SPEC ME an ULTRA ULTRA low voltage PC

Combat squirrel

Combat squirrel

Combat squirrel

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As title, want a pc what will act as a upload machine (crash plan/mozy) and a download box, but I want it to run on as little elec as possible ULTRA ULTRA ULTRA low voltage, just the box, no need for anything else, needs to take 3.5" 2TB hard drive is the only need (so will use WD green I think)

What say you OCUK ?

EDIT: have some DDR3 ram lying about so can use that and a low end cheapo PSU in the loft (400watt unbranded jobby from PC world I use to test watercooling loops), would be fine for a near zero power PC I imagine.
 
I assume you can still buy these but I cant see them on the OC website. Basically you can get these micro ATX boards which have an atom processor on them. The Atom PCU only uses a few watts compared to a normal CPU but should be fine for what you have described
 
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Combat squirrel said:
Good ideas thanks, quick Q, if i did use my old 400watt psu it would only draw what it needs right?' not 400watt and then step it down to the power requirements of the pc?
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That's correct, if it only needs 100w then that's what it will pull, you wont be pulling 400w continuously :)
 
andy_mk3 said:
That's correct, if it only needs 100w then that's what it will pull, you wont be pulling 400w continuously :)
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Whist it is true that they won't always be pulling their max rating, different PSUs do have different efficiencies.

if its not HE 80% or higher then at a minimum for 100W load you are looking at a minimum of 120W~ draw. Obviously this gets worse as the load figure gets higher.
 
If you only want the machine for uploading and downloading have a look at the Synology NAS boxes should do all that and more instead of building a machine specifically.
 
danewesley said:
id get this, use your cheap psu, some ddr3 and install os from usb stick


YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI E350IA-E45 E-350 with HD6310 iGPU - AMD Fusion (ITX) £99.98
1 x Lian Li PC-Q07B Mini-ITX Case - Black £48.98
Total : £148.97 (includes shipping : FREE).
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That looks ideal assuming its as low or lower voltage as the xbit link above. I'd install the OS on a USB flash drive.

I had looked at a Zotac H67-ITX with i3 2500T and a case, but thats like £250, I wonder if that is not fair off in power terms?

Will a standard PSU fit in that case?
 
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I would say the MSI E350 is the ideal choice in terms of power usage (some of the other E350 boards though can consume as much as 10W more from what I've seen in reviews )

The i3 will consume slightly more power but is a much faster processor but if that's not what's needed why waste power and money.

Another option which would be a lot cheaper but consume slightly more power is an Intel D410PT. I've just got one of these and they can be picked up for less than £40 now (I guess they're going EOL or something). Power usage seems to be 20-30W.
 
Well I think im gonna get:

1 x MSI E350IA-E45 E-350 with HD6310 iGPU - AMD Fusion (ITX) £99.98

1 x Lian Li PC-Q07B Mini-ITX Case - Black £48.98

1x spare 400watt random PSU (which ill then replace with a 'new' corsair 480watt quality PSU that im going to get replaced under warrenty as the previous exploded)

1x 2gb corsair stick DDR3

1x USB stick with OS on (or would a SSD be more power efficient ?)


This pc will then link to my network NAS system to upload the files.

What think ?
 
Can't you buy routers that do this now? you just stick an external USB hard drive into the USB port I think...

If I'm wrong you'd be best off with an Intel Atom or E350.
 
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