outermon

Ok. I'm working on a little server (I mean little litterally, MicroATX Mini Tower). It's gonna sit in my bedroom, running 24/7, probably downloading junk most of the time. I want this thing to be as cool as possible to make it last long, and just because its gonna be on 24/7, but I also need it to be quiet. It's in my bedroom, and when I say 24/7, I mean 24/7. It's going to be taking the place of my Mac Mini, which hasn't been so much as restarted in the past 3 months. My mac mini will still be there to do... whatever its good for. Also, I may want to make this an HTPC (probably in the next 2 or 3 years). I know I can't do that on the built-in graphics card, but it has a PCI slot for when I want to upgrade. I want to make it so I don't have to pay to upgrade the processor/PSU when I do upgrade it, but I'm not made of money either. I think I actually could afford to make it an HTPC now, but it's rather pointless to hook an HTPC up to rabbit ears and a Gamecube (NO ONE MAKE FUN OF MY GAMECUBE!!! You can laugh at my rabbit ears though). Also, I want to put two 750GB HDDs in a RAID 1. I'm considering 1TB, but I know they're unstable right now, although the RAID 1 security would make me feel safe with them.

Ok, first up, components:

E7200 Core 2 Duo 2.53Ghz - Probably a bit of overkill for now, but I'll feel better about my initial investment when I go HTPC, I'm hoping.

ESC Motherboard - I know ESC isn't perfect, but I've bought from them before, and their boards function. It has what I want for now. I doubt I'll be using the onboard video for when I go HTPC, though, with HDMI, I'll give it a shot.

- Seagate Barracuda 750GB

Seasonic 500W

DVD Burner

Coolmaster MicroATX Case

Fans/Cooling:

Cool Master 66mm CPU cooler

SilenX 80mm Fan (two of em)

Scythe 120 (slow for quiet)

Other Stuff
Extra network card for my 2nd LAN only network.

90 degree SATA cables. They make cable management easier in MicroATX cases. Also, I'm getting 3 of these.

patriothntr

Take a look at this blog post...it has some good basics for your system...

http://www.formortals.com/Home/tabid...9/Default.aspx

Now that is a pretty hardcore machine meant for doing all sorts of ripping and stuff...many of the choices that were made were done to help this thing sip power since it's going to be on forever. The HDDs are the WD green power line, the mobo is a gigabyte that he had tested in the past against a number of other boards for efficiency, and the PSU is a 330 80+ unit.

The lower wattage supplies are nice for a setup like this because you are running a less intensive setup than a gaming PC and the system can't stay 80+ efficient under the 20% they are tested at.

His most recent post also talks about the issues he's having now with the 7150 xfx board he's got and the S3 sleep state issues as well as it being impossible to play Blu Ray...Don't know if that stuff is important, but something to think about.

I've read reviews about that cooler you have selected, and it sounds like it's more for looks than cooling...might want to look at a scythe ninja mini or a arctic freezer 7 pro (if they fit)...if you aren't OCing you can always stick with stock cooling.

outermon

Thanks for all the advice. :D

I saw the scythe ninja and have long known about the legendary Arctic Freezer 7 Pro. I read complains that even the mini Ninja is big (and those people are probably using biger cases than mine) and I'm sure the Arctic Freezer 7 Pro isn't silent. I chose this because my main concern is silence, and I won't be overclocking. I still want this thing to remain ice cold while being on 24/7, especially since it's summer now in the states and I don't plan on leaving the AC on for my computer.

I'm definitely going to read over that site you linked me to, but I don't want to spend a fortune on products just because they're super energy efficient. Also, that computer seems a bit extreme for what I want. I'm not going to be looking into blu-ray... ever. It disgusts me that the media is moving to these massive storage disks, when hi-def content can easily be stored on a normal DVD with the DIVX codec.

patriothntr

Yeah, I'm not terribly interested in blue ray...especially since I still use my tube TV for most of my viewing...wouldn't even make a difference if I had the 200 bucks to shell out for the thing.

I know the linked system is fairly extreme...just wanted to give an idea of one direction you could go...something pretty hardcore that you could look at.

The AF7 pro is pretty darn quiet...I can't hear the thing most of the time in my computer @ 50%...the antec tricool on low is louder than it is.

Only thing I gotta say about energy efficient is this: if you're gonna leave it on for a good long time, you'll probably save money in the long run...

Another thought...if this might be used as a HTPC in the future...would it be worth it for you to look at something like the Antec NSK2480? I know for a fact that the ninja mini fits on that board http://www.silentpcreview.com/article754-page5.html I also prefer the look of that case if it was ever to be used as a HTPC.

outermon

Ok, due to a lot more research and budget changes. I've mostly revamped my build. Here is the new one.

Coolmaster mATX Case
Seagate Barracuda 750GB x2
Biostar Motherboard
Antec Earthwatts 380W
Wintex 2GB (1GBx2) Dual Channel RAM
AMD 2.3Ghz 45W
Samsung DVD Burner
Scythe S-Flex 120mm Fan
SilenX 80mm Fan
Cool Master Low-Profile Silent CPU Fan/Heatsink
90-degree Sata cables

Anything I should change. I want to hear from the pros before I order this thing, but I'd really like to order by tonight.

rickmedlocke

Why not go for a 780g motherboard? They have good onboard graphics capable of 1080p playback and a HDMI input.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128090

A little more expensive though.