Home server / streaming build.

[moffx]

Hi guys & gals. Looking for a bit of advise on a home server / streaming machine, but first a bit of background....

So recently my NAS died (Or the first NAS died, more on that later) It was a buffalo Linkstation LS - Somethingorother and I bought it about 5 years ago, so it's had a good life. Anyway, that died and I decided I needed something cheap that I could put my own drives in. So I bought myself a nice cheap and cheerful D-Link NAS enclosure and 2 WD Blues. About a week after owning this it died (Not the drives, the enclosure) So now I've decided it's time for something a bit more fun.....I'm going to build a nice little server/NAS/Stream machine or whatever.

So, on to the plans. I intend to use this machine for streaming and as a file sharing host between all my machines. I would consider running some kind of NAS/Server OS but I would prefer to run windows so I can torrent and also use as a general mundane task PC.

I am also looking to keep as budget as possible just as an FYI. I don't really have a specific budget in mind but as cheap as possible while still being worthwhile.

My considered parts list so far.....

CASE - BitFenix Prodigy - £30 ***PURCHASED***

CPU - i3-4170 - £85

CPU Cooler - Thinking stock should be fine ? But maybe not as I intend on it being on 24/7 ?

MOBO - MSI H81M-P32L - Currently bidding on one on eBay for like £15

RAM - Got plenty lying about. 2 x 4GB ***ALREADY OWNED***

STORAGE - I have 3xWD Blues for storage and a 120GB SSD for OS ***ALREADY OWNED***

PSU - I am bidding on a Corsair CX430 on eBay for about £10.

The question now is, anoy better suggestions ?? ALso any advise on the OS etc. As I want to keep windows to torrent etc but also want to be able to stream media to my smart TV's etc..

Thanks in Advance

 

[moffx]

i wouldn't have WD blues id go for the reds if your using it for streaming. What content are you streaming HD? id go for a decent cooler cause it can get quite warm the CPU when doing a bit of work. Don't need to spend big money

The blues will do for now as its what I have to hand but may consider reds in the future, cheers! Also yeah I think you're right with the cooler.

My home server which does exactly what you want to do with one (I use Plex for the streaming to Smart TVs etc) is the following spec

i3-4150 with Stock cooler
8GB RAM
Small SSD for OS - Im using 8.1
Several 2TB and 3TB HDDs for Media Storage
My drives are a mixture of Green drives and older normal desktop drives. Reds are not needed for Streaming.

Mine is on 24/7 and have not had a single issue with temps, idle to load is about 20-30c different and have never seen it go above 65c (whilst I was testing playing to multiple devices at once).

Thanks for that! I think my hardware plans should be fine then.