My HTPC BUILD
#16
Well I ended up buying the zotac mobo the black aluminun case , the 80 plus power supply, 2 gigs of kingston hyper ram.

The case houses 2 hard drives and I have 2 I want to use for storage. Should I load ubuntu on a flash drive?

-=jason=-
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#17
Flomaster Wrote:Well I ended up buying the zotac mobo the black aluminun case , the 80 plus power supply, 2 gigs of kingston hyper ram.

The case houses 2 hard drives and I have 2 I want to use for storage. Should I load ubuntu on a flash drive?

-=jason=-

Yes.

And please: post pictures.
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#18
poofyhairguy Wrote:Yes.

And please: post pictures.

I'll try and get some photos tonight, I tried installing Ubuntu on a flash drive and booting from that, but it was painfully slow and some how I got locked out of the user name name account and I have no idea what the default user name and password are.

I am thinking about just taking my 37gig hard drive that already has XBMC and Sabnzb, and Sickbeard set up and configured and just plugging it in and seeing what happends. only problem is I only have 2 hard drive bays and I wanted to use my 1TB drive and my 250gig Drive I didn't want the 37GB taking up a drive bay.

now if I can just use double sided tape and mount the drive upside down to the bottom of the case I can have all 3 drive in there. as I have PLENTY of room using the Zotac Mobo

-=Jason=-
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#19
Have you thought about using an old pc as a server? That would mean you could just have the OS drive in the HTPC so it should be cooler and quieter, and you would be able to easily expand your storage without worrying about the HTPC.

When i first started out, i bought a case that could take several harddrives, as my media collection grew though, i quickly realised that i was going to run out of room, so i bought a DAS and created a spanned windows array. I eventually came to my senses and bought a cheap case with 9 x 5.25 slots and set up an UnRAID server which has the potential to store 12 Harddrives.

This now means i have a HTPC case that is WAY bigger than i'd like, an expensive DAS i'll likely never use again and an UnRAID server that is awesome.
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#20
Kode Wrote:Have you thought about using an old pc as a server? That would mean you could just have the OS drive in the HTPC so it should be cooler and quieter, and you would be able to easily expand your storage without worrying about the HTPC.

When i first started out, i bought a case that could take several harddrives, as my media collection grew though, i quickly realised that i was going to run out of room, so i bought a DAS and created a spanned windows array. I eventually came to my senses and bought a cheap case with 9 x 5.25 slots and set up an UnRAID server which has the potential to store 12 Harddrives.

This now means i have a HTPC case that is WAY bigger than i'd like, an expensive DAS i'll likely never use again and an UnRAID server that is awesome.

well the case would have to be located in the garage and it doesn't have a wifi card, it only has 2 Sata ports , I'd have to get a new mobo if I wanted to use it as a server. i'd have to locate it in the garage and then I wouldn't have network access to it unless I ran a very long cable up the wall into the attic and down into the garage.

I might be able to find a Full ATX mobo with cpu for CHEAP possibly.

-=Jason=-
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#21
with all the headache I am having with this Zotac mobo , no HDMI audio in XBMC, I can't Flash the Bios , no Hulu.... I am thinking about returning my mobo and getting a different setup

intel i3 processor and mobo?? I'll likely be spending a lil bit more money, but in the end I just want to be happy. HDMI video and audio is a must

looking at this post over on AVS forums I might go this route
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthrea...st18816487

so mobo, cpu, for $150-200 what are my options
Image
http://www.frys.com/product/6157489?site...IN_RSLT_PG

its got HDMI so I shouldn't need a video card, I'd have to return my ddr2 memory for ddr3 memory

i3 540 and hdmi mobo should blow the socks off the zotac ionitx-G-E
any thoughts?

-=Jason=-
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#22
BUMP...

so I returned my Ionitx-G-E board to frys along with the ddr2 800 ram

I just placed an order for an Ionitx-L-E with 4GB of DDR3 1333 so I am about $50 more than I was before, but I am getting 2 more gigs of faster ram , and esata port on the back which I am going to use wit my BlackX external HD device
ImageZOTAC IONITX-L-E Intel Atom 330 (1.6GHz, dual-core) PBGA437 NVIDIA ION Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo
ImageG.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL8D-4GBRM

I will just deal with the Hulu thing as I dont really use it, but using the H55 intel chip and not getting my XBMC is NOT an option.

not having the HTPC for the weekend has sucked big time I can't wait to get it back up and running.

-=Jason=-
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#23
BUMP....

new build.... unRaid sever on the way

I have the following picked out for my budget build.

ASUS M4A785-M + AMD Sempron 140 Combo price:$87.98


Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 $54.99

Lexar JumpDrive FireFly 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive $12.99

CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 CMPSU-430CX 430W ATX12V Active PFC Power Supply, $39.99 with a $10 mail in rebate

promo codes:MBTEN923,psu168
total with shipping = $178.84


EDIT:I think im going to use my current case at under $200 I think its a smoking deal

and my current case Cooler Master ATCS 200 MX
http://sg2.hardwarezone.com/articles/vie...id=22&pg=1
Image

now my old 400 watt PSU is dated and has no sata connectors, its a no name brand so im looking for a eco friendly
PSU hence why I picked the Rosewell.


should I use this case for now, or just buy a new one reason being im not sure the fans are up to speed so to speak, and the case is 10 years old now. for the time being this could hold me over up to 11 drives if I used the 4 in 3 cage Cooler Master offers.

do I buy some new fans, help a brotha out.

-=Jason=-
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#24
I like that Corsair PSU for Unraid. Highly recommended on Unraid's forum.

As far as the case, I feel your pain (as in I too have older overpriced hardware that I just want to use). Looking at that case, as long as you use the Cooler MAster 4 in 3 in the top you should have enough airflow for all your drives. Maybe consider getting some Antec Tri-Cools for the front and back, as on their medium setting I can promise you will get enough airflow.

Of course, as you know, that case is before the days of 120mm fans so it will be pretty loud when its full of heat. Personally I would consider the max of that case to be around ten drives (pretty much the max of that PSU too) because I wouldn't put drives in those 3.5inch external slots without some sort of fan.

Looks good though. Way to work the deals.

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#25
I have the original Silverstone Case that you linked too in your first post. I'm plan on selling it as soon as 10.0 comes out.The reason that I want to sell it is because of the size, it's just to big for my taste.

Also I like your unraid build, I have a similar PSU in my unraid server running 5 HD's without any issues. I would highly recommend getting a modular Corsair PSU, as the less cables you have the better the airflow.
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#26
well I just pulled the trigger on the unRaid server.... if i need better fans I'll get them, but for now with the 3 drives I should be good. and when I get enough drive to warrant a better case i'll just have to cough up the cash, but buying pieces at a time is easier on the pocket book then buying a complete ground up build.

im stoked.

I'll have 2x2TB WD greens and 1x1tb WD Green to start things off.

-=Jason=-
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#27
Flomaster Wrote:well I just pulled the trigger on the unRaid server.... if i need better fans I'll get them, but for now with the 3 drives I should be good. and when I get enough drive to warrant a better case i'll just have to cough up the cash, but buying pieces at a time is easier on the pocket book then buying a complete ground up build.

im stoked.

I'll have 2x2TB WD greens and 1x1tb WD Green to start things off.

-=Jason=-

Make sure you put on the jumpers on those Green drives Smile
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#28
well ups dropped off my parts and after several cuss words I got it all sorted out.

turns out I haven't bought a new PSU in decade, this mobo took my 24 pin cable from the PSU and also required a 4 pin cable as well. I was about to the point of cutting my 8 pin in half when I notices that it was just 2 4x4 stuck together. after plugging it in all was good.

no drives just yet I need to put my cash in the bank and order from amazon.com.
im going to use some electrical tape and tape up those case wires for the power buttons i think they look terrible now that I see them in the photos.

Image
Image
Image

-=Jason=-
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#29
Looks good. What PCIe SATA card are you gonna get when you move past 6 drives?

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#30
poofyhairguy Wrote:Looks good. What PCIe SATA card are you gonna get when you move past 6 drives?

I've no idea I haven't really thought of that, from the looks of it PCIe is the way to go PCI is useless?


-=Jason=-
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