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Cheap, low power server

Jared_1
By Jared_1
in New Builds and Planning
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I've been looking at building a lower power and cheap Windows server/NAS. This is what I've picked out so far:

 

ASRock C70M1 w/ onboard CPU

4GB Kingston Value RAM

 

 

Other than that I don't know what power supply or case to get. Of course for a NAS I need WD Red drives :( unless I get 2 1TB WD Blue and put them in RAID 1 :P. I don't want an over kill power supply (I was looking at a Silverstone SFX 300 watt) and a big case. I would need at max 4 drive bays. Any thoughts? The dual core CPU on the motherboard should be good enough for file transfers? My current network is 100MPBS but I was looking to move onto gigabit speeds sometime. I'm not going to have this thing running 24/7 if I can help it.

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i'm just gonna be up front and say that asrock board will be a rather unsatisfying experience, but indeed it is dirt cheap compared to alternatives.

 

as for case, get something that doesnt make it sound like a dishwasher and you're all good.

 

with such a low power platform you shouldnt worry that much about power usage, certainly in the states.

it'll probably use less power at idle than my ISP settop box uses in standby...

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I've been looking at building a lower power and cheap Windows server/NAS. This is what I've picked out so far:

Real NAS' have ECC, but if you want low power and cheap AM1 is probably where it's at, just get a board with 4 sata ports and either 2TB WD red drives or 4TB HGST drives

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TrdGpg

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TrdGpg/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD 3850 1.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($28.99 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: MSI AM1I Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($33.89 @ OutletPC)

Memory: Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($17.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Sandisk Z400s 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($42.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($33.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $196.84

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-13 00:32 EST-0500

I edit my posts a lot, Twitter is @LordStreetguru just don't ask PC questions there mostly...
 

Spoiler

 

What is your budget/country for your new PC?

 

what monitor resolution/refresh rate?

 

What games or other software do you need to run?

 

 

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i'm just gonna be up front and say that asrock board will be a rather unsatisfying experience, but indeed it is dirt cheap compared to alternatives.

 

as for case, get something that doesnt make it sound like a dishwasher and you're all good.

 

with such a low power platform you shouldnt worry that much about power usage, certainly in the states.

it'll probably use less power at idle than my ISP settop box uses in standby...

What would unsatisfactory experience consist of? Would it be slow network transfers or would the server part be slow? I saw an article where they used this motherboard where the speeds where about 50MB/s which is probably more than enough. https://klseet.com/index.php/44-gadgets/network-attached-storage/307-xpenology-synology-on-asrock-c70m1 100MBPS is still fast enough for what I do. :)

 

 

Real NAS' have ECC, but if you want low power and cheap AM1 is probably where it's at, just get a board with 4 sata ports and either 2TB WD red drives or 4TB HGST drives

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TrdGpg

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/TrdGpg/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD 3850 1.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($28.99 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: MSI AM1I Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($33.89 @ OutletPC)

Memory: Kingston 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($17.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Storage: Sandisk Z400s 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($42.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($33.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $196.84

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-13 00:32 EST-0500

The motherboard I was looking at has 4 SATA ports.

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i'm just gonna be up front and say that asrock board will be a rather unsatisfying experience, but indeed it is dirt cheap compared to alternatives.

 

as for case, get something that doesnt make it sound like a dishwasher and you're all good.

 

with such a low power platform you shouldnt worry that much about power usage, certainly in the states.

it'll probably use less power at idle than my ISP settop box uses in standby...

My asrock seems fine to me... I'd say it was more than satisfactory.

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Is this data important??? Because If so your not going to want to get a "cheap nas"

Also what OS?

 

If its important your going to either want to spend more money now or wait until you have more. Depending on the OS your going to want ecc, a better motherboard ( that one actually is a poo ive had it), and a good network card to support the speeds your looking for. 

 

What is your budget?

TX10 Build Log: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/456229-tx10-build-log/

Case: TX10-D   Proccessor: i7-5820k   MotherBoard: Asrockx99 Extreme4   Ram: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (DDR4-2400)   GPU: Asus Strix OC 980ti   Storage: 850pro 500gb, 850pro 500gb, 850pro 256gb, WD black 16tb total, Silicon Power S60 120GB   PSU: Seasonic snow silent 1050   Monitors: Three of Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0"

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Is this data important??? Because If so your not going to want to get a "cheap nas"

Also what OS?

 

If its important your going to either want to spend more money now or wait until you have more. Depending on the OS your going to want ecc, a better motherboard ( that one actually is a poo ive had it), and a good network card to support the speeds your looking for. 

 

What is your budget?

No. My data is not that important.

 

OS is going to be Windows.

 

Apparently the motherboard has gigabit ethernet which should be good enough.

 

Budget: cheap as possible :P

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No. My data is not that important.

 

OS is going to be Windows.

 

Apparently the motherboard has gigabit ethernet which should be good enough.

 

Budget: cheap as possible :P

cheap as possible as in 200? 300? 500? lol can you give me a number :P

TX10 Build Log: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/456229-tx10-build-log/

Case: TX10-D   Proccessor: i7-5820k   MotherBoard: Asrockx99 Extreme4   Ram: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (DDR4-2400)   GPU: Asus Strix OC 980ti   Storage: 850pro 500gb, 850pro 500gb, 850pro 256gb, WD black 16tb total, Silicon Power S60 120GB   PSU: Seasonic snow silent 1050   Monitors: Three of Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0"

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>$200 :D

I would assume that's without hard drives, you only need a flash drive to run FreeNAS from

Also this guy did an AM1 NAS build

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/am1-athlon-5350-freenas-file-server.201676/

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xZXYMp

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xZXYMp/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($45.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock AM1H-ITX Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($30.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Apex SK-393-C ATX Mid Tower Case  ($25.97 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $183.93

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-13 15:05 EST-0500

I edit my posts a lot, Twitter is @LordStreetguru just don't ask PC questions there mostly...
 

Spoiler

 

What is your budget/country for your new PC?

 

what monitor resolution/refresh rate?

 

What games or other software do you need to run?

 

 

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I would assume that's without hard drives, you only need a flash drive to run FreeNAS from

Also this guy did an AM1 NAS build

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/am1-athlon-5350-freenas-file-server.201676/

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xZXYMp

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xZXYMp/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD 5350 2.05Ghz Quad-Core Processor  ($45.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock AM1H-ITX Mini ITX AM1 Motherboard  ($44.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Crucial 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($30.99 @ Amazon)

Case: Apex SK-393-C ATX Mid Tower Case  ($25.97 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($35.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $183.93

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-13 15:05 EST-0500

Yeah. I was not counting hard drives. :D

 

But the whole reason I'm getting that combo is because I don't like using tons of power.

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Yeah. I was not counting hard drives. :D

 

But the whole reason I'm getting that combo is because I don't like using tons of power.

A CPU is only going to use as much power as it needs, so it'll go Up/Down ,it's just that this way you have more headroom on your NAS, if you really want to ensure it uses less power you can just undervolt your CPU and run it at a lower clock speed,

I edit my posts a lot, Twitter is @LordStreetguru just don't ask PC questions there mostly...
 

Spoiler

 

What is your budget/country for your new PC?

 

what monitor resolution/refresh rate?

 

What games or other software do you need to run?

 

 

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU:  Integrated with Motherboard
Motherboard: ASRock C70M1 Mini ITX C-Series C-70 Motherboard  ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($32.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($84.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($84.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $312.96
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-13 15:30 EST-0500

80+ ratings certify electrical efficiency. Not quality.

 

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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU:  Integrated with Motherboard

Motherboard: ASRock C70M1 Mini ITX C-Series C-70 Motherboard  ($39.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($32.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($84.00 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital Red 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($84.00 @ Amazon)

Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Power Supply: SeaSonic 350W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Total: $312.96

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-13 15:30 EST-0500

haha. Back to that AMD with integrated CPU. :D But I do like the case. :)

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This is what I have now: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/6kkBK8

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=1817&cmp[]=2195

Quick comparison, spend the money on AM1, you'll have more headroom, the fan is not complicated at all it just clips on like an intel fan, the C-70 is just an incredibly weak CPU, if nothing else at least get a 3850

I edit my posts a lot, Twitter is @LordStreetguru just don't ask PC questions there mostly...
 

Spoiler

 

What is your budget/country for your new PC?

 

what monitor resolution/refresh rate?

 

What games or other software do you need to run?

 

 

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http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=1817&cmp[]=2195

Quick comparison, spend the money on AM1, you'll have more headroom, the fan is not complicated at all it just clips on like an intel fan, the C-70 is just an incredibly weak CPU, if nothing else at least get a 3850

Here's my new list of parts: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Ltjsf7

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Here's my new list of parts: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Ltjsf7

Well if you end up needing more hard drives just grab a PCI-e To Sata adapter, but I think it's $20 more now for a motherboard that has 4 sata ports

Also get the MSI AM1 board, it seems the most popular, that one has pretty poor reviews

I edit my posts a lot, Twitter is @LordStreetguru just don't ask PC questions there mostly...
 

Spoiler

 

What is your budget/country for your new PC?

 

what monitor resolution/refresh rate?

 

What games or other software do you need to run?

 

 

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Well if you end up needing more hard drives just grab a PCI-e To Sata adapter, but I think it's $20 more now for a motherboard that has 4 sata ports

Also get the MSI AM1 board, it seems the most popular, that one has pretty poor reviews

Updated. :) http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RFpP7P I did find this: http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Port-SATA-Components-SD-MPE40056/dp/B009WN7QTE so I can use the mini PCIe for SATA ports. :D

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Most Mini PCI-e slots on motherboards are Half Sized as they're only meant to use wifi cards, that thing is more for like an M.2 slot, and the one on that board is half sized

I edit my posts a lot, Twitter is @LordStreetguru just don't ask PC questions there mostly...
 

Spoiler

 

What is your budget/country for your new PC?

 

what monitor resolution/refresh rate?

 

What games or other software do you need to run?

 

 

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http://www.amazon.com/Syba-Port-SATA-Components-SD-MPE40056/dp/B009WN7QTE

Wait, maybe I was looking at the wrong one

I edit my posts a lot, Twitter is @LordStreetguru just don't ask PC questions there mostly...
 

Spoiler

 

What is your budget/country for your new PC?

 

what monitor resolution/refresh rate?

 

What games or other software do you need to run?

 

 

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