Low power Linux media "server"

[THFourteen]

So now I've almost completed my gaming PC build, I realised it will be sucking up a lot of power if I leave it on all day, plus I don't want the custom loop springing a leak when I'm not around!!

 

What I'd like is a low power machine that's pretty quiet and I can leave on 24/7

 

Uses will be re-learning how to do some basic programming for fun, downloading and storing media, sending media to TV over network (tv has kodi installed), streaming some live sports / Netflix via web browser and vpn. Also I use tools such as AirVideo HD or Handbrake to encode video for iPad. 

 

Parts which I own and can use:

OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SSD

2x4GB hyperX DDR3 1600

Cooler Master Silent Power Pro 600W PSU (not great but fine for this I think)

Noctua NH-D14

6x2GB DDR2

i7 920 + Gigabyte EX58 (too power hungry)

 

i will probably buy a Seagate Barracuda 2-3TB more than enough storage for me. 

 

The SSD is sandforce and not compatible with haswell (not sure about skylake)

 

So i need to work out what motherboard and CPU I want (no graphics card), ideally itx so I can put it in a raijintek metis case!)

 

Currently thinking the AMD 5350 might suit my purpose and also very cheap (£60 for an itx mobo and CPU), my only concern is will it take all day to convert a single video? And will it do network streaming ok?

 

Otherwise I could look at the various ranges of A4/A6 APUs available which would cost a bit more...

 

i think skylake is out as id need to buy ddr4

 

any ideas?

 

oh of course needs to be Linux compatible

[Sauron]

You could buy an intel compute stick, it does everything you need for about 120 bucks and draws extremely little power.

[THFourteen]

15 minutes ago, Sauron said:

You could buy an intel compute stick, it does everything you need for about 120 bucks and draws extremely little power.

Hmmmm could do, would lead to an external hard drive plus a mess of

cables and USB hubs at the back of the monitor I want to use it on (which also doesn't have hdmi) plus I'd prefer network cable than wifi in my office as the wifi signal is poor in there. 

 

And 2GB of ram.... Also I reckon that atom might take a week to convert a single video to iPad format 

[Sauron]

1 minute ago, THFourteen said:

Hmmmm could do, would lead to an external hard drive plus a mess of

cables and USB hubs at the back of the monitor I want to use it on (which also doesn't have hdmi) plus I'd prefer network cable than wifi in my office as the wifi signal is poor in there. 

 

And 2GB of ram.... Also I reckon that atom might take a week to convert a single video to iPad format 

Streaming does not require any conversion actually, if you use kodi (I believe there's an ios version as well) and a dlna server on the stick you're all set. 2GiB of ram are also just fine for a light linux distribution. But it's true that storage would be a problem. The 5350 is all right then, for a media server it does the job (although if you need to convert a large amount of movies you should probably do it on your more powerful system, running a low power system for 10 hours at full tilt is just as power consuming as running a high end desktop for 20 minutes).

[THFourteen]

28 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Streaming does not require any conversion actually

That's true, often I want to convert files for uploading into phone/iPad for my daily commute when I am not on a network connection 

 

this is would be my part list in that case!

 

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/GX6dbj

[Sauron]

23 minutes ago, THFourteen said:

That's true, often I want to convert files for uploading into phone/iPad for my daily commute when I am not on a network connection 

 

this is would be my part list in that case!

 

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/GX6dbj

looks pretty good