ITX low lower 24/7

netmonky

netmonky

netmonky

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Joined
11 Mar 2013
Posts
7
hi all,

I am a new member to overclockers so HELLO everyone.

I have been reading these threads for a little while now but I cannot device on the best build for me.

I want a low power consumption itx build but with enough grunt when needed to perform some plex trans-coding, download NZB downloads and some general purpose utils for around the house.

Thoughts:

I plan on installing 4x 3Tb WD red drivers for storage.
The server will be headless so ATM or LOM would be nice.
Probably running centos with a kvm or two.
maybe i5 ? - unsure of power consumption as this is important.


I have read that the Atoms are great on power but the Idle power consumption of an ivy bridge cpu is not far off that?

I must admit, when it comes to hardware and power - i am not great as I have very little experience HW side.

If anyone has any advise,tips, recommendations then feel free to help :)
 
Pretty sure you'd get away with an i3 or even one of the beefier Celeron chips for Plex transcoding, Atom wouldn't cut it though. A faster CPU will provide a smoother experience though, especially if you fast forward a lot. The i3-3225 should be ideal. Should have enough power for transcoding and it's a lower power part (55w vs the standard 77w).
 
I recently built a silent (completely passive) system with an Intel DQ77KB motherboard, Xeon E3-1265L v2 (a kick-ass low power Ivy Bridge), an SSD, and nothing else (i.e. no video card or other peripherals), and it idles at 10W running Windows 8. I find that amazing.
 
wow 10w. can you detail your build ;).

I want to run my os on an ssd and then use the storage for media. So the hdd's should spin down (WD red) and save power until i wish to access the media - in theory anyway :-).
 
An Ivy Bridge or Llano build is probably your best bests for low low power.

I have an i3 2120T sandy bridge which does everything you've asking for on a Pico PSU at around 20-30watts of power with W7
 
I would go with a i3 2120T. i have a server box using that processor together with a Asus P8H77-I motherboard, 8GB RAM HDDs and 5HDDs. Pulls about 35W at idle, 80ish watts running prime.

PSU is a 160W Pico I could have easily gotten away with 120W.
 
is your server headless? Mine would have to be so would really like IPMI or AMT to manage the box if it dies. I don't think that hardware supports that.. does it?

The DQ77KB looks good but unsure about power supply as it looks to have another connector. I would probably need a sata expander on the PCI-e to give me a couple more sata ports.
 
netmonky said:
is your server headless? Mine would have to be so would really like IPMI or AMT to manage the box if it dies. I don't think that hardware supports that.. does it?

The DQ77KB looks good but unsure about power supply as it looks to have another connector. I would probably need a sata expander on the PCI-e to give me a couple more sata ports.
Click to expand...

I use a keyboard and monitor for OS install then headless after that. You could do a blind install using an answer back file.
 
I built this a while back, few upgrades needed now but does the job. Few changes and you're away. But look for the T range of I3 and I5 cpu's. Cost a tad more at first, but saves a few pennies on power.

5x 2Tb Seagate drives

64gb Crucial C300 ssd SATA 6

8gb kingston hyperx 1600mhz

Scythe Shuriken Rev.B Quiet Low Profile CPU Cooler

Intel DH67CF/B3 mitx board

Fractal Design Array R2 Mini-ITX NAS Case, Black, with 300W SFX PSU

Intel I5 2500T 2.3 - 3.3ghz cpu retail LOW POWER 45W MAX

Lian Li 5 port raid 5 controller PCI-E
 
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