Spec me a low energy consuming media PC/server for 24/7 use

blackninja · 31 Mar 2008 at 20:30

I have an ancient Pentium3 500 system running as my server 24/7 which is a domain controller, intranet server and media server to my network inc via PS3 to the TV. It is a rather large beige box in the living room

which the missus aint too happy about

My power meter indicates 75w of juice is used whilst serving various files ... the PS3 uses another 160w doing its HD bit ... this is all the PS3 gets use for so I would like to replace this setup with a modern, silent system capable of HD output.

The bottom line spec is that it actually does HD OK for as few watts as possible ...... what would you recommend?

Trunks9486 · 31 Mar 2008 at 20:38

Gigabyte 780G Motherboard mATC form factor
Phenom X4 9100e or any X3 (dunno exactly when these will become available though)
2GB of DDR2-800MHz at decent timings.

I believe you dont need a separate graphics card unless you plan on playing games as the 780G chipset has a quite capable IGP with HD video acceleration.

p.s. The 9100e is the most energy effiecient at 65w. http://techreport.com/articles.x/14424 . The X3 is at 95w along with the higher clocked X4 9550.

blackninja · 31 Mar 2008 at 20:46

Gaming is not on the agenda for this rig .... ! My GTX space heater has that role

MattU · 31 Mar 2008 at 21:13

Starting to feel like the AMD salesman on here.. but go for the 780G motherboard and a low energy chip, the BE-2400 or wait for 4850e. These are 45W.