NAS/home server/"HTPC"

[juretrn]

Hello fellow LTTers, I am currently playing around with the thought of building a relatively quiet home PC that will be used as a browsing/skype/Office machine, combined with a NAS, home server and a HTPC role. The parts I chose are currently

 

 

[PCPartPicker part list](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ndHnyc) / [Price breakdown by merchant](http://pcpartpicker.com/p/ndHnyc/by_merchant/)

 

Type|Item|Price

:----|:----|:----

**CPU** | [intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646g3220) | $59.98 @ SuperBiiz 

**Motherboard** | [Asus H81M-K Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-h81mk) | $55.99 @ Newegg 

**Memory** | [GeIL EVO Veloce Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/geil-memory-gew34gb1600c11sc) | $39.99 @ Newegg 

**Storage** | [Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/crucial-internal-hard-drive-ct128mx100ssd1) | $74.99 @ SuperBiiz 

**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd30ezrx) | $102.00 @ Amazon 

**Case** | [Aerocool DS Cube Black Edition Silent Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/aerocool-case-en52322) | $104.37 @ NCIX US 

**Power Supply** | [seaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasonic-power-supply-ss300esbronze) | $39.99 @ Mwave 

**Optical Drive** | [samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-optical-drive-sh224dbbebe) | $14.99 @ Newegg 

**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-885370635690) | $95.98 @ OutletPC 

 | | **Total**

 | Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $588.28

 

What do you think? Should I use an i3 instead? I would like to stay on Haswell, since low power consumption is a must. Will the HD4400 be good enough for up to 4K video playback? (if that takes off in the foreseeable future) 4 GB RAM should be enough for my use? Or should I up it to 8? Another thing is I would like a small cube case for it. Do you know of any good ones, in the same price range as the one I listed? Another option would be a mini-ITX HTPC specific case. Any other ideas/suggestions? Thank you for your replies.

[ShadowCaptain]

Hello fellow LTTers, I am currently playing around with the thought of building a relatively quiet home PC that will be used as a browsing/skype/Office machine, combined with a NAS, home server and a HTPC role. The parts I chose are currently

 

 

 

What do you think? Should I use an i3 instead? I would like to stay on Haswell, since low power consumption is a must. Will the HD4400 be good enough for up to 4K video playback? (if that takes off in the foreseeable future) 4 GB RAM should be enough for my use? Or should I up it to 8? Another thing is I would like a small cube case for it. Do you know of any good ones, in the same price range as the one I listed? Another option would be a mini-ITX HTPC specific case. Any other ideas/suggestions? Thank you for your replies.

 

I think for better all round use the i3 will be fine, that said when remote desktoping into my server that uses a G3220 and ssd, its pretty snappy for general browsing/files etc. so if you need to save the money that is an option

 

If you are using it as any form of nas I would recommend getting a second hard drive to run in raid 0 or at leats having an external drive plugged in to back up to. Just storing your data on a PC is not really considered a backup especially a PC that is in use

 

Alternativly just concentrate on building a good PC for home use, and get a cheap twin bay network attatched storage box and put some drives in as a NAS instead

[juretrn]

Good idea, but RAID is quite expensive. We shall see.

[ShadowCaptain]

Good idea, but RAID is quite expensive. We shall see.

 

How is it expensive, you just need another hard drive

[gylmir]

4gb ram is enough for the general use in home environment.

 

this is a set up that i had in mind and is still powerfull for all the work you need

since the ssd will be probably used for storing the os and a few programs 64gb is more than enough

and i recommend if you want to safe more money use a free linux version for OS they do just the same job and need less powerfull hardware to run this will give your pc more power left if you need.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Xwqwyc

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD A6-6400K 3.9GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock FM2A78M-HD+ Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($51.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Pareema 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier Pro SP600 64GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($44.99 @ TigerDirect)
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($104.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Aerocool DS-Cube MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($103.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer  ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit)  ($95.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $556.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 

the best part is for taking HDD from WD red they are made to run in servers and operate 24/7 they will last longer than the green ones and run at the same speed the green ones are lower power consumption that you will not notice on 1 drive

[juretrn]

How is it expensive, you just need another hard drive

At this price point, another drive and a RAID capable mobo are 130 or more extra $, which is quite a lot.

[ShadowCaptain]

At this price point, another drive and a RAID capable mobo are 130 or more extra $, which is quite a lot.

 

You dont have to get the drives now, but a raid capable mobo is probably about 10$ more

 

This msi one is 5$ more

 

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-Motherboard-Motherboards-B85M-P33/dp/B00D12OAOG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1405612532&sr=8-2&keywords=socket+1150+raid

 

EDIT: you are from Slovenia? why are we using US part picker? european prices are completely different..

[juretrn]

You dont have to get the drives now, but a raid capable mobo is probably about 10$ more

This msi one is 5$ more

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-Motherboard-Motherboards-B85M-P33/dp/B00D12OAOG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1405612532&sr=8-2&keywords=socket+1150+raid

EDIT: you are from Slovenia? why are we using US part picker? european prices are completely different..

Just to illustrate which parts I will use.

[ShadowCaptain]

Just to illustrate which parts I will use.

 I see

 

but if you are working towards a budget a US budget is very different to a european one

[juretrn]

I can link the specific online store I will be buying from if you would like.

Edit: http://www.mlacom.si/konfigurator

It generates a link in the bottom right to the created build