NAS + HTPC combo

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foroman

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Jun 28, 2014
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Hello,
I'm thinking of building my first NAS+HTPC combo. I will use it basically for centralized storage (video, photos, music, automated backups of two notebooks etc.) and streaming videos directly to TV through HDMI. Here is what I've picked so far, any feedback, ideas, improvments... just anything is highly appreciated. Thank you!

Motherboard & Chipset: GIGABYTE GA-C1037UN Intel Dual-core Celeron 1037U (1.8 GHz) Mini ITX
$86.49 / http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128679
Power Supply: SeaSonic SS-300TFX Bronze 300W
$39.99 / http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151090
Memory: ADATA XPG V1.0 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
$36.99 / http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211855
HDD for OS: SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE120BW 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC (SSD)
$79.99 / http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247
HDD: Seagate NAS HDD ST3000VN000 3TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive
$119.99 / http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178392
Case: COOLER MASTER Elite 361 RC-361-KKN1 Black Computer Case
$39.99 / http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119262

OS: No idea so far, probably will try to set up Ubuntu first... and there's always Win 8.1 if Ubuntu will fail...
 
When I set out to build myself a NAS + HTPC, I initially was going to get a Celeron G1610 on a miniITX motherboard, but I had three issues with that.
1. I doubted the 1610's igpu's ability to reliably play all HD media smoothly.
2. miniITX boards lacked enough sata connections
3. mini cases lacked space for hdds.

So I decided that a microATX setup would suite me better. I found a case that I really loved. The Cooler Master N200.

I also decided that an AMD A-series cpu would be perfect for my uses too so I set out to get an A4 or A6. Well I ended up finding an open box but never used A10-6800k for the price of an A6 so I got it. It's definitely overkill, but it doesn't hurt having the ability to play a few light games on it. I bought a Gigabyte GA-F88Xm-D3H FM2+ motherboard with 8 sata III ports. I looked for some good 2X2GB 1866mhz RAM kits, but ultimately ended up with a deal on a 2X4GB 1866mhz GSkill Ares kit. I added a 128GB Adata SP900 ssd and two Toshiba 2TB hdds. I have a 64GB Patriot ssd that I intended on dual booting with Ubuntu, but honestly I never got around to it because it's just unnecessary. I keep it hooked to my 60" plasma 24/7 and I've been very happy with it. I'll need another 2TB hdd probably by the end of the year.

Anyway, that's my setup and how it came to be. The 4th gen Intel's weren't quite out yet when I was building mine. If I were you, I would look at a 4th gen Intel or at an apu depending on how much you will actually use this as a regular PC(which I do sometimes).

I don't know what your budget is, but this would be pretty good for what you need.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PZ7xbv
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PZ7xbv/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD A4-6300 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($48.33 @ TigerDirect)
Motherboard: MSI A78M-E35 Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard ($52.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($72.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $398.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available



I still don't completely trust Celeron or Pentium's igpu but if you do, here is an Intel option that would be much stronger in the cpu department, but much weaker in the igpu department.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GvthmG
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GvthmG/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Celeron G1820 2.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-D2V Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($59.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($72.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($103.71 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $395.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

 
It got me thinking, have to look at config and price of 4th gen Intel then... ok, thank you for the advice, starting from the beginning, with 4130T as a first guess... :)
 
I seriously considered the i3 3225 and 3245 because they both have the HD 4000 graphics which was pretty good. Then I had the idea to get an i3 3220t or 3240t instead, but I found out they came with HD 2500 graphics which doesn't cut it. The 4130t does suffer from that problem. It has the same HD 4400 graphics that the regular 4130 has, and it's plenty strong enough for all HTPC uses. It cost about $10-15 more though. I'm not sure it's necessary to get the low watt model though unless noise, heat, and power are all very important to you. It really won't be that much difference.
 
Well, it's almost 80$ more, but how about this setup (with Cooler Master N200, thank you CTurbo for excellent tip!):

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/H4KwkL
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/H4KwkL/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130T 2.9GHz Dual-Core Processor ($127.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1066 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 60GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($50.84 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ Mwave)
Total: $487.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 
I like everything but the 60GB ssd and the 1066mhz RAM. I like the idea of the 4130t but I wouldn't pay $20 extra to get it.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XTG9t6
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XTG9t6/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($109.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($66.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.70 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($72.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ Mwave)
Total: $490.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 
Oh, RAM was a mistake, missed it... thank you!
As for SSD, I read that it's enough for Windows OS, I guess same goes for Ubuntu I'm planning to give a try before Win... but yes, you're right, double capacity just for 20 dollars more is a smart choice.
As for CPU, I guess the price difference should return in power consumption in the future as this will be 24/7 machine.. :)

Thank you for your help and advice. Much appreciated!
 
Take a look halfway down the page and it shows estimated annual energy costs between the two for home and commercial uses. It ends up being less than $5 for home and $17 for commercial. Just throwing it out there.

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i3-4130T-vs-Intel-Core-i3-4130


A 60GB ssd is officially big enough for windows, but it requires a good amount of maintenance to keep it under 80-90% capacity. Keeping a ssd that full decreases performance and life expectancy by a good margin.
 


Great link, thank you! 4130T only if there will be a good deal when buying, otherwise 4130... :)
 
And here is what I decided to go with:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XDRQf7
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/XDRQf7/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Pentium G3220 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor ($59.98 @ SuperBiiz) - haswell, 1150 socket... with possibility of an upgrade...
Motherboard: ASRock B85M Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($66.98 @ Newegg) - HDMI, optical audio, enough SATA connectors...
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Best Buy) - just 7 USD more than M500...
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($119.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg) - not sure about this one, N200 is nice also, will see... :)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($42.99 @ Mwave)
Total: $457.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
 
I don't trust the g3220's igpu but maybe it will work well for you. Let me know how it does. You may want to go with 2X2GB instead of 1x4GB to get the most out of your igpu. I would get a 7200rpm hdd. The CM HAF 912 is not but I love my N200 so that gets my vote.
 

It's not bad on paper, but who knows. In case something goes wrong, I'll just replace it with i3. :)
As for RAM, my first future upgrade will be another 4GB ram, that's why I decided to go with 1x4GB...
And HAF is mostly because it's more suitable for future upgrades...
 
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