Hi guys,
If it's okay, I'd like your help building/choosing a HTPC/server solution. I know most of you recommend splitting them up, but unfortunately we don't have enough space to allow that right now.
The most important things to me are, obviously, noise and heat. I'd like it to be as quiet as possible but also cool enough to run quite happily 24/7 if necessary. We'll mostly be using it to stream HD YouTube and catch up services, play music and back up our data - most of the backing up will be done via the cloud but we'll keep a local copy of it too. Heat is the biggest issue, as we have a vivarium in the same room as the server will be in and our flat is so small and insulated that even when it's been freezing outside we haven't really felt it indoors. The lowest it's dropped during the winter is around 23 degrees Celcius, and in the summer the temperature never drops below 30, it's September and the average room temperature indoors is 28.
Size wise we're looking at anything up to 460mm high and 620mm deep to fit next to our TV unit - ideally smaller, but also happy to go slightly larger rather than sacrifice cooling. I've been looking at the Corsair 550D, Fractal Design R4, and the upcoming BitPhoenix Ghost, along with CPU coolers but with no reference to how cool they'll run it's very difficult to make a choice.
We already have hard drives and don't need an OS, just need the motherboard, RAM, case, power supply, cooling... maybe a fan controller? Four bays should be plenty, for three HDDs and one SSD, and one optical disc bay, possibly two (or we might just get an external blu ray drive). Currently I'm thinking a decent CPU will mean that a graphics card isn't necessary though I've heard some cards (7950?) can run exceptionally cool?
Budget is around £600, and preferably I'd like to not have to do any mods to it as I don't really have the time or the space. I know this is asking a lot, but any suggestions or recommendations (even just to say 'sorry dude, can't be done!') would be most appreciated
If it's okay, I'd like your help building/choosing a HTPC/server solution. I know most of you recommend splitting them up, but unfortunately we don't have enough space to allow that right now.
The most important things to me are, obviously, noise and heat. I'd like it to be as quiet as possible but also cool enough to run quite happily 24/7 if necessary. We'll mostly be using it to stream HD YouTube and catch up services, play music and back up our data - most of the backing up will be done via the cloud but we'll keep a local copy of it too. Heat is the biggest issue, as we have a vivarium in the same room as the server will be in and our flat is so small and insulated that even when it's been freezing outside we haven't really felt it indoors. The lowest it's dropped during the winter is around 23 degrees Celcius, and in the summer the temperature never drops below 30, it's September and the average room temperature indoors is 28.
Size wise we're looking at anything up to 460mm high and 620mm deep to fit next to our TV unit - ideally smaller, but also happy to go slightly larger rather than sacrifice cooling. I've been looking at the Corsair 550D, Fractal Design R4, and the upcoming BitPhoenix Ghost, along with CPU coolers but with no reference to how cool they'll run it's very difficult to make a choice.
We already have hard drives and don't need an OS, just need the motherboard, RAM, case, power supply, cooling... maybe a fan controller? Four bays should be plenty, for three HDDs and one SSD, and one optical disc bay, possibly two (or we might just get an external blu ray drive). Currently I'm thinking a decent CPU will mean that a graphics card isn't necessary though I've heard some cards (7950?) can run exceptionally cool?
Budget is around £600, and preferably I'd like to not have to do any mods to it as I don't really have the time or the space. I know this is asking a lot, but any suggestions or recommendations (even just to say 'sorry dude, can't be done!') would be most appreciated
