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cable_guy · 2012-02-08, 23:04

baldmosher Wrote:Yes it is entirely possible. I'm booting from a 2.5" eSATA 500GB drive, no issues at all. Running the modded bios and Windows 7 but don't see why Live would make any difference.

oh! Wow, that sounds positive. Do you mind me asking why you boot from eSata rather than an internal drive?

baldmosher · 2012-02-08, 23:49

Cos I have an Icy Box but I don't have a spare SATA cable. Smile

cable_guy · 2012-02-08, 23:51

fair enough, can't imagine there is a difference in speed. I am doing it because I use my Microserver for 2 purposes, an ESXi test box (boot from USB), and XBMCLive (boot from USB but hoping to soon boot from eSata)

baldmosher · 2012-02-09, 00:12

There's no difference in speed. eSATA is the same as SATA2. It's a lot slower than SATA3 but there's no SATA3 controller in the N40L and besides, the chipset can't handle it anyway - data throughput ceiling is approx 180MB/s in the N40L.

Once I build my HTPC I'll be moving the SSD direct to that machine to keep my current setup, and installing ESXi on USB with Windows 7 VM on one of the internal drives in the Microserver. Or I might just get an old 2.5" HDD from a laptop for the Icy Box and use that to keep OS off the data drives.

cable_guy · 2012-02-18, 14:03

baldmosher, do you know if the modded BIOS is necessary to boot from eSata?

I have all the equipment now but see no mention in the BIOS of eSata at all

Psyphin-X · 2012-02-23, 03:56

I'm looking into this build. I was wondering if anyone has tried to upgrade the cpu or if it was even possible?

QLink · 2012-02-23, 15:13

As far as i know it's not possible to upgrade the cpu, because it's soldered onto the mainboard.

however you can purchase a HP N40L, which has got a 1,5Ghz cpu instead of 1,3Ghz in the N36L...

why do you need a stronger a cpu ? what are you planning to do with the microserver ?

Psyphin-X · 2012-02-23, 23:57

I don't really need it right now, I was just curious for future upgrades if needed.

Thanks for the reply.

PeterV · 2012-02-29, 13:51

Hi.

LAst week I've purchased N40L, and currently looking for video card. After reading this thread I prefer to purchase HD 6450.
Currently I see in shops only two real candidates:
1. Asus EAH6450 SILENT/DI/1GD3(LP)
2. SAPPHIRE HD 6450 2GB DDR3.
Only this cards have low-profile bracket in place.
But regarding both of them I feel some uncertainty -
Asus has less clock for the memory, only 1200 (600), Sapphire - have 2 GB memory - so, possible have more power consumption ...

What can you recommend to buy ?

baldmosher · 2012-02-29, 16:01

Any 6450 (or indeed 5450) you like will eat 1080p for breakfast, seriously don't worry about it. Just get the cheapest one you can find with a half height bracket.

QLink · 2012-02-29, 16:01

it depends what you are planning to do with your system...
i assume both cards are costing the same for following considerations.

if you use it just for xbmc/video playback i would choose the ASUS card.
you won't recognize the lower memory clock with this usage.

if you are planning to use it for games too (which imho is a bad idea with this system anyway) you will maybe better go along with the SAPPHIRE card.

however the 2GB vs. 1GB power consumption difference should also not be that high if it's measureable at all...

long story short:

my advice:

ASUS card for xbmc/htpc usage
SAPPHIRE card for gaming usage

anyway differences will not be that big between those two cards

baldmosher · 2012-02-29, 16:02

my advice for gaming is don't get a 6450 Wink

get something good

PeterV · 2012-02-29, 18:37

baldmosher Wrote:Any 6450 (or indeed 5450) you like will eat 1080p for breakfast, seriously don't worry about it. Just get the cheapest one you can find with a half height bracket.

QLink Wrote:long story short:

my advice:

ASUS card for xbmc/htpc usage
SAPPHIRE card for gaming usage

Thanks you!

I've plan to use only as htpc(xbmc) and additionally, in future - may be as second NAS.

g725s · 2012-03-07, 23:18

cable_guy Wrote:baldmosher, do you know if the modded BIOS is necessary to boot from eSata?

I have all the equipment now but see no mention in the BIOS of eSata at all

I have read more than one post stating that it is not. But maybe balmosher can confirm.

QLink · 2012-03-08, 08:58

g725s Wrote:I have read more than one post stating that it is not. But maybe balmosher can confirm.

afaik you don't need to modify the bios to be able to boot from esata.
mod bios just sets the esata port to full speed respectively it can use ahci mode.

however i haven't tried it, cause first thing i did when i got my microserver was modding the bios Wink