt.

[Zando_]

There isn't any mobo I know of that will fit in there. A GPU could maaaaybe fit but actually mounting one would be really interesting. The PSU probably doesn't have much overhead either. If you have the variant with a 2.5" bay you can add a drive there, but if yours only came with an M.2, it doesn't even have that mounting bay available. 

Timestamped to the interior: 

 

These are just the compromises you get with an OEM SFF rig. If you want something that small with more normal hardware compatibility, you need to look into building your own. 

 

2 hours ago, jrsall92 said:

I think Fractal has some quality cases, small in size but still able to stack some drives inside and you can get them for around 80$ or less.

Yep. The Node 304 (mITX) can fit 6 3.5" HDDs, and the Node 804 (mATX) can 8 3.5" HDDs. The Node 804 can also fit a slim disc drive and 4 2.5" HDDs as well. Both extremely well made, usually $80-100, and pretty damn compact for the hardware they fit inside. I have a rig at home running a pretty stupid hardware combo (X58 based GTX 780 SLI rig with a massive air tower and still fitting in a 1600W PSU and 4 3.5" HDDs and a 2.5" SSD) and it can fit an impressive amount of stuff. Built 4 rigs for work inside the Node 304, it's another amazing case. Fits full ATX PSUs (much cheaper than SFX ones), has very quiet, quality stock fans, already hooked up to a 3-speed fan controller, has clearance for massive air towers for good cooling, can fit a full size GPU and still stuff 4 3.5" HDDs inside. If you have room for something a bit taller than a shoebox, the Node 304 is amazing. 

[Kilrah]

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

Iirc it requires something called a crossover cable.

Hasn't been the case for more than a decade. Pretty much every NIC out there can autosense and swap internally (auto-MDIX), and for gigabit Ethernet there isn't even a direction anymore.