My new home server!

BoredMatt

BoredMatt

BoredMatt

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Joined
22 May 2011
Posts
68
I've just finished building and installing a home server that's replacing my TranquilPC BBS2 (nothing wrong with it, just no more space for hard drives).

The courier showed up at about 2pm with the following order from OcUK:

  • Fractal Design Define XL Full Tower Case - Black Pearl
  • Intel Core i3 540 3.06GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - Retail
  • Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard
  • OCZ StealthXStream 2 500W Power Supply
  • Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMX4GX3M2A1600C9)
  • Gainward GeForce 8400GS "SILENT" 512MB DDR2 PCI-Express Graphics Card
  • A few SATA data and power cables

It was quite a hefty amount of stuff; I felt like I'd won a competition:

parts.png


I started by looking at the case, and was immediately extremely annoyed (see here: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18278357) as the case was broken. So after organising a replacement to be sent out tomorrow, I got on with building the system into a boring old case.

This is the first PC I've built from scratch, and I was very pleased with how smooth the process was/how few parts exploded at me. I eventually got the system working, installed my choice of OS (which was relatively trouble-free), plonked my big concatenated drives into it, and voila.

A high capacity machine with a processor that is now powerful enough to transcode video and do other tasks that the my previous, Intel Atom-based machine cried at.

I'd post some nice pictures, but there's not a lot in the boring case, so perhaps tomorrow when I get the new case.
 
That's a pain with the faulty case, hopefully the new on tomorrow should be fine :)

Def post some pics up when your up and running.

How come you opted for 530 range and not the new SB range.
 
RJC said:
That's a pain with the faulty case, hopefully the new on tomorrow should be fine :)

Def post some pics up when your up and running.

How come you opted for 530 range and not the new SB range.
Click to expand...

I like new things, so thought about a sandy bridge setup, but when it actually came to buying the parts, the price was less (I got a b grade motherboard which brought the cost down a fair bit) and I figured that I really don't need the better parts just for the sake of it.

All I need in a home server is plenty of space for drives, and a little more oomph. The 1.6GHz Atom box I had was great apart from the inability to stream (& transcode) video, and the fact it had 0 space left. Twas one of these:

3280698949_428e967f9c.jpg


The other big factor, was the older stuff had more community support to help me install the OS.

But yeah, I'll definitely post some pictures tomorrow!
 
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I was going to post some pictures today, but alas, OcUK were understaffed yesterday and so the new case wasn't sent out until today. There will definitely be pics tomorrow though.

The thing is, I've just realised how quiet this system is going to be. It's currently sitting on a table about 2 metres in front of me, both side panels are off of the case, and it's fairly quiet. That's with 5 hdds and 4 fans.

With the fractal case (and the sound deadening material) this thing should be even quieter than the little mini itx box I had before.
 
Yup, when I did mine it has 4 drives, 4 fans and it's essentially silent, which is exactly what I was looking for
 
I got the new case yesterday, put everything in, but realised the 12v power cable wouldn't reach from where the PSU is at the bottom of the case. I got an extension in the post today (that didn't fit the socket, but with a connector from an old PSU I managed to hack one together).

So now it's all done:

P1000570.jpg


P1000571.jpg


It's still a bit messy inside; I'm waiting on a couple of cables so I can properly neaten it up.
 
panyan said:
wow, BIG case! :D
Click to expand...

Yeees... Is a bit. It's nice not being limited like I was with the last case I had, but it does seem a tad on the large side. Still, once it's full of drives, I'll be glad of the space.

There would be a couple more in there already, but I'm trying to source a compatible sata controller.
 
I had the same problem with the power cables not reaching, I'd originally wanted to route them round the back of the case, but that was not to be.

Should flip the hard drives though, so the cables are hidden and tidy round the back! :)
 
PR. said:
I had the same problem with the power cables not reaching, I'd originally wanted to route them round the back of the case, but that was not to be.

Should flip the hard drives though, so the cables are hidden and tidy round the back! :)
Click to expand...

I was going to do that....and for the life of me, I can't remember why I didn't. Seemed to be a good reason for it at the time. :confused:
 
Don't like the look of the IDE cable - so messy! no Sata DVD drive? :(
Yeah, flip the HDDs so it looks tidy, if you can be bothered. Pull the Sata and front pannel cables tight as well.

Looks good mate, worth the wait!! I Really like the case actually. Might look into it :)
 
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